Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-04-28
"

DXV 1 ~ INC SPoSA
nkM tanning the wife and
III" daughter Of the president.
~ Mccarthy disliked the
NV waste of time and the role
~ of entertainer for women.
Most OF the women l have known
have been a nuisance" he said audi
bly,, in his growing annoyance.
me, too, Mack" piped up q small
voice beside him.
Mccarthy turned and swore. HIS
cath was answered with such an en-
phatic string of profanity tina 1t al
most drowned the whistle of he In
coming train.
The superintendent looked reprov-
ingly at his companion, Sanders, the
stage-driver. The latter, nearly four
feet in height and thirteen years old,
returned the gaze unblinkingls from a
pair of ~w1se-looking Irish-American
eyes which bel1ed his age, meanwhile
wrinkling his freckles into a mass that
served as q harmonious fresco below
his red hair. Again he gave speech.
Most women" he said, lis like ore
wagons take up too much room on
the trail"
The train groaned and creaked along
the rails, and came to q whining, per
spring halt.
Sanders drove frantically through
the crowd, swearing with earnestness
~ he went, and planted himself before
tho platform. Down the steps surged
prospectors, miners, commercial tray
elers, and women, humping each 9TH
er's legs with bales, bundles, and bags,
and all in q hurry. But 1t was not
Sanders day. There was none who
knew him-and those who were at
tracted by his shrill voice crying
"Stage-line to Horne" paid small heed
to his appeal, and trafficked with his
rival. He lodged to and fro to avoid
being trampled upon, and tried to gain
4 fare from the other stage-driver.
The rival looked the part, thought San
ders %enviously, as he gazed with AMI
mostly at the six feet of Drawn sur
mounted by a SLOUGH hat, and listened
to the voice which came with a hoarse
below.
Sander turned disconsolately to-
ward his own stage, and in emulation
of his elders Of the wilder mining
camp up in the hills from which he
came, again swore with proficiency.
Here, you, Sanders" hailed NC
Carthy's voice from he diminishing
crowd, "here are some passengers FOR
you"
The wiselooking little, old face
brightened up hopefully, and he came
forward u~nabashed, but colored with
self-consciousness before the outburst
of merriment of the most beautiful
lady he had ever seen. He recalled IN
stantly'a story his father used to tell
him before he went to rest back up
there in the hills, and from then on
she became to him the Dream ady
But it wouldn't do to blush, ne
thought f%uriously. He must play the
mart. because, after all, he was a real
stage-driver. He braced his feet wide
" anart. assumed a hoarse voice, and
in answer to her question, Are you a
stare-driver"" vociferated. "You bet
your damn life I am"
The Dream Lady laughed with such
abandonment that the superintend-
snt's sharp reproof was unuttered.
Mccarthy led the way to the stage,
assisted the presidents wife n
daughter t O a seat, and then deposit
ed his own huge bulk beside the driv-
er's cushion.
Sanders crawled up to his place,
using the spokes of tho wheel as 2
ladder, clutched the re1ns IN his small
hands, tripped the brake with much
effort. and started his horses with a
vain. He reasoned over the intricac1es
Of the situation, and decided that he
had been tested with, Inundated, set
npon. and ridiculed. It urt because
the Dream Lady was SO beautiful inc
had such shining eye
1t was too much, and as a big lump
came suddenly into his throat, San
ders almost swallowed the ample
chew of tobacco that distorted the
contour of his face. Hitherto he had
felt the pride of position. Why
shouldn't he Joy in his independence?
He had always made his own way n
had been no mark for humor. Why,
even when he wanted to go into the
stage business after Old Patch, ow-
ing to too many stops at the road
house, had simultaneously lost his
hole on the reins of horses and OF
life by falling from his seat, the min
ers had not treated him as a joke.
With great gravity they had subscrib-
ed for the purchase of he outfit and
had called him Mister Sanders" True,
some of them had winked and grown
rad in the face when they put their
names and their money down, but
they had not laughed at him broadly
as the Dream Lady did.
Sanders recalled that entry into
stasedom with a warmth in his heart
for Mccarthy, who was SO outspoken
with all men and whom SO many fear
ed. The big man, he remembered,
had read the list without a change OF
expression and had eve taken the
mains to test his ability, or, as the boy
said, tried him out" ander well
remembered that trial. The superin-
tsndent had hailed an ore-wagon with
"Here, Jim; take this boy up there
by you, let him take the ribbons ana
drive to the bottom of the hill. Watch