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+Project Gutenberg's Letters on an Elk Hunt, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Letters on an Elk Hunt
+
+Author: Elinore Pruitt Stewart
+
+Release Date: April 21, 2009 [EBook #28572]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS ON AN ELK HUNT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ LETTERS ON AN ELK HUNT
+
+ BY A
+
+ WOMAN HOMESTEADER
+
+ _Elinore Pruitt Stewart_
+
+ UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS
+ Lincoln and London
+
+
+
+
+ Copyright, 1915, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
+
+ All rights reserved
+
+ Copyright (C) renewed 1943 by H C Stewart
+
+ First Bison Book Printing 1979
+
+ Most recent printing indicated by first digit below
+                                       7 8 9 10
+
+ Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
+
+ Stewart, Elinore Pruitt, 1878-- Letters on an elk hunt
+
+   1 Stewart, Elinore Pruitt, 1878-- 2 Frontier and pioneer
+ life--Wyoming  3 Elk   hunting--Wyoming  4 Pioneers--Wyoming--Biography
+ 5 Wyoming--Biography I  Title
+
+ F761 S82 1979 978 7'03'0924 79-13840
+
+ ISBN 0-8032-4112-7
+
+ ISBN 0-8032-9112-4 pbk
+
+ Published by arrangement
+ with Houghton Mifflin Company
+
+ Manufactured in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph courtesy of Clyde Stewart_]
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS
+
+
+    I. CONNIE WILLIS                              1
+
+   II. THE START                                 13
+
+  III. EDEN VALLEY                               24
+
+   IV. CRAZY OLAF AND OTHERS                     34
+
+    V. DANYUL AND HIS MOTHER                     57
+
+   VI. ELIZABETH'S ROMANCE                       81
+
+  VII. THE HUNT                                  95
+
+ VIII. THE SEVENTH MAN                          109
+
+   IX. AN INDIAN CAMP                           118
+
+    X. THE TOOTH-HUNTERS                        124
+
+   XI. BUDDY AND BABY GIRL                      130
+
+  XII. A STAMPEDE                               143
+
+ XIII. NEARING HOME                             156
+
+  XIV. THE MEMORY-BED                           160
+
+
+
+
+ LETTERS ON AN ELK HUNT
+ By a Woman Homesteader
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+CONNIE WILLIS
+
+
+                              BURNT FORK, WYO., July 8, 1914.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+Your letter of the 4th just to hand. How glad your letters make me;
+how glad I am to have you to tell little things to.
+
+I intended to write you as soon as I came back from Green River, to
+tell you of a girl I saw there; but there was a heap to do and I kept
+putting it off. I have described the desert so often that I am afraid
+I will tire you, so I will leave that out and tell you that we arrived
+in town rather late. The help at the hotel were having their supper in
+the regular dining-room, as all the guests were out. They cheerfully
+left their own meal to place ours on the table.
+
+One of them interested me especially. She was a small person; I
+couldn't decide whether she was a child or a woman. I kept thinking
+her homely, and then when she spoke I forgot everything but the music
+of her voice,--it was so restful, so rich and mellow in tone, and she
+seemed so small for such a splendid voice. Somehow I kept expecting
+her to squeak like a mouse, but every word she spoke charmed me.
+Before the meal was over it came out that she was the dish-washer. All
+the rest of the help had finished their work for the day, but she, of
+course, had to wash what dishes we had been using.
+
+The rest went their ways; and as our own tardiness had belated her, I
+offered to help her to carry out the dishes. It was the work of only a
+moment to dry them, so I did that. She was so small that she had to
+stand on a box in order to be comfortable while she washed the cups
+and plates.
+
+"The sink and drain-board were made for real folks. I have to use this
+box to stand on, or else the water runs back down my sleeves," she
+told me.
+
+My room was upstairs; she helped me up with the children. She said her
+name was Connie Willis, that she was the only one of her "ma's first
+man's" children; but ma married again after pa died and there were a
+lot of the second batch. When the mother died she left a baby only a
+few hours old. As Connie was older than the other children she took
+charge of the household and of the tiny little baby.
+
+I just wish you could have seen her face light up when she spoke of
+little Lennie.
+
+"Lennie is eight years old now, and she is just as smart as the
+smartest and as pretty as a doll. All the Ford children are pretty,
+and smart, too. I am the only homely child ma had. It would do you
+good just to look at any of the rest, 'specially Lennie."
+
+It certainly did me good to listen to Connie,--her brave patience was
+so inspiring. As long as I was in town she came every day when her
+work was finished to talk to me about Lennie. For herself she had no
+ambition. Her clothes were clean, but they were odds and ends that had
+served their day for other possessors; her shoes were not mates, and
+one was larger than the other. She said: "I thought it was a streak
+of luck when I found the cook always wore out her right shoe first
+and the dining-room girl the left, because, you see, I could have
+their old ones and that would save two dollars toward what I am saving
+up for. But it wasn't so very lucky after all except for the fun,
+because the cook wears low heels and has a much larger foot than the
+dining-room girl, who wears high heels. But I chopped the long heel
+off with the cleaver, and these shoes have saved me enough to buy
+Lennie a pair of patent-leather slippers to wear on the Fourth of
+July."
+
+I thought that a foolish ambition, but succeeding conversations made
+me ashamed of the thought.
+
+I asked her if Lennie's father couldn't take care of her.
+
+"Oh," she said, "Pa Ford is a good man. He has a good heart, but
+there's so many of them that it is all he can do to rustle what must
+be had. Why," she told me in a burst of confidence, "I've been saving
+up for a tombstone for ma for twelve years, but I have to help pa once
+in a while, and I sometimes think I never will get enough money saved.
+It is kind of hard on three dollars a week, and then I'm kind of
+extravagant at times. I have wanted a doll, a beautiful one, all my
+days. Last Christmas I got it--for Lennie. And then I like to carry
+out other folks' wishes sometimes. That is what I am fixing to do now.
+Ma always wanted to see me dressed up real pretty just once, but we
+were always too poor, and now I'm too old. But I can fix Lennie, and
+this Fourth of July I am going to put all the beauty on her that ma
+would have liked to see on me. They always celebrate that day at
+Manila, Utah, where pa lives. I'll go out and take the things. Then
+if ma is where she can see, she'll see _one_ of her girls dressed for
+once."
+
+"But aren't you mistaken when you say you have been saving for your
+mother's tombstone for twelve years? She's only been dead eight."
+
+"Why no, I'm not. You see, at first it wasn't a tombstone but a
+marble-top dresser. Ma had always wanted one so badly; for she always
+thought that housekeeping would be so much easier if she had just
+one pretty thing to keep house toward. If I had not been so selfish,
+she could have had the dresser before she died. I had fifteen
+dollars,--enough to buy it,--but when I came to look in the catalogue
+to choose one I found that for fifteen dollars more I could get a
+whole set. I thought how proud ma would be of a new bedstead and
+wash-stand, so I set in to earn that much more. But before I could get
+that saved up ma just got tired of living, waiting, and doing without.
+She never caused any trouble while she lived, and she died the same
+way.
+
+"They sent for me to come home from the place where I was at work. I
+had just got home, and I was standing by the bed holding ma's hand,
+when she smiled up at me; she handed me Lennie and then turned over
+and sighed so contented. That was all there was to it. She was done
+with hard times.
+
+"Pa Ford wanted to buy her coffin on credit,--to go in debt for
+it,--but I hated for ma to have to go on that way even after she was
+dead; so I persuaded him to use what money he had to buy the coffin,
+and I put in all I had, too. So the coffin she lies in is her own. We
+don't owe for _that_. Then I stayed at home and kept house and cared
+for Lennie until she was four years old. I have been washing dishes in
+this hotel ever since."
+
+That is Connie's story. After she told me, I went to the landlady and
+suggested that we help a little with Lennie's finery; but she told me
+to "keep out." "I doubt if Connie would accept any help from us, and
+if she did, every cent we put in would take that much from her
+pleasure. There have not been many happy days in her life, but the
+Fourth of July will be one if we keep out." So I kept out.
+
+I was delighted when Mrs. Pearson invited me to accompany her to
+Manila to witness the bucking contest on the Fourth. Manila is a
+pretty little town, situated in Lucerne Valley. All the houses in town
+are the homes of ranchers, whose farms may be seen from any doorstep
+in Manila. The valley lies between a high wall of red sandstone and
+the "hogback,"--that is what the foothills are called. The wall of
+sandstone is many miles in length. The valley presents a beautiful
+picture as you go eastward; at this time of the year the alfalfa is so
+green. Each farm joins another. Each has a cabin in which the rancher
+lives while they irrigate and make hay. When that is finished they
+move into their houses in "town." Beyond the hogback rise huge
+mountains, rugged canyons, and noisy mountain streams; great forests of
+pine help to make up the picture. Looking toward the east we could see
+where mighty Green River cuts its way through walls of granite. The
+road lies close up against the sandstone and cedar hills and along the
+canal that carries the water to all the farms in the valley. I enjoyed
+every moment. It was all so beautiful,--the red rock, the green
+fields, the warm brown sand of the road and bare places, the mighty
+mountains, the rugged cedars and sage-brush spicing the warm air, the
+blue distance and the fleecy clouds. Oh, I wish I could paint it for
+you! In the foreground there should be some cows being driven home by
+a barefooted boy with a gun on his shoulder and a limp brown rabbit in
+his hand. But I shall have to leave that to your imagination and move
+on to the Fourth.
+
+On that day every one turns out; even from the very farthest outlying
+ranches they come, and every one dressed in his best. No matter what
+privation is suffered all the rest of the time, on this day every one
+is dressed to kill. Every one has a little money with which to buy
+gaudy boxes of candy; every girl has a chew of gum. Among the children
+friendship is proved by invitations to share lemons. They cordially
+invite each other to "come get a suck o' my lemon." I just _love_ to
+watch them. Old and young are alike; whatever may trouble them at
+other times is forgotten, and every one dances, eats candy, sucks
+lemons, laughs, and makes merry on the Fourth.
+
+I didn't care much for their contests. I was busy watching the faces.
+Soon I saw one I knew. Connie was making her way toward me. I wondered
+how I could ever have thought her plain. Pride lighted every feature.
+She led by the hand the most beautiful child I have ever seen. She is
+a few weeks younger than Jerrine[1] but much smaller. She had such an
+elusive beauty that I cannot describe it. One not acquainted with her
+story might have thought her dress out of taste out among the sand
+dunes and sage-brush in the hot sun, but I knew, and I felt the thrill
+of sheer blue silk, dainty patent-leather slippers, and big blue hat
+just loaded with pink rose-buds.
+
+[Footnote 1: The author's daughter, aged eight.]
+
+"This is my Lennie," said Connie proudly.
+
+I saw all the Ford family before I left,--the weak-faced,
+discouraged-looking father and the really beautiful girls. Connie was
+neat in a pretty little dress, cheap but becoming, and her shoes were
+mates. Lennie was the center of family pride. She represented all
+their longings.
+
+Before I left, Connie whispered to me that she would very soon have
+money enough to pay for her mother's tombstone. "Then I will have had
+everything I ever wanted. I guess I won't have anything else to live
+for then; I guess I will have to get to wanting something for Lennie."
+
+On our way home even the mosquito bites didn't annoy me; I was too
+full of Connie's happiness. All my happiness lacked was your presence.
+If I had had you beside me to share the joy and beauty, I could have
+asked for nothing more. I kept saying, "How Mrs. Coney would enjoy
+this!" All I can do is to kind of hash it over for you. I hope you
+like hash.
+
+                              With much love to you,
+                                   ELINORE.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE START
+
+
+                              IN CAMP ON THE DESERT,
+                                   August 24, 1914.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+At last we are off. I am powerfully glad. I shall have to enjoy this
+trip for us both. You see how greedy I am for new experiences! I have
+never been on a prolonged hunt before, so I am looking forward to a
+heap of fun. I hardly know what to do about writing, but shall try to
+write every two days. I want you to have as much of this trip as I can
+put on paper, so we will begin at the start.
+
+To begin with we were all to meet at Green River, to start the
+twentieth; but a professor coming from somewhere in the East delayed
+us a day, and also some of the party changed their plans; that reduced
+our number but not our enthusiasm.
+
+A few days before we left the ranch I telephoned Mrs. Louderer and
+tried to persuade her to go along, but she replied, "For why should I
+go? Vat? Iss it to freeze? I can sleep out on some rocks here and with
+a stick I can beat the sage-bush, which will give me the smell you
+will smell of the outside. And for the game I can have a beef kill
+which iss better to eat as elk."
+
+I love Mrs. Louderer dearly, but she is absolutely devoid of
+imagination, and her matter-of-factness is mighty trying sometimes.
+However, she sent me a bottle of goose-grease to ward off colds from
+the "kinder."
+
+I tried Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, but she was plumb aggravating and
+non-committal, and it seemed when we got to Green River that I would
+be the only woman in the party. Besides, all the others were strangers
+to me except young Mr. Haynes, who was organizing the hunt. Really the
+prospect didn't seem so joyous.
+
+The afternoon before we were to start I went with Mr. Stewart and Mr.
+Haynes to meet the train. We were expecting the professor. But the
+only passenger who got off was a slight, gray-eyed girl. She looked
+about her uncertainly for a moment and then went into the depot while
+we returned to the hotel. Just as I started up the steps my eyes were
+gladdened by the sight of Mrs. O'Shaughnessy in her buckboard trotting
+merrily up the street. She waved her hand to us and drove up. Clyde
+took her team to the livery barn and she came up to my room with me.
+
+"It's going with you I am," she began. "Ye'll need somebody to keep
+yez straight and to sew up the holes ye'll be shooting into each
+other."
+
+After she had "tidied up a bit" we went down to supper. We were all
+seated at one table, and there was yet an empty place; but soon the
+girl we had seen get off the train came and seated herself in it.
+
+"Can any of you tell me how to get to Kendall, Wyoming?" she asked.
+
+I didn't know nor did Clyde, but Mrs. O'Shaughnessy knew, so she
+answered. "Kendall is in the forest reserve up north. It is two
+hundred miles from here and half of the distance is across desert, but
+they have an automobile route as far as Pinedale; you could get that
+far on the auto stage. After that I suppose you could get some one to
+take you on."
+
+"Thank you," said the girl. "My name is Elizabeth Hull. I am alone in
+the world, and I am not expected at Kendall, so I am obliged to ask
+and to take care of myself."
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy at once mentioned her own name and introduced the
+rest of us. After supper Miss Hull and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had a long
+talk. I was not much surprised when Mrs. O'Shaughnessy came in to tell
+me that she was going to take the girl along. "Because," she said,
+"Kendall is on our way and it's glad I am to help a lone girl. Did you
+notice the freckles of her? Sure her forbears hailed from Killarney."
+
+So early next morning we were astir. We had outfitted in Green River,
+so the wagons were already loaded. I had rather dreaded the professor.
+I had pictured to myself a very dignified, bespectacled person, and
+I mentally stood in awe of his great learning. Imagine my surprise
+when a boyish, laughing young man introduced himself as Professor
+Glenholdt. He was so jolly, so unaffected, and so altogether likable,
+that my fear vanished and I enjoyed the prospect of his company. Mr.
+Haynes and his friend Mr. Struble on their wagon led the way, then we
+followed, and after us came Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, and Miss Hull brought
+up the rear, with the professor riding horseback beside first one
+wagon and then another.
+
+So we set out. There was a great jangling and banging, for our tin
+camp-stoves kept the noise going. Neither the children nor I can ride
+under cover on a wagon, we get so sick; so there we were, perched
+high up on great rolls of bedding and a tent. I reckon we looked funny
+to the "onlookers looking on" as we clattered down the street; but we
+were off and that meant a heap.
+
+All the morning our way lay up the beautiful river, past the great red
+cliffs and through tiny green parks, but just before noon the road
+wound itself up on to the mesa, which is really the beginning of the
+desert. We crowded into the shadow of the wagons to eat our midday
+meal; but we could not stop long, because it was twenty-eight miles to
+where we could get water for the horses when we should camp that
+night. So we wasted no time.
+
+Shortly after noon we could see white clouds of alkali dust ahead. By
+and by we came up with the dust-raisers. The children and I had got
+into the buckboard with Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Miss Hull, so as to
+ride easier and be able to gossip, and we had driven ahead of the
+wagons, so as to avoid the stinging dust.
