The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1915-01-14

|gals tibet kin read an write, gals
dressed up In all kinds Of fancy FIX
|ln's." Her glib words ran out and
|ended in q sort of inward gasp.
Compliment came hardly and awk-
|wardly to Samson's lips. He reached
for the girls hand, and whispered
II reckon l won't see no gals thet's
les purity as you be, Sally. I reckon ye
knows, whether l goes or stays, we're
a-goin' ter git married"
She drew her hand away, and
laughed, little bitterly. In the last
day, she had ceased to be child, and
become a woman with all the soul-ach-
ing possibilities of a woman's intui-
tions.
Samson" she said. II hain't askin'
I've ter make me no promises. When
I've sees them other gals-gals thet kin
Tread an write-I reckon mebby yen.
think diff'rent. can't hardly spell
|out printin' in the fust reader .
Her lovers voice was scornful of the
imagined dangers, as a recruit may be.
of the battle terrors-before he has;
been under fire. He slipped his arm
about her and drew her over to him.
Honey" he said, I'VE needn't fret
about tibet. Readin' an writin' can't
make no difference fer a woman.
Hits mighty important fer man, but
you're GAL"
i You're a-goin' ter think diff'rent at
ter awhile" she insisted. when ye
goes. l hain't a-goin' ter be expectin'
We ter come back But"-the
resolution in her voice for moment
quavered as she added-"but God
knows I'm a-goin' ter be hopin'!"
SALLY" The boy rose, and paced
up and down in the road. Air ye
goin' ter be ag'inst me, too? Don't We
see that l wants ter have a chanst?
Can't We trust me? I'm jest a-tryin'
to amount to something. I'm plumb
tired of bein' ornery an no count"
She nodded.
1--WE done told ye," she said, YEARLY,
tibet I thinks We ought ter do hit"
Lescott and Samson discussed the
matter frequently. At times the boy
was obstinate in his determination to
remain; at other times he gave way
to the yearnings for change and oppor-
ltunity.
The dance on Saturday was to be
something more portentous than a
mere frolic. 1t would be clan gath
ering to which the South adherents
would come riding up and down Mis-.
cry and its tributaries from nigh
abouts" and lover yon." From fore
noon until after midnight, shuttle, jig
and fiddling would hold high, if rough.
carnival. But, while the younger folk
abandoned themselves to these diver
siOns, the grayer heads would gather
in more serious conclave. Jesse Purvy
had once more beaten back death, and
his mind had probably been devising,
during those bed-ridden days and
nights, plans of reprisal. According
'nounced that his would-be assassin
dwelt on Misery, and was marked
down." So, there were obvious ext
gencies which the Souths must pre-
pare to meet. In particular, the clan
must thrash out to definite under
standing the demoralizing report that
Samson South, their logical leader,
meant to abandon them, at a crisis
when war-clouds were thickening.
The painter had finally resolved to
cut the Gordian knot, and leave the
mountains. He had trained on Sam.
son to the last piece all his artillery of
argument. The case was now submit
ted with the suggestion that the boy
take three months to consider, and
that. If he decided afffrmatively, he
should notify Lescott in advance of his
coming. He proposed sending Samson
a small library of carefully picked
books, which the mountaineer eagerly
agreed to devour in the interval.
Lescott consented, however, to re-
main over Saturday, and go to the
dance, since he was curious to observe
what pressure was brought to bear on
the boy, and to have himself a 6nal
word Of argument after kinsmen had
spoken.
Saturday morning came after a night
OF torrential rain, which had left the
mountains steaming under a reek of
fog and pitching clouds.
But, as the morning wore on, the
sun fought its way to view in a scrap
of overhead blue. From log cabins
and plank houses up and down Misery
land its tributaries, men and women be.
gan their hegira toward the mill Les.
colt rode in the wake of Samson, who
had Sally on pillow at his back. They
came before noon to the mouth of Dry.
hole creek, and the house of Vile Nc,
eager. Already, the picket fence was
lined with tethered horses and mules
From the interior of the house came
the sounds of fiddling, though these
strains Of Turkey in the Straw" were
only by way of prelude. Lescott felt,
though he could not say just what con-,
crete thing told him, that under the
shallow note of merry-making brooded,
the major theme of q troublesome;
problem. The seriousness was below
the surface, but mistakenly depressing.