The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-12-04
CHAPTER XIV.

SlueraDly taken aback when o
quarter of an hour after the
young lovers ecstatic return tc
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 it 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 a
bottle. some glasses and a pouch of
tobacco. Noting the old mans sigh OF
fatigue as he sat himself down heayi-
~, he remarked alphabetically:
Mr.. Gale, you've made a long trip
today and you must be tired. If this
talk is to be lengthy, why not have q
drink with me now and postpone 1t III
til tomorrow"
"Tve been tired for eighteen years."
the other replied. Tonight l hope to
get rested"
"Well, let's get at it." the younger
man finally said.
II suppose you'll want to interrupt
and question me a heap, but I'll ask
you to let me tell this story the way
1t comes to me till l 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
You?"
Burrell removed his pipe and gaset
at it's coal impersonally.
81 love her SO well, Mr.. Gale, thai
nothing you can say will affect me
II hesitated at first about asking bel
to be my wife because-you'n appre
ciate the unusual-well, her unusual
history. You see, l come from a coun.
try where mixed blood Is about the
only thing that can't be lived down OF
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 a 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, I'm ashamed to say, ]
hesitated and tried to reason myself
into giving her up, but I've had my
eyes opened, and l see how little those
things amount to, after all. Pm 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 If you OBJ.
ject we'll have to wait until Novem-
Der, when she turns eighteen. Wed
both like your consent, Of course. I'd
be sorry to marry her without it. But
IL you refuse We'll be forced to dis.
please you" He looked@up and met
the fathers gaze steadily.
The other mans lips framed a faint
smile.
well see. l wish to God I'd had
your decision when | was your age,
This story would be different and cas-
Ter to tell" He waited a 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 a camp named Chandon-
helped to build it, in fact-and got hold
Of some ground that looked real good,
It was hard mining, however, and, be-
ing poor, I was still gripping my drill
and hammer after the town had grown
mp.
"a woman came out from the east
Vermont It was-and s~choolteaching
was her line Of business, only she
hadn't been raised to 1t, and this was
her first clatter at the game. Her
folks died and left her up against it
I 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:
1t don't MAKE any ulmerence to you
how I first saw her and how l began
to forget that anything else in tie
world was worth having but her. I'd
lived in the woods all my life, as
said, and knew more about birds and
bugs and bees thar l did about WON
en-. l hadnt been broke proper ana
didn't know how to act with them, but
I laid out to get this girl, and l 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 a win that
over by gentleness, but you have to
take it away from a woman. Every
live thing that couldn't talk was my
friend, but l 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, l reckon I'd
have won out only for another man.
Dan Bennett vas his name-the kind
that dumb animals hate, and-well,
that takes his measure. Els range