The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-07-15


No, sir. | laid right there on them
rocks three years till Miss Julia come
along an seen me-"
ut must have been awf'ly hot" the
girl said gently.
"Tur'ble hot, an me dry as cork
laig. l sure got good an gaunted.
That country up there is ce'tainly filled
with absentees. My prospects looked
bilious when Miss Julia drapped round
this mo'ning an said 'Howdy?' to me.
| disremember ever spendin' night
an day so dawggoned long,"
''No water bag, jim? Wasn't that
kinda careless?" Mccain asked.
"All of that, wills. An that amt but
half of it. I'd run outa the makin's."
He was a garrulous old fellow and
the reaction of relief from the long
hours of helpless waiting-hOurs dur
ing which he had not known whether
life or death was in store for him
loosened his tongue and lifted him to
a mood akin to gayety. He had
broken his leg of course, but he had
Alol SOLlC W tic cliu VI lDC pdoSoSC.
There would be plenty of time in the
weeks when he was tied to bed to
"cuss" about the leg.
Wilson Mccain stepped outside the
cabin, took some water from the ola,
and washed his hands.
This done, he examined the broken
leg and made preparations TO set it
temporarily until a doctor could be
brought He found some boards from
the top of an old box and whitfield
them down for splints while the girl
was rummaging in Yerby's war bag
for clean cotton shirt This she tore
into strips to serve as bandages.
Ready, Jim?" the young man asked.
"Sure, wills. Right id now"
Yerby endured without a groan
few minutes of intense pain. He had
the primal virtue of the frontier
courage to endure quietly torture that
would have set many a city man
screaming.
When the amateur surgeon had fin
ished VERIFY relaxed with sigh. 81
reckon the lid woulda come off'n my
private can of cuss words if you hadn't
been here" he told the girl, grinning
cheerfully.
She had suffered with him during
the ordeal, but the hands that had
helped Mccain had not trembled. 81
know it hurt lot" she replied. "Now
I'm going TO wash your face with cold
water. You'll feel better them"
As soon as she had gone out of the
cabin to get water from the ola the
younger man fired a question at Yerby.
who is she?"
Into the black beady eyes of the
old-timer a CLEAN of humor fiickered.
boy, ride yore own range. Amt this
young lady done saved me when had
a through ticket for Kingdom Come?
You go read yore story books an see
how it always comes out after that"
"You burned old alkali, come clean
Who is she?"
The old-timer slowly blew smoke
rings toward the ceiling. MY, this
lii boys regular parrot. Don't know
but one sentence. looks like. Course /
don't blame him none She's ce'tainly
mighty easy young lady to look at.
But no use him loOkin' He's clear
outa the runnin' before he ever starts"
"Why am I? She isn't married?"
"Not fur's know"
"Or going to be?"
VERIFY looked at him reproachfully.
"Sure, she's going to be. Ever know
one like her that wasn't when she got
good an ready?"
"You haven't told me yet who
she is"
The old man looked at him and
grinned with friendly malice. "She's
Miss Julia Stark, daughter of old Mar.
Stark, who's such a close friend of
you and yourn."
Over the eyes of young Mccain a
curious film of Darkness passed. His
face set to harsher lines There was
slight narrowing of the lids. OF
course. He might have known it.
Who else could she be except the
daughter of the arch enemy of his
house, that daughter who had been
away to school in Los Angeles half
dozen years? During that time he
had not seen her. The last glimpse of
her had been characteristic one.
Astride a bareback horse she had
flashed past him, stringy thirteen
year-old girl, all long legs and flying
black hair and big dark eyes. 1t was
hard to believe that wild little hoyden
had grown up into beauty. He re-
membered her pert and saucy mink,
brought up wholly among men except
for an old Mexican cook. Even then
there had been war between the Nc
Cams and the Starks.
His instinct now was not to let her
know just yet who he was. He did not
search for the reason of it. The feel
ing was enough. 1t was clear she did
transformed him from a gangling boy
to a man.
unless you want a rookus in the
house, better not tell her who | am.
JIM" young Mccain suggested. "She's
a sure enough pepper box when she
gets to going good"
Yerby chuckled ''Tha's right, wills.
1 dunno as there's any use startin'
anything. She'll find out soon enough
anyhow"
The girl returned with a basin of
! water, towel, and piece of torn
rag for a wash cloth.
The old-timer protested. "Now looky
here, ma'am, I'm a heap obliged to
you, but / can wash my own face an
not trouble you. 1 been doing it a
right smart time without valley"