 19. The Adventure of the Christmas Tree. January 6, 1913. My dear friend, I have put off writing you and thanking you for your thought for us until now, so that I could tell you of our very happy Christmas and our dear hunt all at once. To begin with, Mr. Stewart and Junior have gone to Boulder to spend the winter. Clyde wanted his mother to have a chance to enjoy our boy, so, as he had to go, he took Junior with him. Then those of my dear neighbors nearest my heart decided to prevent a lonely Christmas for me, so on December 21 came Mrs. Lauterer laden with an immense plum pudding and a big worst, and a little later came Mrs. O'Shaughnessy on her frisky pony, Chief, her scarlet sweater making a bright bit of color against our snow-wrapped horizon. Her face and ways are just as bright and cheery as can be. When she saw Mrs. Lauterer's pudding and sausage, she said she had brought nothing because she had come to get something to eat herself. And, she continued, it is a private opinion of mine that my neighbors are so glad to see me that they are glad to feed me. Now wouldn't that little speech have made her welcome anywhere? Well, we were hilariously planning what Mrs. O'Shaughnessy called a witty Christmas and getting supper when a great stamping off of snow proclaimed a newcomer. It was Javau, and we were powerfully glad to see him because the hired man was going to a dance and we knew Javau would contrive some unusual amusement. He had heard that Clyde was going to have a deer drive and didn't know that he had gone, so he had come down to join the hunt just for the fun and was very much disappointed to find there was going to be no hunt. After supper, however, his good humor returned and he told a story after story of big hunts he had had in Canada. He worked up his own enthusiasm as well as ours and at last proposed that we have a drive of our own for a Christmas joy. He said he would take a station and do the shooting if one of us would do the driving, so right now I reckon I had better tell you how it is done. There are many little parks in the mountains where the deer can feed, although now most places are so deep in snow that they can't walk in it. For that reason they have trails to water and to the different feeding grounds, and they can't get through the snow except along these paths. You see how easy it would be for a man hidden on the trail to get one of the beautiful creatures if someone coming from another direction startled them so that they came along that particular path. So they made their plans. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy elected herself driver. Two miles away is a huge mountain called Phillipaco, and deer were said to be plentiful up there. At one time there had been a sawmill on the mountain, and there were a number of deserted cabins in which we could make ourselves comfortable. So it was planned that we go up the next morning, stay all night, have the hunt the following morning, and then come home with our game. Well, we were all a stir early the next morning, and soon grain, bedding, and chuck box were in the wagon. Then Mrs. Lauderer, the kinder, and myself piled in. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy bestowed chief, Javau stalked on ahead to pick our way, and we were off. It was a long tedious climb, and I wished over and over that I had stayed at home, but it was altogether on baby's account. I was so afraid that he would suffer, but he kept warm as toast. The day was beautiful, and the views many times repaid us for any hardship we had suffered. It was three o'clock before we reached the old mill camp. Soon we had a roaring fire, and Javau made the horses comfortable in one of the cabins. They were bedded in soft, dry sawdust, and were quite as well off as if they had been in their own stalls. Then some rough planks were laid on blocks, and we had our first meal since breakfast. We called it supper, and we had potatoes roasted in the embers. Mrs. Lauderer's worst, which she had been calmly carrying around on her arm like a hoop, and which was delicious with the bread that Javau toasted on long sticks. We had steaming coffee, and we were all happy. Even baby clapped his hands and crowed at the unusual sight of an open fire. After supper, Javau took a little stroll and returned with a couple of grouse for our breakfast. After dark, we sat around the fire, eating peanuts, and listening to Javau and Mrs. Lauderer telling stories of their different great forests. But soon Javau took his big sleeping bag and retired to another cabin, warning us that we must be up early. Our improvised beds were the most comfortable things. I loved the flicker of an open fire, the smell of the pines, the pure sweet air, and I went to sleep thinking how blessed I was to be able to enjoy the things I loved most. It seemed only a short time until someone knocked on our door, and we were all wide awake in a minute. The fire had burned down and only a soft, indistinct glow from the embers lighted the room. While through a hole in the roof I could see a star glimmering frostily. It was Javau at the door, and he called through a crack saying he had been hearing queer noises for an hour, and he was going to investigate. He had called us so that we need not be alarmed should we hear the noise and not find him. We scrambled into our clothes quickly and ran outdoors to listen. I can never describe to you the weird beauty of a moonlight night among the pines when the snow is sparkling and gleaming, the deep silence unbroken even by the snapping of a twig. We stood shivering and restraining our ears and were about to go back to bed when we heard faintly a long drawn wail as if all the suffering and sorrow on earth were bound up in that one sound. We couldn't tell which way it came from. It seemed to vibrate through the air and chill our hearts. I had heard that Panthers cried that way, but Javau said it was not a Panther. He said the engine and saws had been moved from where we were to another spring across the canyon a mile away, where timber for sawing was more plentiful, but he supposed everyone had left the mill when the water froze so they couldn't saw. He added that someone must have remained and was perhaps in need of help, and if we were not afraid he would leave us and go see what was wrong. We went in, made up the fire, and sat in silence, wondering what we should see or hear next. Once or twice that agonized cry came shivering through the cold moonlight. After an age we heard Javau crunching through the snow, whistling cheerily to reassure us. He had crossed the canyon to the new mill camp where he had found two women, Lager's wives and some children. One of the women he said was so verse-seek, to a she who was whaling so, and it was the kind of seek where we could be of every help and comfort. Mrs. Lauterer stayed and took care of the children while Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and I followed after Javau, panting and stumbling through the snow. Javau said he suspected they were short of needfuls, so he had filled his pockets with coffee and sugar, took in a bottle some of the milk I brought for baby, and his own flask of whiskey, without which he never travels. At last, after what seemed to me hours of scrambling through the snow, through deepest gloom where pines were thickest, and out again into patches of white moonlight, we reached the ugly clearing where the new camp stood. Javau escorted us to the door and then returned to our camp. Entering we saw the poor little, soon-to-be mother huddled on her poor bed, while an older woman stood near, warning her that the oil would soon be all gone and they would be in darkness. She told us that the sick one had been in pain all the day before, and much of the night, and that she herself was worn completely out. So Mrs. O'Shaughnessy sent her to bed and we took charge. Secretly, I felt it all to be a big nuisance, to be dragged out from my warm, comfortable bed to traipse through the snow at that time of the night. But the moment poor little Molly spoke, I was glad I was living, because she was a poor little southern girl whose husband is a Mormon. He had been sent on a mission to Alabama and the poor girl had fallen in love with his handsome face and knew nothing of Mormonism, so she had run away with him. She thought it would be so grand to live in the glorious West with so splendid a man as she believed her husband to be. But now she believed she was going to die, and she was glad of it, because she could not return to her folks. And she said she knew her husband was dead, because he and the other woman's husband, both of whom had intended to stay there all winter and cut logs, had gone two weeks before to get their summers wages and buy supplies. Neither man had come back, and there was not a horse or any other way to get out of the mountains to hunt them. So they believed the men to be frozen somewhere on the road. Rather a dismal prospect, wasn't it? Molly was just longing for some little familiar thing. So I was glad I have not yet gotten rid of my southern way of talking. No Westerner can ever understand a Southerner's need of sympathy and however kind their hearts they are unable to give it. Only a Southerner can understand how dear are our peculiar words and phrases. And poor little Molly took new courage when she found I knew what she meant when she said she was just honing after a friendly voice. Well, soon we had the water hot and had filled some bottles and placed them around our patient. And after a couple of hours the tiny little stranger came into the world. It had been necessary to have a great fire in order to have light. So as soon as we got baby dressed, I opened the door a little to cool the room. And Molly saw the morning star twinkling merrily. Oh, she said, that is what I will call my little girly star, dear little star. It is strange, isn't it? How our spirits will revive after some great ordeal. Molly had been sure she was going to die and saw nothing to live for. Now that she had had a cup of hot milk and held her red little baby close. She was just as happy and hopeful as if she had never left her best friends and home to follow the uncertain fortunes of young Will Crosby. So she and I talked of ash hoppers, smoke houses, cotton