Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-04-29
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BY
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Observation-Disclosures
CHAPTER XIV.
, = MYSTERY Is uNRAvELEp.

CHAPTER XIV.
= MYSTERY Is UNRAvELED.
Ys1EUTENANT BURRELL was con-
stderably taken aback when a.
quarter Of an hour after; the
young lovers ecstatic return to
his quarters Gale knocked at his door;
for the traders visit, coupled with the
late hour and his somber countenance,
forecast new complications.
Hes here to object, but 1t won't
Co." thought the lieutenant as he made
his visitor welcome.
Meade swung his big reading chair
out beneath the hanging lamp and, GO
Ing to the sideboard, brought back
bottle, some glasses and pouch of
tobacco. Noting the old mans sigh of
fatigue as he sat himself down heavi-
", he remarked alphabetically:
"Mr. Gale, you've made long trip
today and you must be tired. If this
talk is to be lengthy, why not have a
drink with me now a>6 postpone 1t I'M
I'll tomorrow"
1--WE been tired for eighteen years."
the other replied. "Tonight I hope to
get rested"
"Well, let's get at it." the younger
man finally said.
ana question me heap, but I'll ask
you t. let me tell this story the way
1t comes to me till I get it out. Like
wise you'll want to know what all
this has to do with you and Necia.
Yes; she told me about you and, her,
and that's why I'm here" He paused.
"You really think, you love her, do
you3"
Buffell renewed bis pipe and gazed
at its coal impersonally.
II love her SO well. Mr.. Gale. that
nothing you can say will affect me.
Ii hesitated at first about asking her
to be my wife because-you'u appre-
ciate the unusual-well, her unusual
history. You see. come from a coun-
try where mixed blood is about the
only thing that can't be lived down or
overlooked, and I've been raised with
notions Of family honor and pride Of
race and birth. and SO forth, that
might seem preposterous and absurd
to you. But heap of conceits like
that have been bred into me from
generations back. They run in the
blood Of every old family in my coun-
try, and So, Pm ashamed to say, I
hesitated and tried to reason myself
into giving her up, but I've had my
eyes opened, and see how little those
things amount to, after all. I'm going
to marry Necia, Mr.. Gale. I'd like to
do It the day after tomorrow, Sunday,
but she isn't OF age yet and II you OBJ
5ect we'll have to wait until Novem-
Der, when she turns eighteen. We'd
both like your consent, Of course. I'd
be sorry to marry her without it. But
II you refuse we'll be forced to dis
please you" He looked up and met
the fathers gaze steadily.
The other mans lips framed faint
smile.
wen see. I wish to God I'd had
your decision when I was your age.
This story would be different and cas-
fer to tell" He waited moment,
then settled to his self appointed task.
Il was mining at the time up In the
mother lode country Of California,
which was the frontier then, pretty
much as this is now, only we had bet
ter things to eat. was one Of the first
men into camp named Chandon-
helped to build 1t, in fact-and got hold
of some ground that looked real good.
1t was hard mining, however, and, be-
ing poor, was still gripping my drill
and hammer after the town had grown
mp.
"a woman came out from the east
Vermont it was-and schoolteaching
Was her line Of business, only she
hadn't been raised to it, and this was
her first clatter ut the game. Her
folks died and left her up against it,
gathered FROM what little she told
me-sort of an old story, guess, and
usual, too, only for her. She was
plumb unusual
He seemed to ponder this a moment
and then resumed:
ut don't make any difference to you
how first saw her and how began
to forget that anything else In the
world was worth having but her. I'd
lived in the woods all my life, as I
said. and knew more about birds and
bugs and bees than did about wom-
en-. hadn't been broke proper and
didn't know how to act with them, but
laid out to get this girl. and I did
fairly well. There's something wild in
every woman that needs to be tanned,
and It isn't like the wildness that runs
In wood critters. You can win that
over by gentleness, but you have to
take it away from woman. Every
live thing that couldn't talk was my
friend, but made the mistake Of
counting my own kind the same way,
not knowing that when two Of any
species mate the male must rule.
was too gentle. Even SO, reckon I'd
have won out only for another man.
Dan Bennett was his name-the kind
that dumb animals hate. and-well,
that takes his measure. His range
adjoined mine, and, though I'd never
seen him, I heard stories now and
then-the sort Of tales you can't tell
to q good woman-so 1t worried me
when heard Of his Attentions ia this