+
+The sun was just scorching when we overtook the funniest layout I have
+seen since Cora Belle[2] drove up to our door the first time. In a
+wobbly old buckboard sat a young couple completely engrossed by each
+other. That he was a Westerner we knew by his cowboy hat and boots;
+that she was an Easterner, by her not knowing how to dress for the
+ride across the desert. She wore a foolish little chiffon hat which
+the alkali dust had ruined, and all the rest of her clothes matched.
+But over them the enterprising young man had raised one of those big
+old sunshades that had lettering on them. It kept wobbling about in
+the socket he had improvised; one minute we could see "Tea"; then a
+rut in the road would swing "Coffee" around. Their sunshade kept
+revolving about that way, and sometimes their heads revolved a little
+bit, too. We could hear a word occasionally and knew they were having
+a great deal of fun at our expense; but we were amused ourselves, so
+we didn't care. They would drive along slowly until we almost reached
+them; then they would whip up and raise such a dust that we were
+almost choked.
+
+[Footnote 2: The story of Cora Belle is told in _Letters of a Woman
+Homesteader_.]
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy determined to drive ahead; so she trotted up
+alongside, but she could not get ahead. The young people were
+giggling. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy doesn't like to be the joke all the time.
+Suddenly she leaned over toward them and said: "Will ye tell me
+something?" Oh, yes, they would. "Then," she said, "which of you are
+Tea and which Coffee?"
+
+Their answer was to drive up faster and stir up a powerful lot of
+dust. They kept pretty well ahead after that, but at sundown we came
+up with them at the well where we were to camp. This well had been
+sunk by the county for the convenience of travelers, and we were
+mighty thankful to find it. It came out that our young couple were
+bride and groom. They had never seen each other until the night
+before, having met through a matrimonial paper. They had met in Green
+River and were married that morning, and the young husband was taking
+her away up to Pinedale to his ranch.
+
+They must have been ideally happy, for they had forgotten their
+mess-box, and had only a light lunch. They had only their lap-robe for
+bedding. They were in a predicament; but the girl's chief concern was
+lest "Honey-bug" should let the wolves get her. Though it is scorching
+hot on the desert by day, the nights are keenly cool, and I was
+wondering how they would manage with only their lap-robe, when Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy, who cannot hold malice, made a round of the camp,
+getting a blanket here and a coat there, until she had enough to make
+them comfortable. Then she invited them to take their meals with us
+until they could get to where they could help themselves.
+
+I think we all enjoyed camp that night, for we were all tired. We were
+in a shallow little canyon,--not a tree, not even a bush except
+sage-brush. Luckily, there was plenty of that, so we had roaring
+fires. We sat around the fire talking as the blue shadows faded into
+gray dusk and the big stars came out. The newly-weds were, as the
+bride put it, "so full of happiness they had nothing to put it in."
+Certainly their spirits overflowed. They were eager to talk of
+themselves and we didn't mind listening.
+
+They are Mr. and Mrs. Tom Burney. She is the oldest of a large family
+of children and has had to "work out ever since she was big enough to
+get a job." The people she had worked for rather frowned upon any
+matrimonial ventures, and as no provision was made for "help"
+entertaining company, she had never had a "beau." One day she got hold
+of a matrimonial paper and saw Mr. Burney's ad. She answered and they
+corresponded for several months. We were just in time to "catch it,"
+as Mr. Haynes--who is a confirmed bachelor--disgustedly remarked.
+Personally, I am glad; I like them much better than I thought I should
+when they were raising so much dust so unnecessarily.
+
+I must close this letter, as I see the men are about ready to
+start. The children are standing the trip well, except that Robert
+is a little sun-blistered. Did I tell you we left Junior with his
+grandmother? Even though I have the other three, my heart is hungry
+for my "big boy," who is only a baby, too. He is such a precious
+little man. I wish you could see him!
+
+With a heart very full of love for you,
+
+                              E. R. S.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+EDEN VALLEY
+
+
+                              IN CAMP, August 28.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+We are almost across the desert, and I am really becoming interested.
+The difficulties some folks work under are enough to make many of us
+ashamed. In the very center of the desert is a little settlement
+called Eden Valley. Imagination must have had a heap to do with its
+name, but one thing is certain: the serpent will find the crawling
+rather bad if he attempts to enter _this_ Eden, for the sand is hot;
+the alkali and the cactus are there, so it must be a serpentless Eden.
+The settlers have made a long canal and bring their water many miles.
+They say the soil is splendid, and they don't have much stone; but it
+is such a flat place! I wonder how they get the water to run when they
+irrigate.
+
+We saw many deserted homes. Hope's skeletons they are, with their
+yawning doors and windows like eyeless sockets. Some of the houses,
+which looked as if they were deserted, held families. We camped near
+one such. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and I went up to the house to buy some
+eggs. A hopeless-looking woman came to the door. The hot winds and the
+alkali dust had tanned her skin and bleached her hair; both were a
+gray-brown. Her eyes were blue, but were so tired-looking that I could
+hardly see for the tears.
+
+"No," she said, "we ain't got no eggs. We ain't got no chickens. You
+see this ground is sandy, and last year the wind blowed awful hard and
+all the grain blowed out, so we didn't have no chance to raise
+chickens. We had no feed and no money to buy feed, so we had to kill
+our chickens to save their lives. We et 'em. They would have starved
+anyway."
+
+Then we tried for some vegetables. "Well," she said, "they ain't much
+to look at; maybe you'll not want 'em. Our garden ain't much this
+year. Pa has had to work out all the time. The kids and me put in some
+seed--all we had--with a hoe. We ain't got no horse; our team died
+last winter. We didn't have much feed and it was shore a hard winter.
+We hated to see old Nick and Fanny die. They were just like ones of
+the family. We drove 'em clean from Missouri, too. But they died, and
+what hurt me most was, pa 'lowed it would be a turrible waste not to
+skin 'em. I begged him not to. Land knows the pore old things was
+entitled to their hides, they got so little else; but pa said it
+didn't make no difference to them whether they had any hide or not,
+and that the skins would sell for enough to get the kids some shoes.
+And they did. A Jew junk man came through and give pa three dollars
+for the two hides, and that paid for a pair each for Johnny and Eller.
+
+"Pa hated as bad as we did to lose our faithful old friends, and all
+the winter long we grieved, the kids and me. Every time the coyotes
+yelped we knew they were gathering to gnaw poor old Nick and Fan's
+bones. And pa, to keep from crying himself when the kids and me would
+be sobbin', would scold us. 'My goodness,' he would say, 'the horses
+are dead and they don't know nothin' about cold and hunger. They don't
+know nothin' about sore shoulders and hard pulls now, so why don't you
+shut up and let them and me rest in peace?' But that was only pa's way
+of hidin' the tears.
+
+"When spring came the kids and me gathered all the bones and hair we
+could find of our good old team, and buried 'em where you see that
+green spot. That's grass. We scooped all the trash out of the mangers,
+and spread it over the grave, and the timothy and the redtop seed in
+the trash came up and growed. I'd liked to have put some flowers
+there, but we had no seed."
+
+She wiped her face on her apron, and gathered an armful of cabbage;
+it had not headed but was the best she had. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy seemed
+possessed; she bought stuff she knew she would have to throw away, but
+she didn't offer one word of sympathy. I felt plumb out of patience
+with her, for usually she can say the most comforting things.
+
+"Why don't you leave this place? Why not go away somewhere else, where
+it will not be so hard to start?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, 'cause pa's heart is just set on making a go of it here, and we
+would be just as pore anywhere else. We have tried a heap of times to
+start a home, and we've worked hard, but we were never so pore before.
+We have been here three years and we can prove up soon; then maybe we
+can go away and work somewhere, enough to get a team anyway. Pa has
+already worked out his water-right,--he's got water for all his land
+paid for, if we only had a team to plough with. But we'll get it. Pa's
+been workin' all summer in the hay, and he ought to have a little
+stake saved. Then the sheep-men will be bringin' in their herds
+soon's frost comes and pa 'lows to get a job herdin'. Anyway, we got
+to stick. We ain't got no way to get away and all we got is right
+here. Every last dollar we had has went into improvin' this place. If
+pore old hard-worked pa can stand it, the kids and me can. We ain't
+seen pa for two months, not sence hayin' began, but we work all we can
+to shorten the days; and we sure do miss pore old Nick and Fan."
+
+We gathered up as much of the vegetables as we could carry. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy paid, and we started homeward, promising to send for the
+rest of the beets and potatoes. On the way we met two children, and
+knew them at once for "Johnny and Eller." They had pails, and were
+carrying water from the stream and pouring it on the green spot that
+covered Nick and Fan. We promised them each a dime if they would bring
+the vegetables we had left. Their little faces shone, and we had to
+hurry all we could to get supper ready before they came; for we were
+determined they should eat supper with us.
+
+We told the men before the little tykes came. So Mr. Struble let
+Johnny shoot his gun and both youngsters rode Chub and Antifat to
+water. They were bright little folks and their outlook upon life is
+not so flat and colorless as their mother's is. A day holds a world of
+chance for them. They were saving their money, they told us, "to buy
+some house plants for ma." Johnny had a dollar which a sheep-man had
+given him for taking care of a sore-footed dog. Ella had a dime which
+a man had given her for filling his water-bag. They both hoped to pull
+wool off dead sheep and make some more money that way. They had quite
+made up their minds about what they wanted to get: it must be house
+plants for ma; but still they both wished they could get some little
+thing for pa. They were not pert or forward in any way, but they
+answered readily and we all drew them out, even the newly-weds.
+
+After supper the men took their guns and went out to shoot sage-hens.
+Johnny went with Mr. Haynes and Mr. Struble. Miss Hull walked back
+with Ella, and we sent Mrs. Sanders a few cans of fruit. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy and I washed the dishes. We were talking of the Sanders
+family. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was disgusted with me because I wept.
+
+"You think it is a soft heart you have, but it is only your head that
+is soft. Of course they are having a hard time. What of it? The very
+root of independence is hard times. That's the way America was
+founded; that is why it stands so firmly. Hard times is what makes
+sound characters. And them kids are getting a new hold on character
+that was very near run to seed in the parents. Johnny will be
+tax-assessor yet, I'll bet you, and you just watch that Eller. It
+won't surprise me a bit to see her county superintendent of schools.
+The parents most likely never would make anything; but having just
+only a pa and a ma and getting the very hard licks them kids are
+getting now, is what is going to make them something more than a pa
+and a ma."
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy is very wise, but sometimes she seems absolutely
+heartless.
+
+The men didn't bring back much game; each had left a share with Mrs.
+Sanders.
+
+Next morning we were astir early. We pulled out of camp just as the
+first level rays of the sun shot across the desolate, flat country. We
+crossed the flat little stream with its soft sandy banks. A willow
+here and there along the bank and the blue, distant mountains and some
+lonesome buttes were all there was to break the monotony. Yet we saw
+some prosperous-looking places with many haystacks. I looked back once
+toward the Sanders cabin. The blue smoke was just beginning to curl
+upward from the stove pipe. The green spot looked vividly green
+against the dim prospect. Poor pa and poor ma! Even if they could be
+_nothing_ more, I wish at least that they need not have given up Nick
+and Fan!
+
+Mr. Haynes told us at breakfast that we would camp only one more night
+on the desert. I am so glad of that. The newly-weds will leave us in
+two more days. I'm rather sorry; they are much nicer than I thought
+they would be. They have invited us to stay with them on our way back.
+Well, I must stop. I wish I could put some of this clean morning air
+inside your apartments.
+
+                         With much love,
+                              E. R. S.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+CRAZY OLAF AND OTHERS
+
+
+                              IN CAMP, August 31, 1914.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+We are across the desert, and camped for a few days' fishing on a
+shady, bowery little stream. We have had two frosty nights and there
+are trembling golden groves on every hand. Four men joined us at
+Newfork, and the bachelors have gone on; but Mr. Stewart wanted to
+rest the "beasties" and we all wanted to fish, so we camped for a day
+or two.
+
+The twenty-eighth was the warmest day we have had, the most
+disagreeable in every way. Not a breath of air stirred except an
+occasional whirlwind, which was hot and threw sand and dust over us.
+We could see the heat glimmering, and not a tree nor a green spot. The
+mountains looked no nearer. I am afraid we _all_ rather wished we
+were at home. Water was getting very scarce, so the men wanted to
+reach by noon a long, low valley they knew of; for sometimes water
+could be found in a buried river-bed there, and they hoped to find
+enough for the horses. But a little after noon we came to the spot,
+and only dry, glistening sand met our eyes. The men emptied the
+water-bags for the horses; they all had a little water. We had to be
+saving, so none of us washed our dust-grimed faces.
+
+We were sitting in the scant shadow of the wagons eating our dinner
+when we were startled to see a tall, bare-headed man come racing
+down the draw. His clothes and shoes were in tatters; there were
+great blisters on his arms and shoulders where the sun had burned
+him; his eyes were swollen and red, and his lips were cracked and
+bloody. His hair was so white and so dusty that altogether he was a
+pitiful-looking object. He greeted us pleasantly, and said that his
+name was Olaf Swanson and that he was a sheep-herder; that he had
+seen us and had come to ask for a little smoking. By that he meant
+tobacco.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was eyeing him very closely. She asked him when he
+had eaten. That morning, he said. She asked him _what_ he had eaten;
+he told her cactus balls and a little rabbit. I saw her exchange
+glances with Professor Glenholdt, and she left her dinner to get out
+her war-bag.
+
+She called Olaf aside and gently dressed his blisters with listerine;
+after she had helped him to clean his mouth she said to him, "Now,
+Olaf, sit by me and eat; show me how much you can eat. Then tell me
+what you mean by saying you are a sheep-herder; don't you think we
+know there will be no sheep on the desert before there is snow to make
+water for them?"
+
+"I am what I say I am," he said. "I am not herding now because sorrow
+has drove me to dig wells. It is sorrow for horses. Have you not seen
+their bones every mile or so along this road? Them's markers. Every
+pile of bones marks where man's most faithful friend has laid down at
+last: most of 'em died in the harness and for want of water.
+
+"I killed a horse once. I was trying to have a good time. I had been
+out with sheep for months and hadn't seen any one but my pardner. We
+planned to have a rippin' good time when we took the sheep in off the
+summer range and drew our pay. You don't know how people-hungry a man
+gets livin' out. So my pardner and me layed out to have one spree. We
+had a neat little bunch of money, but when we got to town we felt lost
+as sheep. We didn't know nobody but the bartender. We kept taking a
+drink now and then just so as to have him to talk to. Finally, he told
+us there was going to be a dance that night, so we asked around and
+found we could get tickets for two dollars each. Sam said he'd like to
+go. We bought tickets.
+
+"Somehow or another they knew us for sheep-herders, and every once in
+a while somebody would _baa-baa_ at us. We had a couple of dances, but
+after that we couldn't get a pardner. After midnight things begun to
+get pretty noisy. Sam and me was settin' wonderin' if we were havin' a
+good time, when a fellow stepped on Sam's foot and said _baa_. I rose
+up and was goin' to smash him, but Sam collared me and said, 'Let's
+get away from here, Olaf, before trouble breaks out.' It sounded as if
+every man in the house and some of the women were _baa_-ing.
+
+"We were pretty near the door when a man put his hand to his nose and
+_baa_-ed. I knocked him down, and before you could bat your eye
+everybody was fightin'. We couldn't get out, so we backed into a
+corner; and every man my fist hit rested on the floor till somebody
+helped him away. A fellow hit me on the head with a chair and I didn't
+know how I finished or got out.
+
+"The first thing I remember after that was feeling the greasewood
+thorns tearing my flesh and my clothes next day. We were away out on
+the desert not far from North Pilot butte. Poor Sam couldn't speak. I
+got him off poor old Pinto, and took off the saddle for a pillow for
+him. I hung the saddle-blanket on a greasewood so as to shade his
+face; then I got on my own poor horse, poor old Billy, and started to
+hunt help. I rode and rode. I was tryin' to find some outfit. When
+Billy lagged I beat him on. You see, I was thinking of Sam. After a
+while the horse staggered,--stepped into a badger hole, I thought. But
+he kept staggerin'. I fell off on one side just as he pitched forward.
+He tried and tried to get up. I stayed till he died; then I kept
+walking. I don't know what became of Sam; I don't know what became of
+me; but I do know I am going to dig wells all over this desert until
+every thirsty horse can have water."
