The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1920-01-02
CHAPTER III.

Dawes opportunity came soone.
parture of the Hardys things at thu
old ranch we're, as both father anC
son had predicted, very different
They found themselves on n sort OF
good behavior-a behavior which, un.
happily, excited In each other grave
suspicious as to purpose. The tension
steadily increased, and both looked
forward TO the moment when some
thing must give way.
For several weeks the old man re
NAMED entirely sober, but the call OF
tire appetite In him grew more and
more insistent as the days went by,
and at last came the morning when
Dave awoke TO find him gone. He
needed no second guess the craving
had become irresistible and his father
had ridden 10 town for the means to
satisfy 1t. The passing days did not
bring his return, but this occasioned
no anxiety to Dave. In the course of
a carouse his father frequently re.
NAMED away for weeks at a stretch.
He moped around the ranch build
ings, sat modify by the little stream,
casting pebbles in the water, or rode
owe the old trails on which she had
so often been his companion.
Then the old mans horse came
home. Dave saw 1t coming up the
trail, not running wildly but with
nervous gallop and many sidelong
turnings OF the head. AS the boy
watched he found a strange empti-
ness possess him his body seemed a
phantom On which his head hung over
heavy. He spoke to the horse. which
pulled UP, snorting, before him noted
the wet neck and TANKS, and at last
the broken stirrup. Then, slowly and
methodically, and still with that
strange sensation of emptiness, he
saddled his own horse and set out Cd
the search. .
After the last rites had been paid TO
the old rancher, Dave set about at
once to wind up his affairs, and II
was not until then that he discovered
how deeply his father had been In
The selling of the cattle and
the various effects realized only
enough to discharge the liabilities, and
when this had been done Dave found
himself with a considerable area OF
unmarketable land, a considerable
bundle of paid bills and his horse
saddle and revolver. He rode his
horse 10 town, carrying a few ar.
ticles OF wear with him. 1t was only
a stiff fight that he could bring
himself to part with his one compan.
Ion. The last miles into town were
very slowly, with the boy fre-
quently leaning forward and stroking
the horses neck and ears.
He sold horse and saddle for sixty
dollars and took a room at a cheap
until he should find work and
still cheaper lodgings.
In the evening he walked through
the streets of the little cow town. II
sn1bbed him with It's indifference. . /.
He became aware that he was very
He realized that he had but
one friend in the world; but one. and
Of her he knew not so much as her
address. /. . He began to wonder
whether he really had a friend at all :
whether the girl would not discard
him when he was Of no further use.
just as he had discarded his faithful,
old horse. Tears of loneliness and re-
morse gathered in his eyes, and a mist
not Of the twilight blurred the strees
now ~glimmering from their
poles. He felt that he had treated the
horse very shabbily indeed. He want.
ed old Slop-eye back again. He sud.
denly wanted him with a terrific long
ing; wanted him more than anything
else In the world. For the moment
he forgot the girl and all his home
sickness centered about the beas.
which had been SO long his companion
and servant and friend.
I'll buy him back In the mor1in' |;
/ will. sure as HI" he said, In a sud-
den gust Of emotion. "We got to stick
together. I didn't play fair with him,
but I'll buy him back. Perhaps ] can
get q job for him. too, pullin' a light
or somethin'."
The resolution to '.play fair with
Slop-eye gradually restored his cheer
fulness and he walked slowly back to
the hotel.
The mems sitting DON now present
Cd q much more animated picture than
when he had registered earlier In the
evening. It was filled with ranchers.
cowboys and cattlemen Of al de-
erees-breeders, buyers, traders, own
ers and wage earners, with 4 sprin-
king Of townspeople and others not
directly engaged In some phase Of fhe