Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-01-16

| She advanced again and took It. con,
thank You, thank you," she breathed
bismarck man." 1t was Lancas-
tor once more. WAL, wy the devil
dom " stay thar"
Lounsbury took no notice Of him.
"I'll be hoonng it," he said to Dallas.
But If can do anything, you under
stand and went out.
David Bonds keen eyes studied the
elder girl. He expected an outburst
| of anger and blame. He was sur
prised when. without speaking. she
| brought the benches TO the fire and set
about clearing the table. Lancaster
! seated himself and sucked moodily at
/ his pipe. Morylyn fitted behind him
/ to disappear through the swinging
blankets. m" evangelist walked up
and down
It was not long before the silence
told on the section boss and forced Kim
to talk. "Ef you-all got anythin' t
say" he enaricd presently. ~ might
as we'll spit it out"
No one answered.
"Ah got jes' This t. say" he contin-
ued: "Ah oin't goin' { hev no lubbe-
o. q storcGccpcj siaverln aroun' my
! gals"
Again no one answered. but David
Bond as hp watched Dallas question
inSly determined TO be silent no longer
He paused in his walk. MY friend
he said solemnly, you talk like mad
man. For shame
Dallas stood stock still, her eyes
warning him But it was too late.
Her fathe- snickcred. drew on his
pipe once or twice and Thea grlnned IN
at the evangelist. IT'S gittia' ligh.
outdoors" he sad significantly. "Ah
reckon y could cross III river"
And so David Bona and the white
horse went the way of Lounsbury.
Nearly an hour passed before the
section boss addressed Dallas. Wal
wnal waal?'
She was wrapping up to do the morn
ing chores. Just as we'll. l guess
dad" she said YEARLY. THE meal
and bacon's pretty low. I've been
cooking out Of the seed sacks lately"
9TH meal an bacons got t. las" he
answered Use tn seed ef v want t.
an dom give thet Injun so much. We
shan't asst tick O. no lallygaggln'. do-a
grapevin twist dandy"
Dallas sighed found Marylyn to kiss
her and gratefully breasted the chill ali
beyond the door.
His dismissal from the shack brought
no hardship upon David Bond. He
found an old acquaintance in Colone
Cummings who joyfully greeted him
as interpreter in the absence Of Mat
thews. He found familiar faces among
his presence he laid to their imprison
ment At barracks the enlisted mer
chaned him mischievously, christenel
him "Methuseuh" and installed lin
IS official doom sealer' Of the post
But when he passed them by to give
every hour Of his days and nights tC
young Jamiesou-young Jameson. bat
Ting with ali his might against col
| lapse-the men ceased chatting and lis
tened to him with respect. A crank OF
religion wan one thing, man with one
eye on the Bible and his sleeves rolled
up for hard duty was another. The
troopers cared little for sermonzlng
but they honored service Then, II
was Jameson for whom the evangelist
was caring. And Jameson held the
very hcartstrings of the garrison.
AS for Lounsbury, Brannon enter
talned him no less gladly, His was the
rare good humor that enlivens every
occasion. lie prncticed Mt target shoot
ing with the enlisted men; he played
billiards with the officers; he dined
made up sleigh rides, lent himself tc
theatricals furnished fourth at cards
and at the frequent dances led OIL,
homely and pretty alike.
To David Bond it seemed as II tht
storekeeper were Indifferent to his owr
dismissal from the shack. But one
morning the evangelist accidentally
came upon the younger man. He was
watching the bend through a tele
scope, and his face was anxious ant
troubled.
Lancaster hasn't started for th'
land Office again." he said. Then. aft
er moments silence, 1--WE just abou
decided to go Bismarck way myself to
day. When you can. will you let II,
know how they are over there"
Charles will keep me posted" an
swered the evangelist and ! shal
send you any news by the mail sleigh
THANK YOU" said Lounsbury sim
ply. "Coodby." And at the noon mes
he was missing.
At the shack the days were number
ed slowly for all their scant hours o
light. Sleep consumed most of tn
time. The rest was taken by the meals
the chores and the effort of keepin,
warm. The line Of calico covered book
helped to vary the monotony. So di,
the visits Of Squaw Charley. But thes
were becoming more brief now. No
that Lancaster made them unpleasan
Charley was necessary to him-bu
that the Indian was always in a feye
to be gone. Since the council his eye
We're less downcast, his face was les
stolid.
One day brought totally unexpect
ed visitor, whom Lancaster recognize
with some misgivings as the Unite
States land agent at Bismarck. Tn
, section boss was soon treasured, how
ever. The agent said that, having bus
ness near BrannOn and remem berlin
that Lancaster wished to file an entr
on the bend when the first claimant
| siv moptha yQro IN ha had Co,pn n,