+
+All the time he had been eating just pickles; when he finished his
+story he ate faster. By now we all knew he was demented. The men tried
+to coax him to go on with us so that they could turn him over to the
+authorities, but he said he must be digging. At last it was decided to
+send some one back for him. Mr. Struble was unwilling to leave him,
+but the man would not be persuaded. Suddenly he gathered up his
+"smoking" and some food and ran back up the draw. We had to go on, of
+course.
+
+All that afternoon our road lay along the buried river. I don't mean
+dry river. Sand had blown into the river until the water was buried.
+Water was only a few feet down, and the banks were clearly defined.
+Sometimes we came to a small, dirty puddle, but it was so alkaline
+that nothing could drink it. The story we had heard had saddened us
+all, and we were sorry for our horses. Poor little Elizabeth Hull
+wept. She said the West was so big and bare, and she was so alone and
+so sad, she just _had_ to cry.
+
+About sundown we came to a ranch and were made welcome by one Timothy
+Hobbs, owner of the place. The dwelling and the stables were a
+collection of low brown houses, made of logs and daubed with mud.
+Fields of shocked grain made a very prosperous-looking background. A
+belled cow led a bunch of sleek cattle home over the sand dunes. A
+well in the yard afforded plenty of clear, cold water, which was
+raised by a windmill. The cattle came and drank at the trough, the
+bell making a pleasant sound in the twilight.
+
+The men told Mr. Hobbs about the man we saw. "Oh, yes," he said, "that
+is Crazy Olaf. He has been that way for twenty years. Spends his time
+digging wells, but he never gets any water, and the sand caves in
+almost as fast as he can get it out." Then he launched upon a recital
+of how he got sweet water by piping past the alkali strata. I kept
+hoping he would tell how Olaf was kept and who was responsible for
+him, but he never told.
+
+He invited us to prepare our supper in his kitchen, and as it was late
+and wood was scarce, we were glad to accept. He bustled about helping
+us, adding such dainties as fresh milk, butter, and eggs to our menu.
+He is a rather stout little man, with merry gray eyes and brown hair
+beginning to gray. He wore a red shirt and blue overalls, and he wiped
+his butcher's knife impartially on the legs of his overalls or his
+towel,--just whichever was handiest as he hurried about cutting our
+bacon and opening cans for us.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and he got on famously. After supper, while she and
+Elizabeth washed the dishes, she asked him why he didn't get married
+and have some one to look after him and his cabin.
+
+"I don't have time," he answered. "I came West eighteen years ago to
+make a start and a home for Jennie and me, but I can't find time to go
+back and get her. In the summer I have to hustle to make the hay and
+grain, and I have to stay and feed the stock all the rest of the
+time."
+
+"You write her once in a while, don't you?" asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I wrote her two years ago come April; then I was so
+busy I didn't go to town till I went for my year's supplies. I went to
+the post office, and sure enough there was a letter for me,--been
+waitin' for me for six months. You see the postmaster knows me and
+never would send a letter back. I set down there right in the office
+and answered it. I told her how it was, told her I was coming after
+her soon as I could find time. You see, she refuses to come to me
+'cause I am so far from the railroad, and she is afraid of Indians and
+wild animals."
+
+"Have you got your answer?" asked Elizabeth.
+
+"No," he said, "I ain't had time yet to go, but I kind of wish
+somebody would think to bring the mail. Not many people pass here,
+only when the open season takes hunters to the mountains. When you
+people come back will you stop and ask for the mail for me?"
+
+We promised.
+
+In the purple and amber light of a new day we were about, and soon
+were on the road. By nightfall we had bidden the desert a glad
+farewell, and had camped on a large stream among trees. How glad we
+were to see so much water and such big cottonwoods! Mr. and Mrs.
+Burney were within a day's drive of home, so they left us. This camp
+is at Newfork, and our party has four new members: a doctor, a
+moving-picture man, and two geological fellows. They have gone on, but
+we will join them soon.
+
+Just across the creek from us is the cabin of a new settler. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy and I slept together last night,--only we couldn't sleep
+for the continual, whining cry of a sick baby at the cabin. So after a
+while we rose and dressed and crossed over to see if we could be of
+any help. We found a woefully distressed young couple. Their first
+child, about a year old, was very sick. They didn't know what to do
+for it; and she was afraid to stay alone while he went for help.
+
+They were powerfully glad to see us, and the young father left at
+once to get Grandma Mortimer, a neighborhood godsend such as most
+Western communities have one of. We busied ourselves relieving the
+young mother as much as we could. She wouldn't leave the baby and lie
+down. The child is teething and had convulsions. We put it into a hot
+bath and held the convulsions in check until Mrs. Mortimer came. She
+bustled in and took hold in a way to insure confidence. She had not
+been there long before she had both parents in bed, "saving themselves
+for to-morrow," and was gently rubbing the hot little body of the
+baby. She kept giving it warm tea she had made of herbs, until soon
+the threatening jerks were over, the peevish whining ceased, and the
+child slept peacefully on Grandma's lap. I watched her, fascinated.
+There was never a bit of faltering, no indecision; everything she did
+seemed exactly what she ought to do.
+
+"How did you learn it all?" I asked her. "How can you know just what
+to do, and then have the courage to do it? I should be afraid of
+doing the wrong thing."
+
+"Why," she said, "that is easy. Just do the very best you can and
+trust God for the rest. After all, it is God who saves the baby, not
+us and not our efforts; but we can help. He lets us do that. Lots of
+times the good we do goes beyond any medicine. Never be afraid to
+_help_ your best. I have been doing that for forty years and I am
+going to keep it up till I die."
+
+Then she told us story after story--told us how her different
+ambitions had "boosted" her along, had made her swim when she just
+wanted to float. "I was married when I was sixteen, and of course, my
+first ambition was to own a home for Dave. My man was poor. He had a
+horse, and his folks gave him another. My father gave me a heifer, and
+mother fitted me out with a bed. That was counted a pretty good start
+then, but we would have married even if we hadn't had one thing. Being
+young we were over-hopeful. We both took to work like a duck to
+water. Some years it looked as if we were going to see every dream
+come true. Another time and we would be poorer than at first. One year
+the hail destroyed everything; another time the flood carried away all
+we had.
+
+"When little Dave was eleven years old, he had learned to plough.
+Every one of us was working to our limit that year. I ploughed and
+hoed, both, and big Dave really hardly took time to sleep. You see,
+his idea was that we must do better by our children than we had been
+done by, and Fanny, our eldest, was thirteen. Big Dave thought all
+girls married at sixteen because his mother did, and so did I; so that
+spring he said, 'In just three years Fanny will be leaving us and we
+_must_ do right by her. I wanted powerfully bad that _you_ should have
+a blue silk wedding dress, mother, but of course it couldn't be had,
+and you looked as pretty as a rose in your pink lawn. But I've always
+wanted you to have a blue silk. As you can't have it, let us get it
+for Fanny; and of course we must have everything else according.' And
+so we worked mighty hard.
+
+"Little Dave begged to be allowed to plough. Every other boy in the
+neighborhood did,--some of them younger than he,--but somehow I didn't
+want him to. One of our neighbors had been sick a lot that year and
+his crops were about ruined. It was laying-by time and we had finished
+laying by our crops--all but about half a day's ploughing in the corn.
+That morning at breakfast, big Dave said he would take the horses and
+go over to Henry Boles's and plough that day to help out,--said he
+could finish ours any time, and it didn't matter much if it didn't get
+ploughed. He told the children to lay off that day and go fishing and
+berrying. So he went to harness his team, and little Dave went to help
+him. Fanny and I went to milk, and all the time I could hear little
+Dave begging his father to let him finish the ploughing. His father
+said he could if I said so.
+
+"I will never forget his eager little face as he began on me. He had a
+heap of freckles; I remember noticing them that morning; he was
+barefooted, and I remember that one toe was skinned. Big Dave was
+lighting his pipe, and till to-day I remember how he looked as he held
+the match to his pipe, drew a puff of smoke, and said, 'Say yes,
+mother.' So I said yes, and little Dave ran to open the gate for his
+father.
+
+"As big Dave rode through the gate, our boy caught him by the leg and
+said, 'I just _love_ you, daddy.' Big Dave bent down and kissed him,
+and said, 'You're a _man_, son.' How proud that made the little
+fellow! Parents should praise their children more; the little things
+work hard for a few words of praise, and many of them never get their
+pay.
+
+"Well, the little fellow would have no help to harness his mule; so
+Fanny and I went to the house, and Fanny said, 'We ought to cook an
+extra good dinner to celebrate Davie's first ploughing. I'll go down
+in the pasture and gather some blackberries if you will make a
+cobbler.'
+
+"She was gone all morning. About ten o'clock, I took a pail of fresh
+water down to the field. I knew Davie would be thirsty, and I was
+uneasy about him, but he was all right. He pushed his ragged old hat
+back and wiped the sweat from his brow just as his father would have
+done. I petted him a little, but he was so mannish he didn't want me
+to pet him any more. After he drank, he took up his lines again, and
+said, 'Just watch me, mother; see how I can plough.' I told him that
+we were going to have chicken and dumplings for dinner, and that he
+must sit in his father's place and help us to berry-cobbler. As he had
+only a few more rows to plough, I went back, telling myself how
+foolish I had been to be afraid.
+
+"Twelve o'clock came, but not Davie. I sent Fanny to the spring for
+the buttermilk and waited a while, thinking little Dave had not
+finished as soon as he had expected. I went to the field. Little Dave
+lay on his face in the furrow. I gathered him up in my arms; he was
+yet alive; he put one weak little arm around my neck, and said, 'Oh,
+mammy, I'm hurt. The mule kicked me in the stomach.'
+
+"I don't know how I got to the house with him; I stumbled over clods
+and weeds, through the hot sunshine. I sank down on the porch in the
+shade, with the precious little form clasped tightly to me. He smiled,
+and tried to speak, but the blood gurgled up into his throat and my
+little boy was gone.
+
+"I would have died of grief if I hadn't had to work so hard. Big Dave
+got too warm at work that day, and when Fanny went for him and told
+him about little Dave, he ran all the way home; he was crazy with
+grief and forgot the horses. The trouble and the heat and the overwork
+brought on a fever. I had no time for tears for three months, and by
+that time my heart was hardened against my Maker. I got deeper in the
+rut of work, but I had given up my ambition for a home of my own; all
+I wanted to do was to work so hard that I could not think of the
+little grave on which the leaves were falling. I wanted, too, to save
+enough money to mark the precious spot, and then I wanted to leave.
+But first one thing and then another took every dollar we made for
+three years.
+
+"One morning big Dave looked so worn out and pale that I said, 'I am
+going to get out of here; I am not going to stay here and bury _you_,
+Dave. Sunrise to-morrow will see us on the road West. We have worked
+for eighteen years as hard as we knew how, and have given up my boy
+besides; and now we can't even afford to mark his grave decently. It
+is time we left.'
+
+"Big Dave went back to bed, and I went out and sold what we had. It
+was so little that it didn't take long to sell it. That was years ago.
+We came West. The country was really wild then; there was a great
+deal of lawlessness. We didn't get settled down for several years; we
+hired to a man who had a contract to put up hay for the government,
+and we worked for him for a long time.
+
+"Indians were thick as fleas on a dog then; some were camped near
+us once, and among them was a Mexican woman who could jabber a
+little English. Once, when I was feeling particularly resentful and
+sorrowful, I told her about my little Dave; and it was her jabbered
+words that showed me the way to peace. I wept for hours, but peace had
+come and has stayed. Ambition came again, but a different kind: I
+wanted the same peace to come to all hearts that came so late to mine,
+and I wanted to help bring it. I took the only course I knew. I have
+gone to others' help every time there has been a chance. After Fanny
+married and Dave died, I had an ambition to save up four hundred
+dollars with which to buy an entrance into an old ladies' home. Just
+before I got the full amount saved up, I found that young Eddie
+Carwell wanted to enter the ministry and needed help to go to college.
+I had just enough; so I gave it to him. Another time I had almost
+enough, when Charlie Rucker got into trouble over some mortgage
+business; so I used what I had that time to help him. Now I've given
+up the old ladies' home idea and am saving up for the blue silk dress
+Dave would have liked me to have. I guess I'll die some day and I want
+it to be buried in. I like to think I'm going to my two Daves then;
+and it won't be hard,--especially if I have the blue silk on."
+
+Just then a sleepy little bird twittered outside, and the baby stirred
+a little. The first faint light of dawn was just creeping up the
+valley. I rose and said I must get back to camp. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
+and I had both wept with Mrs. Mortimer over little Dave. We have all
+given up our first-born little man-child; so we felt near each other.
+We told Mrs. Mortimer that we had passed under the rod also. I kissed
+her toilworn old hands, and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy dropped a kiss on her
+old gray head as we passed out into the rose-and-gold morning. We felt
+that we were leaving a sanctified presence, and we are both of us
+better and humbler women because we met a woman who has buried her
+sorrow beneath faith and endeavor.
+
+This doesn't seem much like a letter, does it? When I started on this
+trip, I resolved that you should have just as much of the trip as I
+could give you. I didn't know we would be so long getting to the
+hunting-ground, and I felt you would _like_ to know of the people we
+meet. Perhaps my next letter will not be so tame. The hunting season
+opens to-morrow, but we are several days' travel from the elk yet.
+
+Elizabeth behaves queerly. She doesn't want to go on, stay here, or go
+back. I am perfectly mystified. So far she has not told us a thing,
+and we don't know to whom she is going or anything about it. She is a
+likable little lady, and I sincerely hope she knows what she is
+doing. It is bedtime and I must stop writing. We go on to-morrow.
+
+                         With affectionate regards,
+                              ELINORE RUPERT STEWART.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+DANYUL AND HIS MOTHER
+
+
+                              IN CAMP ON THE GROS VENTRE,
+                                   September 6, 1914.
+
+MY DEAR FRIEND,--
+
+I have neglected you for almost a week, but when you read this letter
+and learn why, I feel sure you will forgive me.
+
+To begin with, we bade Mrs. Mortimer good-bye, and started out to find
+better fishing than the pretty little stream we were on afforded us.
+Our way lay up Green River and we were getting nearer our final
+camp-ground all the time, but we were in no hurry to begin hunting, so
+we were just loitering along. There were a great many little lakes
+along the valley, and thousands of duck. Mr. Stewart was driving, but
+as he wanted to shoot ducks, I took the lines and drove along. There
+is so much that is beautiful, and I was trying so hard to see it all,
+that I took the wrong road; but none of us noticed it at first, and
+then we didn't think it worth while to turn back.
+
+The road we were on had lain along the foothills, but when I first
+thought I had missed the right road we were coming down into a grassy
+valley. Mr. Stewart came across a marshy stretch of meadow and climbed
+up on the wagon. The ground was more level, and on every side were
+marshes and pools; the willows grew higher here so that we couldn't
+see far ahead. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was behind, and she called out,
+"Say, I believe we are off the road." Elizabeth said she had noticed a
+road winding off on our right; so we agreed that I must have taken the
+wrong one, but as we couldn't turn in the willows, we had to go on.
+Soon we reached higher, drier ground and passed through a yellow grove
+of quaking asp.
+
+A man came along with an axe on his shoulder, and Mr. Stewart asked
+him about the road. "Yes," he said, "you are off the main road, but
+on a better. You'll cross the same stream you were going to camp on,
+right at my ranch. It is just a little way across here and it's almost
+sundown, so I will show you the way."
+
+He strode along ahead. We drove through an avenue of great dark
+pines and across a log bridge that spanned a noisy, brawling stream.
+The man opened a set of bars and we drove into a big clean corral.
+Comfortable sheds and stables lined one side, and big stacks of hay
+were conveniently placed. He began to help unharness the teams, saying
+that they might just as well run in his meadow, as he was through
+haying; then the horses would be safe while we fished. He insisted
+on our stopping in his cabin, which we found to be a comfortable
+two-room affair with a veranda the whole length. The _biggest_ pines
+overshadowed the house; just behind it was a garden, in which some
+late vegetables were still growing. The air was rather frosty and some
+worried hens were trying hard to cover some chirping half-feathered
+chicks.
