1 111, HAl
OF
IAN
By Emerson Hough
Copyright, 1W7, by the Outlag Publlsh!n(
Company
PROLOGUE.
A young man and a beautiful
young woman, tost and alone in
a wilderness for months, half
starved and in daily peril of
death from wild beasts and still
more savage Indians this is the
central theme of the most fasci
nating romance that has come
'from Emerson Hough's pen.
Head and you will learn how
love came to them; how they
conducted themselves in this try
ing, unconventional situation;
how the man's chivalry and the
woman's purity held them stead
fast to the ideals of civilization,
.and how the strange episode
brought tragedies, estrangements
and happiness.
CHAPTER VII.
Th Wreck on the River.
EVENTS had somewhat hurried me
In the two days since my arriv
al at Jefferson barracks, but on
the morning following the awk
ward ending of my match with Orme
I bad opportunity and occasion to take
stock of myself and of my plans. The
malls brought me two letters posted
at Walllngford soon after my depar
ture, one from Grace Sheraton and
one from my mother. The first one
was what shall I say? Better per
, baps that I should say nothing save
that It was like Grace Sheraton her-
sen, lormai, correct nuu com. it was
the first written word I had ever re
ceived from my fiancee, and I bad ex
pectedI do not know what. Certain
ly I had not expected to see sitting on
the page written In my fiancee's hand
the face of another woman. 1 hated
myself for It
The second letter was from my moth
er, and it left me still more disconcert
ed and sad. "Jack," It said. "1 grieve
unspeakably. I am sad beyond all
Imaginings of sadness. I need thee.
Come back the first day thee can to
thy mother."
Yet the post adjutant bad received
word that Colonel Meriwether would
be gone for some days or weeks on the
upper frontier. Therefore I wrote my
fiancee and my mother that It would
be impossible for me to return at the
time or at any positive future time
then determinable. That night I took
passage on the River Belle, bound up
the Missouri. Our churning wheels had
hardly reached the turbid flood of the
Missouri before the spell of tho fron
tier had caught me.
I made friends with many of these
strange travelers and was attracted es-
, peclally by one. a reticent man of
perhaps sixty odd years, in western
garb, full of beard and with long hair
reaching to bis shoulders. Auberry was
bis name, and his tales set my blood
a-tingle. He was bound, aa be inform
ed me. for Laramie; always provided
that the Sioux, now grown exceedingl
restless over the many wagon trains
pushing up the Platte to all the swiftly
opening west, had not by this time
swooped down and closed all the trails
entirely.
Among the skin clad trappers, hunt
ers and long haired plainsmen I saw
but one woman. I should say that sho
wns at least sixty years of age and
nearly six feet In height, thin, angular;
wrinkled and sinewy. She wore a sun
bonnet of enormous projection, dipped
tauff vigorously every few moments
and never allowed from bcr hands a
long squirrel rifle. She was accompa
nied by her son. a tall, thin, ague smit
ten youth of perhaps seventeen years
and a height about as great as her
own. When I first saw thom she was
driving her son before her to a spot
where an opening offered near the bow
of Jthe boat, in full sight of the pas
sengers, of whose attention she was
quite oblivious.
"Git up, there, Andy Jackson!" she
said. "Stan' up!"
The boy, his long legs braiding under
him and his peaked face still more
pale, did as be was bid. lie had no
sooner taken his position than to my
surprise I saw his mother cover him
with the long barrel of a dragoon revolver.
"Pull your gun, you low down cow
ard," she commanded. Reluctantly the
boy complied, his own revolver trem
bling in his band.
"Now. whut'd you do if a man was
to klvver you like I'm a-doln' now?'
demanded his mother.
"G-g-g-gosh. maw, I dunno! I think
I'd J-J J Jump off in the river," confess
ed the boy.
"Shore you would, and good luck if
you'd git plumb drownded, you white
llvered sou of misery. Whatever in
this yere ole world you was borned for
certainly is niore'n I can tell, and I
your maw at that, that orto know if
anybody could."
