Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-09-23

L, wisconsin, september 70,
playthlng wn1le she had hung upon
his lips!
81 won't believe itr' she suddenly
cried. ''There are none but thy own
words to show these things, and they
sound false!"
She was standing before him like
some wild creature at bay, with
flashing eyes his own could scarcely
meet.
did Lorimer ever show thee
the papers in that little box ?"
asked Curran cautiously.
NO, answered" AIneOu. ne Sd1u
they were things that did not mat
ter"
"Didst thou never seek to read
them after he went away?"
81 am the daughter of chief"
she answered proudly. II am the
woman who belonged to what she
thought was. a man. Would | have
pried into things of his that he did
not bid me look at?"
The young woman, erect and with
head thrown back, was model of
wounded dignity. Curran looked,
admired her grace, and marveled at
her spirit.
He would surely marry her and
tame that proud beauty. Her pictur-
esoue comeliness would be his at no
distant date, he swore to himself.
"Here is a letter." he answered
after a moment. "Of course thou
didst MT seek to pry. Thou art a
true woman, and it was an evil day
when one who was not a real man
tool, thee to wife. But lool- now at
these written words that have come
from another land where a woman
waits. Thou hast learned to read,
7 know, and / would have thee see
for thyself. Sit down here again
in the light. The words, telling all,
begin here"
With shaking hands she took the
naper he had placed before her and
spelled out the words slowly:
Please come back soon from
those dreadful places. You
would be happier here. The
baby sends you a thousand
YOUR LOVING AGNES.
Slowly the paper fiuttered to the
floor and Ameou's head sank to her
folded arms.
She had received the news of her
husbands death with few tears, for
her hurt had been too great for the
grief to have been expended in
weeping. The loss of the baby had
also left her staring and dry-eyed,
like one under tie spell of some
baneful drug. But this was the
fiercest blow, shattering all that she
had held of love and belief.
Finally she lifted up her head and
dashed her hand across her stream
ing eyes. Her face was calm but for
the occasional quivering of her lips.
'Had he only asked me for my
love | would have given it to him."
she said, speaking slowly in low
tones. "What did I know Of men and
women but that they mated when
the price was paid? What did /
know of husbands and wives accord
ing to the custom of the white peo-
pie? What would | have cared for
their ways in this country, where
none come except those who are ever
eager for pelts?
clad he told me the truth it
would not have mattered, for | knew
nothing and deemed that man was
master of the country he would live
in and the woman he would love.
But why did he tell me these other
things and show me another world,
and teach me that which he called
goodness, only to let me find that he
had none of it and deemed me a
4loiy7cr RI 1o11Crh Of o1o6 71anaIy VV
"Other white men are not as he,"
loved thee truly. Nay, I love thee
now, as l have done for long time.
I would that thou couldst become my
wife and learn what true man is"
Ameou looked at him, but the
words he spoke made no impression
on her. She hardly seemed to I'M
derstand them, and looked neither
offended nor pleased.
II am but N Indian woman now"
she said, Gas I was before-a thing
to be sold to the one who will give
most blankets and guns for her and
for the land that was her mothers. l
no longer care anything for that
which may befall me. l will work as
our women do, and, like them, soon
grow very old with toll, and eat after
the men have had their fill of food,
and set snares for rabbits and work
at shoepacks and the stringing of
snow-shoes. What care | for men,
for the goodness that is lie, the
love that is but a jest, or the child
that was sired by liar?"
"She was about to leave the room,
a quiet, stately, dignifed picture of
outraged womanhood; but her old
father, who had been silent during
all this talk, grimly bade her stop a
moment.
(To be continued