+
+It was such a homey place that we felt welcome and perfectly
+comfortable at once. The inside of the house will not be hard to
+describe. It was clean as could be, but with a typical bachelor's
+cleanliness: there was no dirt, but a great deal of disorder. Across
+the head of the iron bed was hung a miscellany of socks, neckties, and
+suspenders. A discouraging assortment of boots, shoes, and leggings
+protruded from beneath the bed. Some calendars ornamented the wall,
+and upon a table stood a smoky lamp and some tobacco and a smelly
+pipe. On a rack over the door lay a rifle.
+
+Pretty soon our host came bustling in and exclaimed, "The kitchen is
+more pleasant than this room and there's a fire there, too." Then,
+catching sight of his lamp, he picked it up hurriedly and said, "Jest
+as shore as I leave anything undone, that shore somebody comes and
+sees how slouchy I am. Come on into the kitchen where you can warm,
+and I'll clean this lamp. One of the cows was sick this morning; I
+hurried over things so as to doctor her, and I forgot the lamp. I
+smoke and the lamp smokes to keep me company."
+
+The kitchen would have delighted the heart of any one. Two great
+windows, one in the east and one in the south, gave plenty of
+sunlight. A shining new range and a fine assortment of vessels--which
+were not all yet in their place--were in one corner. There was a slow
+ticking clock up on a high shelf; near the door stood a homemade
+wash-stand with a tin basin, and above it hung a long narrow mirror.
+On the back of the door was a towel-rack. The floor was made of white
+pine and was spotlessly clean. In the center of the room stood the
+table, with a cover of red oilcloth. Some chairs were placed about the
+table, but our host quickly hauled them out for us. He opened his
+storeroom and told us to "dish in dirty-face," and help ourselves to
+anything we wanted, because we were to be his "somebody come" for that
+night; then he hurried out to help with the teams again. He was so
+friendly and so likeable that we didn't feel a bit backward about
+"dishin' in," and it was not long before we had a smoking supper on
+the table.
+
+While we were at supper he said, "I wonder, now, if any of you women
+can make aprons and bonnets. I don't mean them dinky little things
+like they make now, but rale wearin' things like they used to make."
+
+I was afraid of another advertisement romance and didn't reply, but
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said, "Indade we can, none better."
+
+Then he answered, "I want a blue chambray bonnet and a bunch of aprons
+made for my mother. She is on the way here from Pennsylvania. I ain't
+seen her for fifteen years. I left home longer 'n that ago, but I
+remember everything,--just how everything looked,--and I'd like to
+have things inside the house as nearly like home as I can, anyway."
+
+I didn't know how long we could stop there, so I still made no
+promises, but Mrs. O'Shaughnessy could easily answer every question
+for a dozen women.
+
+"Have you the cloth?" she asked.
+
+Yes, he said; he had had it for a long time, but he had not had it
+sewn because he had not been sure mother _could_ come.
+
+"What's your name?" asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy.
+
+He hesitated a moment, then said, "Daniel Holt."
+
+I wondered why he hesitated, but forgot all about it when Clyde said
+we would stop there for a few days, if we wanted to help Mr. Holt.
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's mind was already made up. Elizabeth said she
+would be glad to help, and I was not long in deciding when Daniel
+said, "I'll take it as a rale friendly favor if you women could help,
+because mother ain't had what could rightly be called a home since I
+left home. She's crippled, too, and I want to do all I can. I know
+she'd just like to have some aprons and a sunbonnet."
+
+His eyes had such a pathetic, appealing look that I was ashamed, and
+we at once began planning our work. Daniel helped with the dishes and
+as soon as they were done brought out his cloth. He had a heap of
+it,--a bolt of checked gingham, enough blue chambray for half a dozen
+bonnets, and a great many remnants which he said he had bought from
+peddlers from time to time. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy selected what she said
+we would begin on, and dampened it so as to shrink it by morning. We
+then spread our beds and made ready for an early start next day.
+
+Next morning we ate breakfast by the light of the lamp that smoked for
+the sake of companionship, and then started to cut out our work.
+Daniel and Mr. Stewart went fishing, and we packed their lunch so as
+to have them out of the way all day. I undertook the making of the
+bonnet, because I knew how, and because I can remember the kind my
+mother wore; I reckoned Daniel's mother would have worn about the
+same style. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Elizabeth can both cross-stitch, so
+they went out to Daniel's granary and ripped up some grain-bags, in
+order to get the thread with which they were sewed, to work one apron
+in cross-stitch.
+
+But when we were ready to sew we were dismayed, for there was no
+machine. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, however, was of the opinion that _some
+one_ in the country must have a sewing machine, so she saddled a horse
+and went out, she said, to "beat the brush."
+
+She was hardly out of sight before a man rode up and said there had
+been a telephone message saying that Mrs. Holt had arrived in Rock
+Springs, and was on her way as far as Newfork in an automobile. That
+threw Elizabeth and myself into a panic. We posted the messenger off
+on a hunt for Daniel. Elizabeth soon got over her flurry and went at
+her cross-stitching. I hardly knew what to do, but acting from force
+of habit, I reckon, I began cleaning. A powerfully good way to reason
+out things sometimes is to work; and just then I had to work. I began
+on the storeroom, which was well lighted and which was also used as a
+pantry. As soon as I began straightening up I began to wonder where
+the mother would sleep. By arranging things in the storeroom a little
+differently, I was able to make room for a bed and a trunk. I decided
+on putting Daniel there; so then I began work in earnest. Elizabeth
+laid down her work and helped me. We tacked white cheesecloth over the
+wall, and although the floor was clean, we scrubbed it to freshen it.
+We polished the window until it sparkled. We were right in the middle
+of our work when Mrs. O'Shaughnessy came, and Daniel with her.
+
+They were all excitement, but Mrs. O'Shaughnessy is a real general
+and soon marshaled her forces. Daniel had to go to Newfork after his
+mother; that would take three days. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy pointed out
+to him the need of a few pieces of furniture; so he took a wagon and
+team, which he got a neighbor to drive, while he took another team
+and a buggy for his mother. Newfork is a day's drive beyond Pinedale,
+and the necessary furniture could be had in Pinedale; so the neighbor
+went along and brought back a new bed, a rocker, and some rugs. But
+of course he had to stay overnight. I was for keeping right on
+house-cleaning; but as Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had arranged for us all to
+come and sew that afternoon at a near-by house, we took our sewing and
+clambered into the buckboard and set out.
+
+We found Mrs. Bonham a pleasant little woman whose husband had earned
+her pretty new machine by chewing tobacco. I reckon you think that is
+a mighty funny method of earning anything, but some tobacco has tags
+which are redeemable, and the machine was one of the premiums. Mrs.
+Bonham just beamed with pride as she rolled out her machine. "I never
+had a machine before," she explained. "I just went to the neighbors'
+when I had to sew. So of course I wanted a machine awfully bad. So
+Frank jest chawed and chawed, and I saved every tag till we got
+enough, and last year we got the machine. Frank is chawin' out a clock
+now; but that won't take him so long as the machine did."
+
+Well, the "chawed-out" machine did splendidly, and we turned out
+some good work that afternoon. I completed the blue bonnet which was
+to be used as "best," and made a "splint" bonnet. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
+and Elizabeth did well on their aprons. We took turns about at the
+machine and not a minute was wasted. Mrs. Bonham showed us some crochet
+lace which she said she hoped to sell; and right at once Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy's fertile mind begin to hatch plans. She would make Mrs.
+Holt a "Sunday apron," she said, and she bought the lace to trim it
+with. I thought Mrs. Holt must be an old-fashioned lady who liked
+pillow-shams. Mrs. Bonham had a pretty pair she was willing to sell.
+On one was worked, "Good Morning"; on the other, "Good Night"; it was
+done with red cotton. The shams had a dainty edge of homemade lace.
+Elizabeth would not be outdone; she purchased a star quilt pieced in
+red and white. At sundown we went home. We were all tired, but as soon
+as supper was over we went to work again. We took down the bed and set
+it up in Dan's new quarters, and we made such headway on what had been
+his bedroom that we knew we could finish in a little while next day.
+
+The next morning, as soon as we had breakfasted, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
+and Elizabeth went back to sew, taking with them a lot of white
+cheesecloth for lining for the bedroom we were preparing for Mrs.
+Holt. Mr. Stewart had had fine luck fishing, but he said he felt plumb
+left out with so much bustling about and he not helping. He is very
+handy with a saw and hammer, and he contrived what we called a "chist
+of drawers," for Daniel's room. The "chist" had only one drawer; into
+that we put all the gloves, ties, handkerchiefs, and suspenders, and
+on the shelves below we put his shoes and boots. Then I made a blue
+curtain for the "chist" and one for the window, and the room looked
+plumb nice, I can tell you. I liked the "chist" so well that I asked
+Mr. Stewart to make something of the kind for Mrs. Holt's room. He
+said there wouldn't be time, but he went to work on it.
+
+Promptly at noon Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Elizabeth came with the lining
+for the room. We worked like beavers, and had the room sweet and ready
+by mid-afternoon, when the man came from Pinedale with the new
+furniture. In just a little while we had the room in perfect order:
+the bed nicely made with soft, new blankets for sheets; the pretty
+star quilt on, and the nice, clean pillows protected by the shams.
+They could buy no rugs, but a weaver of rag carpets in Pinedale had
+some pieces of carpet which Daniel sent back to us. They were really
+better and greatly more in keeping. We were very proud of the pretty
+white and red room when we were through. Only the kitchen was left,
+but we decided we could clean that early next day; so we sat down to
+sew and to plan the next day's dinner. We could hear Mr. Stewart out
+in the barn hammering and sawing on the "chist."
+
+While we were debating whether to have fried chicken or trout for
+dinner, two little girls, both on one horse, rode up. They entered
+shyly, and after carefully explaining to us that they had heard that a
+wagon-load of women were buying everything they could see, had run Mr.
+Holt off, and were living in his house, they told us they had come to
+sell us some blueing. When they got two dollars' worth sold, the
+blueing company would send them a big doll; so, please, would we buy a
+lot?
+
+We didn't think we could use any blueing, but we hated to disappoint
+the little things. We talked along, and presently they told us of
+their mother's flowers. Daniel had told us his mother _always_ had a
+red flower in her kitchen window. When the little girls assured us
+their mother had a red geranium in bloom, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy set out
+to get it; and about dark she returned with a beautiful plant just
+beginning to bloom. We were all as happy as children; we had all
+worked very hard, too. Mr. Stewart said we deserved no sympathy
+because we cleaned a perfectly clean house; but, anyway, we felt much
+better for having gone over it.
+
+The "chist" was finished early next morning. It would have looked
+better, perhaps, if it had had a little paint, but as we had no paint
+and were short of time, we persuaded ourselves it looked beautiful
+with only its clean, pretty curtain. We didn't make many changes in
+the kitchen. All we did was to take down the mirror and turn it
+lengthways above the mantel-shelf over the fireplace. We put the new
+rocker in the bright, sunny corner, where it would be easier for dim
+old eyes to see to read or sew. We set the geranium on the broad clean
+sill of the window, and I think you would have agreed with us that it
+was a cozy, cheerful home to come to after fifteen years of lonely
+homelessness. We couldn't get the dinner question settled, so we
+"dished in dirty-face"; each cooked what she thought best. Like
+Samantha Ann Allen, we had "everything good and plenty of it."
+
+Elizabeth took a real interest and worked well. She is the _dearest_
+girl and would be a precious daughter to some mother. She has not yet
+told us anything about herself. All we know is, she taught school
+somewhere in the East. She was a little surprised at the way we took
+possession of a stranger's home, but she enjoyed it as much as we. "It
+is so nice to be doing something for some one again, something real
+homey and family-like," she remarked as she laid the table for dinner.
+
+We had dinner almost ready when we heard the wheels crossing the mossy
+log bridge. We raced to let down the bars. Beside Daniel sat a dear
+dumpy little woman, her head very much bundled up with a lot of old
+black veils. Daniel drove through the corral, into the yard, and
+right up to the door. He helped her out _so_ gently. She kept
+admonishing him, "Careful, Danyul, careful." He handed out her crutch
+and helped her into the kitchen, where she sank, panting, into the
+rocker. "It is my leg," she explained; "it has been that way ever
+since Danyul was a baby." Then she pleaded, "Careful, careful," to
+Elizabeth, who was tenderly unwrapping her. "I wouldn't have anything
+happen to this brown alapacky for anything; it is my very best, and
+I've had it ever since before I went to the pore farm; but I wanted to
+look nice for Danyul, comin' to his home for the first time an' all."
+
+We had the happiest dinner party I ever remember. It would be
+powerfully hard for me to say which was happier, "Danyul" or his
+mother. They just beamed upon each other. She was proud of her boy and
+his pleasant home. "Danyul says he's got a little red heifer for me
+and he's got ten cows of his own. Now ain't that fine? It is a pity we
+can't have a few apple trees,--a little orchard. We'd live like
+kings, we would that." We explained to her how we got our fruit by
+parcel post, and Danyul said he would order his winter supply of
+apples at once.
+
+As soon as dinner was over, Danyul had to mend a fence so as to keep
+his cattle in their own pasture. Mr. Stewart went to help and we women
+were left alone. We improved the time well. Mrs. Holt would not lie
+down and rest, as we tried to persuade her to, but hobbled about,
+admiring everything. She was delighted with the big, clean cellar
+and its orderly bins, in which Danyul was beginning to store his
+vegetables. She was as pleased as a child with her room, and almost
+wept when we told her which were "welcoming presents" from us. She was
+particularly delighted with her red flower, and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
+will be happy for days remembering it was she who gave it. I shall be
+happy longer than that remembering how tickled she was with her
+bonnets.
+
+She wanted to wipe the dishes, so she and I did up the dishes while
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Elizabeth put some finishing stitches in on
+their aprons. She sat on the highest seat we could find, and as she
+deftly handled the dishes she told us this:--
+
+"I should think you would wonder why Danyul ain't got me out of the
+porehouse before now. I've been there more 'n ten years, but Danyul
+didn't know it till a month ago. Charlotte Nash wrote him. Neither
+Danyul nor me are any master-hand at writin', and then I didn't want
+him to know anyhow. When Danyul got into trouble, I signed over the
+little farm his pa left us, to pay the lawyer person to defend him.
+Danyul had enough trouble, so he went to the penitentiary without
+finding out I was homeless. I should think you would be put out to
+know Danyul has been to the pen, but he has. He always said to me that
+he never done what he was accused of, so I am not going to tell you
+what it was. Danyul was always a good boy, honest and good to me and
+a hard worker. I ain't got no call to doubt him when he says he's
+innocent.
+
+"Well, I fought his case the best I could, but he got ten years. Then
+the lawyer person claimed the home an' all, so I went out to work, but
+bein' crippled I found it hard. When Danyul had been gone four years I
+had saved enough to buy my brown alapacky and go to see him. He looked
+pale and sad,--afraid even to speak to his own mother. I went back to
+work as broke up as Danyul, and that winter I come down with such a
+long spell of sickness that they sent me to the pore farm. I always
+wrote to Danyul on his birthday and I couldn't bear to let him know
+where I was.
+
+"Soon's his time was out, he come here; he couldn't bear the scorn
+that he'd get at home, so he come out to this big, free West, and took
+the chance it offers. Once he wrote and asked me if I would like to
+live West. He said if I did, after he got a start I must sell out and
+come to him. Bless his heart, all that time I was going to my meals
+just when I was told to and eatin' just what I was helped to, going to
+bed and getting up at some one else's word! Oh, it was bitter, but I
+didn't want Danyul to taste it; so, when I didn't come, he thought I
+didn't want to give up the old home, and didn't say no more about it.
+Charlotte was on the pore farm too, until her cousin died and she got
+left a home and enough to live on. Sometimes she would come out to the
+farm and take me back with her for a little visit. She was good that
+way. I never would tell her about Danyul; but this summer I was
+helpin' her dry apples and somehow she jist coaxed the secret out. She
+wrote to Danyul, and he wrote to me, and here I am. Danyul and me are
+so happy that we are goin' to send a ticket back to the farm for
+Maggie Harper. She ain't got no home and will be glad to help me and
+get a rale home."
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Elizabeth debated what more was needed to make
+the kitchen a bit more homey. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said a red cushion
+for the rocker, and Elizabeth said a white cat to lie on the hearth.
+Mrs. Holt said, "Yes, I _do_ need 'em both,--only it must be an old
+stray tabby cat. This house is going to be the shelter of the
+homeless."
