Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-03-18
Two Strange
Companions

the concrete and tangible, longer than
h span OF my own life. For the in
slant when the image Of him first i'm
pressed Its indelible outlines upon my
retina, l saw danger, 1t cautioned me
with q shrewdness as new to my ma
ture as the hate itself. The hate with
in me must have been a thing Of cum
ming.
A I took his extended hand, the
puny fragility Of the thing was smoth-
cred In my clasp. / closed my grip
upon 1t. and the man WINGED as the
bones crunched together under the
pressure. I heard his teeth click as he
restrained a cry Of pain, and from his
little cold gray eyes he darted at me
. look which unveiled his soul to my
sight for an instant and showed to me
the venom OF the snake for the heel
that presses upon its head. So swift
had been u exchange of hostile
Elances that NJ one had noticed. The
next instant he was smiling and I was
smiling, but we. the two of us, knew
and understood that our natures were
~ 0PbOoAtAOhD IAoJ lll5 lAAdIS aver
sion within us marked us for the prin-
cipals In q struggle not to be ended
until the one Of us had seen the other
down.
A Chicago Arm intended the pur.
chase Of some thousands of acres OF
land for the exclusive raising Of sheep,
and I was informed that Harvey OAR
rinston was looking over the large
Dawson ranch for this express pur-
pose. The old man. Jim Dawson. COM
missioned me with the task Of show
ing OF the ranch to Darlington, being
we'll acquainted with the whole coun-
try, and also because of some previ.
GUS experience with sheep In Texas.
We were peculiar and strange COM
rades, the embodiment OF two spirits
which were ut war. My position was
calling; to live with this man whom I
had met only to hate. to ride with him
the long hours Of the day. with the
knowledge Of him ever at my side, urg-
Ing and prompting me. with a witch
Ing OF the Angers, to throw myself
vpon him and to grasp his throat. All,
that smile of his, with the devil be-
hind 1t. that careful. pleasant. interest
I'd smile, how I hated 1t! still must
ear one as false and deceitful. 1t
was Dur game. the game of two de-
mons with murder in their hearts. who
smiled. smiled always, and TESTED. dis
cussed, related. even argued. with the
enthusiasm and spirit Of relatives. 1t
was the way We chose to play u
game. What did 1t matter that there
was no other to see? Encircling this
game Of ours was a refinement which
came to be silently understood as a
kind Of armed truce between us which
disapproved of the actual brutality OF
physical conflict and made 1t a battle
Of Wills rather than Of Drawn and bod.
lily strength. For my part, 1 could
have killed him . number Of times,
but what I desired was to see his
smile fade, his will break. his spirit
droop. Then only would my hate be
satisfied.
A. the days added themselves to-
gsthsr. each n placing US at a great
Or number OF miles from the ranch
house and bringing us closer to the
thin fringe Of cacti where the swell
OF the grass plain drops away into the
Arst sand Area Of the desert, a scheme
evolved itself within my mind where
By my purpose might be accomplished
IN q manner which seemed to me at
ncs satisfying and skillful. We made
camp within q mile OF its fringe upon
the last night before I knew we should
reach the edge of the desert. The next
Nornlng In arranging my saddle blan-
kst. I inserted between the light blan-
let and the heavy saddle . number Of
burs, common to the part Of the plains
and strangely Irritating to horsefesh.
The bur stickers or barbs are forced
through the blanket into the flesh be-
Death by the pressure Of the saddle.
Darlington va already In the saddle
waiting for me when I mounted. This
had planned. Az my weight settled
Into the saddle the horse suddenly
throw up his head and leaped straight
lAto Tie cir. coming down with stif
~ planted In . bunch. He lowered
~ hsaA and throw his heels into the
ctr until his body was almost perpen-
A3salaz. pitching dreadfully. He
oQu1rnsd. bucked. reared. danced,
tArew himself into the air again with
Q Qharp turn to the right which nearly
~ for me- and made me claw leather.
4As1, without : moments warning. he
- away. I turned my head to mo
~nPr4natn Ia follov. HA was