patches, goobers, poke greens and shouts until she fell asleep. Soon day was abroad. And so we went outdoors for a fresh breath. The other woman came out just then to ask after Molly. She invited us into her cabin and oh, the little Mormons were everywhere. Poor half clad little things. Some sourdough biscuit and a can of condensed milk was everything they had to eat. The mother explained to us that their men had gone to get things for them, but had not come back. So she guessed they had got drunk and were likely in jail. She told it in a very unconcerned manner. Poor thing. Years of such experience had taught her that blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed. She said that if Molly had not been sick she would have walked down out of the mountains and got help. Just then two shots rang out in quick succession, and soon Javau came staggering along with a deer across his shoulders. That he left for the family. From our camp he had brought some bacon and butter for Molly, and poor though it may seem it was a treat for her. Leaving the woman to dress the venison with her oldest boy's aid, we put out across the canyon for our own breakfast. Beside our much beaten trail hung the second venison. And when we reached our camp and had our own delicious breakfast of grass, bread, butter and coffee, Javau took chub and went for our venison. In a short time we were rolling homeward. Of course it didn't take us nearly so long to get home because it was downhill, and the road was clearly marked. So in a couple of hours we were home. Javau knew the two loggers were in Green River and were then at work storing ice for the railroad, but he had not known that their wives were left as they were. The men actually had got drunk, lost their money, and were then trying to replace it. After we debated a bit we decided we could not enjoy Christmas with those people in want up there in the cold. Then we got busy. It is sixty miles to town, although our nearest point to the railroad is but forty, so you see it was impossible to get to town to get anything. You should have seen us. Every old garment that had ever been left by men who have worked here was hauled out, and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's deft fingers soon had a pile of garments cut. We kept the machine humming until far into the night as long as we could keep our eyes open. All next day we sewed as hard as we could, and Javau cooked as hard as he could. We had intended to have a tree for jureen, so we had a box of candles and a box of Christmas snow. Javau asked for all the bright paper we could find. We had lots of it, and I think you would be surprised at the possibilities of a little waste paper. He made gorgeous birds, butterflies, and flowers out of paper that once wrapped parcels. Then he asked us for some silk thread, but I had none, so he told us to comb our hair and give him the comings. We did, and with a drop of mucilage he would fasten a hair to a bird's back and then hold it up by the hair. At a few feet's distance it looked exactly as though the bird was flying. I was glad I had a big stone jar full of fondant, because we had a lot of fun shaping and coloring candies. We offered a prize for the best representation of a nigger, and we had two dozen chocolate covered things that might have been anything from a monkey to a mouse. Mrs. Lauterer cut up her big plum pudding and put it into a dozen small bags. These javau carefully covered with green paper. Then we tore up the holly wreath that Aunt Mary sent me and put a sprig in the top of each green bag of pudding. I never had so much fun in my life as I had preparing for that Christmas. At ten o'clock, the morning of the twenty-fourth, we were again on our way up the mountainside. We took shovels so we could clear a road if need be. We had dinner at the old camp, and then javau hunted us away out to the new, and we smuggle our things into Molly's cabin so the children should have a real surprise. Poor, hopeless little things. Theirs was, indeed, a dull outlook. Javau busied himself in preparing one of the empty cabins for us and in making the horses comfortable. He cut some pine bales to do that with, and so they paid no attention when he cut a small tree. In the meantime, we had cleared everything from Molly's cabin but her bed. We wanted her to see the fun. The children were sent to the spring to water the horses and they were all allowed to ride, so that took them out of the way while Javau nailed the tree into a box he had filled with dirt to hold it steady. There were four women of us and Javau, so it was only the work of a few moments to get the tree ready and it was the most beautiful one I ever saw. Your largest bell, dear Mrs. Coney, dangled from the topmost branch. Javau had attached a long stout wire to your Santa Claus so he was able to make him dance frantically without seeming to do so. The hairs that held the birds and butterflies could not be seen and the effect was beautiful. We had a bucket of apples rubbed bright and these we fastened to the tree just as they grew on their own branches. The puddings looked pretty too and we had done up the parcels that held the clothes as attractively as we could. We saved the candy and the peanuts to put in their little stockings. As soon as it was dark we lighted the candles and then their mother called the children. Oh, if you could have seen them. It was the very first Christmas tree they had ever seen and they didn't know what to do. The very first present Javau handed out was a pair of trousers for eight years old Brig. But he just stood and stared at the tree until his brother next in size with an eye to the main chance got behind him and pushed him forward. All the time exclaiming, go on, can't you? They ain't doing nothing to you. They's just doing something for you. Still, Brig would not put out his hand. He just shook his tassel sandy head and said he wanted a bird. So the fun kept up for an hour. Santa had for Molly a package of oatmeal, a pound of butter, a mason jar of cream, and a dozen eggs so that she could have suitable food to eat until something could be done. After the presents had all been distributed, we put the phonograph on a box and had a dandy concert. We played There Were Shepherds, Ave Maria, and Sweet Christmas Bells. Only we older people cared for those. So then we had Aruana, Silver Bells, Rainbow, Red Wing, and such songs. How delighted they were. Our concert lasted two hours and by that time the little fellas were so sleepy that the excitement no longer affected them and they were put to bed. But they hung up their stockings first and even Molly hung hers up too. We filled them with peanuts and candy, putting the lion's share of niggers into Molly's stocking. Next morning the happiness broke out in new spots. The children were all clean and warm, though I am afraid I can't brag on the fit of all the clothes. But the pride of the wearers did away with the necessity of a fit. The mother was radiantly thankful for a warm petticoat that it was made of a blanket too small for a bed didn't bother her and the stripes were around the bottom anyway. Molly openly rejoiced in her new gown and that it was made of ugly gray outing flannel she didn't know nor care. Baby Star Crosby looked perfectly sweet in her little new clothes and her little gown had blue sleeves and they thought a white skirt only added to its beauty. And so it was about everything. We all got so much out of so little. I will never again allow even the smallest thing to go to waste. We were every one just as happy as we could be almost as delighted as Molly was over her niggers and there was very little gibbon that had not been thrown away or was not just odds and ends. There was never anything more true than that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We certainly had a delicious dinner too and we let Molly have all she wanted that we dared allow her to eat. The roast venison was so good that we were tempted to let her taste it but we thought better of that. As soon as dinner was over we packed our belongings and we took ourselves homeward. It was just dusk when we reached home. A way off on a bare hill a wolf barked. A big owl hooted lonesomely among the pines and soon a pack of yelping coyotes went scampering across the frozen waste. It was not the Christmas I had in mind when I sent the card but it was a dandy one just the same. With best wishes for you for a happy happy new year. Sincerely your friend Eleanor Rupert Stewart. End of Chapter 19 Chapter 20 of Letters of a Woman Homesteader. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt Stewart. Chapter 20 The Joys of Homesteading. January 23rd, 1913. Dear Mrs. Coney, I am afraid all my friends think I am very forgetful and that you think I am ungrateful as well but I am going to plead not guilty. Right after Christmas Mr. Stewart came down with La Grip and was so miserable that it kept me busy trying to relieve him. Out here where we can get no physician we have to dope ourselves so that I had to be housekeeper, nurse, doctor, and general overseer. That explains my long silence. And now I want to thank you for your kind thought in prolonging our Christmas. The magazines were much appreciated. They relieved some weary night watches and the box did girene more good than the medicine I was having to give her for La Grip. She was content to stay in bed and enjoy the contents of her box. When I read of the hard times among the Denver poor I feel like urging them everyone to get out and file on land. I am very enthusiastic about women homesteading. It really requires less strength and labor to raise plenty to satisfy a large family than it does to go out to wash. With the added satisfaction of knowing that their job will not be lost to them if they care to keep it. Even if improving the place does go slowly it is that much done to stay done. Whatever is raised is the homesteaders own and there is no house rent to pay. This year girene cut and dropped enough potatoes to raise a ton of fine potatoes. She wanted to try so we let her and you will remember that she is but six years old. We had a man to break the ground and cover the potatoes for her and the man irrigated them once. That was all that was done until digging time when they