+
+Well, I can't tell you any more about the Holts because we left next
+morning. Danyul came across the bridge to bid us good-bye. He said he
+could never thank us enough, but it is we who should be and are
+thankful. We got a little glow of happiness from their great blaze. We
+are all so glad to know that everything is secure and bright for the
+Holts in the future.
+
+That stop is the cause of my missing two letters to you, but this
+letter is as long as half a dozen letters should be. You know I never
+could get along with few words. I'll try to do better next time. But I
+can't imagine how I shall get the letters mailed. We are miles and
+miles and miles away in the mountains; it is two days' ride to a
+post-office, so maybe I will not get letters to you as often as I
+planned.
+
+                         Sincerely yours,
+                              ELINORE RUPERT STEWART.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+ELIZABETH'S ROMANCE
+
+
+                              CAMP CLOUDCREST,
+                                   September 12, 1914.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+I find I can't write to you as often as I at first intended; but I've
+a chance to-day, so I will not let it pass unused. We are in the last
+camp, right on the hunting ground, in the "midst of the fray." We have
+said good-bye to dear Elizabeth, and I must tell you about her because
+she really comes first.
+
+To begin with, the morning we left the Holts, Elizabeth suggested that
+we three women ride in the buckboard, so I seated myself on a roll of
+bedding in the back part. At first none of us talked; we just absorbed
+the wonderful green-gold beauty of the morning. The sky was clear
+blue, with a few fleecy clouds drifting lazily past. The mountains on
+one side were crested; great crags and piles of rock crowned them as
+far as we could see; timber grew only about halfway up. The trunks of
+the quaking aspens shone silvery in the early sunlight, and their
+leaves were shimmering gold. And the stately pines kept whispering and
+murmuring; it almost seemed as if they were chiding the quaking aspens
+for being frivolous. On the other side of the road lay the river,
+bordered by willows and grassy flats. There were many small lakes, and
+the ducks and geese were noisily enjoying themselves among the rushes
+and water-grasses. Beyond the river rose the forest-covered mountains,
+hill upon hill.
+
+Elizabeth dressed with especial care that morning, and very pretty she
+looked in her neat shepherd's plaid suit and natty little white canvas
+hat. Very soon she said, "I hope neither of you will misunderstand me
+when I tell you that if my hopes are realized I will not ride with you
+much longer. I never saw such a country as the West,--it is so big
+and so beautiful,--and I never saw such people. You are just like your
+country; you have fed me, cared for me, and befriended me, a stranger,
+and never asked me a word."
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said, "Tut, tut, 'tis nothing at all we've done.
+'Tis a comfort you've been, hasn't she, Mrs. Stewart?"
+
+I could heartily agree; and Elizabeth went on, "The way I have been
+received and the way we all treated Mrs. Holt will be the greatest
+help to me in becoming what I hope to become, a real Westerner. I
+might have lived a long time in the West and not have understood many
+things if I had not fallen into your hands. Years ago, before I was
+through school, I was to have been married; but I lost my mother just
+then and was left the care of my paralytic father. If I had married
+then, I should have had to take father from his familiar surroundings,
+because Wallace came West in the forestry service. I felt that it
+wouldn't be right. Poor father couldn't speak, but his eyes told me
+how grateful he was to stay. We had our little home and father had
+his pension, and I was able to get a small school near us. I could
+take care of father and teach also. We were very comfortably situated,
+and in time became really happy. Although I seldom heard from Wallace,
+his letters were well worth waiting for, and I knew he was doing well.
+
+"Eighteen months ago father died,--gently went to sleep. I waited six
+months and then wrote to Wallace, but received no reply. I have
+written him three times and have had no word. I could bear it no
+longer and have come to see what has become of him. If he is dead, may
+I stay on with one of you and perhaps get a school? I want to live
+here always."
+
+"But, darlint," said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, "supposin' it's married your
+man is?"
+
+"Wallace may have changed his mind about me, but he would not marry
+without telling me. If he is alive he is honorable."
+
+Then I asked, "Why didn't you ask about him at Pinedale or any of
+these places we have passed? If he is stationed in the Bridges reserve
+they would be sure to know of him at any of these little places."
+
+"I just didn't have the courage to. I should never have told you what
+I have, only I think I owe it to you, and it was easier because of the
+Holts. I am so glad we met them."
+
+So we drove along, talking together; we each assured the girl of our
+entire willingness to have her as a member of the family. After a
+while I got on to the wagon with Mr. Stewart and told him Elizabeth's
+story so that he could inquire about the man. Soon we came to the
+crossing on Green River. Just beyond the ford we could see the
+game-warden's cabin, with the stars and stripes fluttering gayly in
+the fresh morning breeze. We drove into the roaring, dashing water,
+and we held our breath until we emerged on the other side.
+
+Mr. Sorenson is a very capable and conscientious game-warden and
+a very genial gentleman. He rode down to meet us, to inspect our
+license and to tell us about our privileges and our duties as good
+woodsmen. He also issues licenses in case hunters have neglected to
+secure them before coming. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had refused to get a
+license when we did. She said she was not going to hunt; she told us
+we could give her a small piece of "ilk" and that would do; so we were
+rather surprised when she purchased two licenses, one a special, which
+would entitle her to a bull elk. As we were starting Mr. Stewart asked
+the game-warden, "Can you tell me if Wallace White is still stationed
+here?" "Oh, yes," Mr. Sorenson said, "Wallace's place is only a few
+miles up the river and can be plainly seen from the road."
+
+We drove on. Happiness had taken a new clutch upon my heart. I looked
+back, expecting to see Elizabeth all smiles, but if you will believe
+me the foolish girl was sobbing as if her heart was broken. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy drew her head down upon her shoulder and was trying to
+quiet her. The road along there was _very_ rough. Staying on the
+wagon occupied all my attention for a while. Several miles were passed
+when we came in sight of a beautiful cabin, half hidden in a grove of
+pines beyond the river. Mr. Stewart said we might as well "noon" as
+soon as we came to a good place, and then he would ride across and see
+Mr. White.
+
+Just as we rounded the hill a horseman came toward us. A splendid
+fellow he was, manly strength and grace showing in every line. The
+road was narrow against the hillside and he had to ride quite close,
+so I saw his handsome face plainly. As soon as he saw Elizabeth he
+sprang from his saddle and said, "'Liz'beth, 'Liz'beth, what you doin'
+here?"
+
+She held her hands to him and said, "Oh, just riding with friends."
+Then to Mrs. O'Shaughnessy she said, "_This_ is my Wallace."
+
+Mr. Stewart is the queerest man: instead of letting me enjoy the
+tableau, he solemnly drove on, saying he would not want any one
+gawking at him if he were the happy man. Anyway, he couldn't urge
+Chub fast enough to prevent my seeing and hearing what I've told you.
+Besides that, I saw that Elizabeth's hat was on awry, her hair in
+disorder, and her eyes red. It was disappointing after she had been so
+careful to look nicely.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy came trotting along and we stopped for dinner. We
+had just got the coffee boiling when the lovers came up, Elizabeth in
+the saddle, "learning to ride," and he walking beside her holding her
+hand. How happy they were! The rest of us were mighty near as foolish
+as they. They were going to start immediately after dinner, on
+horseback, for the county seat, to be married. After we had eaten,
+Elizabeth selected a few things from her trunk, and Mr. Stewart and
+Mr. White drove the buckboard across the river to leave the trunk in
+its new home. While they were gone we helped Elizabeth to dress. All
+the while Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was admonishing her to name her first
+"girul" Mary Ellen; "or," she said, "if yer first girul happens to be
+a b'y, it's Sheridan ye'll be callin' him, which was me name before I
+was married to me man, God rest his soul."
+
+Dear Elizabeth, she was glad to get away, I suspect! She and her
+Wallace made a fine couple as they rode away in the golden September
+afternoon. I believe she is _one_ happy bride that the sun shone on,
+if the omen has failed _everywhere_ else.
+
+Well, we felt powerfully reduced in numbers, but about three o'clock
+that afternoon we came upon Mr. Struble and Mr. Haynes waiting beside
+the road for us. They had come to pilot us into camp, for there would
+be no road soon.
+
+Such a way as we came over! Such jolting and sliding! I begged to get
+off and walk; but as the whole way was carpeted by strawberry vines
+and there were late berries to tempt me to loiter, I had to stay on
+the wagon. I had no idea a wagon could be got across such places.
+
+Mr. Struble drove for Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, and I could hear her
+imploring all the saints to preserve us from instant death. I kept
+shutting my eyes, trying not to see the terrifying places, and opening
+them again to see the beauty spread everywhere, until Mr. Stewart
+said, "It must make you nervous to ride over mountain roads. Don't bat
+your eyes so fast and you'll see more." So then I stiffened my back
+and kept my eyes open, and I _did_ see more.
+
+It had been decided to go as far as we could with the wagons and then
+set camp; from there the hunters would ride horseback as far up as
+they could and then climb. It was almost sundown when we reached camp.
+All the hunters were in, and such a yowling as they set up! "Look
+who's here! See who's come!" they yelled. They went to work setting up
+tents and unloading wagons with a hearty good-will.
+
+We are camped just on the edge of the pines. Back of us rises a big
+pine-clad mountain; our tents are set under some big trees, on a
+small plateau, and right below us is a valley in which grass grows
+knee high and little streams come from every way. Trout scurry up
+stream whenever we go near. We call the valley Paradise Valley because
+it is the horses' paradise. And as in the early morning we can often
+see clouds rolling along the valley, we call our camp Cloudcrest. We
+have a beautiful place: it is well sheltered; there is plenty of wood,
+water, and feed; and, looking eastward down the valley, snow-covered,
+crag-topped mountains delight the eye.
+
+The air is so bracing that we all feel equal to _anything_. Mr.
+Struble has already killed a fine "spike" elk for camp eating. We
+camped in a bunch, and we have camp stoves so that in case of rain or
+snow we can stay indoors. Just now we have a huge camp fire around
+which we sit in the evening, telling stories, singing, and eating nuts
+of the pinon pine. Then too the whole country is filled with those
+tiny little strawberries. We have to gather all day to get as much as
+we can eat, but they are delicious. Yesterday we had pie made of wild
+currants; there are a powerful lot of them here. There is also a
+little blueberry that the men say is the Rocky Mountain huckleberry.
+The grouse are feeding on them. Altogether this is one of the most
+delightful places imaginable. The men are not very anxious to begin
+hunting. A little delay means cooler weather for the meat. It is cool
+up here, but going back across the desert it will be warm for a while
+yet. Still, when they see elk every day it is a great temptation to
+try a shot.
+
+One of the students told me Professor Glenholdt was here to get the
+tip-end bone of the tail of a brontosaurus. I don't know what that is,
+but if it is a fossil he won't get it, for the soil is too deep. The
+students are jolly, likable fellows, but they can talk of nothing but
+strata and formation. I heard one of them say he would be glad when
+some one killed a bear, as he had heard they were fine eating, having
+strata of fat alternating with strata of lean. Mr. Haynes is a quiet
+fellow, just interested in hunting. Mr. Struble is the big man of the
+party; he is tall and strong and we find him very pleasant company.
+Then there is Dr. Teschall; he is a quiet fellow with an unexpected
+smile. He is so reserved that I felt that he was kind of out of place
+among the rest until I caught his cordial smile. He is so slight that
+I don't see how he will stand the hard climbing, not to mention
+carrying the heavy gun. They are using the largest caliber sporting
+guns,--murderous-looking things. That is, all except Mr. Harkrudder,
+the picture man. He looks to be about forty years old, but whoops and
+laughs like he was about ten.
+
+I don't need to tell you of the "good mon," do I? He is just the kind,
+quiet good mon that he has always been since I have known him. A young
+lady from a neighboring camp came over and said she had called to see
+our _tout ensemble_. Well, I've given you it, they, us, or we.
+
+We didn't need a guide, as Mr. Haynes and Mr. Struble are old-timers.
+We were to have had a cook, but when we reached Pinedale, where we
+were to have picked him up, he told Mr. Haynes he was "too tam seek
+in de bel," so we had to come without him; but that is really no
+inconvenience, since we are all very good cooks and are all willing
+to help. I don't think I shall be able to tell you of any great
+exploits I make with the gun. I fired one that Mr. Stewart carries,
+and it almost kicked my shoulder off. I am mystified about Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy's license. I know she would not shoot one of those big
+guns for a dozen elk; besides that, she is very tender-hearted and
+will never harm anything herself, although she likes to join our
+hunts.
+
+I think you must be tired of this letter, so I am going to say
+good-night, my friend.
+
+                              E. R. S.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+THE HUNT
+
+
+                              CAMP CLOUDCREST,
+                                   October 6, 1914.
+
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+It seems so odd to be writing you and getting no answers. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy just now asked me what I have against you that I write
+you so much. I haven't one thing. I told her I owed you more love than
+I could ever pay in a lifetime, and she said writing such _long_
+letters is a mighty poor way to show it. I have been neglecting you
+shamefully, I think. One of the main reasons I came on this hunt was
+to take the trip for _you_, and to tell you things that you would most
+enjoy. So I will spend this snowy day in writing to you.
+
+On the night of September 30, there was the most awful thunderstorm
+I ever witnessed,--flash after flash of the most blinding lightning,
+followed by deafening peals of thunder; and as it echoed from mountain
+to mountain the uproar was terrifying. I have always loved a storm;
+the beat of hail and rain, and the roar of wind always appeal to me;
+but there was neither wind nor rain,--just flash and roar. Before the
+echo died away among the hills another booming report would seem to
+shiver the atmosphere and set all our tinware jangling. We are camped
+so near the great pines that I will confess I was powerfully afraid.
+Had the lightning struck one of the big pines there would not have
+been one of us left. I could hear Mrs. O'Shaughnessy murmuring her
+prayers when there was a lull. We had gone to bed, but I couldn't
+remain there; so I sat on the wagon-seat with Jerrine beside me.
+Something struck the guy ropes of the tent, and I was so frightened
+I was too weak to cry out. I thought the big tree must have fallen.
+In the lulls of the storm I could hear the men's voices, high and
+excited. They, too, were up. It seemed to me that the storm lasted
+for hours; but at last it moved off up the valley, the flashes grew to
+be a mere glimmer, and the thunder mere rumbling. The pines began to
+moan, and soon a little breeze whistled by. So we lay down again. Next
+morning the horses could not be found; the storm had frightened them,
+and they had tried to go home. The men had to find them, and as it
+took most of the day, we had to put off our hunt.
+
+We were up and about next morning in the first faint gray light. While
+the men fed grain to the horses and saddled them, we prepared a hasty
+breakfast. We were off before it was more than light enough for us to
+see the trail.
+
+Dawn in the mountains--how I wish I could describe it to you! If I
+could only make you feel the keen, bracing air, the exhilarating
+climb; if I could only paint its beauties, what a picture you should
+have! Here the colors are very different from those of the desert. I
+suppose the forest makes it so. The shadows are mellow, like the
+colors in an old picture--greenish amber light and a blue-gray sky.
+Far ahead of us we could see the red rim rock of a mountain above
+timber line. The first rays of the sun turned the jagged peaks into
+golden points of a crown. In Oklahoma, at that hour of the day, the
+woods would be alive with song-birds, even at this season; but here
+there are no song-birds, and only the snapping of twigs, as our horses
+climbed the frosty trail, broke the silence. We had been cautioned not
+to talk, but neither Mrs. O'Shaughnessy nor I wanted to. Afterwards,
+when we compared notes, we found that we both had the same thought: we
+both felt ashamed to be out to deal death to one of the Maker's
+beautiful creatures, and we were planning how we might avoid it.
+
+The sun was well up when we reached the little park where we picketed
+our horses. Then came a long, hard climb. It is hard climbing at the
+best, and when there is a big gun to carry, it is _very_ hard. Then
+too, we had to keep up with the men, and we didn't find that easy to
+do. At last we reached the top and sat down on some boulders to rest a
+few minutes before we started down to the hunting ground, which lay in
+a cuplike valley far below us.
+
+We could hear the roar of the Gros Ventre as it tumbled grumblingly
+over its rocky bed. To our right rose mile after mile of red cliffs.
+As the last of the quaking asp leaves have fallen, there were no
+golden groves. In their places stood silvery patches against the red
+background of the cliffs. High overhead a triangle of wild geese
+harrowed the blue sky.
