The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1908-10-29
In Memory of
Tom Satan
By BIRCH.
Copyright, by shortstory PUB. Co.

! JCIoiS lSoAShih5 NHS
IF a-shipboard for the wide acres OF
/ Kansas homestead.
1t was in the spring Of 1869 that
he one-time mariner, departing from
! he sea, had homesteaded the north
last quarter Of section II, township
:hree, south; range three, east, in
Thomas county, Kansas-160 acres,
more or less, according to government
survey. At that time he was 40 years
old.
Elminta Minerva was SO, when, in
he fall of the same year, she had left
New England for the west, and home
;teaded the southwest quarter of sec
ion II, township three, in the afore-
! said county of Thomas, and state of
Kansas, containing 100 acres, more or
.ess, according to government survey.
1t is hardly necessary to state that
Jonas was Irish, and Elminta Miner
va, Yankee.
Both. had been heart-whole until this
late.
A half section of prairie inhabited
ny l"O SOulS aliludlCu W NilC III
aim should produce, in perfection, the
conditions of a rural romance. Such
we're the conditions in this instance,
and as was to be expected, Jonas and
Elminta Minerva fell in love. The
utilities, however, were not to be for
gotten, and the marriage day was
postponed until each should, in home
steader language, have proved up;
they would then be the owners of a
half section, a rich domain for them
and their successors.
Between the one-roomed. white-cur-
tanned cottonwood dwelling of the
spinster settler and the windowless
1ugout of her bachelor lover lay a half
mile Of Kansas prairie; and midway
Intersecting the beaten path, ran the
Solomon, a three-rod wide stream Of
clear water, with a bottom in patches
Of sand and pebbles. On either bank
was a growth of willow and elm, cot
tonwood and wild plum, that made a
May day on the Solomon a pleasant
epoch in life. In crossing this stream
as vas his daily custom-Jonas
used a ford which lay, not as the crow
flies, between his abode and that of
his beloved, but at an angle with
each dwelling-this because of the
shallow fording at that point.
The time for proving up the claims
was now fast approaching. Nor had
the years these two had waited been
by any means without fruit. With
money saved from his seafaring days,
Jonas had fenced his land, and other
wise added to its attractiveness. He
had also broken the sod of 80 acres
for cor planting.
To Elminta Minerals claim also
had been added many improvements,
provided for from a frugal fund hoard
ed from years of school teaching, and
the remainder Of this sum, together
with the yearly yield from an indus
trious flock of hens and two well-pre-
served cows, combined to make for
her a degree Of prosperity that need
ed only a receipt Of a deed for her
homestead, and marriage with Jonas,
fully to round gu her happiness.
Jonas, sometimes on a June even
ing, would linger along the path to
Elminta Minerals, dreaming of love,
his ear intent on the song of the vel,
low-crested meadow lark. At such
times the air was undoubtedly translu.
scent.
But upon this state Of primeval con
tentment and reasonable hopes one
blot existed. In spite Of his love of
the sky and sense Of relationship with
| nature, Jonas felt an ineradicable dis
trust for one of the humblest OF all
created things-namely, Elminta Mi.
nerva's black cation Satan. This,
too, in spite of the fact that the ami.
NAL was the pet and companion of his
spinster neighbor,
The Satan" was the addition Of 10
mas, who thus signified his belief in
the animals malign influence upon
If not upon two farms as well. To
be sure, his predictions of disaster
| had not yet been verified: but what
| of this marriage in the spring, where.
! by all these years of toll and waiting
should be crowned? Who could tell
but that Tom Satan waited and hun.
gered for this opportunity?
1t was in vain that Tom Satan
would arch his back and rub against
Jonas bootleg, inviting a friendship
that he thought ought t o exist after
so many years of acquaintanceship.
The other ostentatiously repealed all
such advances.
On this special day Jonas remained
longer than usual and when he started
home the sun was below mid-after,
! noon. For this reason he did not take
his usual path, but instead made a
| bee line through the pasture, striking
Upon reaching the bank he tucked his
trousers legs into his boot tops and
| stepped into the water, there running
not more than four inches deep. The
soft sand yielded slightly, but Jonas,
u~nheeding, took a step forward, an.
| other, then another, when-but what
I was he walking in! Something was
wrong! Something vas dragging him
| down! Then with the force of a light
| ming bolt the truth struck him-he
was in a quicksand!
Like q lion In tolls Jonas reused
| himself and wrenched his foremost
foot hack. in his struggle partlv turn.