Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-07-11
T h e u a ilv
Short Story
A BRIDES DOVER.
BY Sadie Olcott

lie could not chose desirable place O..
a decent house in which 70 live In
deed, his farm was a circular deprez-
sion. and when too much rain came il
was flooded and his crops rotted. AZ
( for his house. il was bat hat ans
was pIastered with mud. But Van wvz
had not always lived this. Time was
when he had been we'll off and tba
eldest daughter, Katherine. was ede-
Gated
Katherine was a comelv Dutch girl
with blue eyes. fair complexion and
( hair almost white. Her mother df5
the best she could to keep her girl we'll
dressed and. having fabrics that She
/ had worn in better days. made chem
over so successfully that Kate ezpe-
ciaiIy on Sundays. made a very good
/ appearance.
Some distance from the Van wvks
/ lived a prosperous farmer named
/ Greutner-that is. he was considered
prosperous for that region. though his
farm produced only a fair living for
himself and his family He had
( number of daughters and but one son.
therefore ne was anxious that his chill
dren should marry with those WIN
we're well TO do He had saved small
dowry for each of his daughters. ana
as Tor his SON. Hans. he proposed tr
leave him his farm. But he required
from any girl his boy should marry
doWry equivalent 20 it's value
Unfortunately Hans met Katherine
at dance at one of the neighborlna
farmhouses, and one glance AT her
pink and milk face, her robins egg
eyes and the two hemp colored cables
that hung from the back of her head
to her ankles, put all ideas Of his ia
theirs plans ont of his head EFa
danced with her severI times during
the evening, and when the two sep
arated theirs was enc of those cases
wherein two Young hearts rush to-
Gether like a couple of electric sharks
When Farmer Greutner heard OF his
sons love affair he called the boy to
him and said
Hans I'm ashamed Of YOU What
do you mean by making love ~ a girl
who lives IN a cabin plastered with
mud You certainly can't marry her.
for if You do I viii give this farm to
your sisters and YOU and vour mud
hat wife viii have nothing 70 live
upon
Hans only lrritated his father bv
making no reply. People with whom
we are angry cannot make as more
angry than by listening to what 10
say and giving us no word iu return.
Hans went away determined thai
nothing should separate him from TIFF
girl he loved. even to the surrenderIa
Of his Inheritance, but he did not gae
how her father could be persuadedl 70
give her 10 one who could not SUPPORT
her. Sc the matte went on. as jucH
matters usually do, with hard feeling
between Hans and his father ar3I op-
position enhancing the attachaahat af
the young couple. GTeutuer neFar lost
an opportunity to sneer at the mud
cabin in which his sons belovdd lived.
and since the rest Of the family con-
sLdered Hans would demeau himself
10y taking a. wife out of such home
they were constantly tauntiuE him
about his mud haired girl who lived
in IA mud pLastered house
One day the little Van Wvk chill
dren prospected the mud plastert1a
fer playthings. From part of II thar
had given way they pulled out some
queer looking stones. Whether they
wanted them for jackst0nes OF for
some other childish games. they GER
taluIy wanted them and did not spare
the pl8steriug When their father
came IN and saw that they had made
rents in the wall he rated them sound
" and asked them why they had done
SO, whereupon they showed him tine
stones they had pulled out.
Farmer Van Wyk forgot the damage
to the pasreriug in the stones They
were rough and did not possess either
the appearance OF weight Of common
stones. He studied over them a Ions
while then borrowed maEnifvirz
glass and examined them with Il care
fully. Then he called bis wife and
told her that the plastcrinE of their
cabin was sprinkled with diamonds.
The next day before the dawn had
hardly broken be went 10 the place on
his farm where he had taken the rIag
10 plaster his cabin and. digging HQ
the earth, found that lt was full of be-
same kind Of stones. He could not be-
Iieve his eyes. Taking one Of the dta-
m0uds to an emery wheel. he ground
one side of IL and exposed s. white
surface. Then ne ground different
parts of IT,, leaving intersectiug planes
and holding the stone up 70 the rising
sun, produced flashes like the rain
bow.
Not long after that Farmer Circuit
uer came over TO Van Wyh ~ couEraE-
uIare him and his good fortune and to
say that his son being bent on marry
ing katherine he would Ike 70 know
what d0wrv her father had for her
Van Wyk had heard from Katherine
the tauuts her lover had been obliged
To bear at loving 2 girl who lived n
such a house, and his eyes Hn1le1 as
he said sharply:
This mud house"
Greutner made $50 reply hHT went