+
+I was plumb out of breath, but men who are most gallant elsewhere are
+absolutely heartless on a hunt. I was scarcely through panting before
+we began to descend. We received instructions as to how we should move
+so as to keep out of range of each other's guns; then Mr. Haynes and
+myself started one way, and Mr. Struble and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy the
+other. We were to meet where the valley terminated in a broad pass. We
+felt sure we could get a chance at what elk there might be in the
+valley. We were following fresh tracks, and a little of the hunter's
+enthusiasm seized me.
+
+We had not followed them far when three cows and a "spike" came
+running out of the pines a little ahead of us. Instantly Mr. Haynes's
+gun flew to his shoulder and a deafening report jarred our ears. He
+ran forward, but I stood still, fascinated by what I saw. Our side of
+the valley was bounded by a rim of rock. Over the rim was a sheer wall
+of rock for two hundred feet, to where the Gros Ventre was angrily
+roaring below; on the other side of the stream rose the red cliffs
+with their jagged crags. At the report of the gun two huge blocks of
+stone almost as large as a house detached themselves and fell. At the
+same instant one of the quaking asp groves began to move slowly. I
+couldn't believe my eyes. I shut them a moment, but when I looked the
+grove was moving faster. It slid swiftly, and I could plainly hear the
+rattle of stones falling against stones, until with a muffled roar the
+whole hillside fell into the stream.
+
+Mr. Haynes came running back. "What is the matter? Are you hurt? Why
+didn't you shoot?" he asked.
+
+I waved my hand weakly toward where the great mound of tangled
+trees and earth blocked the water. "Why," he said, "that is only a
+landslide, not an earthquake. You are as white as a ghost. Come on up
+here and see my fine elk."
+
+I sat on a log watching him dress his elk. We have found it best not
+to remove the skin, but the elk have to be quartered so as to load
+them on to a horse. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Mr. Struble came out of the
+woods just then. They had seen a big bunch of elk headed by a splendid
+bull, but got no shot, and the elk went out of the pass. They had
+heard our shot, and came across to see what luck.
+
+"What iver is the matter with ye?" asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy. Mr.
+Haynes told her. They had heard the noise, but had thought it thunder.
+Mr. Haynes told me that if I would "chirk up" he would give me his elk
+teeth. Though I don't admire them, they are considered valuable;
+however, his elk was a cow, and they don't have as nice teeth as do
+bulls.
+
+We had lunch, and the men covered the elk with pine boughs to keep the
+camp robbers from pecking it full of holes. Next day the men would
+come with the horses and pack it in to camp. We all felt refreshed; so
+we started on the trail of those that got away.
+
+For a while walking was easy and we made pretty good time; then we had
+a rocky hill to get over. We had to use care when we got into the
+timber; there were marshy places which tried us sorely, and windfall
+so thick that we could hardly get through. We were obliged to pick our
+way carefully to avoid noise, and we were all together, not having
+come to a place where it seemed better to separate. We had about
+resolved to go to our horses when we heard a volley of shots.
+
+"That is somebody bunch-shooting," said Mr. Struble. "They are in
+Brewster Lake Park, by the sound. That means that the elk will pass
+here in a short time and we may get a shot. The elk will be here long
+before the men, since the men have no horses; so let's hurry and get
+placed along the only place they can get out. We'll get our limit."
+
+We hastily secreted ourselves along the narrow gorge through which the
+elk must pass. We were all on one side, and Mr. Haynes said to me,
+"Rest your gun on that rock and aim at the first rib back of the
+shoulder. If you shoot haphazard you may cripple an elk and let it get
+away to die in misery. So make sure when you fire."
+
+It didn't seem a minute before we heard the beat of their hoofs and a
+queer panting noise that I can't describe. First came a beautiful
+thing with his head held high; his great antlers seemed to lie half
+his length on his back; his eyes were startled, and his shining black
+mane seemed to bristle. I heard the report of guns, and he tumbled in
+a confused heap. He tried to rise, but others coming leaped over him
+and knocked him down. Some more shots, and those behind turned and
+went back the way they had come.
+
+Mr. Haynes shouted to me, "Shoot, shoot; why _don't_ you shoot!"
+
+So I fired my Krag, but next I found myself picking myself up and
+wondering who had struck me and for what. I was so dizzy I could
+scarcely move, but I got down to where the others were excitedly
+admiring the two dead elk that they said were the victims of Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy's gun. She was as excited and delighted as if she had
+never declared she would not kill anything. "Sure, it's many a meal
+they'll make for little hungry mouths," she said. She was rubbing her
+shoulder ruefully. "I don't want to fire any more big guns. I thought
+old Goliar had hit me a biff with a blackthorn shilaley," she
+remarked.
+
+Mr. Haynes turned to me and said, "You are a dandy hunter! you didn't
+shoot at all until after the elk were gone, and the way you held your
+gun it is a wonder it didn't knock your head off, instead of just
+smashing your jaw."
+
+The men worked as fast as they could at the elk, and we helped as much
+as we could, but it was dark before we reached camp. Supper was ready,
+but I went to bed at once. They all thought it was because I was so
+disappointed, but it was because I was so stiff and sore I could
+hardly move, and so tired I couldn't sleep. Next morning my jaw and
+neck were so swollen that I hated any one to see me, and my head ached
+for two days. It has been snowing for a long time, but Clyde says he
+will take me hunting when it stops. I don't want to go but reckon I
+will have to, because I don't want to come so far and buy a license to
+kill an elk and go back empty-handed, and partly to get a rest from
+Mr. Murry's everlasting accordion.
+
+Mr. Murry is an old-time acquaintance of Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's. He has
+a ranch down on the river somewhere. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy has not seen
+him for years,--didn't know he lived up here. He had seen the
+game-warden from whom she had procured her license, and so hunted up
+our camp. He is an odd-looking individual, with sad eyes and a
+drooping mouth which gives his face a most hopeless, reproachful
+expression. His nose, however, seems to upset the original plan, for
+it is long and thin and bent slightly to one side. His neck is long
+and his Adam's apple seems uncertain as to where it belongs. At supper
+Jerrine watched it as if fascinated until I sent her from the table
+and went out to speak to her about gazing.
+
+"Why, mamma," she said, "I had to look; he has swallowed something
+that won't go either up or down, and I'm 'fraid he'll choke."
+
+Although I can't brag about Mr. Murry's appearance, I can about his
+taste, for he admires Mrs. O'Shaughnessy. It seems that in years gone
+by he has made attempts to marry her.
+
+As he got up from supper the first night he was with us, he said,
+"Mary Ellen, I have a real treat and surprise for you. Just wait a few
+minutes, an' I'll bet you'll be happy."
+
+We took our accustomed places around the fire, while Mr. Murry hobbled
+his cayuse and took an odd-looking bundle from his saddle. He seated
+himself and took from the bundle--an accordion! He set it upon his
+knee and began pulling and pushing on it. He did what Mr. Struble said
+was doling a doleful tune. Every one took it good-naturedly, but he
+kept doling the doleful until little by little the circle thinned.
+
+Our tent is as comfortable as can be. Now that it is snowing, we sit
+around the stoves, and we should have fine times if Professor
+Glenholdt could have a chance to talk; but we have to listen to "Run,
+Nigger, Run" and "The Old Gray Hoss Come A-tearin' Out The
+Wilderness." I'll sing them to you when I come to Denver.
+
+                              With much love to you,
+                                   ELINORE RUPERT STEWART.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE SEVENTH MAN
+
+
+                              CLOUDCREST, October 10, 1914.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+I wonder what you would do if you were here. But I reckon I had better
+not anticipate, and so I will begin at the beginning. On the morning
+of the eighth we held a council. The physician and the two students
+had gone. All had their limit of elk except Mr. Haynes and myself. Our
+licenses also entitled each of us to a deer, a mountain sheep, and a
+bear. We had plenty of food, but it had snowed about a foot and I was
+beginning to want to get out while the going was good. Two other
+outfits had gone out. The doctor and the students hired them to haul
+out their game. So we decided to stay on a week longer.
+
+That morning Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and I melted snow and washed the
+clothes. It was delightful to have nice soft water, and we enjoyed our
+work; it was almost noon before we thought to begin dinner. I suppose
+you would say lunch, but with us it is dinner. None of the men had
+gone out that day.
+
+Mr. Harkrudder was busy with his films and didn't come with the rest
+when dinner was ready. When he did come, he was excited; he laid a
+picture on the table and said, "Do any of you recognize this?"
+
+It looked like a flash-light of our camping ground. It was a little
+blurry, but some of the objects were quite clear. Our tent was a white
+blotch except for the outlines; the wagons showed plainly. I didn't
+think much of it as a picture, so I paid scant attention. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy gave it close scrutiny; presently she said, "Oh, yis, I
+see what it is. It's a puzzle picture and ye find the man. Here he is,
+hidin' beyont the pine next the tent."
+
+"Exactly," said Harkrudder, "but I had not expected just this. I am
+working out some ideas of my own in photography, and this picture is
+one of the experiments I tried the night of the storm. The result
+doesn't prove my experiment either way. Where were you, Stewart,
+during the storm?"
+
+"Where should I be? I bided i' the bed," the Stewart said.
+
+"Well," said Harkrudder, "I know where each of the other fellows was,
+and none of them was in this direction. Now who is the seventh man?"
+
+I looked again, and, sure enough, there was a man in a crouching
+position outlined against the tent wall. We were all excited, for it
+was ten minutes past one when Harkrudder was out, and we couldn't
+think why any one would be prowling about our camp at that time of the
+night.
+
+As Mr. Stewart and I had planned a long, beautiful ride, we set
+out after dinner, leaving the rest yet at the table eating and
+conjecturing about the "stranger within our picture." I had hoped we
+would come to ground level enough for a sharp, invigorating canter,
+but our way was too rough. It was a joy to be out in the great, silent
+forest. The snow made riding a little venturesome because the horses
+slipped a great deal, but Chub is dependable even though he is lazy.
+Clyde bestrode Mr. Haynes's Old Blue. We were headed for the cascades
+on Clear Creek, to see the wonderful ice-caverns that the flying spray
+is forming.
+
+We had almost reached the cascades and were crossing a little
+bowl-like valley, when an elk calf leaped out of the snow and ran a
+few yards. It paused and finally came irresolutely back toward us. A
+few steps farther we saw great, red splotches on the snow and the body
+of a cow elk. Around it were the tracks of the faithful little calf.
+It would stay by its mother until starvation or wild animals put an
+end to its suffering. The cow was shot in half a dozen places, none of
+them in a fatal spot; it had bled to death. "That," said Mr. Stewart
+angrily, "comes o' bunch shooting. The authorities should revoke the
+license of a man found guilty of bunch shooting."
+
+We rode on in silence, each a little saddened by what we had seen. But
+this was not all. We had begun to descend the mountain side to Clear
+Creek when we came upon the beaten trail of a herd of elk. We followed
+it as offering perhaps the safest descent. It didn't take us far.
+Around the spur of the mountain the herd had stampeded; tracks were
+everywhere. Lying in the trail were a spike and an old bull with a
+broken antler. Chub shied, but Old Blue doesn't scare, so Mr. Stewart
+rode up quite close. Around the heads were tell-tale tracks. We didn't
+dismount, but we knew that the two upper teeth or tushes were missing
+and that the hated tooth-hunter was at work. The tracks in the snow
+showed there had been two men. An adult elk averages five hundred
+pounds of splendid meat; here before us, therefore, lay a thousand
+pounds of food thrown to waste just to enable a contemptible
+tooth-hunter to obtain four teeth. Tooth-hunting is against the law,
+but this is a case where you must catch before hanging.
+
+Well, we saw the cascades, and after resting a little, we started
+homeward through the heavy woods, where we were compelled to go more
+slowly. We had dismounted, and were gathering some pinon cones from a
+fallen tree, when, almost without a sound, a band of elk came trailing
+down a little draw where a spring trickled. We watched them file
+along, evidently making for lower ground on which to bed. Chub
+snorted, and a large cow stopped and looked curiously in our
+direction. Those behind passed leisurely around her. We knew she had
+no calf, because she was light in color: cows suckling calves are of a
+darker shade. A loud report seemed to rend the forest, and the beauty
+dropped. The rest disappeared so suddenly that if the fine specimen
+that lay before me had not been proof, it would almost have seemed a
+dream. I had shot the cow elk my license called for.
+
+We took off the head and removed the entrails, then covered our game
+with pine boughs, to which we tied a red bandanna so as to make it
+easy to find next day, when the men would come back with a saw to
+divide it down the back and pack it in. There is an imposing row of
+game hanging in the pines back of our tent. Supper was ready when we
+got in. Mr. Haynes had been out also and was very joyful; he got his
+elk this afternoon. We can start home day after to-morrow. It will
+take the men all to-morrow to get in the game.
+
+I shall be glad to start. I am getting homesick, and I have not had a
+letter or even a card since I have been here. We are hungry for war
+news, and besides, it is snowing again. Our clothes didn't get dry
+either; they are frozen to the bush we hung them on. Perhaps they will
+be snowed under by morning. I can't complain, though, for it is warm
+and pleasant in our tent. The little camp-stove is glowing. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy is showing Jerrine how to make pigs of potatoes. Calvin
+and Robert are asleep. The men have all gone to the bachelors' tent to
+form their plans, all save Mr. Murry, who is "serenading" Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy. He is playing "Nelly Gray," and somehow I don't want to
+laugh at him as I usually do; I can only feel sorry for him.
+
+I can hardly write because my heart is yearning for my little Junior
+boy at home on the ranch with his grandmother. Dear little Mother
+Stewart, I feel very tender toward her. Junior is the pride of her
+heart. She would not allow us to bring him on this trip, so she is at
+the ranch taking care of my brown-eyed boy. Every one is so good, so
+kind, and I can do so little to repay. It makes me feel very unworthy.
+You'll think I have the blues, but I haven't. I just feel humble and
+chastened. When Mr. Murry pauses I can hear the soft spat, spat of the
+falling snow on the tent. I will be powerfully glad when we set our
+faces homeward.
+
+Good-night, dear friend. Angels guard you.
+
+                              ELINORE STEWART.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+AN INDIAN CAMP
+
+
+                              CLOUDCREST, October 13, 1914.
+
+DEAR, DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+This is the very last letter you will receive dated from this camp. We
+are leaving a few days earlier than we intended and I am pretty badly
+on the fence. I want to laugh, and really I can hardly keep back the
+tears. We are leaving sooner than we meant, for rather a good reason.
+We haven't one bite to eat except elk meat.
+
+After the men had brought into camp the elk we killed the other
+afternoon, they began to plan a sheep hunt. As sheep do not stay in
+the woods, the men had to go miles away and above timber line. They
+decided to take a pack horse and stay all night. I didn't want Mr.
+Stewart to go because the climbing is very dangerous. No accidents
+have happened this year, but last season a man fell from the crags
+and was killed; so I tried to keep the "good mon" at home. But he
+would not be persuaded. The love of chase has entered his blood, and
+it looks to me as if it had chased reason plumb out of his head. I
+know exactly how Samantha felt when Josiah _would_ go to the "pleasure
+exertion." The bald spot on the Stewart's head doesn't seem to remind
+him of years gone by; he is as joyous as a boy.
+
+It was finally decided to take Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and the children and
+myself to a neighboring camp about two miles away, as we didn't like
+to risk being frightened by a possible intruder. Sorenson, the
+game-warden, was in camp to inspect our game on the 12th, and he told
+us he was on the trail of tooth-hunters and had routed them out on the
+night of the storm; but what they could have been doing in our camp
+was as much a mystery to him as to us.
+
+Well, when we were ready to go, Mr. Murry and the Stewart escorted
+us. It was a cloudy afternoon and often great flakes of snow fell
+gently, softly. The snow was already about eighteen inches deep, and
+it made sheep hunting slippery and dangerous work. On our way we came
+upon an Indian camp. They were all huddled about a tiny fire;
+scattered about were their wikiups made of sticks and pine boughs. The
+Indians were sullen and angry. The game-warden had ordered them back
+to Fort Washakie, where they belonged. Their squaws had jerked their
+elk. You may not know what jerked means, so I will explain: it means
+dried, cured. They had all they were allowed, but for some reason they
+didn't want to go. Sorenson suspects them of being in with the
+tooth-hunters and he is narrowing the circle.
