The Cabin on the Prairie

TH AND QUAR

this Indian summer–may we not?" and the missio

replied the latter. "But t

d on which to put up a house. I have been thinking that as I have never

ughed scornfu

about here pre-em

llegal," repli

t stand ab

the Land Office that they have never

hey ta

re themselves i

es

t understand how a person can break the laws and

if it was put up for sale to-day, by the proper authorities, I couldn't say a word if it was sold, improvements and all. I have to take my risk, and I'm contented to, rather than own the biggest farm out doors, and get it by lying under oath. No; they calls Joseph Jones a worthless dog, and I don't say he isn't; but let me tell you, nei

ones, that professing Christians l

er, I believe; and it means, I take it, that the deer, and the elk, and the bear, and the geese and the hens, belong to him: nobody ken say, 'I owns them all,' and keep them for his own use; and when Billy, here,"–patting his gun,–"brings down a fat buck, we feel honest about it–don't we, Bill? 'Tisn't like standing behind the counter with a smerk on yer face, as yer cheat in weight an' measure, or sell sanded sugar for the genuine. Many an' many's the

land, and where to find the section and quarter section stakes as you; and I thought, if it

r," said the hunter. "Was there any p

imed;" and the clergyman took from his note-book a roughly-sketched map

sked the hunter, as he ra

me, I was thankful to get some sort

to be thankful for

section free?" inquired

an' see it. But a

ry replied a

round to go over. Wife," he added, putting his head in at the door, 69 "you

ttage that would remind one of New England. The acres and acres of tilled land stretched away from the dwelling, enclosed in the most substantial manner, and sl

and about, M

e other room. I'

bust form of the owner

nes?" he said, i

suppose,–and Smith has told him to look at the quarter section way over there, a mile and a half beyond Clark's; you know the place. I jist want to

was really a generous man, but exceedingly careless. He had been told that the minister was going to look up a claim; but it had never occurred to him, until now, that the

and to encourage you, I'll harness r

it should be seen to advantage. On a gentle swell of ground was a small gem of a grove, commanding a view of the rest of the section. The fall flowers, many-hued and bright-eyed, nodded gayly in the tall grass; a natural spring, bursting from the

my cottage right here by the side of this spri

ipated his decision,

o sich place as y

ked the minis

keeping a horse?

uldn't af

of the Lord's lawns, neighbor; but 'twasn't made for you to live on. Don't you expect to hev no evenin' meetin's? You can't hev them out here where there's no live critter but the prairie hins, and ma

putting 72 things was quite eff

there is little vacant land about here, and I am unable to pu

to settle down

ut of the

And motioning the preacher to resume his seat in the buggy, the hunter drove back for some distance in the direction from which they had come, then, striking a well-worn ca

g,–"and a hotel is going up just opposite; and the land sharks and speculators that's going to settle here will want jist sich as you right among 'em, to stir

t all the land near to the town i

ant places beyond. And by and by, when the immigration gets strong enough, the owner of that piece of land will hev corner lots and sich to sell. Let me show jist how it lays;" and crossing the bridge, and passing up the projected street, he stopped the horses on a gentle rise of ground, forming the nearest point in the eighty acres. "There," he continued, referring to the map again, "you see the eighty-acre lot runs lengthwise from the town. Across it runs a tributary of the river–just down there where 74 you see the plum and bass-wood trees; and beyond that are ten acres of the richest and easiest-worked river bottom that the sun ever shone on–all fe

his graphic description, "I see by this chart that thi

"whose name's writ down a

id the minister, re

sign of a shanty on the place, and the law requires that every man must show something of a house to prove that he is an actual settler. That name's a blind. This land jines Smith's, and he's been carrying on the ten-acre lot over the r

him as his plain-spoken guide had represented. It was defrauding the government for Smith to hold it as he did; and should he, in a legal way, take

not land that I want so much as to do good among this people; an

ren't you? Well, it's only a short piece to his cabin, and I must take the team back; but"–after thinking a moment–"if you'll take the dam on your way, you'll find Palmer there.

tter for his services, the la

if you want anyt

in the location. The underbrush had been carefully removed, and the cleared space–bounded on one hand by the river, and on the other

r town plot?" said

med the preacher; and, t

ncere, and unselfish. He was, indeed,–what he struck the observer as being,–a prudent counsellor, a true friend, a wisely-generous helper in every good word and work. No man in the settlement was more respected than he–a respect not based on his personal appearance, it was clear; for he had a perfect contempt for the ostentations of dress and equipage, but due to his straightforward an

up land?" aske

ngs, and what the squatter had said

any falling out with Smith. If 78 you will leave the matter with me, I guess I can manage it so that you shall

ber of a church?" a

of course he'll have to show a certificate of membership in order to join; and I rather thi