The Wind Before the Dawn

Dell H. Munger

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• Publié par: fufef
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 16
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wind Before the Dawn, by Dell H. Munger 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: The Wind Before the Dawn Author: Dell H. Munger Release Date: October 22, 2008 [EBook #26992] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WIND BEFORE THE DAWN *** Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE WIND BEFORE THE DAWN “THE GIRL ALSO KNELT AT HIS SIDE RENDERING SUCH ASSISTANCE AS WAS IN HER POWER” THE WIND BEFORE THE DAWN BY DELL H. MUNGER A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers New York Copyright, 1912, by DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian CONTENTS I II III IV Castles in Spain Brushing up to go to Topeka Reforms not easy to Discuss A cultured man 3 43 74 92 V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII Reaching hungry hands toward a symbol “Didn’t take ’em long” Erasing her blackboard Cyclones “Against her instincts, against her better judgment, against her will” Philosophy of Elizabeth’s life voiced “Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands, as unto the Lord” “Pore little woman” “Ennobled by the reflected story of another’s goodness and love” Mortgages of soul Hugh Noland Revivifying fires Adjusting domestic to social ideals The child of her body “Her wages, food and clothing she must accept” The cream-jars of her life Bound to the stake “There are some things we have to settle for ourselves” “At any cost” Facing consequences “The weight of a dollaree and out of debt don’t forget that” “Was—was my papa here then?” To do over, and to do better, was the opportunity offered “Till death do you part” considered 115 131 150 174 195 210 224 266 291 317 353 356 372 399 419 426 458 467 496 506 534 540 548 562 3 THE WIND BEFORE THE DAWN CHAPTER I CASTLES IN SPAIN The unclouded sun of a burning August day had driven bird and beast to shelter wherever a bit of shade could be found. The Kansas prairie afforded little refuge from sun or wind. The long stretches of low rolling hills were mostly covered with short grass, now dry from a protracted season of drought. Occasionally a group of stunted cottonwood trees surrounded an equally stunted looking hut, or dugout, but the blazing sunshine had browned all to a monotonous tone in keeping with the monotonous life it represented. The only corn to be seen was of the variety called sod-corn, which, unwashed by rain for a full month now, had failed to mature, such stalks as had tasselled at all being as barren as the rest because the tender silks had dried too rapidly and could furnish no fertilizing moisture to the pollen which sifted down from the scanty bloom above. The sun’s rays beat down upon the head of a fourteen-year-old girl who rode slowly around a herd of cattle, the members of which lay in the unavailing shade of the rosin weeds or browsed drowsily on the short grass. The day had been long and hard. The child knew that it was not later than two o’clock, having counted the hours eagerly since early morning, and having eaten her bit of cornbread and bacon full two hours before. She stopped her horse for the fortieth time, however, to get the angle of her shadow on the ground and to confirm her calculations. The sigh she gave as she again started on her round was not of relief, but of resignation. It was necessary to keep on the move or she was likely to fall asleep in her saddle, and then the cattle would escape to the nearby fields, and there would be a neighbourhood altercation over the matter, whether the fields held crops of value or not, farmers being jealous of their territorial rights, and ready to resent intrusion upon them. Another horseback rider was moving across the prairie toward her, and the girl smiled when she saw him and stopped to watch his calico pony lope unevenly across the grass-covered slope. The pony was prone to drop into a rough trot at short intervals, and at such times was urged to renewed efforts by a dig of its rider’s heels in the under regions of its stunted body. In order to get his heels in contact with his mount, the lanky boy was obliged to elevate his knees slightly, and when it was over his feet dropped languidly and his heavy plow-shoes dangled loosely, with several inches of bare ankle in evidence before the faded overalls concealed further stretches of the hairy legs. “Howdie, Lizzie!” he said with a pleasant smile as he drew his pony up beside her. “I’ve got something to tell you. We’ve sold out, an’ goin’ right off. Th’ other folks moved in last night. They was goin’ through with a wagon an’ stopped to eat. They found out that pap wanted to sell an’ go back to Minnesoty, an’ took th’ land quick. I’ve come to say good-bye.” It had been so exciting that he had tumbled his news all out at once, although he was a quiet boy and slow of speech. “Oh, Luther! Are you really going away?” The girl exclaimed in dismay. “Yass,” the boy replied, falling back unconsciously into Swedish pronunciation. He had begun his announcement with pleased animation, but now that it was out, and she was sorry, the going did not seem so pleasing. “I wisht I wasn’t!” he added with quick dejection. “I should think you’d be glad. I’d be glad, if I was going too.” The boy looked surprised and asked with some curiosity, “What do you want to go for? I thought you liked Kansas.” “Put your hand on your horse’s neck,” she commanded, leaning forward and setting the example. The boy did as she told him, but drew his hand back suddenly. “Gosh!” he exclaimed. “Don’t their hair get hot in this sun!” “Well, I’m just as hot as that all over,” she replied emphatically, “and I want to go to a country where a body can get under a tree once in a while. I can’t go in till five o’clock, and I forgot my jug, and I’m so thirsty I feel as if I’d crack like