+
+At the camp where we were to stay, we found Mrs. Kavanaugh laid up
+with a sore throat, but she made us welcome. It would be a mighty
+funny camper who wouldn't. As soon as the men from the Kavanaugh camp
+heard our men's plans, they were eager to go along. So it ended in us
+three women being left alone. We said we were not afraid and we tried
+not to feel so, but after dark we all felt a little timorous. Mrs.
+Kavanaugh was afraid of the Indians, but I was afraid they would bring
+Clyde back dead from a fall. We were camped in an old cabin built by
+the ranger. The Kavanaughs were short of groceries. We cooked our big
+elk steaks on sticks before an open fire, and we roasted potatoes in
+the ashes. When our fear wore away, we had a fine time. After a while
+we lay down on fragrant beds of pine.
+
+We awoke late. The fire was dead upon the hearth and outside the snow
+was piling up. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy made a rousing fire and managed to
+jolly us until we had a really happy breakfast hour. About three in
+the afternoon all the men came trooping in, cold, wet, and hungry.
+After filling them with venison, hot potatoes, and coffee, we started
+to our own camp. The men were rather depressed because they had come
+back empty-handed. The Indians were gone and the snow lay thick over
+the place where their fire had been; they had left in the night.
+
+When we came to camp, Mr. Struble started to build a fire; but no
+matches were to be had. Next, the men went to feed grain to their
+tired horses, but the oats were gone. Mr. Murry sought in vain for his
+beloved accordion. Mr. Harkrudder was furious when he found his
+grinding machine was gone. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy made a dash for the
+grub-box. It was empty. We were dumbfounded. Each of us kept searching
+and researching and knowing all the while we would find nothing. Mr.
+Struble is a most cheerful individual, and, as Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
+says, "is a mighty good fellow even if he _is_ Dutch." "The Indians
+have stolen us out," he said, "but after all they have left us our
+tents and harness, all our meat, and the road home; so what matter if
+we _are_ a little inconvenienced as to grub? Haynes may cry for sugar,
+but that won't hurt the rest any. I'll saddle and ride over to
+Scotty's and get enough to last us out."
+
+We knew the Kavanaughs could not help us any, but we grew cheerful in
+anticipating help from Scotty, who was from Green River and was camped
+a few miles away. We wanted Mr. Struble to wait until morning, but he
+said no, it would make breakfast late; so he rode off in the dark. At
+two o'clock this morning he came in almost frozen, with two small cans
+of milk and two yeast cakes. As soon as it was light enough to see,
+the men were at work loading the game and breaking camp. As they are
+ready now to take down this tent, I will have to finish this letter
+somewhere else.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE TOOTH-HUNTERS
+
+
+                              AT SORENSON'S CABIN
+                                 ON GREEN RIVER.
+
+Well, we're here, warmed and fed and in much better trim bodily and
+mentally. We had mishap after mishap coming. First the Hutton horse,
+being a bronco, had to act up when he was hitched up. We had almost
+more game than we could haul, but at last we got started, after the
+bronco had reared and pitched as much as he wanted to. There are a
+great many springs,--one every few feet in these mountains,--and the
+snow hid the pitfalls and made the ground soft, so that the wheels cut
+in and pulling was hard. Then, too, our horses had had nothing to eat
+for two days, the snow being so deep they couldn't get at the grass,
+hobbled as they were.
+
+We had got perhaps a mile from camp when the leading wagon, with four
+horses driven by Mr. Haynes, suddenly stopped. The wheels had sunk
+into the soft banks of a small, ditch-like spring branch. Mr. Stewart
+had to stay on our wagon to hold the bronco, but all the rest, even
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, gathered around and tried to help. They hitched on
+a snap team, but not a trace tightened. They didn't want to unload the
+game in the snow. The men lifted and pried on the wheels. Still the
+horses wouldn't budge.
+
+Mr. Haynes is no disciple of Job, but he tried manfully to restrain
+himself. Turning to Glenholdt, who was offering advice, he said, "You
+get out. I know what the trouble is: these horses used to belong to a
+freighter and are used to being cussed. It's the greatest nuisance in
+the world for a man to go out where there's a bunch of women. If these
+women weren't along I'd make these horses get out of there."
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said, "Don't lay your poor driving to the women. If
+you drive by cussin', then _cuss_. We will stop up our ears."
+
+She threw her apron over her head. I held my fingers in Jerrine's
+ears, and she stopped my ears, else I might be able to tell you what
+he said. It was something violent, I know. I could tell by the
+expression of his face. He had only been doing it a second when those
+horses walked right out with the wagon as nicely as you please. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy said to Mr. Haynes, "It's a poor cusser you are. Sure,
+it's no wonder you hesitated to begin. If Danny O'Shaughnessy couldn't
+have sworn better, I'd have had to hilp him."
+
+We got along pretty well after that. Mr. Haynes kept some distance
+ahead; but occasionally a bit of "cussin'" came back to us and we knew
+he was using freighter tactics.
+
+The game-warden lives in a tiny little cabin. The door is so low that
+I had to stoop to get in. It was quite dark when we got here last
+night, but Mrs. Sorenson acted as if she was _glad_ to see us. I
+didn't think we could all get in. A row of bunks is built along one
+side of the cabin. A long tarpaulin covers the bed, and we all got
+upon this and sat while our hostess prepared our supper. If one of us
+had stirred we would have been in her way; so there we sat as thick as
+thieves. When supper was ready six got off their perch and ate; when
+they were through, six more were made happy.
+
+Mr. Sorenson had caught the tooth-hunters. On the wall hung their
+deadly guns, with silencers on them to muffle the report. He showed us
+the teeth he had found in their possession. The warden and his deputy
+had searched the men and their effects and found no teeth. He had no
+evidence against them except their unlawful guns, but he knew he had
+the right men. At last he found their contract to furnish two hundred
+pair of teeth. It is a trick of such hunters to thrust a knife into
+the meat of the game they have, and so to make pockets in which they
+hide the teeth; but these fellows had no such pockets. They jeered at
+the warden and threatened to kill him, but he kept searching, and
+presently found the teeth in a pail of lard. He told us all about it
+as we sat, an eager crowd, on his bed. A warden takes his life in his
+hands when he goes after such fellows, but Sorenson is not afraid to
+do it.
+
+The cabin walls are covered with pen-and-ink drawings, the work of the
+warden's gifted children,--Vina, the pretty eighteen-year-old
+daughter, and Laurence, the sixteen-year-old son. They never had a
+lesson in drawing in their lives, but their pictures portray Western
+life exactly.
+
+The snow is not so deep here as it was at camp, but it is too deep for
+the horses to get grass. The men were able to get a little grain from
+the warden; so we will pull out in the morning and try to make it to
+where we can get groceries. We are quite close to where Elizabeth
+lives, but we should have to cross the river, and it was dark before
+we passed her home. I should like to see her but won't get a chance
+to. Mrs. Sorenson says she is very happy. In all this round of
+exposure the kiddies are as well as can be. Cold, camping, and elk
+meat agree with them. We are in a tent for the night, and it is so
+cold the ink is freezing, but the kiddies are snuggled under their
+blankets as warm as toast. We are to start early in the morning.
+Good-night, dear friend. I am glad I can take this trip _for_ you.
+You'd freeze.
+
+                              ELINORE STEWART.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+BUDDY AND BABY GIRL
+
+
+                              IN CAMP, October 16, 1914.
+
+DEAR MRS. CONEY,--
+
+The day we left the game-warden's was damp and lowering. It didn't
+seem it could have one good thing to its credit, but there were
+several things to be thankful for. One of them was that you were safe
+at home in your warm, dry apartment. We had hardly passed the great
+Block buttes when the biggest, wettest flakes of snow began to pelt
+into our faces. I really like a storm, and the kiddies would have
+enjoyed the snow; but we had to keep the wagon-sheet tied down to keep
+the bedding dry, and the kiddies get sick under cover. All the
+pleasure I might have had was taken away by the fact that we were
+making a forced drive. We _had_ to go. The game-warden had no more
+than enough food for his family, and no horse feed. Also, the snow
+was almost as deep there as it had been higher up, so the horses could
+not graze.
+
+We made it to Cora that day. Here at last was plenty of hay and grain;
+we restocked our mess-boxes and felt better toward the world. Next day
+we came on here to Newfork, where we are resting our teams before we
+start across the desert, which begins just across the creek we are
+camped on.
+
+We have added two to our party. I know you will be interested to know
+how it happened, and I can picture the astonishment of our neighbors
+when we reach home, for our newcomers are to be members of Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy's family. We had all been sorry we could not visit
+Elizabeth or "Danyul" and his mother. We felt almost as if we were
+sneaking past them, but we consoled ourselves with promises to see the
+Burneys and Grandma Mortimer. Yesterday the children and I were riding
+with Mrs. O'Shaughnessy in the buckboard. We were trotting merrily
+along the lane that leads to Newfork, thankful in our hearts to be out
+of the snow,--for there is no snow here. Just ahead of us two little
+boys were riding along on their ponies. There was a wire fence on both
+sides of the lane, and almost at the end of the lane an old cow had
+her head between the wires and was nibbling the tall dead grass. The
+larger of the two boys said, "That's old Pendry's cow, and she shan't
+eat a blade of grass off Dad's meadow."
+
+He rode up to the cow and began beating her with his quirt. That
+frightened the cow, and as she jerked her head up, the top wire caught
+her across the top of her neck; she jerked and lunged to free herself,
+and was cruelly cut by the barbs on the wire. Then he began beating
+his pony.
+
+The small boy said, "You're a coward an' a fool, Billy Polk. The cow
+wasn't hurtin' nothin', an' you're just tryin' to show off, beatin'
+that pony."
+
+Said the other boy, "Shut up, you beggar, or I'll beat you; an' I'll
+take them breeches you got on off you, an' you can go without
+any--they're mine. My ma give 'em to you."
+
+The little fellow's face was scarlet--as much of it as we could see
+for the freckles--and his eyes were blazing as he replied, "You ain't
+man enough. I dare you to strike me or to tech my clothes."
+
+Both boys were riding bareback. The small boy slid off his pony's
+back; the other rode up to him and raised his quirt, but the little
+one seized him by the leg, and in a jiffy they were in the road
+fighting like cats. I asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy to drive on, but she
+said, "If you are in a hurry you can try walkin'; I'm goin' to referee
+this scrap."
+
+It looked for a minute as if the small boy would get a severe beating,
+but by some trick he hurled the other headlong into the green, slimy
+water that edged the road; then, seizing the quirt and the opportunity
+at the same time, he belabored Billy without mercy as that individual
+climbed up the slippery embankment, blubbering and whipped. Still
+sobbing, he climbed upon his patient pony, which stood waiting, and
+galloped off down the lane. The other pony followed and the little
+conqueror was left afoot.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was beaming with delight. "Sure, 'twas a fine
+fight, a sight worth coming all this way to see. Ah! but you're the
+b'y. 'Tis a dollar I'd be givin' ye, only me purse is in me
+stockin'--"
+
+"Oh," the boy said quickly, "don't let that stop you. I'll look off
+another way."
+
+I don't know if she would have given him the money, for just then some
+men came into the lane with some cattle and we had to start. The boy
+got up on the back end of the buckboard and we drove on. We could hear
+our wagons rumbling along and knew they would soon catch up.
+
+"Where is your home, b'y?" asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy.
+
+"Oh, just wherever Aunt Hettie has work," he said. "She is at Mr.
+Tom's now, so I'm there, too,--me and Baby Girl."
+
+"Where are your folks?" Mrs. O'Shaughnessy went on.
+
+"Ma's dead, an pa's gone to Alasky. I don't know where my brothers
+are. Baby Girl an' me are with Aunt Het, an' that's all there are of
+us." He grinned cheerfully in spite of the fact that one eye was fast
+closing and he bore numerous bumps and scratches on his face and head.
+
+Just then one of the men with the cattle galloped up and shouted,
+"Hello!" It was Mr. Burney! "Where'd you get that kid? I guess I'll
+have to get the sheriff after you for kidnapping Bud. And what have
+you been doing to him, anyway?"
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy entered delightedly into a recital of the "mixup,"
+and it turned out that Mr. Tom and Mr. Burney were one. It was like
+meeting an old friend; he seemed as pleased as we and insisted on our
+going up to his ranch; he said "the missus" would feel slighted if we
+passed her by. So we turned into another lane, and presently drew up
+before the ranch house. "The missus" came dancing out to meet us, and
+right welcome she made us feel. Mr. Burney went back to bring the
+rest, but they were already setting up the tents and had supper almost
+ready. However, we stayed and had supper with the Burneys.
+
+They are powerfully happy and talked eagerly of themselves and their
+prospects. "It's just grand to have a home of your own and some one to
+do for. I just _love_ to mend for Tommy, but I always hated to mend
+before," said the missus.
+
+"You bet," Mr. Burney answered, "it is sure fine to know there's
+somebody at home with a pretty pink dress on, waitin' for a fellow
+when he comes in from a long day in the saddle."
+
+And so they kept up their thoughtless chatter; but every word was as a
+stab to poor Aunt Hettie. She had Baby Girl on her lap and was giving
+the children their supper, but I noticed that she ate nothing. It was
+easy to see that she was not strong. Baby Girl is four years old and
+is the fattest little thing. She has very dark blue eyes with long,
+black lashes, and the shortest, most turned-up little nose. She is so
+plump and rosy that even the faded old blue denim dress could not hide
+her loveliness.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy could not keep her eyes off the children. "What is
+the little girl's name?" she asked.
+
+"Caroline Agnes Lucia Lavina Ida Eunice," was the astonishing reply.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy gasped. "My _goodness_," she exclaimed; "is that
+_all_?"
+
+"Oh, no," Aunt Hettie went on placidly; "you see, her mother couldn't
+call her all the names, so she just used the first letters. They spell
+Callie; so that is what she called her. But I don't like the name. I
+call her Baby Girl."
+
+I asked her how she ever came to name her that way, and she said, "My
+sister wanted a girl, but there were six boys before this little one
+came. Each time she hoped it would be a girl, and accordingly selected
+a name for a girl. So there were six names saved up, and as there
+wasn't much else to give her, my sister gave them _all_ to the baby."
+
+After supper the Burneys rode down to camp with us. We had the same
+camping ground that we had when we came up. The cabin across the
+creek, where we met Grandma Mortimer, is silent and deserted; the
+young couple have moved away with their baby.
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy kept talking about the fight, and Mr. Burney gave
+us the history of the children. "Their mother," he began, "has been
+dead about eighteen months. She really died with a broken heart. Baby
+Girl was only a few weeks old when the father went to Alaska, and I
+guess he's dead. He was to 'a' been back in three years, and no one
+has ever heard a word from him. His name was Bolton; he was a good
+fellow, only he went bughouse over the gold fields and just fretted
+till he got away--sold everything for a grub stake--left his wife and
+seven kids almost homeless. But they managed some way till the mother
+died. With her last breath she asked that the two youngest be kept
+together; she knew the oldest ones would have to be separated. She
+never did give up looking for Bolton and she wanted him to have the
+babies.
+
+"Her sister Hettie has worked around here for years; her and Rob
+Langley have been going to marry ever since I can remember, but always
+there has something cropped up. And now that Hettie has got to take
+care of the kids I guess they won't never marry; she won't burden him
+with them. It is hard for her to support them, too. Work is scarce,
+and she can't get it, lots of times, because of the kids."
+
+The Burneys soon went home and the rest of us went to bed,--all except
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, who was so cranky and snappy that we left her by
+the fire. It seemed hours after when I awoke. She was still sitting by
+the fire; she was absently marking in the ashes with a stick. I
+happened to be the first one up next morning and as I stirred up the
+fire I saw "Baby" written in the ashes. We had breakfasted and the men
+had gone their ways when Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said to me,--
+
+"It is a blessed old soul Mrs. Mortimer is. Do you mind any good
+lesson that she taught us in the cabin beyont?" I did not remember.
+"She said, 'The pangs of motherhood make us mothers not only of our
+own, but of every child that needs mothering,--especially if our own
+little children need us no longer. Fill their little places with ones
+who do need us.' Them's her very words, and it's sweet truth it is.
+Both my Katie and Sheridan have been grown and gone these many years
+and my heart has ached for childher, and there's none but Cora Belle.
