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Show 1THE GIRL AT THEi HALFWAY HOUSE A STORY OF THE PLAINS i 11V K. flOUGII. AUTHOR Of TUB STORY OF TUB COWBOY T Cttirirhltd, ltOS. tr D. Atlltttn & Cntar, Ntv, Ytrk CHAPTER V. Continued. Franklin looked about him at tho squat buildings of tho llttlo town, nt tho black loam ot the monotonous and uninviting fields, at tho sordid, sot and undevcloplng lives around him. Ho looked also at tho whlto wagons moving with the sun. It scorned to him that somewhere out In the vast land beyond tho Missouri there beckoned beck-oned to him a mighty hand, tho Index finger of somo mighty force, Imperative, Impera-tive, forbidding pause. Tho letter of Datterslelgh to his friend Captain Franklin fell thoreforo upon soil already well prepared. Ho read It again nnd again In Its somo-what somo-what formal diction and Informal orthography, or-thography, was as follows: "To Capt. Edw. Franklin, llloomsbury, III.: "My Dear Ned I havo tho honor to stnto to you that I am safely arrived and woll established at this placo, Elllsrtllc, and am fully disposed to remain. re-main. I must tell you that this is to bo a great market for Western beoves. Great numbers of theso cattle cat-tle are now coming In to this country from tho far South, nnd alnco tho Hy. 1b yet unable to transport theso Animals Ani-mals as thoy nrrivo thero Is good Numbers of them In tho country hereabout, here-about, as well as many strango persons per-sons curiously known as Cowboys or Cow-Punchcrs, which tho samo I may call a purely Hcathan sort. Theso for tho most part report at tho Cottago Hotel, and thoro Is no peaco In tho Town nt this present writing. "For myself I have taken entry upon ono hundred nnd sixty Acres Govt. Land, and llvo n llttlo wny out from tho Town. Hero I havo my quarters quar-ters under tent, following cxnmplo of all men, for as yet thero aro scarce a dozen houses within fifty- Miles. I bavo chosen this point becauso It was tho furthcrest ono yet reached by Rail. I havo been advised that It Is highly desirable to bo In at tho beginning be-ginning In this Country If ono Is to f "Qo a letter fram your girl?" stay In tho Hunt, thorofore I havo como to a Town which has Just Begun. Uollovo mo, dear Ned, It Is tho beginning begin-ning ot a World. Such chances are hero, I am Suro as do not oxUt In any other Land, for behind this land Is all tho nicher and older Parts, which are but watting to pour monoy and men hither so soon as tho Hy. shall bo Fully completed. I havo heard of many mon who havo mado Fortunes Blnco tho War. It la truly a rapid Land. "I am persuaded, my dear boy, that tbJu Is tho placo for you to como. Thero aro an Hundrod wnyB In which ono may earn n Rcspcctnblo living, and I And hero no Class Distinction. It Is an extraordinary fact that no man and no profession ranks another horo. Ono man is qulto good as another. an-other. "A yoar from now, as I am told, wo shall havo 2,000 Persons living hero, and In flvo yoars this will bo a City. Concolvo tho opportunity meantime. mean-time. Tho Cattlo business is bound to grow.lpjl am advised that nil this land Till Ultimately bo farmed nnd provj&rich as that through which I Past In coming out. You nro wolcomo, my dear Ned, as I am suro you know, to halt my blankets and rations during dur-ing your stay hero, howovor long samo may bo, and I most cordially invito you to como out and look over this country, nor do I havo tho smallest doubt that It will Bcom to you qulto as It doos to mo, and I chnll hopo that wo mako a Citizen ot you. "I am but now hero as yet myself, but am fully disposed, as thoy say In tho strango languago horo, to drlvo my Stako. I want you, my dear boy, also to drlvo Yours bosldo me. and to Ihnt Effect I bog to oxtend you what-evoi what-evoi Aid may llo In my Power. "Hoping that you may rccelvo this communication duly, and mako roply to Samo, nnd hoping abovo all things that I may soon raoet ngaln my Companion Com-panion ot the 47th, I beg to subscrlbo myself, my doar boy, over your Obdt. & Affect. Frlond, "Datterslelgh. "P. S. Pray Horild your tlvent by