Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-11-26
XIV.

which she was only vaguely conscious
The strain which she had been under
going began at last to exhaust her
physically.
Her vital force became depleted, her
step grew feeble, the light died out
Of her eyes, she dropped and crcpt
feebly about her room. The determl-
nation which she had so resolutely
maintained to live apart slowly ebbcu
away. She was, after all, a woman,
not a disembodied spirit, and her wom-
ans heart yeSIrned unquencilabiy for
the touch of her lovers hand, for the
kisses of his lips, for the comfort OF
his presence.
This longing increased with every
passing hour. Fatigue, wearlness'
loneliness. steadily undermined her
still struggling resistance to those hun
serings which never left her, till at
last, when the failing resources of her
nature were at their lowest point, all
her remaining strength was concen-
trated into a single passionate desire
to look once more upon the race w 'ch
Elowed forever before her inner eye, or
1T least to discover what had befallen
In his sin and Indebtedness.
It was a long and tedious journey
rom New Orleans to Cincinnati IN
those days. and it told terribly upon
the weaked constitution of the way
farer. Her heart beat too violently IN
her bosom; a fierce fever Logan to
burn in her veins; she trembled with
terror lest her strength fail her before
she reached her journeys end. 1t was
not of Death himself that she was
afraid; but that he should overtake
her before she had seen her lover!
HuSbanding her strength as snip
wrecked sailors save their bread and
water, she counted the lays and the
miles to the journeys end, and nav
ing arrived at the wharf of the queen
City, the pale young traveller who had
excited the compassion of the passen-
gers, but who would neither conunl-
cate the secret of her sorrow nor &C
sept of any aid, took her little bundle
in her thin hand and started OH on
the last stage of her weary pilgrimage.
1t was the hardest of all, for her mon
cy was exhausted and there was noth-
ing for her to do but walk.
1t was a cold lfecember day. Gray
clouds lowered, W airy winds began to
moan, and she ha = proceeded but a lit
tel way when lis.il flakes of snow be-
gan to fall. Tx chill penetrated her
thin clothing AID shook her fragile
form. She mo' I'd more like a wrath
than q living , oman. Her tired feet
left such sligo impressions in the
snow that the feathery flakes obllter-
ated one aim, st before she had made
another, and he was haunted by the
thought that very trace OF her pas
rage through, life was thus to disap-
pear!
Ignorant * the distance or the exact
direction, anI stopping occasionally to
inquire tn. way. she plodded on, the
exhaustion. of hunger and WEAKNESS
becoming Hcore and more u~nendurable.
All that ste did now was done by the
sheer force of will; but yield she
would noc. She would die cheerfully
when shu had attained her object, but
no befoua. The winds became more
wild and )oisterous; they loosened and
tossed h~r black hair about her wan
face; thuI beat against her person and
drove har back. Every step seemed
the last one ~possible; but suddenly.
Just as she descended the slope of a
steep hill, she saw the ~twinkling lights
Of the village and the feeble rays shot
new courage into her heart. Under
his accession of power she pushed
forward and made her way toward the
cid Quaker homestead.
The night had now deepened around
her; but every foot Of the landscape
Mad beeo indellply impressed upon her
memory, and even in the gathering
Kloom she chose the road unerringly.
There were only a few steps more,
and reeling toward the door yard fenca
she felt her way to the gate, opened
It, staggered forward up the path in
the rays Of light that struggled out
INTO the darkness, and with one final
r-.A e,J{ r,;rt;,r ,,ror tho fhroSID13
The scene within the house present
% a striking contrast to that without
IN a great open fireplace the flames of
the beech logs were wavering up the
chimney. Seated in the radiance Of
their light, on a low stool, was a your g
Aoy with his elbows upon his knees
and his cheeks in the palms of has
hands. His mother sat by his side
stroking his hair and gazing at him
In fond, brooding love. The father was
bending over a Bible lying open on
VIC table, and had just articulated in
dow and reverent tones the words OF
Jesus, II was a stranger and We took
me in" when they heard a sound at
me door
Father, mother and son sprang t.,
taeir feet and. hurrying towards the
door, flung it open and beheld a wom-
ans limp form lylnS On tle tnroShOld.
1t was but a child's weight to the
stalwart Quaker who picked it up in
his great arms and carried it into the
radiance of the great fireplace, and in
an instant he and Dorothea his wife
we're pushing forward the work of
restoration. The little boy stood gaz-
ing wonderingly at her from a dis
lance. The calm features of the Qua
ker were agitated with emotion. His
wife knelt by the side of the pale
sleeper, and her tears dropped silently
on the hand which h pressed to her
bps.
For many days Pepeeta's life hung
n the balance, her spirit lowering un-
certainly along the border and Of be-
ing, and it was only love that wooed
1t bach to life.
When at length, through careful
nursing, she really regained her con-
sciousness and came up from those
1~nfathomable abysses where she had
been wandering, she opened her eyes
Spon the, walls of a little chamber that
booked out through an alcove into the
living room of the Quaker house.
The silence. was suddenly o Ly
voice feeble and tremulous. but very
musical and sweet. It was Pe--ota,
~hO po1ed aro1pd her In hewil6er-