were plowed out and girene picked them up. Any woman strong enough to go out by the day could have done every bit of the work and put in two or three times that much and it would have been so much more pleasant than to work so hard in the city and then be on starvation rations in the winter. To me homesteading is the solution of all poverty's problems but I realize that temperament has much to do with success in any undertaking and persons afraid of coyotes and work and loneliness had better let ranching alone. At the same time any woman who can stand her own company can see the beauty of the sunset, loves growing things and is willing to put in as much time at careful labor as she does over the wash tub will certainly succeed. Will have independence, plenty to eat all the time and a home of her own in the end. Experimenting need cost the homesteader no more than the work because by applying to the Department of Agriculture at Washington he can get enough of any seed and as many kinds as he wants to make a thorough trial and it doesn't even cost postage. Also one can always get bulletins from there and from the experiment station of one's own state concerning any problem or as many problems as may come up. I would not for anything allow Mr. Stewart to do anything toward improving my place for I want the fun and the experience myself and I want to be able to speak from experience when I tell others what they can do. Theories are very beautiful but facts are what must be had and what I intend to give sometime. Here I am boring you to death with things that cannot interest you. You'd think I wanted you to homestead wouldn't you? But I am only thinking of the troops of tired worried women sometimes even cold and hungry scared to death of losing their places to work who could have plenty to eat who could have good fires by gathering the wood and comfortable homes of their own if they but had the courage and determination to get them. I must stop right now before you get so tired you will not answer. With much love to you from Jareen and myself I am yours affectionately Eleanor Rupert Stewart. End of Chapter 20 Chapter 21 of Letters of a Woman Homesteader. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt Stewart. Chapter 21. A Letter of Jareens. February 26, 1913. Dear Mrs. Coney, I think you will excuse my mama for not writing to thank you for Black beauty when I tell you why. I wanted to thank you myself and I wanted to hear it read first so I could very truly thank. Mama always said horses do not talk but now she knows they do since she read the dear little book. I have known it a long time. My own pony told me the story is very true. Many times I have seen men treat horses very badly but our Clyde don't and won't let a workman stay if he hurts stock. I am very glad. Mr. Edding came past one day with a load of hay. He had too much load to pull up hill and there was much ice and snow but he think he can make them go up so he fighted and sweared but they could not get up. Mama tried to lend him some horse to help but he was angry and was termined to make his own Pruitt but at last he had to take off some hay. I wish he may read my Black beauty. Our Clyde is still away. We were going to visit Stella. Mama was driving. The horses ran away. We go very fast as the wind. I almost fall out. Mama hanged on to the lines. If she let go we may all be killed. At last she ran them into a fence. They stop and a man ran to help so we are well but Mama hands and arms are still so sore she can't write you yet. My brother Calvin is very sweet. God had to give him to us because he squealed so much he stirred the angels. We are not angels so he don't stir us. I thank you for my good little book and I love you for it too. Very speakfully, Jareen Rupert. End of chapter 21. Chapter 22 of Letters of a Woman Homesteader. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt Stewart. Chapter 22. The Efficient Mrs. O'Shaughnessy. May 5th, 1913. Dear Mrs. Coney, your letter of April 25th certainly was a surprise but a very welcome one. We are so rushed with spring work that we don't even go to the office for the mail and I owe you letters and thanks. I keep promising myself the pleasure of writing you and keep putting it off until I can have more leisure but that time never gets here. I am so glad when I can bring a little of this big clean beautiful outdoors into your apartment for you to enjoy and I can think of nothing that would give me more happiness than to bring the West and its people to others who could not otherwise enjoy them. If I could only take them from whatever is worrying them and give them this bracing mountain air, glimpses of the scenery, a smell of the pines and the sage, if I could only make them feel the free, ready sympathy and hospitality of these frontier people, I am sure their worries would diminish and my happiness would be complete. Little Star Crosby is growing to be the sweetest little kid. Her mother tells me that she is going back yawn when she gets a little more richer. I am afraid you give me too much credit for being of help to poor little Molly. It wasn't that I am so helpful but that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It was Mrs. O'Shaughnessy who was the real help. She is a woman of great courage and decision and a splendid sense and judgment. A few days ago a man she had working for her got his fingernail mashed off and neglected to care for it. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy examined it and found that gangrene had set in. She didn't tell him but made various preparations and then told him she had heard that if there was danger of blood poisoning it would show if the finger was placed on wood and the patient looked toward the sun. She said the person who looked at the finger could then see if there was any poison. So the man placed his finger on the chopping block and before he could bat his eye she had chopped off the black swollen finger. It was so sudden and unexpected that there seemed to be no pain. Then Mrs. O'Shaughnessy showed him the green streak already starting up his arm. The man seemed dazed and she was afraid of shock so she gave him a dose of morphine and whiskey. Then with a quick stroke of a razor she laid open the green streak and immersed the whole arm in a strong solution of bichloride of mercury for twenty minutes. She then dressed the wound with absorbent cotton saturated with olive oil and carbolic acid, bundled her patient into a buggy and drove forty five miles that night to get him to a doctor. The doctor told us that only her quick action and knowledge of what to do saved the man's life. I was surprised that you have had a letter from Jareen. I knew she was writing to you that day but I was feeling very stiff and sore from the runaway and had lain down. She kept asking me how to spell words until I told her I was too tired and wanted to sleep. While I was asleep the man came for the mail so she sent her letter. I have your address on the back of the writing pad so she knew she had it right but I suspect that was all she had right. She has written you many letters but I have never allowed her to send them because she misspells but that time she stole a march on me. The books you sent her, Black Beauty and Alice in Wonderland, have given her more pleasure than anything she has ever had. She just loves them and is saving them, she says, for her own little girls. She is very confident that the stork will one day visit her and leave her a very many little girls. They are to be of assorted sizes. She says she can't see why I order all my babies little and red and squally. Says she thinks God had just as soon let me have larger ones especially as I get so many from him. One day before long I will get busy and write you of a visit I shall make to a Mormon bishops household. Polygamy is still practiced. Very truly your friend Eleanor Rupert Stewart. End of Chapter 22 Chapter 23 of Letters of a Woman Homesteader This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt Stewart Chapter 23 How It Happened June 12, 1913 Dear Mrs. Coney, your letter of the eighth to hand, and in order to catch you before you leave I'll answer at once and not wait for time. I always think I shall do better with more time, but with three berms, garden, chickens, cows, and housework I don't seem to find much time for anything. Now for the first question. My maiden name was Pruitt, so when I am putting on airs I sign Eleanor Pruitt Stewart. I don't think I have ever written anything that Clyde would object to, so he can still stay on the pedestal Scotch custom puts him upon and remain the Stewart. Indeed I don't think you are too inquisitive and I am glad to tell you how I happened to meet the Goodmon. It all happened because I had a stitch in my side. When I was housekeeper at the nursery I also had to attend to the furnace and, strange but true, the furnace was built across the large basement from where the coal was thrown in, so I had to tote the coal over, and my modus operandi was to fill a tub with coal and then drag it across to the hungry furnace. Well, one day I felt the catch and got no better fast. After Dr. F. Blank punched and prodded, she said, Why, you have the grip. Reverend Father Corrigan had been preparing me to take the civil service examination, and that afternoon a lesson was due, so I went over to let him see how little I knew. I was in pain and was so blue that I could hardly speak without weeping, so I told the Reverend Father how tired I was of the rattle and bang, of the glare and the soot, the smells and the hurries. I told him what I longed for was the sweet, free, open, and that I would like to homestead. That was Saturday evening. He advised me to go straight uptown and put an ad in the paper, so as to get it into the Sunday paper. I did so, and because I wanted as much rest and quiet as possible, I took Jareen and went uptown and got a nice quiet room. On the following Wednesday I received a letter from Clyde, who was in Boulder visiting his mother. He was leaving for Wyoming the following Saturday and wanted an interview if his proposition suited me. I was so glad of his offer, but at the same time I couldn't know what kind of person he was, so, to lessen any risk, I asked him to come to the Sunshine