+I am goin' to get them childher this day. What do you think about it?"
+
+I thought so well of it that in about two minutes we were harnessing
+the horses and were off to lay the plan before Hettie in
+record-breaking time.
+
+Poor Hettie: she wept quietly while the advantages of the scheme were
+being pointed out. She said, "I love the children, dearly, but I am
+not sure I can always feed and clothe them; that has worried me a lot.
+I am almost sure Bolton is dead. I'll miss the little things, but I am
+glad to know they are well provided for. You can take them."
+
+"Now," said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, "you go on an' marry your man if he is
+a decent sort. Do it right away before something else happens. It is
+an illigant wedding present I'll be sendin' you. You must come to see
+the childher often. What's the b'y's name?"
+
+"We never did name him; you see we had kind of run out of boys' names.
+We just called him Buddy."
+
+"I can find a name for him," said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy. "Is there a
+Joseph in the family?" Hettie said no. "Well, then, he is named
+Joseph Bolton O'Shaughnessy, and I'll have them both baptized as soon
+as we get to Green River."
+
+So in the morning we start with two new members. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy is
+very happy. I am so glad myself that I can hardly express myself. We
+are _all_ happy except Mr. Murry; he has at last given up hopes, and
+gone. Mr. Haynes growls a little about having to travel along with a
+rolling nursery, but he is just bluffing. I am longing to see Junior.
+We have not heard one word since we left them, and I am so homesick
+for mother and my boy. And _you_, best of friends, when shall I see
+your beloved face? To-morrow night we shall camp at Ten Trees and we
+shall be one day nearer home.
+
+                              With much love,
+                                   ELINORE RUPERT STEWART.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+A STAMPEDE
+
+
+                              IN CAMP ON THE DESERT,
+                                   October 19.
+
+MY DEAR, DEAR FRIEND,--
+
+It is with a chastened, humble heart that I begin this letter; I have
+stood face to face with tragedy and romance, and to me one is as
+touching as the other, but you will know better when I tell you what I
+mean. We _all_ bustled about to get started from Newfork. Now that we
+had started, all were homesick. Just ahead of us was a drove of two
+thousand steers being driven to the railroad to be shipped. I advise
+you to keep ahead of such drives when you take such a trip, because
+the trampling of so many feet makes a road almost impassable. What had
+been snow in the mountains had been rain on the desert, and we found
+the going decidedly bad. A rise of a hill would give us, now and
+then, a glimpse of a slow-moving, dark-colored mass of heaving forms,
+and the desert breezes brought to our ears the mournful lowing of the
+poor creatures. Sometimes, too, we could hear a snatch of the cowboys'
+songs. It was all very beautiful and I would have enjoyed it hugely
+except that my desire to be home far outran the wagon and I felt like
+a prisoner with clogs.
+
+We nooned at the cabin of Timothy Hobbs, but no one was at home; he at
+last had gone "back East" for Jennie. About mid-afternoon the boss of
+the cow outfit came up on a splendid horse. He was a pleasant fellow
+and he made a handsome picture, with his big hat, his great chaps and
+his jangling spurs, as he rode along beside our wagons, talking.
+
+He told us that a crazy duffer had gone about over the desert for
+years digging wells, but at last he struck water. A few miles ahead
+was a well flowing like an artesian well. There would be plenty of
+water for every one, even the cattle. Next morning we could start
+ahead of the herds and so the roads would be a little better.
+
+It was quite early when we made camp in the same long draw where we
+saw Olaf. There was a great change. Where had been dry, burning sand
+was now a clear little stream that formed shallow pools where the sand
+had blown away, so that harder soil could form a bottom less greedy
+than the sand. Off to our left the uneasy herd was being held in a
+wide, flat valley. They were grazing on the dry, sparse herbage of the
+desert. Quite near the well the mess-wagon had stopped and the cook
+was already preparing supper. Beyond, a few yards away, a freighter's
+long outfit was stopped in the road.
+
+Did you ever see the kind of freight outfit that is used to bring the
+great loads across the desert? Then I'll tell you about the one we
+camped near. Freight wagons are not made precisely like others; they
+are very much larger and stronger. Several of these are coupled
+together; then as many teams as is necessary are hitched on--making a
+long, unbroken string of wagons. The horses are arranged in the same
+manner as the wagons. Great chains are used to pull the wagons, and
+when a camp is made the whole affair is stopped in the middle of the
+road and the harness is dropped right where the horse that bore it
+stood. Many freighters have what they call a coaster hitched to the
+last wagon. The coaster is almost like other wagons, but it is a home
+on wheels; it is built and furnished as sheep wagons are. This
+freighter had one, and as we drove past I was surprised to see the
+form of a woman and a small boy. We camped quite near them.
+
+For an hour we were very busy preparing supper and arranging for the
+night. As we sat at supper I thought I had never known so quiet and
+peaceful an hour. The sun hung like a great, red ball in the hazy
+west. Purple shadows were already gathering. A gentle wind rippled
+past across the dun sands and through the gray-green sage.
+
+The chain parts of the hobbles and halters made a clinking sound as
+the horses fed about. Presently we heard a rumbling just like distant
+thunder. The cowboys sprang into their saddles; we heard a shot, and
+then we knew the terrible truth,--the steers had stampeded. For me,
+the next few minutes were an eternity of frightful confusion. Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy and I found ourselves with the children upon our largest
+wagon; that was absolutely all the protection to be had. It would have
+gone down like a house of cards if that heaving sea of destruction had
+turned our way. I was scared witless. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy knelt among
+the children praying with white lips. I stood up watching the terrible
+scene. The men hastily set the horses free. There was no time to mount
+them and ride to safety with so many little children, and as there was
+nothing to tie them to but the wagons; we _had_ to let them go so as
+to have the wagons left for shelter. _This_ is why cowboys are such
+well-loved figures of romance and in mentioning them romance is fact.
+
+"Greater love hath _no_ man than this: that he lay down his life
+for his brother." They knew nothing about us only that we were
+defenseless. They rode boldly on their stanch little horses flanking
+the frenzied steers, shooting a leader here and there as they got a
+chance. If an animal stumbled it went down to its death, for hundreds
+of pounding hoofs would trample it to pulp. So it would have been with
+the boys if their horses had stepped into a badger hole or anything of
+the kind had happened. So the tide was turned, or the steers kept of
+themselves, I don't know which, on up the valley instead of coming up
+our draw. The danger was past.
+
+Presently the cowboys came straggling back. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy ran to
+meet them. So when two on one horse came with a third riding close
+beside, helping to hold an injured man on, we knew some one was hurt.
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was, as usual, ready and able to help.
+
+But the freighter's daughter was as quick and had a mattress ready
+beside the coaster by the time the cowboys came up with the wounded
+man. Gently the men helped their comrade to the mattress and gently
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and the girl began their work. I quieted the
+children and put them to bed. The men were busy rounding up the
+horses. The cowboys kept talking together in low tones and coming and
+going in twos and threes. They acted so queerly that I wondered if
+some one else was not hurt. I asked the boss if any more of his men
+were hurt. He said no, none of _his_ men were. I knew none of our men
+or the freighter were harmed, so I dismissed fear and went to Mrs.
+O'Shaughnessy.
+
+"Poor boy," she said, "he has a broken thigh and he's hurt inside. His
+belly is knocked into a cocked-hat. We will pull him through. A man
+has already gone back to Newfork to get an automobile. They will take
+him to Rock Springs to the hospital in the morning."
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and the girl were doing all that could be done;
+they sent me back to care for the children. To keep warm I crawled
+under the blankets, but not to sleep. It didn't seem to me that I
+could _ever_ sleep again. I could hear the men talking in subdued
+tones. The boss was dispatching men to different places. Presently I
+saw some men take a lantern and move off toward the valley. I could
+see the light twinkling in and out among the sage-brush. They stopped.
+I could see forms pass before the light. I wondered what could be the
+matter. The horses were all safe; even Boy, Mr. Haynes's dog, was
+safe, shivering and whining on his master's blankets. I could plainly
+hear the hiccoughs of the wounded man: the click-cluck, click-cluck,
+kept on with maddening persistence, but at last his nurses forced
+enough hot water down him to cause vomiting. The blood-clots came and
+the poor fellow fell asleep. A lantern was hung upon the wagon and the
+two women went into the coaster to make some coffee.
+
+It was three o'clock in the morning when the men of our outfit came
+back. They put on their heavy coats and were seeing to their horses. I
+asked Clyde what was the matter.
+
+"Hush," he said; "lie still. It is Olaf."
+
+"But I want to help," I said.
+
+"You can't help. It's--all over," he replied as he started again to
+where the lantern was gleaming like a star fallen among the sage.
+
+I tucked the children in a little more snugly, then went over to the
+coaster.
+
+"Won't you come to bed and rest?" I asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy.
+
+"No, I'll not. Are me children covered and warm?"
+
+"Yes," I answered.
+
+"What are them fellys pow-wowing about down in the sage?"
+
+"Olaf is dead," I said.
+
+"Who says God is not merciful? Now all the poor felly's troubles are
+done with. 'Twas him that caused the stampede, mayhap. God send him
+peace. I am glad. He will never be hungry nor cold any more."
+
+"Yes," said the girl; speaking slowly. "I am glad, too. He almost
+lived in this draw. We saw him every trip and he _did_ suffer. Dad
+left a little for him to eat and whatever he could to wear every trip.
+The sheep-herders helped him, too. But he suffered. All the home he
+had was an old, thrown-away sheep wagon down beyond the last ridge
+toward the valley. I've seen him every two weeks for ten years. It's a
+wonder he has not been killed before."
+
+"I wonder," said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, "if he has any family. Where will
+they bury him?"
+
+"He has no people. If they will listen to Dad, they will lay him here
+on the desert. He would want it so."
+
+After breakfast Mrs. O'Shaughnessy lay down for a little rest. When
+the wounded man awoke the girl gave him a little coffee.
+
+"You're awful good to me," he said. "I'd like to have you around all
+the time."
+
+The girl smiled gravely. "Ain't you got nobody to take care of you?"
+
+"No. What is your name?"
+
+"Amy Winters. Now you must hush. Talkin' might make you worse."
+
+"I'm not so tur'ble bad off. Where do you live?"
+
+"In the coaster, somewhere on the road between Pinedale and Rock
+Springs. Dad is a freighter."
+
+"Huh! Do you like to live that way?"
+
+"No; I want a house and a garden awful bad, but Dad can't do nothin'
+but freight and we've got Jessie to raise. We ain't got no ma."
+
+"Do women _have_ to change their names when they marry?"
+
+"I don't know. Reckon they do, though. Why?"
+
+"'Cause my name is Tod Winters. I know where there is a dandy little
+place up on the Gros Ventre where a cabin would look mighty good to me
+if there was some one to keep it for me--"
+
+"Oh, say," she interrupted, "that is a awful pretty handkerchief
+you've got around your neck."
+
+Just then the automobile came up frightening our horses. I heard no
+more, but the "awful pretty handkerchief" was missing when the hero
+left for the hospital. They used some lumber from a load the freighter
+had and walled up a grave for Olaf. They had no tools but axes and a
+shovel we had along. By noon Olaf was buried. Glenholdt set a slab of
+sandstone at the head. With his knife he had dug out these
+words--"Olaf. The friend of horses."
+
+We camped last night at Ten Trees. To-night we are at Eden Valley. The
+mystery of Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's sudden change about the license is
+explained. She unloaded an elk at the Sanders cabin. "'Twas two I
+aimed to bring you, but me own family has increased by twins whilst
+I've been gone, so one ilk will have to do you."
+
+So now, dear friend, I am a little nearer you. In one more week I
+shall be home.
+
+                              Sincerely, _thankfully_ yours,
+                                   E. R. S.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+NEARING HOME
+
+
+                              AT THE WELL IN THE DESERT,
+                                   October 21.
+
+DEAR FRIEND,--
+
+We shall reach Green River City to-night. We will rest the teams one
+day, then start home. It will take us two days from Green River to
+reach home, so this is the last letter on the road. When we made camp
+here last night we saw some one coming on horseback along the canyon
+rim on the opposite side. The form seemed familiar and the horse
+looked like one I had seen, but I dared not believe my eyes. Clyde,
+who was helping to draw water from the eighty-foot well without a
+pulley, thought I was bereft as I ran from the camp toward the
+advancing rider. But although I thought what I saw must be a mirage,
+still I knew Mrs. Louderer on Bismarck.
+
+Out of breath from my run, I grasped her fat ankle and panted till I
+could speak.
+
+"Haf they run you out of camp, you iss so bad?" she asked me by way of
+greeting. Then, more kindly, "Your boy iss all right, the mutter also.
+I am come, though, to find you. It iss time you are home with the
+_kinder_. Haf you any goose-grease left?"
+
+I had, all she had given me.
+
+At camp, joy knew no bounds. Never was one more welcome than our
+beloved neighbor. Her astonishment knew no bounds either, when her big
+blue eyes rested upon Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's "twins."
+
+"Frau O'Shaughnessy," she said severely, "what have you here? You iss
+robbed an orphan asylum. How haf you come by these?"
+
+Mrs. O'Shaughnessy is so full of life and good spirits and so
+delighted to talk about her "childher" that she gave a very animated
+recital of how she became a happy mother. In turn Mrs. Louderer told
+how she grew more and more alarmed by our long absence, but decided
+not to alarm the neighbors, so she had "made a search party out of
+mineself," and had fared forth to learn our fate.
+
+We had a merry supper; even Haynes became cheerful, and there was no
+lagging next morning when we started for home. When people go on elk
+hunts they are very likely to return in tatters, so I am going to
+leave it to your imagination to picture our appearance when we drove
+up to the rear of the hotel about sundown. Our friend Mrs. Hutton came
+running to meet us. I was ashamed to go into her house, but she leaned
+up against the house and laughed until tears came. "_What_ chased
+you?" she gasped. "You must have been run through some of those barbed
+wire things that they are putting up to stop the German army."
+
+Mrs. Hutton is a little lady who bolsters up self-respect and makes
+light of trying situations, so she "shooed" us in and I sneaked into
+my room and waited until Clyde could run down to the store and
+purchase me a dress. I feel quite clean and respectable now, sitting
+up here in my room writing this to you. I will soon be at home now.
+Until then good-bye.
+
+                              E. R. S.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE MEMORY-BED
+
+
+                              October 25.
+
+DEAR, DEAR FRIEND,--
+
+Can you guess how happy I am? Be it _ever_ so humble there is no place
+like home.
+
+It is so good to sit in my creaky old rocker, to hold Junior, to
+feel his dear weight; to look at my brave little mother. I do not
+like the "in-law." She is _mother_ to me. Under the east window
+of our dining-room we have a flower-bed. We call it our memory-bed
+because Clyde's first wife had it made and kept pansies growing
+there. We poured the water of my little lost boy's last bath onto the
+memory-bed. I keep pansies growing in one side of the bed in memory of
+her who loved them. In the other end I plant sweet alyssum in memory
+of my baby. A few pansies and a tuft of sweet alyssum smiled a
+welcome, though all the rest of my flowers were dead. We have a
+hop-vine at the window and it has protected the flowers in the
+memory-bed. How happy I have been, looking over the place! Some young
+calves have come while we were gone; a whole squirming nest full of
+little pigs. My chickens have outgrown my knowledge. There is no snow
+here at all. Our experiences on our trip seem almost unreal, but the
+wagon-load of meat to be attended to is a reminder of realities. I
+have had a fine trip; I have experienced about all the human emotions.
+I had not expected to encounter so many people or to get the little
+inside glimpses that I've had, but wherever there are human beings
+there are the little histories. I have come home realizing anew how
+happy I am, how much I have been spared, and how many of life's
+blessings are mine. Poor Mrs. Louderer, childless and alone, openly
+envying Mrs. O'Shaughnessy her babies! In my bedroom there is a row of
+four little brown heads asleep on their pillows. Four precious
+kiddies all my own. And not the least of my blessings, _you_ to tell
+my happiness to. Has my trip interested you, dear friend? I _hope_ you
+liked it. It will lose a little of its charm for me if you find it
+uninteresting.
+
+I will write you again soon.
+
+                              Your happy friend,
+                                   E. R. S.
+
+                         THE END
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
+
+Minor changes have been made to correct obvious typesetters' errors;
+otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the author's
+words and intent.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Letters on an Elk Hunt, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
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