Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-03-24

kGjNXn .KSN familiarity, there was a
@&dWIS@ sense of great strange
- ness brooding ominously
over the Gene. The big mill down in
the hollow was there even as it was
when he went away to the far east,
but a year before the same shaft-house
reared it's ungainly head above its
footing of leveled dump, the tramway
stretched snakelike around the hills,
and the blacksmith's shop squatted
out on the foreground. But every
where there was silence.
A strike was on-cruel, relentless,
long drawn and effective. n San
ders' heart was filled with a great pity
and a great loneliness, for many of
these men were his friends. and they
were fighting the greatest man in the
world. his hero, Mccarthy the man
ager.
1t seemed preposterous that they
should be at enmity with his deal.
Why, Mccarthy was every mans
friend, if the man was only worth
while. Mccarthy a given him a
stage in the older days, had nursed
men who were sick, had looked after
the welfare of the widowed, and m
poverished himself to assist others,
and, best Of all, had married the
Dream Lady.
Sanders felt very moody, and over
his freckled face there crept a gloom
strangely at variance with the lines
of good humor that crinkled the cor
ners of his eyes, and even swept up to
the very roots of his red hair.
From the managers house in the
real there fioated to him through the
opened windows McCarthy's big,
booming voice, carrying a note of min
gled stubbOrnness and sorrow.
It's not our own old men that are
at fault" the voice said, evidently ad-
dressing the Dream Lady. It's these
new men that nave entered the dis
trict. Men that ave come from the
foreign mines, and who are always
rampant %uniOnists. They don't under
stand conditions, and have swept
those who do off their feet and out Of
reason in their demands. 1t wouldn't
hurt so much if some of our old men,
who used to be such good friends of
mine, were not suffering" The speech
ended in a l~ong-drawn sigh, and the
twittering of a bird in the tamaracks
distracted Sanders attention.
Blu why are you so worried to-
day?' came the Dream Lady's voice,
with an undertone of insistence.
Sanders felt that Mccarthy was try
ing to evade something, and waited
impatiently for the answer. 1t came
after much hesitation.
.tyXyoll ac we'll fell Won the
truth, because you will know it all
sooner or later. l received notice last
night that the men, aggravated by
our ability to keep the pumps going
and the underground workings free
from water, are going to resort to
violence. There are threats from the
worst of them that they will dynamite
the boiler-house.'
A sharp, low exclamation came
from the Dream Lady within, and San
ders hurriedly jumped to his feet and
ran into the house. The mine-mana-
ger sat with his hands tightly
clenched, his gray-fringed head drop
ped forward, and his whole posture
that of dependency. His dark eyes
blazed with resolution unspoken, and
his set Jaws told of another side to
the impending struggle. Both San
ders and the Dream Lady read his
purpose, and understood.
ooh. Mack" pleaded the Dream
Lady. dropping to her knees by his
side, you aren't going to stay here
and fight them, are you? The mine
isn't worth your life. You are mine.
You belong to me, and to Sanders
Sanders felt that he had been APP
pealed to by the Dream Lady, but FOR
once was without an answer.
I'm going to send you and San
ders away said Mccarthy, without
looking up.
Sanders rose in open rebellion.
you can send her If you want to- he
said. I'VE don't want her to get hurt.
But YOU can't send me. I'm goin' to
stick. You always stuck by me, and
7 always stuck by 0 And we amt
goin' to be unstuck now" he conclud-
ed sharply.
Mccarthy felt that he was receiving
the last straw when such opposition
came from within his own household.
He pleaded with them, tried to shoW
that they might be In danger; be
sought them to go, because he would
worry over their safety, and finally
commanded.
As a compromise, he allowed them
two days respite, telling them that he
feared no attack until at least one
more attempt at Cancellation had
failed. .
Then, to avoid further discussion OF
what he considered a fina solution, he
nut on his hat, aimlessly picked up a
rubber coat, and strobe out across
the porch. and down the pathway to
the idle plant.
Sanders patted the Dream Lady al
on the shoulder, and put
his arms around her neck, in the vain
hope of comforting her. h drew
him to her until the shock OF red hair
was pillowed on her breast, and Their
broke into quivering sobs.
The boy, with a wisdom Tar peyond
his years, silently slipped through the
door and out on the hillside, and LETT
her to the efficacy of tears. He re-
membered with vividness the lie"
REBEL AGAINST SCOTCH RULE