The Red Cloud chief. [volume] (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923, 1919-10-23

although there were no silk trapplngs
to his courtesy, II was very genuine
and manly Difference he paid her. She
was quite sure that he would at any
moment give his life. If needed, to de-
fcnd her from injury--and accept the
transaction as a matter of course. His
physical endurance was inexhnustible
and his knowledge of prairie and foot
hill seemed to her almost uncanny. He
read every sign of footprint, leaf, wa
ter and sky with unfailing insight. He
had no knowledge of books, and she
had ut 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 n ride they one day dis
mounted in n grassy opening among the
trees that bordered n mountain canyon
lin II crevice they found Hat stone that
gave comfortable seating and here
they rested while the horses browsed
their afternoon meal on the grass
above. Both were conscious of grad
unlly increasing tension In the at
mosphere. For days the boy had been
moody. II 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. ut length.
YES" she answered. ale has had q
good holiday, even with his broken
leg"
''You will be goin' away before long"
he continued.
YES" she answered, and waited.
"Things 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
II was different. didn't know what l
was missin', an so 1t didn't matter.
Not but what l was dOg-sick of II at
times. but still thought l was Twin
thought this was life, and, of course,
now know 1t amt. At least, 1t won't
be after you're gone"
"Thats strange" she said, not In
direct answer to his remark but as a
s0lilOquy on It as she turned 1t 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 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 it possible yet freely to speak the
truth.
ITS such 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 bettern
me when you was six"
"Did you never go to SCHOOL," she
asked, In genuine surprise. She knew
his speech was ungrammatical, but
thought that due to careless training
rather than to no training ut all.
"Where'd l go to SCHOOL," he de-
manded, bitterly. "There amt school
within forty miles. Guess l wouldn't
have went If could" he added. as an
afterthought, wishing to be quite hon.
est in the matter. school didn't seem
to cut no figure-until JUS lately"
'But you have learned-some?" she
continued.
"Some. When I was little kid my
father used TO work with me at times
| He learned me to read little. an
| TO write my name. an u little more
But things didn't go right between hin
| an mother, an he got to drinkin
more an more. an JUS making h
of 1t. We used to have mighty FINE
herd OF steers here, but it's all shO
to pieces. When we sell bunch tn,
old man II stay In town for month
or more, BLOWN the coin and leavin
the debts so. / sneak couple O
steers away now an then. an with tn,
money i keep our grocery bills pait
up an have little to rattle In IN.
jeans. My credits good at any stor
In town." and Irene thrilled to the not
of pride In his voice AS he said this
The boy had real quality In him. "Bu
I'm sick of 1t all," he continued. "Sicl
of 1t, an l wanna get out"
you think you are not educated.
she answered, trying to meet his out
burst as tactfully as possible. ''Pei
haps you are not. the way we think O
1t in the city. But ! guess you coul
show the city boys "A good many thing
they don't know. and never will know.
u