Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-04-29

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, de-
you'll"
Burfell renewed his pipe and gased
ut its coal impersonally.
II love her so well, Mr.. Gale. that
nothing you can say will affect me
IL hesitated at first about asking hel
to be my wife because-you'u appre.
ciate the unusual-well. her unusual
history. You see. come from 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. I'm ashamed to say,
hesitated and tried to reason myself
into giving her up. but I've had my
eyes opened, and I 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 If you OBJ
5ect Well 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.
''We'll 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 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 I 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, l was still gripping my drill
and hammer after the town had grown
up.
"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,
q gathered from what little she told
mc-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 I did about wom-
en-. i hadn't been broke proper and
didn't know how to act with them, but
] laid out to get this girl, and did
fairly well. There's something wild in
every woman that needs to be tuned,
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 a 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. Il
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, 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 to this
girl. Still, thought she'd surely And
him out and recognise the Kind Of Eel.
low he was; but Lord, woman can't
tell man from dog, and there
wasn't any one to warn her.
This Bennett came from the town
below, where he ran saloon and a
brace game or two: but. being as he
rode into our camp and out again In
the night and as didn't drink nor
listen to. the music Of the little rolling
ball, why. We never met even after he |
began coming to Chandon. Under
stand, wasn't too good for those
ampsements. ] just didn't happen to |
banker after them. Tor I was living |