Mission where Miss Ryan was going to help me size him up. He didn't know that part of it, of course, but he stood inspection admirably. I was under the impression he had a son, but he hadn't, and he and his mother were the very last of their race. I am as proud and happy today as I was the day I became his wife. I wish you knew him, but I suspect I had better not brag too much, lest you think me not quite sincere. He expected to visit you while he was in Boulder. He went to the stock show, but was with a party, so he planned to go again. But before he could, the man he left here, in whom I dismissed for drunkenness, went to Boulder and told him I was alone, so the foolish thing hurried home to keep me from too hard work. So that is why he was disappointed. Junior can talk quite well, and even Calvin jabbers. The children are all well, and Jareen writes a little every day to you. I have been preparing a set of indoor outings for invalids. You're telling me your invalid friends enjoyed the letters suggested the idea. I thought, to write a little outings I take might amuse them, but wanted to write just as I took the little trips, while the impressions were fresh. That is why I have not sent them before now. Is it too late? Shall I send them to you? Now this is really not a letter. It is just a reply. I must say good night. It is twelve o'clock, and I am so sleepy. I do hope you will have a very happy summer, and that you will share your happiness with me in occasional letters, with much love, Ellen or Stuart. In writing I forgot to say that the Reverend Father thought it a good plan to get a position as housekeeper for some rancher who would advise me about land and water rights. By keeping house, he pointed out, I could have a home and a living and at the same time see what kind of a homestead I could get. Chapter 24. A Little Romance. October 8th, 1913. My dear friend, I have had such a happy little peep into another's romance that I think I should be cheating you if I didn't tell you. Help in this country is extremely hard to get, so when I received a letter from one Aurelia Timmons saying she wanted a job, three dollars a week and not to be called really. My joy could hardly be described. I could hardly wait until morning to start for Bridger Bench, where Aurelia held forth. I was up before the lark next morning. It is more miles to the Bridger Bench country than the Goodman wants his horses driven in a day, so permission was only given after I promised to curb my impatience and stay overnight with Mrs. Lauterer. Under ordinary circumstances that would have been a pleasure, but I knew at least a dozen women who would any of them seize on to Aurelia and rest her from me, so it was only after it seemed I would not get to go at all that I promised. At length the wagon was greased, some oats put in, a substantial lunch, and the kitties loaded in, and I started on my way. Perhaps it was the prospect of getting help that gilded everything with a new beauty. The great mountains were so majestic and the day so young that I knew the night wind was still murmuring among the pines far up on the mountain sides. The larks were trying to outdo each other, and the robins were so saucy that I could almost have flicked them with the willow I was using as a whip. The rabbit bush made golden patches everywhere, while purple asters and great pink thistles lent their charm. Going in that direction, our way lay between a mountain stream and the foothills. There were many ranches along the stream, and as we were out so early we could see the blue smoke curling from each house we passed. We knew that venison steak, hot biscuit, and odorous coffee would soon grace their tables. We had not had the venison for the Good Mon holds to the letter of the law, which protects deer here, but we begrudged no one anything. We were having exactly what we wanted. We jogged along happily, if slowly, for I must explain to you that Chubb is quite the laziest horse in the state, and Bill, his partner, is so old he stands like a bulldog. He is splay-footed and sway-backed, but he is a beloved member of our family, so I vented my spite on Chubb, and the willow descended periodically across his black back, I guess as much from force of habit as anything else. But his hide is thick and his memory short, so we broke no record that day. We drove on through the fresh beauty of the morning, and when the sun was straight overhead, we came to the last good water we could expect before we reached Mrs. Lauderers, so we stopped for lunch. In Wyoming, quantity has a great deal more to do with satisfaction than does quality. After half a day's drive, you won't care so much what it is you're going to eat as you will that there is enough of it. That is a lesson I learned long ago, so our picnic was real. There were no ants in the pie, but that is accounted for by there being no pie. Our road had crossed the creek, and we were resting in the shade of a quaking asp grove, high up on the sides of the badland hills. For miles far below laid the valley through which we had come. Father owned the mountains with their dense forests were all wrapped in the blue haze of the melancholy days. Soon we quitted our enchanted grove, whose quivering golden leaves kept whispering secrets to us. About three o'clock we came down out of the hills on to the bench, on which the Lauderer ranch is situated. Perhaps I should explain that this country is a series of huge terraces. Each terrace called a bench. I had just turned into the lane that leads to the house when a horseman came cantering toward me. Hello, he saluted as he drew up beside the wagon. Going up to the house? Better not. Mrs. Lauderer is not at home, and there's no one there but greasy Pete. He's on a tear, been drunk two days, I'm telling you. He's full of mischief. Tanks safe around old greasy. I advise you to go somewhere else. Well, I asked, where can I go? Danged if I know, he replied. Lesson it's to Kate Higby's. She lives about six or seven miles west. She ain't been here long, but I guess you can't miss her place. Just jog along due west till you get to Red Gulch ravine, then turn north for a couple of miles. You'll see her cabin up against a cedar ridge. Well, so long. He dug his spurs into his coyose's side and rode on. Tears of vexation so blinded me that I could scarcely see to turn the team, but ominous sounds and wild yells kept coming from the house, so I made what haste I could to get away from such an unpleasant neighborhood. Soon my spirits began to rise. Kate Higby, I reflected, was likely to prove to be an interesting person. All westerners are likable, with the possible exception of greasy Pete. I rather looked forward to my visit, but my guide had failed to mention the Buttes, so although I jogged as west as I knew how, I found I had to wind around a Butte about ever so often. I crossed a ravine with equal frequency and all looked alike. It is not surprising that soon I could not guess where I was. We could turn back and retrace our tracks, but actual danger lay there, so it seemed wiser to push on, as there was perhaps no greater danger than discomfort ahead. The sun hung like a big red ball ready to drop into the hazy distance. When we came clear of the Buttes and down on to a broad plateau, on which grass grew plentifully, that encouraged me, because the horses need not suffer, and if I could make the scanty remnant of our lunch due for the children's supper and breakfast, we could camp in comfort, for we had blankets. But we must find water. I stood up in the wagon and, shading my eyes against the sun's level light, was looking out in the most promising directions when I noticed that the plateau's farther side was bounded by a cedar ridge, and better yet, a smoke was slowly rising, column-like, against the done prospect. That, I reasoned, must be my destination. Even the horses livened their paces, and in a little while we were there. But no house greeted our eyes, just a big campfire. A lean old man sat on a log end and surveyed us indifferently. On the ground lay a large canvas-covered pack, apparently unopened. An old saddle lay up against a cedar trunk. Two old horses grazed near. I was powerfully disappointed. You know Misery loves company, so I ventured to say, Good evening. He didn't stir, but he grunted, Hello. I knew then that he was not a fossil, and hope began to stir in my heart. Soon he asked, Are you going somewheres or just traveling? I told him I had started somewhere, but reckoned I must be traveling, as I had not gotten there. Then he said, My name is Hiram K. Hull. Whose woman are you? I confessed to belonging to the house of Stuart. Which Stuart he persisted? C. R., S. W., or H. C.? Again I owned up truthfully. Well, he continued, What does he mean by letting you get about in such unconsequential style? Sometimes a woman gets too angry to talk. Don't you believe that? No? Well, they do, I assure you, for I was then. He seemed grown to the log. As he had made no move to help me, without answering him, I clambered out of the wagon, and began to take the horses loose. Oh, he said, Are you going to camp here? Yes, I am, I snapped. Have you any objections? Oh, no, none that won't keep, he assured me. It has always been a theory of mine, that when we become sorry for ourselves, we make our misfortunes harder to bear, because we lose courage and can't think without bias. So I cast about me for something to be glad about, and the comfort that at least we were safer with a simpleton than near a drunken Mexican came to me. So I began to view the situation with a little more tolerance. After attending to the horses, I began to make the children comfortable. My unwilling host sat silently on his log, drawing long and hard at his stubby old pipe. How very little there was left of our lunch. Just for meanness I asked him to share with us, and, if you'll believe me, he did. He gravely ate bread rims and scraps of meat until there was not one bit left, or even the baby's breakfast. Then he drew the back of his hand across his mouth and remarked, I should think when you go off on a jaunt like this, you'd have a well-filled mess box. Again speech failed me. Among some dwarf willows not far away a spring bubbled. I took the kitties there to prepare them for