Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1922-06-22


wished to weaken, he might convince
himself that he might learn from her
circumstances which would aid him In
his task. But he was not going to her
for help; that was following in his IA
theirs footsteps. When he knew every
thing, then-not till then-he could go
to her; for then he would know exact
| ly what was upon him and what he
should do.
His visits to the people named on
those sheets written by his father had
been confusing at first; he had had
great difficulty in tracing some Of
them at all; and, afterward, he could
uncover no certain connection either
between them and Benjamin Corvet or
between themselves. But recently, he
had been succeeding better in this lat
| ter.
He had seen-he reckoned them over
again-fourteen of the twenty-one
! named originally on Benjamin Cor
vets lists; that is, he had seen either
| the Individual originally named, or the
surviving relative written in below the
name crossed off. He had found that
the crossing out of the name meant
that the person was dead, except in
the case Of two who had left the coun-
try and whose whereabouts were as
unknown to their present relatives as
they had been to Benjamin Corvet,
and the case of one other, who was
in an insane asylum.
He had found that no one Of the
persons whom he saw had known Ben
jamin Corvet personally; many of
them did not know him at all, the
others knew him only as a name.
But, when Alan proceeded, always
there was one connotation with each
of the original names; always one. cir
cumstance bound all together. When
he mad established that circumstance
as influencing the fortunes Of the first
two on his lists, he had said to him
self, as the blood pricked queerly un-
der the skin, that the fact might be
a mere coincidence. When he estab-
lished it also as affecting the fate Of
the third and Of the fourth and Of
the fifth, such explanation no longer
sufficed; and he found it In common
to all fourteen, sometimes as the de-
Gliding factor of their fate, sometimes
as only slightly affecting them, but
always 1T was there.
In how many different ways, in what
strange, diverse manifestations that
single circumstance had spread to
these people whom Alan had inter-
viewed! No two Of them had been
affected alike, he reckoned, as he went
over his notes Of them. Now he was
going to trace those consequences to
another. To what sort of place would
it bring him today and what would
he find there? He knew only that it
would be quite distinct from the rest.
The driver turned aside from the
road across cleared field where ruts
showed the passing Of many previous
vehicles; crossing this, they entered
the woods. Little fires for cooking
burned all about them, and nearer
were parked an immense number Of
farm wagons and buggies, with horses
Embarrassed and munching grain. AL
ans guide found place among these
for his automobile, and they got out
and went forward on foot. All about
them, seated upon the moss or walk
ing about, were Indians, family
groups among which children played.
Alan saw among these looking on,
the bright dresses and sport coats Of
summer visitors who had come to
watch. The figure Of girl among
these caught his attention, and he
started; then swiftly he told himself
that 1t was only his thinking of Con-
stance Sheriff. that made him believe
this was she. But now she had seen
him; she paled, then as quickly
flushed, and leaving the group she had
been with, came toward him.
He had no choice now whether he
would avoid her or not; and his hap
piness at seeing her held him stupid,
watching her. Her eyes we're very
bright and with something more than
friendly greeting; there was happi-
ness in them too. His throat shut
together as he recognized this, and his
hand closed warmly over the small,
trembling hand which she put out
to him. All his conscious thought
was lost for the moment in the mere
realization Of her presence; he stood,
holding her hand, oblivious that there
were people looking; she too seemed
careless Of that. Then she whitened
again and withdrew her hand: she
seemed slightly confused. He was con-
fused as well; 1t was not like this
that he had meant to, greet her; he
caught himself together.
! Cap in hand, he stood beside her,
trying to look and to feel as any or
binary acquaintance of hers would
have looked.
l. u. {.