Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1909-06-16

and got my shirt all bloody, for I'd
been in the drift forty hours without
sleep and breathing powder smoke till
my knees buckled and wabbled under
me. To this day the smell of stale
powder smoke makes woman of me,
but that morning sang. for was 60
ing for my bride. and the world was
brighter than 1t has ever been for
eighteen years. The little schoolhouse
was closed, ut which remembered
that the term was over. I'd been liv-
ing underground for weeks and lost
track of the days. so that had to
count them up on my fingers. 1t took
me long time, for was pretty tired
in my head. but when I'd figured 1t out |
went on to where she was boarding.
'The woman of the place came to
the door, Scotchwoman. She had
mole on her chin. remember, a brown.
ish black mole with three hairs in It.
She wore an apron. too, that was kind
of checkcred, and three buttons were
open at the neck of her dress. recall
lot more of little things about her,
though the rest of what happened is
rather dreamy.
II asked for Merridy, and she told
me she'd gone away-gone with Ben
nett the night before, while l was
coughing blood from the powder
smoke; that they were married in the
front room and that the bride looked
beautiful. She had cried bit on leav-
ing Chandon and--and-that was about
all. i counted the buttons on the
Scotchwoman's waist eight or ten
times. and by and by she asked If
was sick. But wasn't. She was
kind hearted woman, and I'd been to
her house good deal, SO she asked me
| to come In and rest. wasn't tired, so
l went away and climbed back up to
the little shack and the mine that
hated now.
Il turned into kind Of hermit after
that, and wasn't good to associate
with. Men got so they Stunned me,
and knew they told strange stories,
because heard them whisper when
went to the stores for grub once a
month.
"From time to time heard Of her,
but the news, instead Of gladdening
me. as it would have gladdened some
men, wrung out what bits of suffering
were left in me, and l fairly ached for
her. Nobody comes to see clearer than
a woman deceived, so 1t didn't take
her long to find out the kind of man
Bennett was. He wasn't like her Mt
all, and the reason he had courted her
SO holly was just that he had had
everything that rightly belongs to
man like him and had sickened of 1t,
SO he wanted her because she was
clean and purean different, and, real
izing that he couldn't get her any other
way. he had married her. But she was
a treasure no bad man could appreci-
ate. and so he tired quickly, even be-
fore the little one came.
"When l heard that she had borne
him daughter wrote her letter.
which took me month to compose
and which tore up. One day story
came to me that made me saddle my
horse to ride down and kill him-and,
mind you, l was IL man who made pets
of little wild. trusting things But
knew she would surely send for me
when her pain became too great, so
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out word from her. without glimpse
of her, and every hour of that time
went by rs slowly rs if had held
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w.
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