The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-06-05
Pete Coyne's
Elevation
By SARAH BAXTER

finement; sometimes they don't.
When the first railroad was pushing
its way across the great American
desert I, being fond of hunting wild
game, went to a small town on that
part of the line that was finished and
made it my headquarters for hunring
bunaloes and other game. l boarded
with a Mrs. Copeland. Whether she
was a widow, a brevet widow or held
no matrimonial commission whatever
no one cared, and no one asked. Her
regular boarders called her by her first
name, Kate. She was n OF those
women who 1T in readily with uncouth
surroundings. Her boarders were all
men, but every man was respectful to
her, in accordance with the manners of
the country. They did not hesitate to
swear in her presence, and probably If
one of them should have had a diff
Guilty with another neither would have
hesitated to shoot in her presence, but
SO far as she was herself concerned she
was immune from any disrespect what
yer
Mrs. Copeland was but twenty-three
years old and tolerably good looking.
She showed no preference for any of
the men with whom she came in con-
tact and accepted no attentions from
any one Of them. She treated them all
alike, except one, Peter Coyne, whom
she seemed disposed to. quarrel with.
Coyne had been a professional gam
bier, but had recently turned his at
tention to a contract he had with the
railroad for taking dirt from where it
was not needed and putting it where
rails were to be laid. He appeared to
be the most forceful of Rates board
ers, and 1 wondered why she singled
him out for i'll usage. Her treatment
seemed to trouble him, and every time
she scolded him he would hang his
head and take what she said to him
like a guilty sc%hoolboy.
I noticed that Rates reprimands to
Coyne were never occasioned by any
ill treatment of her. Sometimes they
arose from differences of opinion,
sometimes because he was unmindful
of the feelings of others, and once |
heard her abusing him because he had
shown a tendency to backslide into his
former profession of gambling. Just
before I left l witnessed a makeup
after one of the dressings Kate gave
Coyne, and it was very amusing. The
big man had got a pOsy somewhere
and offered it to. her az a peace offer
ing. He went up to her with it as
shyly as if he expected her to open on
him with a six shooter.
Soon after this little episode l finish
ed my hunting operations and return
ed to the east. The railroad and other
transcOntinental lines were finished,
and the western part of North Ameri-
ca began a development that has work
ed wonders. New farming territory
was opened, towns and villages sprang
up with modern cOnveniences, and the
people, throwing off their uncouth
with their rough dress, were
transformed into ladies and gentlemen.
Some twelve years after my hunting
trip to the west I had occasion to visit
Washington. Congress was in session.
and the social season was at its height.
At a reception of the president, which
l attended, l was moving about among
the thrOng when l met a man and a
woman handsomely dressed, both Of
whose faces seemed familiar to me
The lady showed signs of recognizing
me, but passed on with only the sign.
Later a man, evidently a westerner.
approached me and said:
BEG your pardon, sir. There Is a
lady in another o who desires to
speak with you"
followed him, and he led me to the
woman l had met shortly before.
"Mrs. Senator Coynew said my con-
ductor, and since he did not know my
name he left us.
1 stood looking at the lady wonder
ingly, while she sat looking at me with
an amused expression on her face.
Then suddenly through the silk and
lace gown she wore I recognized the
woman I had boarded with years be-
fore. l grasped her hand.
"YOu would hardly recognize in me-"
she said, "the woman you boarded
with when on your hunting trip, would
you? And you wouldn't have expected
that l would marry Pete Coyne. Fact
is, I saw there was the making of Z
fine man in Pete, and when you were
with me l vas trying to get him up
on to a higher plane. He made money
by contracting, and after awhile 1
married him. Then when the terri.
tory became a state he was sent to
congress. That led to his being made
one Of the states senator's, and here
we are right in it for all we're worth"
"And I assure you," I replied, zone
would not suspect but that you were
born here"
"Oh. this is my third winter in Wash
ington. When I first came I was pref
ty rough. But, you see, Pete was
rougher than I, 80 l had to pull myself
together and get on to society ways
IN order to polish him. That's been
my hardest job. Pete is older than !
am, and you can't make a gentleman
- -~- $780, h~tc ~~A~xvn nrn - TO-