The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1923-02-09
Over the
Mountains


| N"PS's"' issI, western NeWspaper Unfon
Mary Seaton set down her full pail
and stared over the distant hills.
She had lived all her five and TWEEN.
~ years in the little, sordid settle
ment in the plains. Ever since child
hood she had longed to cross the
mountains which seemed to shut her
In and press on her until they became
intolerable.
She knew that beyond them no man
had set foot, except the wandering
traders and trappers of the northwest
There lay freedom. Perhaps il was
from her half Indian mother that she
Inherited this love of freedom. Her
father, the Woodworking old Scotch
farmer, had lived In the village for
twenty years. He was satisfied with
his lot.
The village of Elkwood lay In a val
ley. just below the new, huge govern
ment dam, now nearing completion.
wherein all the head waters of Rock
river fretted and surged. Soon they
would be led out through a score of
apertures to carry moisture to the
thirsty fields. Mary hated the dam,
because II would mean more self-sat.
isfaction to Elkwood. With the new
prosperity that 1t would bring there
would be no hope that Joe would ever
take her away.
And she hated the prison, Of mason
ry, built at the head of the valley.
There was one mana tall, 1.-the,
dark-haired fellow, whose eyes seemed
TO her like those of q captive eagle
which her father had once possessed.
He was trusty. Sometimes he drove
the prison van down the hill. filled
with Its goods of prison making, TO
the railroad terminus.
After supper Joe came-Joe,' with
his smooth, sleek face and air Of own.
ership. He had not cOurted her-he
had cOurted her fathers favor, and her
father had given her to Joe.
You'll take Joe, my lass" he said
to her. He's good farmer and has
the best land In Elkwood. You'll take
him next month.
She went to bed and In her dreams
she was with the eagle-eyed man of
the prison. He had saved her from q
crashing world, and they two stood
alone together upon the crests Of the
mountains looking northward over the
plains.
This is our home, Mary" he said,
and kissed her.
SfQ har ell
crash had been no dream 1t seemed
rs though the whole universe were
rearing into ruin. There was the
noise of hundred avalanches.
She had barely thrust on a few
clothes when her father ran scream
ing L the door.
MARY! Nary he yelled. "The
dams burst. God help us! The wa.
ter will be here in twenty seconds !"
Mary looked at him in quiet Joy.
Suddenly, with the force Of q bat |
tering ram, the floods smashed down |
upon the house, and timber and stone |
went crashing into heap of rubble |
and splinters. The floor yielded, the |
floods surged and swiried around her.
She opened her eyes long afterward.
1t was daylight; the sun was rising
over the plain and touching the tops
of the hills with gold She was lying
upon a heap Of what had once been
beams and Orders, but was now only
q heap of wood, caught between two
islands of masonry that rose out of
the swirling food And all around
her was water. Not a house was left
In Elkwood. And where the prison
had been was only pile of shattered
stone. ~
Suddenly she perceived something
that made her heart beat quickly.
Upon the other side Of the pile of
lay the body Of the prisoner.
Painfully the girl crawled toward him.
She bent over him, and, as she did
SO. his eyes opened.
.The flood !" he muttered. where
are they?"
"They are all dead" she sobbed
and all at once the sense of desola-
lion came upon her. Her father; I.
tyrannical though he had been, had
been all she had ever had And they
two alone survived out of thousand.
II was with the wagon" he NUT.
tered. ''The food struck me. 1 knew
nothing more"
That was how he had escaped; az
Tor those shut up In the prison, not
,ne had survived the food. l.
They managed to wade to land. They
had found box Of canned meats, and
iour. While they ate he told her his
story. He had been trapper: he ]
had been arrested on a charge of bur- !
diary, trumped up by storekeeper
With whom he had Quarrelled, and
sentenced to two years Imprisonment.
de had served three-fourths of his
ime. /,
Where will you goT she asked. Ii
Home" he answered simply, point. I
ns over the mountains. His home S
ay there the plains and forests were
lis, and all the boundless prairies ,
lis domain. )
He took her by the hand and they ,
AIRED forth like two children. Each =
lad an infinite faith In the other, for G
/ takes two to make a home, and {
o there was no need for any formal
uestioning.