rest. When I returned to the fire, what a transformation. The pack was unrolled and blankets were spread, the fire had been drawn aside, disclosing a bean-hole out of which Hiram Kay was lifting an oven. He took off the lid. Two of the plumpest brownest ducks that ever tempted anyone were fairly swimming in gravy. Two loaves of what he called punk, with a box of crackers lay on a newspaper. He mimicked me exactly when he asked me to take supper with him, and I tried hard to imitate him in promptitude when I accepted. The baby's had some of the crackers wet with hot water and a little of the gravy. We soon had the rest looking scarce. The big white stars were beginning to twinkle before we were through, but the campfire was bright and we all felt better-natured. Men are not alone in having a way to their heart through their stomach. I made our bed beneath the wagon, and Hiram Kay fixed his canvas around so we should be sheltered. I felt so much better and thought so much better of him that I could laugh and chat gaily. Now tell me, he asked, as he fastened the canvas to a wheel. Didn't you think I was an old devil at first? Yes, I did, I answered. Well, he said, I am. So you guessed right. After I put the children to bed, we sat by the fire and talked awhile. I told him how I happened to be gadden about in such un-consequential style, and he told me stories of when the country was new and fit to live in. Why, he said, in a burst of enthusiasm, time was once when you went to bed you were not sure whether you'd get up alive and with your scalp on or not. The engines were that thick, and then there was white men a darn sight worse. They were likely to plug you full of lead just to see you kick. But now, he continued mournfully, a bear or an antelope, maybe an elk, is about all the excitement we can expect. Them good old days are gone. I am mighty glad of it. A drunken peat is bad enough for me. I was tired so soon I went to bed. I could hear him as he cut cedar vows for his own fireside bed, and as he rattled around among his pots and pans. Did you ever eat pork and beans heated in a frying pan on a campfire for breakfast? Then if you have not, there is one delight left you. But you must be away out in Wyoming with the morning sun just gilding the distant peaks, and your pork and beans must be out of a can heated in a disreputable old frying pan served with coffee boiled in a battered old pail and drunk from a tomato can. You'll never want iced melons, powdered sugar and fruit, or 69 varieties of breakfast food if once you sit trill be wise on Wyoming sand and eat the kind of breakfast we had that day. After breakfast, Hiram K. Hull hitched our horses to the wagon, got his own horses ready, and then said, Taint more than half a mile straight out between them two hills to the stage road, but I guess I had better go and show you exactly or you will be milling around here all day trying to find it. In a very few minutes we were on the road, and our odd host turned to go. So long, he called, tell Stuart you seen old Hickam. Him and me's shared tarps many's the nights. We used to be punchers together, old Clyde and me. Tell him old Hickam ain't forgot him. So saying, he rode away into the golden morning and we drove onward too. We stopped for lunch only a few minutes that day, and we reached the Bridger community about two that afternoon. The much sought Aurelia had accepted the position of lifetime housekeeper for a sheep herder who had no house to keep, so I had to cast about for whatever comfort I could. The roadhouse is presided over by a very able body of the clan of Ferguson. I had never met her, but formalities count for very little in the West. She was in her kitchen having more trouble, she said, than a hen whose ducklings were in swimming. I asked her if she could accommodate the children and myself. Yes, she said, I can give you a bed and grub, but I ain't got no time to ask you nothing. I ain't got no time to inquire who you are nor where you come from. There's one room left. You can have that, but you'll have to look out for yourself and youngins. I felt equal to that, so I went out to have the horses cared for and to unload the kitties. Leaning against the wagon was a man who made annual rounds of all the homes in our community each summer. His sole object was to see what kind of flowers we succeeded with. Every woman in our neighborhood knows bishy Bennett, but I don't think many would have recognized him that afternoon. I had never seen him dressed in anything but blue denim overalls and over shirt to match. But today he proudly displayed what he said was his dove-colored suit. The style must have been one of years ago, for I cannot remember seeing trousers quite so skimpy. He wore top boots, but as a concession to fashion, he wore the boot tops under the trouser legs. And as the trousers were about as narrow as a sheath skirt, they kept slipping up and gave the appearance of being at least six inches too short. Although bishy is tall and thin, his coat was two sizes too small. His shirt was a soft tan material, and he wore a blue tie. But whatever may have been a miss with his costume was easily forgotten when one saw his radiant face. He grasped my hand and rung it as if it was a chicken's neck. What in the world is the matter with you, I asked, as I rubbed my abused paw. Just you come here and I'll tell you, he answered. There was no one to hear but the kitties, but I went around the corner of the house with him. He put his hand up to his mouth and whispered that Miss Emily was coming, would be there on the afternoon stage. I had never heard of Miss Emily and said so. Well, just you go in and sit on the sofa, and soon as I see your horses took care of, I'll come in and tell you. I went into my own room, and after I wrestled some water, I made myself and the kitties a little more presentable. Then we went into the sitting room and sat on the sofa. Presently Bishy sauntered in, trying to look unconcerned and at ease, but he was so fidgety he couldn't sit down. But he told his story, and a dear one it is. It seems that back in New York State he and Miss Emily were youngins together. When they were older they planned to marry, but neither wanted to settle down to the humdrum-ness that they had always known. Both dreamed of the Golden West. So Bishy had gone to blaze the trail, and Miss Emily was to follow. First one duty and then another had held her, until twenty-five years had slipped by, and they had not seen each other, but now she was coming that very day. They would be married that evening, and I at once appointed myself matron of honor and was plumb glad there was no other candidate. I at once took the decorations in hand. Bishy, Jareen, and myself went out and gathered armfuls of asters and golden rod-like rabbit brush. From the dump pile we sorted cans and pails that would hold water, and we made the sitting room a perfect bower of purple and gold beauty. I put on my last clean shirt-waste and the children's last clean dresses. Then, as there seemed nothing more to do, Bishy suggested that we walk up the road and meet the stage. But the day had been warm and I remembered my own appearance when I had come over that same road the first time. I knew that journey was trying on anyone's appearance at any time of the year, and after twenty-five years to be thrust into view covered with alkali dust and with one's hat on a rye would be too much for feminine patience. So I pointed out to Bishy that he better clear out and let Ms. Emily rest a bit before he showed up. At last he reluctantly agreed. I went out to the kitchen to find what could be expected in the way of hot water for Ms. Emily when she should come. I found I could have all I wanted if I heated it myself. Mrs. Ferguson could not be bothered about it because a water company had met there to vote on new canals. The sheepmen were holding a convention, there was a more than usual run of transience besides the regular borders, and supper was ordered for the whole push. All the help she had was a girl she just knew didn't have sense enough to pound sand into a rat hole. Under those circumstances I was madly glad to help. I put water onto heat and then forgot Ms. Emily. I was enjoying helping so much until I heard a door slam and saw the stage drive away toward the barn. I hastened to the room I knew was reserved for Ms. Emily. I wrapped on the door, but it was only opened a tiny crack. I whispered through that I was a neighbor friend of Mr. Bennett's. That I had lots of hot water for her and had come to help her if I might. Then she opened the door and I entered. I found a very travel-stained little woman down whose dust-covered cheeks tears had left their sign. Her prettiness was the kind that wins at once and keeps you ever after. She was a strange mixture of stiff reticence and childish trust. She was in such a flutter, and she said she was ashamed to own it, but she was so hungry she could hardly wait. After helping her all I could, I ran out to see about the wedding supper that was to be served before the wedding. I found that no special supper had been prepared. It seemed to me a shame to thrust them down among the water company, the convention, the regulars, and the transience, and I mentally invited myself to the wedding supper and began to plan how we could have a little privacy. The carpenters were at work on a long room off the kitchen that was to be used as storeroom and pantry. They had gone from the day and their saw-horses and benches were still in the room. It was only the work of a moment to sweep the sawdust away. There was only one window, but it was large and in the west. It took a little time to wash that, but it paid to do it. When a few asters and sprays of rabbit brush were placed in a broken jar on the windowsill, there was a picture worth seeing. Some planks were laid on the saw-horses, some papers over them, and a clean white cloth over all. I sorted the dishes myself, the prettiest the house afforded, graced our table. I rubbed the glassware until it shone almost as bright as Bishi's smile. Bishi had come when he could stay away no longer. He and Miss Emily had had their first little talk, so they came out to where I was laying the table. They were both beaming. Miss Emily took hold at once