El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-03
The Girl Back Home
By Virginia Mcclure, of Mills,
Mora Co. y. II.
A short Story.


L h white and billowy, and moved
steadily out upon the bosom Of the
mighty dome like proud ships, with
sails unfurIed to the salty breeze bent
upon a voyage across the trackless
waste Of green sea-waters-
The sun beat down upon the endless
stretch Of brown meadow, and wheat
fields that gilded the Big Mesa with
their ripened golden grain, with all
the intensity and fierceness that ran
kles in the heart of a July afternoon
Only the breeze that swung in from
frost-bound peaks to the west made it
possible for the laborers in the fields
to keep their usual pace.
As the day waned the heecy ships
Of vapor condensed themselves into
one mammoth blackened heap piled low
and long above the SUBMITS of the
Rockies Graded thus, they seemed
10th to leave; and for some time
grOWled and Numbered like a savage
beast Of the jungles- But the wind grew
stronger and with ii rose the storm
cloud moving nearer a motley crew OF
brawny farmers. some dozen or more,
working like galley slaves to get IN
the down load before the storm broke
upon them. But the guSty wind, the
bombardment of sand and electric
flashes drove them to seek shelter IN
advance of the torrent that soon dim
med the airy Tastness with It's duIl
grey veil
a tawny 'dobe hut standing near the
great ricks of garnered sheaves FUR
niShed shelter to the men, all Of WhOm
had seen less than thirty summers, ana
had come out to the golden W est Wnen
Uncle sam, in generosity to his chill
dren, told them a half-SecCOn OF fer
tile land was theirs for the asking
When they had sprawled their tired
limbs out in d reStful manner upon
the hard earthen floor and the rain
was coming in great sheets against
the only window in the cabin. one OF
the men said: Boys we've made d
stake this time. Kansas has nothing
on the Big Mesa when it comes to
wheat And to think how my pals back
home JOllied me when told them was
coming down among the Mexicans and
beat Uncle Sam out Of 800 acres OF
dirt. What they said, down among
the coyotes and prairie dogs and rat
tiers where all man can see IS sage
brush and cactus, goats and paint
pOines2 BAH no back to the farm
for me, like that
But boys, we've won out III clean
up a cool thousand on my 40 when
them there ricks are Jhreshed out"
You're dead right. Jim exclaimed
q husky HOOSier lad that lay a few
feet away. both hands supporting a
damp toWsled head And if my so
doubles your pile, between you and me
there'u be one less bachelor on Z The
Mesa She's back home now jist
Waitin for me to say the WOrds and
I'm jist a waitin'-welI-fur this here
stake you're talkin' about. Bachin is
all right fur awhile, 1 reckon, till We
git a start ye know, but these here
shacks sprinkled round over the prai-
ries begin to look kinder lonesome Z
like; pears to me they need brushin'
A streak Of forzed lightning flashed
athWart the sky, and the thunder burst
ike a bomb above the fiat top OF the
cabin. but when the last rumbling note
a
brOwed youth one from the coal fields D
OF Illinois, broke in You know my
dad IS not much when it comes to
books, and you ought to have heard I
him laugh when used to read to him
what Mr.. Campbell said about making !
the plains blossom like the rose by I
mixing a little science with farming.
Yes, you ought to have heard him
laugh. Said muscle and horse sense, /
good land and plenty of rain was what
talked when it come TO farming: and !
that our agricultural schools are a
graft; only things to get the boys
money.
But that day at the station. when !
ne shipped his arm about my neck he |
said, You may be right boy you may /
be right Missouri used to be bad, and 1
look at her now And Kansas? Why, J
when / was a boy il a man was going /
to Kansas he was so ashamed of it |
he'd leave home in the night y on may
be right, boy, you may be right. "
And HOOsier, the girl back home 1
y n
A little calico round any Of these here !
shacks would make 'em seem mighty
hOme-like; might hOme-like."
Now Texas, said Jim. turning to /
a handsome strapping chap who lay on I
the opposite side of the shanty. Wen 4
hear you next Wen make kind Of 4
confessional out of this here shack"
Texas mad been silent Wnle the I
others had been prattling, his eyes half I
closed and his body relaxed into q /
most comfortable position. But when |
9 nn- ~-H- al 4 -
ser in motion the wheels of his tired (
brain; and il was hard for him to ina ]
CINE one IN Indiana or Illinois whose
beauty and loneliness could compare /
with a rose he had in mind blooming 4
in the heart of Texas.
Boys he answered 4 was jiss a 4
thin1in' when yer spoke that a man 4
playln a hand like ours is darned poor ;
If there amt no one back home TO i
care whether he wins or loses. Yes sir, |
that is jist what 1 was thinkin'."
The storm sottened a little, but a I
gradual dOWnpOur Of rain kept the men I
inside; and one after another Poured /
out the story of MS heart. One dreamed !
of a golden head down in Georgia; /
another of brown on Kentucky's /
bluegrass slopes; while another saw
one of raven curls and a pair Of mid |
night eyes on the rOckbOund coast OF /
Maine that looked lOngingly in the way }
of the setting sun
In each case twas the girl back home.
In one corner of the cabin, stretched /
at full length, lay Jack Brown, the /
Oldest Of the group. and the first man /
to drive stakes on 2 half section claim
on the Big Mesa His brow was high /
and full, his eyes restless and his form |
was a little stopped. He bore traces Of /
the worlds rough usage. Little was
known of Jacks past. and he rarely I
INDUCED in a hearttOheart talk with I
the boys. So when he remained silent
on this occasion while the others
gUshed and sighed. it was just like Jack /
and no notice was given to it
But something touched the handspring |
to the door of Jacks heart that day.
drew away the barriers Of its secret /
recesses. It may have been the boys
confessions: it may have been the dull 4
patter on the earthen roof or IL may
have been that the long pent-up secret /
clamOred for sympathy, such as he felt /
this big-hearted group of stalWart
young heroes would give But let the /
magnet be What it may, when he spoke I
every eye was turned toward him,
every ear inclined to listen. He said: |
Boys, as yer all know ] amt much 1
given Ser talk. but I'm gOin' ter say
jist word. There's one back home,
her hair amt as brown as 1t used ter
be and her steD amt as steady She
can't come ter me, but 1 can go ter
her. 7 promised her / would. When
she sold the little farm dad left her
ter save her only boy from the devil,
told her I'd make good She's my
moi har. hoz-e and 7 r0aEr Ter keen my Z