The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1915-10-07
By LOUISE B. CUMMINGS.

Ter OF which was small house. Ny
venerable companion gave me a story
about this place, the time being some
forty years before.
"Cyrus Copeland lived in that house,
he said, when I was a youngster. He
had wife and daughter. Molly, the
daughter. was as trim a girl as ever I
saw. I used to see her driving her
fathers cows to and from pasture. and
she walked as straight az a soldier
boy. She wore her dresses not much BE-
low the knee, but when stood beside
her I noticed that she was pretty nigh
as tall as was, and L was a grown
man.
There's never been much to earn
around here. Nature designed 1t for
summer recreation, and now we're get
ting city people and bungalows. Cope
land died, leaving nothing to his wife
and daughter, and his wife soon fol-
lowed him.
If you'll move little this way
you'll see another house-that yellow
one with red roof. A man lived
alone in that house-he had no WIFE
who took considerable interest in the
Copeland family. He'd seen Molly
grow up from child to woman, and
even when she was no more than four
teen years old she had kept this man
Jim was his name-from thinking
about any woman, although he was
past thirty at the time. After Cope
land died Jim spent his time inventing
ways to make the widow and the girl
think what he provided for them was
their own, and they were not indebted
to him for it This was no credit to
him, seeing that he had no one Of his
own to do for, and the only comfort
he had was doing it for them. He
might have married one Of them, but
he didn't want the widow. She was
too old, and Molly was too young for
him.
when the widow died Molly was
twenty years old and Jim. was forty
two. He saw that some one would
have to take care Of her since she
hadn't anything to live on and no one
to tie to. And the worst Of it was that
Jim had told so many lies that she
thought she was we'll fixed. After her
mothers funeral Jim went to see Mol
~ to have talk. You see, it would
be hard for him to conceal much long
er that he was putting up all the mon.
ey for her and the condition couldn't
continue indefinitely. There was only
one way out Of it. Despite the differ
ence in their ages, he must marry her.
But how to break the matter to her
was problem.
molly Internationally helped him
out.
"There's something, Uncle Jim
she'd been used to calling him Uncle
Jim from a child-'that I've always
wished to know. What was the trou-
BILE that preyed OH fathers mind, and,
l am convinced, finally killed himT
"Jim hadn't the heart to tell her and
tried to crawfish, but she hung on and
at last he told her. Copeland had had
trouble with one Gwynne about
mortgage Gwynne had on his place.
One day Gwynne was found dead. It
was known that there had been trou-
BILE between him and Copeland, and
Copeland was accused Of the murder.
Some neighbors tried to lynch Cope
land, and Jim drove them of.
Nothing more was done about the
matter, but Copeland lived the rest of
his life under cloud, for the real
murderer never turned up.
Jim told Molly the story, drawing
it as mild as he could as to the part
he had taken in the matter, for he
didn't want to blow his own horn, but
it wasn't likely that Molly could have
lived all these years without her father
and mother letting her know that they
felt thankful to Jim for something.
When he came to the part where he
had stood against the men that want
ed to lynch her father he tried to make
it appear Of not much importance.
Molly just threw her arms around
his neck and, crying hard, said: Uncle
Jim, l know from what father and
mother have said that what you did
was Of the greatest Importance, but
they never told me that it was. can
see now that you acted the part Of a.
Jim didn't hear any more for her
sobs. OF course he sympathized with
her and let her cry with her head on
his shoulder. After that it came easy
for him to explain to her that he had
been putting up for her and her moth
er, and it wouldn't be best for him to
keep on doing it unless they were mar
ried. Molly saw it in this light and
concluded she'd better take the old
chap"
"Who was JimY' asked.
"Jim? I'm Jim"
II see. That accounts for the modest
part you have given yourself in the
story"
learned from Jim's wife that his
defense Of her father was a remark
ably heroic act. Moreover, she told me
that from the time she was old enough
to know what love was she had ex-
pected and desired that she would be
Ms wife.