Show THE AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE A S T O 0 R Y 0 t T H E P L A 1 N S BY E HOUGH AUTHOR OF THE STORY OF THE COWBOY ty D cf matany new york CHAPTER IX continued well you see another town goin up below here about twenty mile old man plum s town plum centre I 1 run the mail an carry folk accost from to that place this here Is just about halt way accost s about twenty or twenty five mile north of here fhe tall man on ane wagon sear turned his face slowly back toward the interior of the wagon what do ou tink lizziel he asked dear me william came reply from the darkness in a somewhat corn pla ining voice how can I 1 tella it all seems alike to me you can judge better than I 1 what do ou nieces the person last addressed rested a hand upon the questioner s shoulder and lightly climbed out upon the seat by his side stooping as she passed under the low bow of the cover frame her presence caused sam to instinct ively straighten up and tug at his open coat he tool off his hat with a memory of other days and said his good mornin as the schoolboy does to his teacher superior revered and awesome yet this new character upon this bare little scene was not of a sort to terrify tall she was and shapely comely with all the grace of and health not yet tanned too brown by the searing prairie winds and show ing still the faint purity of the corn dexion of the south to sam it was instantaneously evident that here was a new species of be ng one of which ho had but the vaguest notions through any experiences of his own his chief impression was that he was at once grown small dusty and much unshaven he flushed as he shifted and twisted on the buckboard seat the girl looked about her for a mo your name sir I 1 don t know but a are very glad to meet you my name s poston said sam he also now climbed down from hi seat seeing that the matter wa clinched and that he had gained a tarn lly for his county sam poston run the livery barn do you you 11 move up to ellisville Ellis ville and well I 1 ve started out to get land said buford and I 1 that the thing is to find that and get the entry made then well to live on it till we can commute it I 1 dont know that it would suit us at ellisville Ellis ville just yet it must be a hard town from all I 1 can learn and hardly fit for ladies so said sam it aint just the quietest place in the world for women folks still he added apolo getic ally folks soon gets used tc he noise I 1 don t mind it no more at all buford smiled as he glanced quiz at the faces of his women folks at this moment sam broke out with a loud exclamation now you listen to me tell you what you see this here place where we are now is just about a mile from the wh te woman S aks and that is as I 1 ft as sayin just about half way beewen and plum cen tre look here this country s coln to boom they s goin to be a plenty of people come in here right a ong there 11 be a regular travel from ellis down to plum centre and it s too long a trip to mal e between meals you just go doan to the white W oman and drive your stal e there take up a quarter tor each of iou put you up a sod house a gulch as ou can ill git you help for that now if you can git anything to cook and can give meals to my stage outfit when I 1 carry passengers he kicked aside a bl cached buffalo skull ment in silence shading her eyes still aitu her curved hand it Is much alike all this country I 1 should think but what she would have thought was broken into by a sudden tion from farther back in the wagon A large black lace appeared at the apera ture under the front wagon bow and the owner of it spoke with a tain oracular vigor io bawd mass william less jess stop right yer I 1 dare I 1 se jess wore to a plum frazzle a tr avelin an a gravelin tr et we gwane settle why less settle athass all I 1 say the driver of the wagon sat silent for a moment then quietly and with no comment he unbuckled the reins and threw them out and down upon the ground on either eide of the wagon whoa boys he called to the borses which were too weary to note that they were no longer asked to go farther on then the driver got de literately libera tely down we 11 turn out haeb he said stalk ing heel ground with significant gesture as was an ancon custom among the men who chose out land for themselves in a new legion well stop here for a bite to eat and I 1 reckon we wont go any farther west how is this country around here for oh thata said sam why say you coulden couldn t very well hit it much bet ter less n a mile farther down this trail to the south ou come to the sinks of the white woman creek they a most always some water in that creek and you can git it there any place by diggin ten or twenty feet good said the stranger that s mighty good he turned to ane wagon side and called out to his wife come lizzie he said get out dear and take a rest we 11 have a bite to eat and then well talk this all 0 er the woman to whom he spoke next appeared at the wagon front and was aided to the ground tall slender black clad with thin pale face she seemed even more unsuited than her husband to the prospect which lay before them immediately behind her there clambered down from the wag on with many groenings groan ings and corn plaints the goodly bilk of the black woman who had earlier given her ad vice set down yer mis lizzie in the shade she said spreading a rug upon the ground upon the side of the wagon farthest from the sun set down an git a ress bawd knows we all needs it this yer ken try tain good as mizzoura Mizz oury let lone Kain tucky er ole