a letter & bring about 4 lbs. or 5 lbs. of your Favourite Tea, as I am Short ot Same." Tho letter ended with Batterslelgh'a est flourish. Franklin turnod It over again and again In his hand and read It more than onco as ho pondored upon Its message. "Dear old follow," ha laid; "bo's a good deal ot a Don Quixote, but he never forgets a friend. Buffalo and Indians, railroads and hotels ho-tels It must at least bo a land of con-trauts!" con-trauts!" CHAPTER VI. Edward Franklin, Lawyer. Edwnrd Fronklln hnd taken up his law studies In tho offlco ot Judgo Bradley, tho lcndlng.lawyer of tho little lit-tle vlllago of Uloomsbury, whero Franklin was born, und whero ho had spent most of his llfo previous to tho tlmo of his enlistment In the army. Judgo Bradley was successful, as such matters go In such communities, and It was his open boast that he owed his success to himself and no ono else. Thlrty-flvo years earlier, a rnw youth from old Vermont, Hollls N. Bradley had walked Into the embryonic embry-onic settlement of Uloombsbury with n single law book under his arm and naught but down upon his chin. Ho pleaded his first causo beforo a Judge who rodo circuit over a territory now divided Into threo congressional districts. dis-tricts. Ho won his first caso, for his antagonist was even moro Ignorant than be. Ah civilization advanced ho defended fower men for stealing hogs nnd moro for murder and adultery. Ills practlco grow with tho growth of tho population of the country about him. Ho was elected county attorney, local counsel for tho railroad, and Judgo of tho Circuit Court. Ho was mentioned for gubernatorial honors, and would perhaps havo received tho party nomination but for tho breaking out of tho civil war. Not fancying tho personal risks of tho army, ho hired a substitute, nnd tills sealed his political fate, for Illinois at that tlmo did not put In power men who sent substitutes to tno war. It was an Immemorial custom In Uloomsbury for tho youth who hnd aspirations for n lcgpl career to "read law" In Judgo Bradley's office. Two of his students had dropped their books to tako up rifles, and thoy enmo not back to their places. Thoy woro forgotten, savo onco a year, upon Decoration Dec-oration Day, whon Judgo Bradloy mado eloquent trtbuto abovo their gravos. It was thoroforo predetermined thnt Edward Franklin Bhould go Into tho offlco of Judgo Bradloy to begin his law studies, after ho had decided that tho profession of tho law was tho ono likely, to offer him tho best career. It was ono of tho unvarying rules of Judgo Bradley's offlco, and Indeed this was almost tho only rulo which ho Imposed, thnt tho law student within his gates, no matter what his ago or earlier servltudo, should each morn-Inx morn-Inx sweep out tho offlco, nnd should, when so requested, copy out any law papers needing to bo executed In duplicate. So long as a student did theso things, ho was wolcomo as long as ho cared to stay, Edward Franklin accepted his scat In Judgo Bradloy's ofllco without any reservations, and ho paid his dally feo of tcnuro as had all tho othor students beforo him, scorning not tho broom. Ardent, ambitious and roso-luto, roso-luto, ho fell upon Blnckstono. Chltty and Kent ns though ho woro asked to carry a redoubt. Ho rood six, eight, ten hours n day, until his head buzzed, nnd ho forgot what ho had read. Then at It all over again, with tooth sot. Thus through moro than a year ho tolled, lashed forward by his own determination, de-termination, until nt length ho began " eo somo of tho beautiful first prln- Mcs of tho law. So In his second 3 . Franklin fared somowhat beyond principles merely, nnd got Into notes and bills, torts, contracts and rorao-dlos. rorao-dlos. Ho learned with a shiver how a promlso might legally bo broken, how a gift should bo rcgnrdod with suspicion, suspi-cion, how n sacred legacy might bo set asldo. Ho read theso things ngaln and again, nnd forcod them into bis brain, so that thoy might novor tie forgotten; for-gotten; yet this part ot tho law ho loved not so much as Its grand first principles of truth and Justice Ono morning, after Franklin bad fin-Ishod fin-Ishod his task ot sweeping down tho etalrs, ho sat him down by tho window with Batterslelgh'a letter In his hand; for this was now tho third day slnco ho had received this letter, and It had beon In his mind more vividly present than tho pages of tho work on contracts con-tracts with which ho wns thon occupied. occu-pied. It was a bright, fresh morning In the uarly spring. 