The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-12-19

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was quite sure that he would at any
moment give his life, If needed, to de-
fend her from injury-and accept the
transaction as a matter Of course. His
physical endurance was inexhaustlble
and his knowledge of prairie and foot
hill seemed to her almost uncanny. He
G every sign of footprint, leaf, wa
ter and Sly with unfailing insight. He
had no knowledge of books, and she
had at first thought him ignorant, but
as the days went by she found in him
a mine Of wisdom which shamed her
ready-made education.
After such a ride they one day dis
mounted in a grassy opening among the
trees that bordered n mountain canyon.
In a crevice they found a fiat stone that
gave comfortable seating and here
they rested while the horses browsed
their afternoon meal on the grass
above. Both were conscious of a grad
ually increasing tension in the at
mosphere. For days the boy had been
moody. 1t was evident he was harbor-
Ing something that was calling through
his nature for expression, and Irene
knew that this afternoon he would talk
OF more than trees and rocks and foot
prints Of the wild things of the forest.
"Your father Is getting along WELL"
he said, at length.
"Yes," she answered. "He has had a
good holiday, even with his broken
leg"
"You will be goin' away before long,"
he continued.
"Yes," she answered, and waited.
'sThings about here amt goin' to be
the same after you're gone" he went
on. He wore no coat, and the neck of
his shirt was open, for the day was
warm. Had he caught her sidelong
glances, even his slow, self-deprecating
mind must have read their admiration.
But he kept his eyes fixed on the green
water.
"You see." he said, "before you came
1t was different. / didn't know what /
was missin', an SO 1t didn't matter.
Not but what I was dog-sick of it at
times, but still / thought l was Twin
thought this IA life, and. Of course,
now / know it amt. At least, 1t won't
be after you're gone"
"That's strange" she said, not in
direct answer to his remark, but as q
soliloquy on 1t as she turned it over in
her mind. "This life, now, seems
empty to you. All my life seems
empty to me. This seems to me the
real life, out here In the foothills, with
the trees and the mountains, and-and
our horses, you know"
She might have ended the sentence
in a way that would have come much
closer to him, and been much truer,
but conventionality had been bred in
to her for generations and she did not
find 1t possible yet freely to speak the
truth.
"It's such a wonderful life," she con-
tinued. zone gets SO strong and hap
by In It,"
you'd soon get sick of it." he said.
"We don't see nothin'. We don't learn
nothin'. Reenie, I'm eighteen, an /
bet you could read an write better'n
me when you was SIX"
did you never go to schoolY" she
asked, in genuine surprise. She knew
his speech was ungrammatical, but
thought that due to careless training
rather than to no training at all.
"Where'd / 60 to schoolY' he de-
manded, bitterly. "There amt a school
within forty miles. Guess / wouldn't
have went IL I could" he added, as an
afterthought, wishing to be quice hon.
est In the matter. "School didn't seem
to cut no figure-until JUS lately"
"But you have learned-somaY' she
continued.
"Some. When / was a little kid my
father used to work with me at times.
He learned me to read q little, an
to write my name, an q little more.
But things didn't go right between him
an mother, an he got to drinkin'
more an more. an JUS making b
Of 1t. We used to have a mighty fine
herd of steers here, but it's all shot
to pieces. When we sell a bunch the
Old man III stay in town for a month
or more, BLOWN the coin and leavin'
the debts 60. / sneak a couple Of
steers away now an then. an with the
money I keep u grocery bills paid
up an have a little to rattle In my
jeans. My credits good at any store
in town. and Irene thrilled to the note
Of pride In his voice as he said this.
| The boy had real quality in him. "But
| I'm sick of 1t ALL" he continued. "Sick
OF 1t, an ] wanna get out"
"You think You are not educated"
she answered. trying to meet his out
burst as tactfully as possible. "Per-
haps you are not. the way we think Of
1t In the city. But I guess you could
show the city boys a good many things
they don't know. and will know"
Irene makes a promise
full Of momentous conse-