ginny no mam there was thus now estabi shed by the chance of small things the loca alon of a home it was done it was decided there was a relief at once upon every countenance now these persons were become citizens of this land unwittingly or at least tacitly this was admitted when the leader of this little party advanced to the side of the buckboard and offered his hand my name is buford he said slow ly and with grave courtesy this is my wife my niece miss beauchamp through here chy I 1 can promise ou you 11 git business and you 11 git a plenty too unconscious buford s eye wander ed over to the portly form of the who sat tanning herself a little apart from the others he smiled again with the quizzical look oa his face how about that aunt lucya he asked do hit mass william replied the colored woman at once with conic tion and extending an energetic fore finger you dess do this yer man says ef they s any money to be made a cookin I 1 kin do all the cookin ever you wants ef douall kin git an thing to cook yas suh you ain t makin no mistake re sara you go in and git our land filed on and pit ou up a sod or dugo it tor the first season because lumbers awful high out here it s pretty late to do anything with a crop this year even it you had any breakie done but you can take your team and gether bones this fait and winter and that 11 make you a good livin too but me have you ever farmed it mucha well sir said buford slowly I 1 used to plant corn and cotton back in kentucky bafo the var sam looked at him puzzled I 1 allow ed you d never ranched it much he said vaguely how d ou happen to come out herec the quizzical smile again crossed buford s face I 1 think shall have to give that up on my honor he said we just seem to have started west and to have kept going until we got here from kentucky eha said sam slowly and meditatively well it don t mal e no difference where you come from we want good men is here and you II 11 find this a good coun try gamble that now I 1 must be gittin along over toward plum cen tre gee you again if you stop in here on white woman see ou sev eral times a weel like enough you must come up to ellis soon as you g t straightened out say and he drew buford to one side as he ed to him say they s a mighty fine girl worl s in the depot hotel nory s her name ou 11 see her it you ever come up to town I 1 m awful gone on that girl and if you git any chanat it you capen to be up there you just put in a good word for me won t you I 1 d do as much for you buford listened with grave polite ness though with a twinkle in his eye and promised to do what he could encouraged at this sam stepped up and shook hands with mrs buford and with the girl not forgetting aunt LUC an act which singularly ira pressed that late inhabitant of a dif terent land and made him her fast friend for life well so long he said to them all in general as he turned away and good 1 ck to you ou ain t makin no mistake in here good bye till I 1 see you all again he stepped into the buckboard and lucked to his little team the dust again rising from under the wheels the eyes of those remaining followed him already yearningly As buford turned he stumbled and kicked aside wl A A bleached bj 10 lo 1 all which lay all h aue i u e red grass at his feet CHAPTER X the chase the summer flamed up into sudden heat and seared all the grasses and ut down the timid flowers then gradually there came the time of horter days and cooler nights busly all the earth was preparing for the winter time it become not less needful tor man kind to tal e thought for the morrow winter on the plains was a season of evenly tor the early settlers whose le sources alike in fuel and food were not too extensive arani lin s tore thought had provided the houses of himself and Batter sleigh with proper fuel and he was quite ready to listen to curly when the latter suggested that it might be a good thing for them to follow the usual custom and go out on a hunt for the buffalo herd in order to supply themselves with heir winter s meat Batter sleigh and curly set out these three had a wagon and riding horses and they were accod danied by a second wagon owned by barn the liveryman who took with urn curly s ryozo the giant mexican juan the battel drove the team a ask which curly scornfully refuse then it ft as offered him his colbo reed rating any conveyance othel fian the saddle as tar beneath hla station at night they slept beneath the a ars uncovered by any tent and sal cited constantly by the whining coy otes whose vocalization was betimes brol en by the hoarser roaring note of the great gray buffalo wolf al morn they aake to an air surcharged with some keen elixir which gave de light in sene of living all around lay a new horld a wild world a virgin phere not yet acquaint with man early on the morning of the fourth day of their journey the travelers noted that the plain began to rise ind sink in longer waves presently aney found themselves approaching a series of rude and hills sand for many miles they travel cd through this difficult and cheerless cheer lebS ebion the borss soon showing sins of distress and all the party feeling need of water of which the been exhausted they p in silence intent upon what might b ahead so that when there came an exclamation from the half witted mexican whose stolid silence under most birc im stances had become a proverb among them each face was at once turned toward him eh what s that juana said curly bay bo s he says w e re about out 03 the sand hills prairie pretty soon now he davs to be continued |