'A long and hazy street lay in perspcclivo before the) s window, and nlong it, out beyond tho confines of tho town, thero reached tho flat monotony of tho dark pralrlo soil. A dog-crossed tho street, pausing paus-ing midway ot tho crossing to scratch his ear. Tho cart of the leadlic grocer gro-cer was hitched In front ot his store nnd an Idlo citizen or two paused near by to exchange a morning greeting. All tho little, uneventful day was beginning, begin-ning, as It had begun so many times beforo here In this little nnoventful town, whero tho world was finished, never moro to change, Franklin shuddered. shud-dered. Wns this, then to be his llfo? Thero camo a. regular tread upon tho stair, as thero had alwaVs for years como at this hour of half past soven In tho morning, rain or shine Judgo Bradley entered, tall, portly, smooth shaven, his silk lint pushed back upon his brow, as was his fashion. fash-ion. Franklin turned to mako tho usual morning salutation. "Good morning, Ned," said tho Judgo, affably. "Good mornltrg. Judge," said Frank II". "I hopo you nro well." "Yes, thank you. Nothing ever tho matter with me. How nro things coming?" com-ing?" "Oh, all right, thank you." This was tho stereotyped form of the dally greeting botween tho two. Judgo Bradloy turnod as usual to his desk, but, catching sight ot tbo lotter still held in Franklin's hapd, remarked carolessly: "Got a letter from your girl?" "Not bo lucky," said Franklin. "From a friend." Sllenco resulted. Judgo Bradloy opened his desk, took off bis coat and hung It on a nail, after his custom, turned over tho papors for a moment nnd remarkpd nbscntmlndedly, and more to bo poltto than becauso tbo mnttcr Interested him, "Friend, eh?" "Yes," said Franklin, ''friend, out West"; and both relapsed again Into silence. Franklin onco moro fell to gazing out of tho window, but at length turned toward tho desk and pulled over his chnlr to a closer speaking speak-ing distance. "Judgo Bradley," said ho, "I shouldn't wonder if I could pass my examination for tho bnr." "Well, now," said tho Judgo, "I hopo you can. That's nice, (loin' to hang out your shingle, oh?" "I might, if I got my license" "Oh, thnt's easy," replied tho other; "It's mostly a matter of form. No trouble about It not In tho least." "I nm clcur In my own mind that I don't know much nbout law," Bnld Franklin, "and I should not think of going up for examination It that ended end-ed my studies In tho profession. If, I H wero Intending to go Into practlco 1 hero, sir, or nenr by, I should not n think ot applying for admission for nt M least another year. Uut tbo fact is, H I'm thinking of going away." U "Goln' nway?" Judgo Dradley 9 straightened up, and his expression f If anything was ono of relief. Ho had ( bis own misgivings nbout this grave- i faced and mature young man should bo go Into tho practlco at tho UIouib bury bar. It was well enough to en-courngo en-courngo such possibilities to tako their test In somo other locality. Judgo Urndloy thoreforo becamo moro cheer- I fill. "Goln away, eh?" bo said. "Whero to?" "Out West," said Franklin, unconsciously uncon-sciously repeating tbo phrase which : was then upon tho lips ot all tho j young mon of tho country. "Out West, oh?" snld tho Judgo, with still greater cheerfulness. "That's right, that's right. That's tho placo to go to, whero you can got a better chance I came West In my day myself, my-self, though It Isn't West now; an that's how I got my start There's ton chances out thero to whero there's ono hero, an you'll get better pay for what you do. I'd advlso It. sir I'd ad-visa ad-visa It; yes. Indeed," "I think It will bo bettor," said Franklin calmly. (To bo continued.) |