to help. Bishi, she commanded, do you go at once to where my boxes are open? The one marked seven. Bring me a blue jar you'll find in one corner. He went to do her bidding and eye to see about the kitties. When I came back with them there was a small willow basket in the center of our improvised table, heaped high with pears, apples, and grapes, all a little the worse for their long journey from New York State to Wyoming, but still things of beauty and a joy as long as they lasted to Wyoming eyes and appetites. We had a perfectly roasted leg of lamb. We had mint sauce, a pyramid of flaky mashed potatoes, a big dish of new peas, a plate of sponge cake I will be long and forgetting, and the blue jar was full of grape marmalade. Our iced tea was exactly right. The pieces of ice clinked pleasantly against our glasses. We took our time and we were all happy. We could all see the beautiful sunset, its last rays lingering on Miss Emily's abundant alburn hair, to make happy the bride the sun shines on. We saw the wonderful colors orange, rose, and violet creep up and fade into darker shades, until at last mellow dusk filled the room. Then I took the kitties to my room to be put to bed while I should wait until time for the ceremony. Soon the babies were sleeping and Joreen and I went into the sitting room. They were sitting on the Sophie. She was telling him that the apples had come from the tree they had played under, the pears from the tree they had set out, the grapes from the vine over the well. She told him of things packed in her boxes, everything a part of the past they both knew. He in turn told her of his struggles, his successes, and some of what he called his failures. She was a most encouraging little person and she'd say to him, You did well, Bishy. I'll say that for you. You did well. Then he told her about the flowers he had planted for her. I understood then why he acted so queerly about my flowers. It happens that I am partial to old time favorites, and I grow as many of them as I can get to succeed in this altitude. So I had Xenias, Marigolds, Hollyhawks, and many other dear old flowers that my mother loved. Many of them had been the favorites of Miss Emily's childhood, but Bishy hadn't remembered the names. So he had visited us all, and when he found a flower he remembered. He asked the name and how we grew it, then he tried it, until at last he had about all. Miss Emily wiped the tears from her eyes as she remarked, Bishy, you did well. Yes, you did real well. I thought to myself how well we could all do if we were so encouraged. At last the white-haired old justice of the peace came and said the words that made Emily Wheeler the wife of Abyssia Bennett. A powerfully noisy but truly friendly crowd wished them well. One polite fellow asked her where she was from. She told him from New York State. Why, he asked, do New Yorkers always say State? Why, because she answered and her eyes were big with surprise, no one would want to say they were from New York City. It had been a trying day for us, so soon Jireen and I slipped out to our room. Ours was the first room off the sitting room, and a long hallway led past our door. A bench sat against the wall, and it seemed a favorite roosting place for people with long discussions. First some fellows were discussing the wedding. One thought Bishy cracked because he had shipped out an old cooking stove, one of the first manufactured, all the way from where he came from, instead of buying a new one near our home. They recalled instance after instance in which he had acted clearly, but to me his behavior was no longer a mystery. I know the stove belonged somewhere in the past, and that his every act connected past and future. After they had talked themselves tired, two old fellows took possession of the bench and added a long discussion on how to grow corn to the general den. Even sweet corn cannot be successfully grown at this altitude, yet those old men argued pro and con till I know their throats must have ached. In the sitting room they all talked at once of ditches, water contracts, and sheep. I was so sleepy. I heard a tired clock away off somewhere strike two. Some sheep men had the bench and were discussing the relative values of different dips. I reckoned my ego must have gotten tangled with someones else about then, for I found myself sitting up in bed foolishly saying, Two old herders, unshaved and hairy, whose old tongues are never weary, just outside my chamber door, preyed of sheep dips for ever more. Next morning it was Bishy's cheerful voice that started my day. I had hoped to be up in time to see them off, but I wasn't. I heard him call out to Mrs. Bishy. Miss Emily, I've got the boxes all loaded. We can start home in ten minutes. I heard her clear voice reply. You've done well, Bishy. I'll be ready by then. I was hurriedly dressing, hoping yet to see her when I heard Bishy call out to bluff old Colonel Winters, who had arrived in the night and had not known of the wedding. Hello, Winters. Have you met Miss Emily? Come over here and meet her. I'm a married man now. I married Miss Emily last night. The Colonel couldn't have known how apt was his reply when he said, I'm glad for you, Bishy. You've done well. I peaked between the curtains and saw Bishy's wagon piled high with boxes, with Miss Emily self-possessed and happy greeting the Colonel. Soon I heard the rattle of wheels, and the dear old happy pair were on their way to the cabin home they had waited twenty-five years for. Bless the kind old hearts of them. I'm sure they've both done well. End of Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Of Letters of a Woman Homesteader This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt-Stewart Chapter 25 Among the Mormons November, 1913 My dear friend, I have wanted to write you for a long time but have been so busy. I have had some visitors and have been on a visit. I think you would like to hear about it all, so I will tell you. I don't think you would have admired my appearance the morning this adventure began. I was in the midst of fall house cleaning, which included some papering. I am no expert at the very best, and papering a wall has difficulties peculiar to itself. I was up on a barrel trying to get a long sloppy strip of paper to stick to the ceiling instead of to me, when in my visitors' truant, and so surprised me that I stepped off the barrel and into a candy bucket of paste. At the same time the paper came off the ceiling and fell over mine and Mrs. Lauterer's head. It was right aggravating, I can tell you, but my visitors were Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and Mrs. Lauterer, and no one could stay discouraged with that pair around. After we had scraped as much paste as we could off ourselves, they explained that they had come to take me somewhere. That sounded good to me, but I could not see how I could get off. However, Mrs. Lauterer said she had come to keep house and to take care of the children while I should go with Mrs. O'Shaughnessy to E Blank. We should have two days' travel by sled and a few hours on a train, then another journey by sled. I wanted to go powerfully, but the past smeared room seemed to forbid. As Mrs. Lauterer would stay with the children, Mr. Stewart thought the trip would be good for me. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy knew I wanted to visit Bishop D. Blank, a shining light among the Latter-day Saints, so she promised we should stay overnight at his house. That settled it. So in the cold blue light of the early morning, Mr. Beeler, a new neighbor, had driven my friends over in Mrs. Lauterer's big sled, to which was hitched a pair of her great horses and his own team. He is a widower and was going out to the road for supplies, so it seemed a splendid time to make my long-planned visit to the Bishop. Deep snow came earlier this year than usual, and the sledding and weather both promised to be good. It was with many happy anticipations that I snuggled down among the blankets and bare skins that morning. Mr. Beeler is pleasant company, and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy is so jolly and bright, and I could leave home without a single misgiving with Mrs. Lauterer in charge. The evening sky was blazing crimson and gold, and the mountains behind us were growing purple when we entered the little settlement where the Bishop lives. We drove briskly through the scattered, straggling little village past the store and the meeting house, and drew up before the dwelling of the Bishop. The houses of the village were for the most part small cabins of two or three rooms, but the Bishops was more pretentious. It was a framed building and boasted paint and shutters. A tithing office stood near, and back of the house we could see a large granary, and long stacks of hay. A bunch of cattle was destroying one stack, and Mrs. O'Shaughnessy remarked that the tallow from those cattle should be used when the olive oil gave out at their anointings, because it was the Bishop's cattle eating consecrated hay. We knocked on the door, but got no answer. Mr. Beeler went around to the back, but no one answered, so we concluded we would have to try elsewhere for shelter. