The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-02-12
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
The Log Cabin.
By z. RAy BAKER.
Copyright, 1919, by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.)

the instruction Of her pupils, who
would have holiday on the morrow
In celebration Of the stateman's birth
\ anniversary.
SHE looked up from the book and
the owner Of the waving hand, a tow
headed, diminutive lad. with wide,
( staring blue eyes, asked:
Teacher, did the book say Mr.. Lin
coin was born in log cabin?"
The teacher nodded her head, and,
with smile, replied:
Eyes, Roger, he was, and when I
read further you will learn that he
lived for a long time in that cabin.
and that he had an old shovel for q
slate on which to do his sums"
The tow-headed youngsters face be-
tokened exceeding interest in the sub.
ject.
.If that's so, teacher. then Uncle
Frank can be president some day,
can't he? He lives in a log cabin right
down at the other end Of Cedar Gulch,
and he studies lot though | guess he
hasn't any shovel to do his sums on
Delia's smile became brighter, and
she responded:
she certainly has a chance to be
president, Roger. So have you and
every other boy born in the United
States-that is, Il you study faithfully
and work as hard as Abraham Lin.
coin"
She resumed reading from the book,
but her thoughts were not on the life
Of Abraham Lincoln. Her mind was
dwelling on that cabin at the end OF
Cedar Gulch, where uncle Frank
lived. She knew this Uncle Frank
very well, indeed.
Frank Richards was not an old, be.
whiskered residenter. On the con.
trary, he was young man Of twenty.
eight a rather attractive young man,
Della thought. He was q prospector,
who spent weeks at time in the
mountains surrounding the gulch, but
who never had found any pay dirt that
was worth while.
The first time Della ever set eyes on
Frank was year ago, shortly after
her. advent to Cedar Gulch as an in.
structor Of the youthful inhabitants
She was having trouble with burly
worker from the Eureka Gold Stamp.
ing company's plant, the only indus.
try OF which Cedar Gulch could boast
The trouble was over the punishment
meted cut to the laborer's thirteen.
year-old son, who had persisted in
standing on his head in a corner OF
the school room, and who was taken
tinawares by Della while in that up.
side-down attitude and raped severe
.1yswith a ruler.
The lad had rushed home, tears
streaming down his face, and evident
~ had used his imagination in relat
ing his treatment at the hands Of the
new teacher for the father appeared
the next noon and made sundry threats
against Della.
I'D advise you to go back to work
and think 1t over" Della rejoined and
turned to go into the school building,
where the. pupils were assembled for
afternoon classes.
This reply infuriated the laborer,
who advanced toward her, swinging
his arms and shouting:
''I'll teach you to rawhide Q son OF
mlne!"
He caught Della with one hand and
raised the other as II to strike her.
Della, terrified. struggled frantically
to get away. a
Better 60 slow there, Ben Brooks"
dfawled q quiet voice. and an angular
arm reached out and a muscular hand
seized the laborer by the shoulder.
NSTHfhn,,f oNnarank ofpnxf %haf own, "A ynxx,
the man backward, and he found him
self SPRAYING on the ground, look
Ing up, dazed, at young man who
was bowling coolly toward the teach
er, q wide-b rimmed hat sweeping the
4 ground,
Then and there Frank Richards
started "a-wooing." He took the new
teacher for horseback rides on the
slopes OF the Cedar Hills, and he was
her escort at church socials, where
prospectprs with cowhide boots and
cowboys IN picturesque attire mingled
With de women folks" who lived in
Ced4rs Gulch.
II was all very interesting, from the
standpoint Of the picturesque, II moth
ing more, to Della Angel, and she en-
: 5pyed herself immensely. She felt she
5 would have continued to enjoy 1t had
mot Frank displayed serious inten-
tons, which reached q climax one day
while they were on one OF their rides
he bluntly proposed to her. Naturally,
Z she refused; for what business had
she marrying this uncouth prospec.
tor? a III
But was he dncouth? Certainly his
clothes were coarse; but who was
there In Cedar Gulch that pretended
% follow the dictates Of style? Even
Siie temporarily discarded her best
gaimentr after she had been there less
than q month
His manner was as courteous as
be expected from any man in the
improper East from which she
"a, and no one could have been
Is polite in his treatment Of her.
OCCASIONALLY an "ain't' crept into his
coaversation, but that was not an un.
bardonable sin
She had heard It before she came
West Frank Richards was littic
tcngh in his way, but he was not nm
tVuth, she finally decided. He was a
Gfvalier Of the mountains, and his
heart was pure gold, even though his
oiek and shovel failed to unearth thu
rfecious metal. Still he was Just q
inspector.
An this passed through Delia's mind