Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1920-12-03
The Guardian
Of Prudence
By r. A BAKER

uFe II IN miles ana ne was.
No, it was not years that made Ben
son old, for he was not more than
thirty. He was old in wisdom born of
rowing the world, suffering hardship In
many lands, making money and losing
it, losing health and regaining it.
At thirty Benson had Settled down
in the wild West, choosing Hermono-
side as his permanent home. Her
monoside was West geographically.
1t was not wild because of cowboys
and bad men, but due to the dense
forests and the mountain ridge that
isolated it.
Hermonoside consisted of % crude
frame dwellings and a trio of stores
that were little more than trading
posts, grouped on a lower slope Of
Mount Kennedy. The trapping indus
try was to blame for Hermonoside's
coming into existence, and it was
named after the man who founded the
colony.
But the trapping industry was too
industrious, and the government
stepped in with some laws to prevent
the f~ur-bearing animals from becom-
ing extinct. HeTmonoside did not die,
however, because its population con-
sisted principally of people who
felt a desire to rove, or who, like Ben
son, had roved to their hearts content
and were willing to spend the remain
der of their spans of life far away
from bright lights.
OF course there is a girl in the
story. Her name was Prudence Wild
ing, and she was Renson's ward, made
so by the last expressed wish of her
father as he lay on his deathbed in his
H~ermonoside shanty.
That was four years ago when he
was twenty-six and looked ten more.
Prudence at the time was sixteen.
Benson's first act as guardian was
to arrange for a widow of the colony
to serve as companion and teacher.
The widow had once taught in a girls
school in the East, coming West on
the advice of her physician. With
the aid of two strong hands, a hammer,
nails and a saw, and some money left
by Jake Wilding. Benson built a
warm, comfortable dwelling and in
stalled Prudence and her companion
in 1t.
In the succeeding four years the
Wilding money gave out, and Benson
replenished it from his own snug little
hoard, which Re had brought with him
to Hermonostde. Now he earned a
subsistence by tilling his % acres of
soil.
In those four years Benson changed
little, except that gray hair became
more plentiful and he developed moody
spells and took to gazing gloomily out
the window and smoking quantities of
dark, smelly tobacco.
Prudence changed a great deal.
From a promising bud she had devel-
oped into a rosy spring blossom, and
the Hermonoside youth began casting
shy appraising glances in her direc-
ton. Soon the glances became less
shy, and Benson became more wor-
ried.
Benson was in love with his ward.
It would never do to harbor serious
thoughts concerning Prudence and him
self, because of his age and his guard
ianship. Nothing could ever come of
it, of course, he told himself repeated
ly, and he. never allowed himself to
think of marriage. Hence the moody
spells and the gloomy gazing from the
window.
Benson was reasonable. He knew
Prudence was bound to have love af-
fairs and to marry some day, but he
dreaded that day. 1t had got to the
point where Benson lived for his ward.
Prudence made a confidant of Ben
son, as she had of her father. She
told him about her feelings toward
the young men of HermOnoside, Of
whom there were few and still fewer
who could be classed as d~esirables. In
fact. the number had simmered down
to two.
Finally came the day of Prudence's
life that would have been considered
an important day in the life of al
most any girl. She received propos-
ais, only three hours apart, from both
of the two desirables. That evening
she came to Benson's cabin and told
him about it.
"What'll l do?" she implored on the
verge of tears.
"Only one thing to do" said Benson,
filling his pipe, which had been idle
half an hour while he partoOk of his
evening meal. "The only thing to do
is to accept the one you think the
most of and reject the other"
"And you-you-" Prudence asked
falteringly, would you approve of
either?'
MY dear girl" Benson replied,
"either Sam Johnson or Mark Hatha-
way would be regarded as desirable
by any girl in Hermonosfde. Sam has
a big farm, and Mark, l am told, is an
expert machinist, if he'd only go put in