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy comforted me by remarking, well, there ain't a penny's worth of difference in a Mormon Bishop and any other Mormon, and D. Blank is not the only polygamist by a long shot. We had just turned out of the gate when a lanky, toe-headed boy about 14 years of age rode up. We explained our presence there, and the boy explained to us that the Bishop and Aunt Debbie were away. The next best house up the road was his maw, he said. So, as Mr. Beeler expected to stay with a friend of his, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy and I determined to see if maw could accommodate us for the night. Mr. Beeler offered to help the boy get the cattle out, but he said no. Paul said it would not matter if they got into the hay, but that he had to knock off some poles on another part of the stockyard so that some horses could get in to eat. But, I asked, isn't that consecrated hay, isn't it tithing? Yes, he said, but that won't hurt a bit. Only that old John Lead always pays his tithe with foxtail hay, and it almost ruins Paul's horse's mouths. I asked him if his father's stock was supposed to get the hay. No, I guess not, he said, but they are always getting in accidental-like. We left him to fix the fence so the horses could get in accidental-like, and drove the short distance to the next best house. We were met at the door by a pleasant-faced little woman who hurried us to the fire. We told her our plight. Well, certainly you must stay with me, she said. I am glad the bishop and dev are away. They keep all the company, and I so seldom have anyone come. You see, Debbie has no children, and can do so much better for anyone stopping there than I can. But I like company too, and I am glad of a chance to keep you. You too can have Marty's bed. Maude is my oldest girl, and she has gone to Ogden to visit, so we have plenty of room. By now it was quite dark. She lighted a lamp and bustled about preparing supper. We sat by the stove and, as Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said, noticed. Two little boys were getting in wood for the night. They appeared to be about eight years old. They were twins and were the youngest of the family. Two girls, about ten and twelve years old, were assisting our hostess. Then the boy or son whom we met at the gate, and Maude, the daughter who was away, made up the family. They seemed a happy, contented family, if one judged by appearance alone. After supper the children gathered around the table to prepare next day's lessons. They were bright little folks, but they mingled a great deal of talk with their studies, and some of what they talked was family history. Mama, said Kitty, the largest of the little girls, if Aunt Deb does buy a new coat, and you get her old one, then can I have yours? I don't know, her mother replied. I should have to make it over if you did take it. Maybe we can have a new one. No, we can't have a new one. I know, for Aunt Deb said so. But she is going to give me her brown dress and you her gray one. She said so the day I helped her iron. We'll have those to make over. For the first time I noticed the discontented lines on our hostess' face, and it suddenly occurred to me that we were in the house of the bishop's second wife. Before I knew I was coming on this journey I thought of a dozen questions I wanted to ask the bishop, but I could never ask that care-worn little woman anything concerning their peculiar belief. However, I was spared the trouble, for soon the children retired and the conversation drifted around to Mormonism and polygamy. And our hostess seemed to want to talk, so I just listened. For Mrs. O'Shaughnessy rather likes to argue, but she had no argument that night, only her questions started our hostess's story. She had been married to the bishop not long before the manifesto, and he had been married several years then to Debbie. But Debbie had no children and all the money the bishop had to start with had been his first wife's. So when it became necessary for him to discard a wife, it was a pretty hard question for him, because a little child was coming to the second wife, and he had nothing to provide for her with except what his first wife's money paid for. The first wife said she would consent to him starting the second if she filed on land and paid her back a small sum every year until it was all paid back. So he took the poor second, after formally renouncing her, and helped her to file on the land she now lives on. He built her a small cabin, and so she started her career as a second. I suppose the first thought she would be rid of the second, who had never really been welcome, although the bishop could never have married a second without her consent. I would never consent, said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy. Oh yes you would if you had been raised a Mormon, said our hostess. You see, we were all of us children of polygamous parents. We have been used to plural marriages all our lives. We believe that such experience fits us for our afterlife, as we are only preparing for life beyond while here. Do you expect to go to heaven, and do you think the man who married you and then discarded you will go to heaven too, asked Mrs. O'Shaughnessy? Of course I do, she replied. Then, said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, I am afraid if it had been myself, I'd have been after raising a little hell here entirely. Our hostess was not offended, and there followed a long recital of earlier-day hard times that you would scarcely believe anyone could live through. It seems the first wife in such families is boss, and while they do not live in the same homes, still she can very materially affect the other's comfort. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy asked her if she had married again. She said no. Then, said Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, whose children are these? My own, she replied. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy was relentless. Who is their father, she asked. I was right, sorry for the poor little woman as she stammered, I don't know. Then she went on. Of course I do know, and I don't believe you are spying to try to stir up trouble for my husband. Bishop D. Blank is their father, as he is still my husband, although he had to cast me off to save himself and me. I love him and I see no wrong in him. All the Gentiles have against him is he is a little too smart for them. T'was their foolish law that made him wrong the children and me, and not his wishes. But, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy said, it places your children in such a plight. They can't inherit, they can't even claim his name. They have no status legally. Oh, but the bishop will see to that, the little woman answered. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy asked her if she still had to work as hard as she used to. No, I don't believe I do, she said. For since Mr. D. Blank has been bishop, things come easier. He built this house with his own money, so Deb has nothing to do with it. I asked her if she thought she was as happy as second as she would be if she was the only wife. Oh, I don't know, she said, perhaps not. Deb and me don't always agree. She is jealous of the children and because I am younger, and I get to feeling bad when I think she is perfectly safe as a wife and has no cares. She has everything she wants and I have to take what I can get. And my children have to wait upon her. But it will all come right somewhere, sometime, she ended cheerfully, as she wiped her eyes with her apron. I felt so sorry for her and so ashamed to have seen into her sorrow that I was really glad next morning when I heard Mr. Beeler's cheerful voice calling, all aboard. We had just finished breakfast and few would ever guess that Mrs. D. knew a trial. She was so cheerful and so cordial as she baited us goodbye and urged us to stop with her every time we passed through. About noon that day we reached the railroad. The snow had delayed the train farther north, so for once we were glad to have to wait for a train, as it gave us time to get a bite to eat and to wash up a bit. It was not long, however, till we were comfortably seated in the train. I think a train ride might not be so enjoyable to most, but to us it was a delight. I even enjoyed looking at the Negro porter, although I suspect he expected to be called Mr. I found very soon after coming west that I must not say Uncle or Auntie as I used to at home. It was not long until they called the name of the town at which we wanted to stop. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had a few acquaintances there, but we went to a hotel. We were both tired, so as soon as we had supper, we went to bed. The house we stopped at was warmer and more comfortable than the average hotel in the west, but the partitions were very thin, so when a couple of punchers, otherwise cowboys, took the room next to ours, we could hear every word they said. It appears that one was English and the other a tenderfoot. The tenderfoot was in love with a girl who had filed on a homestead near the ranch on which he was employed, but who was then a waitress in the hotel we were at. She had not seemed kind to the tenderfoot, and he was telling his friend about it. The Englishman was trying to instruct him as to how to proceed. You need to be very circumspect, Johnny, where females are concerned, but you mustn't be too danged timid either. I don't know what the devil to say to her. I can barely nod my head when she asked me, will I take tea or coffee? And tonight she mixed it because I nodded yes when she said tea or coffee. And it was the dangest mess I ever tried to get outside of. Well, the friend counseled, you just get her into a corner summers and say to earth, dearest Etty, I offer you my hand and my art. But I can't, well, Johnny, I could never get her into a corner anyway. If you can't, you're not whole enough to marry then. What the hell would you do with a woman in the house if you couldn't corner her? I tell him women have to have a master, and no man better tackle that job until he can be sure he can make her walk the chalk line. But I don't want her to walk any line. I just want her to speak to me. Dang me, if I don't believe you are low code. Why, she's got e-throwed hand augtide now. What do you want to make it any worse for? They talked for a long time and the Englishman continued to have trouble with his ages. But at last Johnny was encouraged to corner her next morning before they left for their ranch. We expected to be a stir early anyway and our curiosity impelled us to see the outcome of the friend's counsel. So we were almost the first in the dining room next morning. A rather pretty girl was busy arranging the tables and soon a boyish looking fellow wearing great batwing chaps came in and stood warming himself at the stove. I knew at once it was Johnny and I saw Etty blush. The very indifference with which she treated him argued well for his cause. But of course he didn't know that. So when she passed by him and her skirt caught on his big spurs, they both stooped at once to unfasten it. Their heads hit together with such a bump that the ice was broken although he seemed to think it was her skull. I am sure there ought to be a thaw after all his apologies. After breakfast Mrs. O'Shaughnessy went out to see her friend Cormac O'Toole. He was the only person in town we could hope to get a team from with which to continue our journey. This is a hard country on horses at best. And at this time of the year particularly so few will let their teams go out at any price. But Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had hopes and she is so persuasive that I felt no one could resist her. There was a drummer at breakfast who kept cussing the country. He had tried to get a conveyance and had failed. So the cold, the snow, the people and everything else disgusted him. Soon Mrs. O'Shaughnessy returned and as the drummer was trying to get out to E blank, and that was our destination also, she made her way toward him intending to invite him to ride with us. She wore over her best clothes an old coat that had once belonged to some one of her men friends. It had once been bare skin but was now more bare skin so her appearance was against her. She looked like something with the mange. So Mr. Drummer did not wait to hear what she was going to say but at once exclaimed, No madam, I cannot let you ride out with me. I can't get a rig myself in this beastly place. Then he turned to a man standing near and remarked, These western women are so bold they don't hesitate to demand favors. