Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1922-09-08
CHAPTER v


er Towards return, and when at last
she came forth from the kitchen. he
drew her into the old parlor, shadowy
now in the gathering dusk, and closed
the doors.
Mrs. Howard" he began, Il"
Mother Howard" she corrected. 81
amt used to being called much else"
Mother, then-a although I'm not
very accustomed to using the title.
My own mother died-shortly after
my father came back from out here"
She walked to his side then and put
a hand on his shoulders. For a mo-
ment 1t seemed that her lips were
struggling to repress something which
strove to pass them, something locked
behind them for years. Then the old
face, dim in the half light, Gained.
"What do you want to know, SOM"
Everything"
''But there isn't much I can tell"
He caught her hand.
"There isl l know there is. T."
"Son-all / can do is to make mat
sers worse. If l knew anything that
any light on anything, Old Mother
Howard would do it, Lord, didn't
help out your father when he needed
It the worst way? But I'm as much
in the dark as you. All that ever
knew was that your father came to
this boarding house when he was
young man, the very first day that he
OF 10 In ouQ
much money, but he was enthusiastic
and it wasn't long before he'd told
me about his wife and baby back in
indianapolis and how he'd like to win
out for their sake. AS for Newell,
they always called me Mother How
ard, even when / was a young thing,
sort of setting my csp for every good
looking young man that came along.
1 guess that's why 1 never caught one
OF em-I always insisted on darning
their socks and looking after all their
troubles for 'em instead of going out
buggy-riding with some other fellow
and making 'em jealous" She sighed
ever so slightly. then chuckled. "But
that amt getting to the point,
though, is it?"
"If you could tell me about my ia
ther-"
"I'm going to-all I know. Things
were a lot different out here then
from what they were later Every
where around the hills and gulches
you could see prospectors, with their
xads and little picks, fooling around
In n
world to 'em, except to grub around
% those rocks.
"Your father was one of these men.
'Sauint' Rodaine was another-they
called him that because at some time
I'm his life he'd tried to shoot faster
than the other fellow-and didn't do
II The bullet hit right between his
eyes. but it must have had poor pow
der behind it-all it did was to cut
through the skin and go straight up
his forehead. When the wound healed
the scar drew his eyes close together,
like Chinaman's. You never see
Soulnt's eyes more than half open.
"And he's crooked, just like his
eyes" Mother Towards voice bore
touch of resentment. 81 never liked
him from the minute / first saw him,
and 1 liked him less afterward. Then
/ got next to his game
"Your father had been prospecting
Just like everybody else. He'd come
on float up Kentucky gulch and was
trying to follow it to the vein. Squint
saw him-and what's more, he saw
that float. It looked good to Squint-
and late that night, l heard him and
his two drinking partners, Blindeye !
Bozeman and Taylor Bill-they just |
reverse his name for the sound of it
talking in Blindeyes room. I'm a |
woman" Mother Howard chuckied-
$50 / Just leaned my head against the
door and listened. Then l flew down
stairs to wait for your father when
ne came in from sitting up half the !
might TO get an assay on that float. |
souint and them two others was figur-
Ing on jumping his claim before he
could file on it and all that.
'WeI. there was a big Cornishman
here that 1 was kind of sweet On-and
/ guess I always viii be. He's been
gone now, though, ever since your IA
Their left. l gor him and asked him
80 help. And Harry was Just the kind