The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-09-28

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, CT"
Mother Howard" she corrected. II
amt used to being called much else"
Mother, then-although I'm not
very accustomed to using the title.
My W 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 it 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, calme1.
"What do you want to know, Sonr'
"Everything"
But there isn't much I can tell"
He caught her hand.
"There is! I know there is. +"
"Son-all I can do liz to make mat
tiers worse. If I knew anything that
would help you-if I could give you
any light on anything, Old Mother
Howard would do it! Lord, didn't I
help out your father when he needed
1t the worst way? But I'm as much
In the dark as you. All that l wei
knew was that your father came to
this boarding house when he was a
young man, the very first day that he
ever struck Ohadi. He didn't have
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 me- well,
they always called me Mother How
ard, even when I was a young thing,
sort Of setting my cap for every good
looking young man that came along.
l guess that's why I never caught one
Of 'em-I always insisted on darning
their socks and looking after all their
troubles for EN- instead Of going out
buggy-riding with some other fellow
and making EN- Jealous" She sighed
ever so slightly, then chuckled. "But
that amt getting to the point,
though, is it?"
eff you could tell me about my IA
Their"
"I'm going to-all / 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
sads and little picks, foo1ing around
like life didn't mean anything in the
world to 'em, except to grub around
in those rocks.
"Your father was n of these men.
'Squint' Rodaine was another-they
called him that because at some time
in his life he'd tried to shoot faster
than he other fellow-and didn't do
1t. 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 a Chinaman's. You never see
Squint's eyes more than half open.
"And he's crooked, just like kis
eyes" Mother Towards voice bore
a touch of resentment. II never liked
him from the minute l first saw him,
and l liked him less afterward. Then
I 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. 1t looked good to Squint-
and late that night. I heard him and
his two drinking partners, Blindeye
Bozeman and Taylor Bill-they just
reverse his name for the sound Of tt
talking in Blindeye's room. I'm a
woman" Mother Howard chuckled-
$50 I just leaned my head against the
door and listened. Then l flew down.
stairs to wait for your father when
he came in from sitting up half the
night to get an assay on that float.
Squint and them two others was 1gur-
ing on jumping his claim before he
could file on 1t and all that.
"Well, there was a big Cornishman
here that / was kind Of sweet on-and
l guess l always will be. He's been
gone now, though, ever since your IA
Their left. l got him and asked him
to help. And Harry was just the kind
of a fellow that would do it. Out in
the. dead of night they went and
staked out your fathers claim-Harry
was to get Is per cent-and early the
next morning your dad was waiting
to file on it, while Harry was waiting
for them three. And what a fight It
must have been-that Harry was a
wildcat In those younger days" She
laughed, then her voice grew serious.
"But all had it's effect. Rodaine
didn't jump that claim. and a few Of
10 around here filed dummy claims
enough In the vicinity to keep him off
OF getting too close-but there was
q way we couldn't stop him. He
had power, and he's always had it
and he's got 1t now. A. lot Of awful
strange things happened to your IA
ther after that-charges were filed
against him for things he never did.
Men jumped on him In the dark, then
went to the district attorneys Office
and accused him OF making the at
tack. And the funny part was that
the district attorneys office always
believed them-and not him. Once
they had him lust lat the edae q. the