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's eyes fairly snapped, but she said nothing. I think she took a malicious delight in witnessing the drummer's chagrin when a few moments later our comfortable sleigh and good strong team appeared. We were going to drive ourselves but we had to drive to the depot for our suitcases. But when we got there the ticket office was not open so the agent was probably having his beauty sleep. There was a fire in the big stove and we joined the bunch of men in the depot. Among them we noticed a thin, consumptive looking fellow evidently a stranger. Very soon some men began talking of some transaction in which a Bishop B. Blank was concerned. It seemed they didn't admire the Bishop very much. They kept talking of his peculiarities and transgressions and mentioned his treatment of his wives. His second, they said, was blind because of cataracts, and although abundantly able he left her in darkness. She had never seen her two last children. Someone spoke up and said, I thought polygamy was no longer practiced. Then the men explained that they no longer contracted plural marriages, but that many kept all their wives, and B. Blank still had both of his. He went on to say that although such practice is contrary to law it was almost impossible to make a case against them for the women would not swear against their husbands. B. Blank had been arrested once, but his second swore that she didn't know who her children's father was, and it cost the sheriff his office the next election. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy spoke to an acquaintance of hers and mentioned where we were going. In a short while we got our suitcases and we were off, but as we drove past the freight depot the stranger we had noticed came down the steps and asked us to let him ride out with us. I really felt afraid of him, but Mrs. O'Shaughnessy thinks herself a match for any mere man, so she drew up and the man climbed in. He took the lines and we snuggled down under the robes and listened to the runners, shrill screeching over the frozen surface. We had dinner with a new settler, and about two o'clock that afternoon we overtook a fellow who was plodding along the road. His name was B. Blank, he said, and he pointed out to us his broad fields and herds. He had been overseeing some feeders he had and his horse had escaped, so he was walking home, as it was only a couple of miles. He talked a great deal in that two-mile trip, too much for his own good it developed. For the first time since B. Blank climbed into our sleigh the stranger spoke. Can you tell me where Mrs. Bell B. Blank lives? He asked. Why, yes, our passenger replied. She is a member of our little flock. She is slightly related to me, as you perhaps noticed the name, and I will show you to her house. Just how is she related to you, the stranger asked. That, the man replied, is a matter of protection. I have given her the protection of my name. Then she is your wife, is she not? The stranger asked. You must be a stranger in this country, the man evaded. What is your name? But the stranger didn't seem to hear, and just then we came opposite the residents of the bishop. And the man we had picked up in the road said, That is my home. Won't you get out and warm? My wife will be glad to get acquainted with you ladies. We declined as it was only a short distance to the house of the man Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had come to see. So he stayed in the sleigh to show the stranger to the house of Mrs. Bell B. Blank. I can't say much for it as a house, and I was glad I didn't have to go in. The stranger and B. Blank got out and entered the house, and we drove away. Next morning, as we returned through the little village, it was all excitement. Bishop B. Blank had been shot the night before, just as he had left the house of Mrs. Bell B. Blank, for what reason or by whom no one knew, and if the bishop knew he had not told, for he either would not or could not talk. They were going to start with him that day to the hospital, but they had no hopes of his living. When we came to Mrs. Bell's house, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy got out of the sleigh and went into the house. I could hear her soothing voice, and I was mighty glad the poor forlorn woman had such a comforter. I was so very glad to get home. How good it all looked to me. Poople Room has a calf, and as we drove up to the corral, Clyde was trying to get it into the stall with the rest. It is Poople's first calf, and she is very proud of it, and objected to its being put away from her. So she bunted at Clyde, and as he dodged her, the calf ran between his feet, and he sat down suddenly in the snow. I laughed at him, but I am powerfully glad he is no follower of old Joseph Smith. Mrs. Lauderer was enjoying herself immensely. She loves children so much. She and Clyde hired the tackler, so-called because he will tackle any kind of a job, whether he knows anything about it or not, to paper the room. He thinks he is a great judge of the fitness of things and of beauty. The paper has a stripe of roses, so tackler reversed every other strip, so that some of my roses are standing on their heads. Roses don't all grow one way, he claims, and so his method makes them look more natural-like. A little thing like wallpaper put on upside down don't bother me, but what would I do if I were a second? Your loving friend, Eleanor Rupert Stewart. End of Chapter 25 Chapter 26 of Letters of a Woman Homesteader This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt-Stewart Chapter 26 Success November, 1913 Dear Mrs. Coney, this is Sunday and I suppose I ought not to be writing, but I must write to you and I may not have another chance soon. Both your letters have reached me and now that our questions are settled we can proceed to proceed. Now this is the letter I have been wanting to write you for a long time, but could not because until now I had not actually proven all I wanted to prove. Perhaps it will not interest you, but if you see a woman who wants to homestead and is a little afraid she will starve, you can tell her what I am telling you. I never did like to theorize and so this year I set out to prove that a woman could ranch if she wanted to. We like to grow potatoes on new ground, that is, newly cleared land on which no crop has been grown. Few weeds grow on new land, so it makes less work. So I selected my potato patch and the man plowed it, although I could have done that if Clyde would have let me. I cut the potatoes, Jareen helped, and we dropped them in the rows. The man covered them and that ends the man's part. By that time the garden ground was ready, so I planted the garden. I had almost an acre in vegetables. I irrigated and I cultivated it myself. We had all the vegetables we could possibly use and now Jareen and I have put in our cellar full and this is what we have. One large bin of potatoes, more than two tons, half a ton of carrots, a large bin of beets, one of turnips, one of onions, one of parsnips, and on the other side of the cellar we have more than 100 heads of cabbage. I have experimented and found a kind of squash that can be raised here and that the ripe ones keep well and make good pies. Also that the young tender ones make splendid pickles, quite equal to cucumbers. I was glad to stumble onto that because pickles are hard to manufacture when you have nothing to work with. Now I have plenty. They told me when I came that I could not even raise common beans but I tried and succeeded. And also I raised lots of green tomatoes and as we like them preserved I made them all up that way. Experimenting along another line I found that I could make ketchup as delicious as that of tomatoes, of gooseberries. I made it exactly the same as I do the tomatoes and I am delighted. Gooseberries were very fine and very plentiful this year so I put up a great many. I milked 10 cows twice a day all summer, have sold enough butter to pay for a year's supply of flour and gasoline. We use a gasoline lamp. I have raised enough chickens to completely renew my flock and all we wanted to eat and have some fryers to go into the winter with. I have enough turkeys for all of our birthdays and holidays. I raised a great many flowers and I worked several days in the field. In all I have told about I have had no help but Jareen. Clyde's mother spends each summer with us and she helped me with the cooking and the babies. Many of my neighbors did better than I did although I know many town people would doubt my doing so much but I did it. I have tried every kind of work this rancher forwards and I can do any of it. Of course I am extra strong but those who try know that strength and knowledge comes with doing. I just love to experiment, to work and to prove out things so that ranch life and roughen it just suit me. End of Chapter 26. End of Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Eleanor Pruitt-Stewart Read by Lynn Carroll