"Madam," 1 interrupted, "what do
you mean by such talk to your son,
for I presume he is your son?"
"Shut up and miud yore own busi
ness!" answered the virago, swiftly
turning the barrel of her weapon upon
me. "Whut business Is this here of
yores?"
"None, madam," I bowed, "but I was
only curious."
"You keep your own cur'osity to
yourself ef you'r goln' to travel In
these parts That's a mighty good
thing for you to learn. You. Andrew
Jackson, stick your pistol up agin
your liend the way I toP you. Now
snap it, dash you! Snap It till you
git through beln' scared of it Do it
now, or, by gosii. i u ennse you over
the side of the boat and feed you to
the catOsb, ydu low down itnertatlon
of a he thing!"
"My good woman," said 1. "do you
mind telling me what U your name?"
"Name's Mandy McGovern, and I
come from Pike." she nnswered. al
most before the words were out of my
mouth. "I've been merried three
times, and my first two husbands died
a-figbtln' like gentlemen in ditlikilties
with friends. Then along come this
Danny Calkins, that taken np some
land nigh to me In the bottoms low
downest coward of a man that ever
disgraced the slle of yearth and then
I merried him."
"Is he dead, too, my denr woman?"
1 asked.
"Don't you 'dear woman' me. I
ain't free to merry agin yit," said she.
"Naw. he nln't dead, and I ain't dw
vorced either. 1 Just done left him.
Why, every man In Pike has whnpped
Danny Calkins one time or other.
When a man couldn't git no reputation
any other way he'd come erlong mid
whupped my husband. I got right
tired of It And me the wife of two
real men befo' then! I had eight
chlllen by my two husbands that was
real men. and every one of them died
We were running in the dark before
! the rising of the moon, a thing cau
I tious steamboat men would not have
ventured, when some time toward
I mlr1nliht thr rnnit H slight shook. .1
grating slide and a rasping crash of
wood. With a forward churning of
her paddles which sent water high
along the rail the River Belle- shud
dered and lay still, her engines throb
bing and groaning.
I Joined the rush to the bows and,
leaning over, saw that we were hard
aground at the lower end of a sand
bar. Imbedded hi this bar was a long
white snag, a tree trunk whose naked
arms, thrusting far downstream, had
literally impaled us. The upper wood
work of the bout wns pierced quite
through, and. for all that one could
tell at the moment, the hull below
the line was in all likelihood similarly
crushed.
Sudden disaster usually brings sud
den calm, the pause before resolution
or resignation. Runnlug down the
companlonway, 1 found myself among
n crowd or excitea uecKunnas, most
of whom, with many of the passen
gers, were pushing toward tho star
board rail, whence could be seen the
gloom of the forest along shore. The
gangway door on the opposite side of
the boat was open. I sprang out
and. making good my hold upon the
nearest limb ns I plunged, found my
self standing in not more than four
feet of water, the foot of the bnr evi
dently running down well under the
boat As I turned to call to others I
saw the tall figure of my plainsman,
Auberry, take a flying leap, and be Join
ed me on the snag. "It's better here
than there." ho said. "If she sinks or
busts, and they're alius likely to do
both."
As we pulled ourselves up into the
fork of the long naked branch we
rr
I PA
Up We Clambered, the Girl Catching
Her Breath In Terror.
heard a voice and saw n womau lean
ing over the rail of the upper deck. 1
recognized Mandy McCoveru. "Whut
you nil A. In' down there?" she railed.
"Walt a minute: I'm eoinln too." A
r sot killed like a mnu or went west 'moment later she appeared at th
like a man exceptln' this thing here,
the sou of that there Danny Calkins.
Why, he's afraid to go coon buntlu' at
nlgbt for fear the cats'Il get him. He
don't like to tnelk a keow for fear
she'll kick him. He's afraid to court
a gal. He kaln't shoot, be kaln't chop,
he kaln't do not bin'."
"Say. mister,"' said she, "how tall
are you?"
"About six feet. I think."
