Year: 1879

!


grated from Pennsy ylvania in 1856, and
had made " claim +" on the finest quar-
/ ter section of land within a circuit of ton
miles. According to the Preem ption
laws, the person vino settles on unoccu-
pied land and observes certain formalties
has the right to purchase that land from
the Government, at any time before it is
brought into market, at 81 25 an acre.
But If he does not tuy it before the day
of sale it is sold at auction to the highest
bidder.


Mr.. Strader had three children Harry,
his eldest, Polly and little Jimmie. All
the money that her father could make by
farming in summer and trapping in
winter he spent improving his claim
As tho land was not likely to be adver-
tised for sale for some years, he did not
think it necessary TO make any provis-
ions for buying at once. Bat Mr.. Stra-
der was taken suddenly i'll and died, and
the burden of paying for the claim and
supporting the family came upon Harry,
then only seventeen years of age. Not
wholly upon Harry, either, for, from the
time her father died, Polly, who was
just fifteen, resolved to share every bur.
den with her brother. She was stronger
than many boys OF her age, and had al.
ways been fond OF outdoor life. In fact,
she was what you would call tomboy,
brimtul of life, restless and energetic
She had already learned to paddle n
canoe, end as the prairie chickens would
come into the yard, she had become an
adept with a shotgun. TIE noighbors
used to say she was too wild, that she
wodld never be good for anything.


But within a week after her father
died, she had taken a hoe and gene into
the field by the side of Harry. All
through the bet days she did her part !;
and as the winter drew on, she practced
with the rife, until she could shoot
about as we'll as her brother And
through the long cold months she tied on
her snow-shoes as regularly ss Harry did
his, and by dint Of helping her brother,
and taking lessons from him, she learned
all the craft of tho trapper. She knew
the habits Of the muskrat, mink and otter
as well as any man in the region. Harry
used TO make her face grow red some.
times, by declaring that she was a /" glo.
rious girl"


BY the next spring came the COM
mencement of the war. cannot stop to
toll you Of all the discussions that were
held in the Strader's cabin on the subject
of Harry's enlistment. They ended in
Polly telling him to go, that she would
support the family, and that the land
wouldn't coma into market right off any
way. And whether right or wrong,
Harry enlisted. That summer Polly
succeeded in cutivating that portion Of
the land that vas broken and fenced, in
such way as to get a tolerable CROP
But during the summer there came the
sad news that Harry was wounded, and
must lie for long time in the hospital
and then perhaps be discharged on nc
count Of his disability to do further SER
vice. To add to their distress came the
startling intelligence that the land was
brought into market and must be pre-.
empted before the first Of January or it
would be sold.


There was merchant five miles away
by the name Of Van Dyke, who bought
furs off the settlers and sold them pro.
visions. An utterly mean man, there
WAS no advantage to be taken that Van
Dyke did not take. He was delighted to
hear that the land in the neighborhood
was to be sold, for he was perfectly salts
fed that the Widow Strader could not
raise the two hundred dollars necessary
to purchase the land, and he chuckled AS
he thought Of the prospect of buying it
at the Government sale, and thus get all
tho improvements for nothing. Indeed,
1T was shrewdly suspected that, as Van
Dyke had some influence with officers of
the land office, he had something to do
with the bringing of the land into the
market at SO early day for, as he was
money lender and a spccuator, there
were many ways in which a lard sale
would be to his advantage.


Polly applied to Mr.. Van Dyke for a
loan on mortgage on the land, but was
refused. Hoping against hope, she went
TO work to raise all the money she could
very early in the fall. Leaving her
mother ard little Jimal lie to secure the
crops, she commenced to trap. She
started out at daylight every morning,
and was picture for painter as she
pushed OIL her canoe. Her long hair Law
on her shoulders, her head was covered
WIN regular hunters cap, made of
wolf skin, witha VOLTS tail banging down
behind. She had been pretty successful,
but at the prices offered by Mr.. Van
Dyke she had nothing like enough to
bay the land. Polly was pretty high
spirited, and she vowed that Van DYKE
should not have single skin that she
captured. IN vain he assured her that
the price he offered her was the highest
that could be paid. " Mr.. Van Dyke
you have not money enough to buy my
furs.n


AT last came the news that Harry was
about to start for home. He had been
discharged, and was scarcely able to
walk; but, at any rate, it was comfort to
know that he was coming homo again
1T was now the middle of Novem ber, but
the sky was yet clear, and the prares,
scared with the frost, looked like fields Of
gold beneath the autumn sun. And ev.
cry night the prairie fires made the skv