Year: 1876




1t doesn't do men good to live apar,
from women and children. | neve,
knew a boys school in which there
was not a tendency to rowdyism, ant
lumbermen, sailors, fishermen, and
other men that live only with
men, are proverbially half-bear sort
of people. Frontiersmen soften down
when women and children come
But forgot-it is my story you want


Burton and Jones lived in Il shanty
by themselves. Jones was married
man, and finding it hard work tt
support his wife in ''down-east' vii
lage, had emigrated to Northern Min
nessota, leaving his wife under his
fathers roof, until he should be able
to make start. He and Burton had
"pre-empted' town site of three
hundred and twenty acres.


There We're, perhaps, twenty fami-
lilies scattered sparsely over this town
site at the time my story begging and
ends, for it ends it the same week in
which il begins.


The parties had disagreed, quarrel
ed and divided their interests. The
land was also shared between them,
except one valuable forty-acrc piece.
Each of them claimed that piece OF
land, and the quarrel had grown SO
high between them that the neighhorS
had expected them to shoot at sight.
In fact it was understood that Burton,
who was on the forty-acre piece, de-
termined to shoot Jones if he came,
and Jones had sworn to go out and
shoot Burton, when the fight was
postponed by the arrival of Jones
wife and child.


Jones' shanty was not finished, and
he was forced to torego the pleasure
Of fighting his old partner, in the en-
deavor to make his wife and child
comfortable during the night, for the
winter sun was surrounded by .'sun-
dogs" Instead of one sun there were
four, an occurrence not frequent in
that latitude, but one that always
bodies terrible storm.


In his endeavor to care for his wife
and child, Jones was Modified IA little,
and half regretted that he had been SO
violent about the piece of land. But
T. n - -. 1, l.. 4
down, and would certainly have to
to shoot Burton or to be shot himself.


When he thought Of the chance of
being killed by his old partner, the
prospect was not pleasant. He looked
wistfully at Kitty, his two-year old
child and dreaded that she would be
fatherless. Nevertheless, he wouldn't
be backed down. He would shoot or
be shot.


While the father was busy cutting
wood, and the wife was busy other
wise, little Kitty managad to get the
shanty door open. There was no latch
as yet, and her prying little fingers
easily swung it back. A gust of wind
almost took her breath away, but she
caught sight of the brown grass with
out and the new world seemed so big
that the little feet were fain to try to
explore it.


She pris'tci ont through the door,
caught her breath again, and started
away down the path bordered by sere-
grass and the dead stock of wild flow
ers.


How often she had longed to escape
from restraint and paddle out into
the world alone, So out into the
world she went, rejoicing in her liber-
ty, in the sky above, and rusty prairie
beneath. She would find out where
the path went and what was the end
of the world. What did she care if
her nose was blue with cold and chub-
by hands red as beets! Now and then
she paused to turn her head away from
the rude blast, u forerunner of the
storm, but having gaspei a moment,
she quickly renewed her brave march
i'm search Of the great unknown.


The mother missed her, but suppos-
ell that Jones, who could not get
enough Of the child's society had talk
Ell the little pet out with him. Jones,
poor fellow, supposing that the dar-
ling was safe within, chopped away
until the awful storm broke upon him,
and at last drove him, half smothered
by the snow, and half frozen by the
cold, into the house. When there was
nothing left but retreat he seized an
armful of wood and carried it into the
house with him, to keep Kitty and
his wife from freezing in the coming
awfulness of the coming night which
now settled down npon the storm
beaten snow-blinded world. 1t was
the beginning of that storm i'm which
so many people were frozen to death,
and Jones fed not too soon.


When once the wood was stacked