"Hum! That's Just about bow tall
my first husband wns. Tou look some
like him in the face too. Say, be was
the flghtln'est man in rike. IIow come
him to get killed was a dlfflkllty with
his brother-in-law, a Dutchman that
kept a saloon and couldn't talk Eng
lish. Jim, be went In there to get a
bite to eat and asked this Dutchman
what he could set up. Paul that was
the Dutchman's name he says, 'Well,
we got dawg mallard dawg and red
head dawg and canvasback dawg
what's the kind of dawg you like,
Chimr
"My husband tboujasit he was pokln'
fun at him, tnlkln' about en tin' dawg,
not knowin' the Dutchman was trytn'
to say 'duck' and couldn't 'I might
have a piece of duck. said Jim, "but I
ain't eatln' no dawg.'
" 'I Bald dawg,' says Faul. still a-try-In'
to say 'duck.'
"'I know you did.' says Jim, and
then they clinched. Jim be broke his
knife off, and ,the Dutchman soaked
him with a beer mallet 'But Mandy,'
says Jim to me Jest before he shot his
eyes, 'I die content. That there fel
low was the sweetest cuttln' man I
ever did cut in all my life. He was
Jest like a ripe pumpkin.' Say, there
wss a man for you. was Jim. You
look some like him.
"You compliment me very much, Mrs.
McGovern." I said.
"Say," she responded, "I got 2,000
head o' hawgs runnln' around In the
timber down there In Pike."
At the moment I did not see the
relied tenderness of this speech, but
thought of nothing better thnn to tell
her that I was going no farther up the
river thnn Fort Leavenworth.
"And I may be a widder almost any
day now; somebody 11 shore kill Dan
ny Calkins 'fore long," waa Mandys
final hint
i
opening of the lower-deck and craned
nut her long neck. 1 then saw nt ber
xlde the figure of a young woman, ber
hair fallen from Its colls, her feet bare,
her body wrapped apparently only in
some light silken dressing to be thrown
above her night wear.
"Here, yon." called out Mandy Mc
Govern: "git hold of the end of this
rope."
She tossed to me the end of the gang
plank rope, by which the sliding stags
was drnwu out and In at the boat
landings. I caught this and passed It
over u projection on the snag.
The gangplank, confined by the
rope, swung In the current alongside
the snag, but it seemed useless to un
dertake to restore it to its position.
The girl cowered against the side of
the deck opening. "Walt," 1 called to
her, and, slipping down into the water
again, 1 waded as close as 1 could to
tho door, the water then catching me
close to tbe shoulders.
"Jump!" 1 ordered, holding out my
arms.
"I can't; I'm afraid," she Bald.
"Do as I tell your I roared. "Jump
at once!" As I caught her weight with
my arms under hers she was for the
moment almost Immersed, but I stag
gered backward and managed to hold
my footing till Auberry's arms reached
us from tbe snag, up which we clam
bered, tbe girl dripping wot and catch
ing ber breath In terror.
We had traveledperhaps three-quarters
of a mile when L noticed the dim
loom of trees on our side of the
stream and saw that we were ap
proaching a long point which ran out
below us. This should have been tbe
deep side of tbe river, but no one can
account for the vagaries of tho Missou
ri. When we were within a hundred
yards or so of the point we felt a long
shuddering scrapo under us, and after
a series of slips and Jerks our old snag
came to anchor again, its roots having
once more laid hold upon bar. It
occurred to me that as I bad been able
to touch bottom on the other bar I
might do so here. I crawled back along
tbe trunk of tbe snag to a place as
near the roots as I could reach and.
letting myself down gently, found
that I could keep my footing on the
sand.
i
ji ui H
JV
WEEKl
Giving away Millinery Hand-Made Hats for
$2.50, $4.50, $6.50
Light Summer Coats Poplins and Silks. Also in blacks, line embroidery, will
e soM tor- $5.00, $7.00, $9.00
Just received a lot of White Pique Skirts in different Patterns worth $3.00
to $4.50, will be sold from- $2.19 UptO $3.25
Jaunty New Styles of Tailored Suits will be sold at
One-Third Off
J FROM THE REGULAR SELLING PRICE!!
