Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-09-10
CHAPTER I.

~ t"oy IL Nllio W. L tAiiA ~
encountered world are spots SO quiet
and beautiful as to make the fall of
man seem incredible, and awaken In
the breast of the weary traveller who
comes suddenly upon them. a vague
and dear delusion that he has STUN
bled into Paradise.
Such an Eden existed in the extreme
western part OF Ohio in the spring Of
1849. 1t was a valley surrounded by
wooded hills and threaded by a noisy
brook which hastily made it's way, as
II upon some errand of immense i'm
portance, down to the big Miami not
many miles distant. A road cut
through a vast and solemn forest led
Into the valley, and entering as If by
. corridor and through the open portal
OF q temple, the traveller saw a white
farmhouse nesting beneath a mighty
blackberry tree whose wide-reaching
arms sheltered it from summer sun
and winter wind. A deep, wide lawn
OF bluegrass lay in front, and a garden
Of flowers, fragrant and brilliant, OH
Its southern side. Stretching away in
to the background was the farm newly
carved out of the wilderness, but al
ready in a high state Of cultivation.
In this lovely valley, at the close of
. long, odorous, sun-drenched day in
saassy&lAay.sshe sacred silence was bro-a
ken BY a raucous blast from that most
unmusical of instruments. a tin dinner
horn. 1t was blown by a bare-legged
country boy Who seemed to take de-
light in this proclamation. BY his side,
In the vine-clad porch of the white
farmhouse stood a woman who shad-
ed her eyes with her hand as she look
A6 toward q yo e.,.N NH;co$ In u -5tcxo ~
meadow. She was no longer young. AS
the light of the setting sun fell full
upon her face 1t seemed almost trans
parent. and wen the unobserving must
have perceived that some deep expert
ence Of the sadness of life had added
to. her character an indescribable
charm.
Thee will nave to go and call him,
Stephen, for I think he has fallen into
another trance" the woman said. in a
low voice In which there was not a
trace of Impotence.
The child threw down his dinner
horn, whistled to his dog and started.
Springing up from where he had been
watching every expression Of his mas
ter's face, the shaggy collie bounded
around him as he moved across the
lawn, while the woman watched them
with a proud aid happy smile.
Unutterable and incomprehensibla
emotions were awakened in the soul
of the boy by the stiffness and beauty
of the evening world. His senses were
not yet dulled nor his feelings faded.
Through every venue of his intelli-
gelce the mystery of the universe
stole into his sensitive spirit. If a
breeze blew across the meadow he
turned his cheek to it's kiss; If the
odor of spearmint from the brookside
was waited around him he oreathed
It into his nostrils with delight. He
saw the shadow of a crow flying across
the field and stopped to look up and
listen for the swish CT her wings and
her loud. hoarse cav as she made her
way to h nesting grounds; then he
gazed beyond her, into the fathomless
depths of the blue sky. and his soul
was stirred with an indescribable awe.
But 1t was not so much the objects
themselves as the spirit p%ervading
them, which stirred the depths of the
child's mind. The little pantheist saw
God everywhere. We bestow the gift
of language upon a child. but the feel
lngs which that language serves only
to interpret and express exist and glow
within him eve If he be dumb. And
this gift of language Is often OF ques-
tionable value, and had beer so with
him. All that he felt, filed him with
love. To him the valley was heaven,
and through 1t invisibly but unmistak-
ably God walked, mornins. noon and
! evening.
To the child sauntering dreaInily and
wistfully along. he object dinily seen
from the farm1hpuse door began grad
ually to dissolve itself into u group OF
living beings. Two horses were at
tached to a plow; one standing in the
lush grass of the meadow, and the 9TH
er in a deep furrow raced across it's
surface. The plowshare was buried
deep In the rich. alluvial SOIL. and a
ribbon of earth rolled from its blade
ike a petrif1ed sea billow, crested with
n cluster of daisies white as the foam
of a ave
Between the handles Of the pillow and
teaning on the c~rossbar, his back to
the horses. stood q young Quaker. His
broad trimmed hat. set ca-elessly on
The back OF his head. disclosed q wide.
thigh forehead: his, flannel shirt open
atehe throat exposed o strong, column
mar sn4N deep. broad chest; his
sunburned and muscular arms were
foldedMacroes his breast; figure and
Posture revealed the perfect concord
OF body and soul with the beauty ok
The yroqad; his great blue cyes
1xed upee the notch In the hiiis whore
u 49, -.