3
Saturday morn
ing we received
a large line of
Ji Gi Gi
CORSETS
of fa shionable
type. During
this week they
will be sold from
TO
$3.00
In Clothing Department!
Remarkable Reductions This Week
turschbaum Qoth.
CLOAK and SUIT
DEPARTMENT!
In order not to carry over any of our Cloak9,
Suits and Dresses, we decided to offer them to the
public at a very big discount:
Ladies' Dresses, from
Children's Dresses from
98c Up
48c Up
Ladies' Wool Dress Skirts, worth from $5 to $12,
will besold from- $2.75 Up
Copjrrljht.d V)il A. B. K.IRSCHBAUM St CO.
Men's and Young Men's Suits
$6.95, $9.75, $13.50,
$15.00 and $18.00
Saturday Only from 3 lo 4 p, m, fine grade Calico 3 He yd Cash!
I
I
FAWGER' DEPARTMENT STORE
- - ' "THE HOME OF GUARANTEED VALUES"
i i V. ZUCKER, Manager I 1
Little by little I edged up the strehm
and found thnt tho wnter Hhoaled to
ward the henp of driftwood. It drop
ped off, I know not how deep, between
the edge of tbe bar and the plied drift;
but, standing no more than waist deep,
I could reach the outer limbs of the
drift and saw that they would support
my weight After Hint I waded buck
to the sang carefully and once more
ordered the young woman to come to
me.
She came back along tho naked and
slippery trunk of the snag, pulling her
self along by her hands, her bare feet
and limbs deep In the water alongside.
I could hear the sob of her lntnken
breath and saw thnt she trembled In
fright, and. more dead than alive, it
seemed to me. she fell once more Into
uiy arms. I felt her grasp tighten
about my neck and her firm body
crowd against mo as we both sank
down for an Instant . Then I caught
my feet and straightened and was real
ly tbe steadier for the added weight, as
any one knows who tins waded In fast
water.
"Get up. Auberry." I said to hlra as
he approached and motioned to the
long, overhanging branches from the
driftwood. He swung up, breaking off
the more Insecure boughs, and was of
the belief that we could get across In
that way. As he reached down I
swung the young woman up to him,
and she clambered on as best she
Cflald. Thin, T scarce Vnow.hrmwe
all managed to reach the solid drift
and so presently found ourselves
ashore on a narrow sandy beach hedged
on the back by a heavy growth of
willows.
(To He Continued.)
BURDENSJ.IFTED
From Plattsmouth Backs Relief
Proved by Lapse of Time.
Hackache is a heavy burden;
Nervousness, dizziness, head
ache. Rheumatic pain; urinary ills;
All wear one out.
Often efl'eclM of kidney weak
ness. No use to cure I he symptoms,
Relief is but temporary if tho
cause remains.
If it's the kidneys, cure the
cause.
Ioau's Kidney Pills are for
kidney ills;
Head about your neighbor's
case.
Here's Plattsmouth testimony.
The kind that can be in
vestigated. E. M. Buttery, Tenth and Wal
nut Kts Platlsmoulh, Neb., says:
"I still use Moan's Kidney Pill
occasionally and recommend
I hem just as highly ns I did in
11)08, when I gave a public state
ment endorsing them. I used
Ooan's Kidney Pills for pain in
my back and hips and other symp
toms of kidney trouble. The
quick relief they brought war
rants me in endorsing them."
Tor sale by all dealers. Price
50 cents. Foster-M ilbuin Co.,
Huffalo, New York, sole agents for
the United Slates.
Remember the name nan's
and take no other.
Special Teachers' Examination.
County Superintendent Miss
Mary Foster has announced a
special teachers' examination for
Friday and Saturday, June 21 and.
22, to certificates for county
schools only. There will be no
city teachers' examination at this
time.
Mr. and Mrs. J. A. VanAnda,
who have been spending: a week as
guests of Mr. and Mrs. V. A.
Robertson, departed for their
home at Fremont this afternoon.
They are just returning from
their honeymoon in the east.
