Page:The Land Claim.pdf/11

10 others, and the beautiful woman only lived long enough to teach her daughter the grace and culture of a cultivated circle-to impart to her a mother's beauty, and, alas, all her sorrows.

Newcome and his child occupied a claim close upon the Missouri. Their newly-built log-cabin nestled close in upon the belt of timber which, fortunately, ran across the selected section of land, whose boundaries-well defined on three sides by the river, the woods, and a ravine cutting down through the bluffs-were still open and a matter of doubt on the fourth side. The "blazing" of trees, and driving of stakes across the prairies, indicated the limits of the land "located" by the preemptors. Where these lines were thus plainly marked, no doubts could arise as to each man's proper possessions; where the lines were not so marked, or where the stakes had been moved either by accident or design, the limits of the claim might become a matter of dispute. Such disputes often occurred, and afterward proved.the source of much litigation as well as violence.

On the fourth side, Newcome's lines were not definitely indicated, and trespassers were not long in waiting. The rich soil ajacent had been located by one of four young imen, whose cabin reposed on the bosom of the prairie in the midst of their conjoined claims. The Englishman found the stakes driven on what he conceived to be his soil; whereupon his unruly spirit became aroused to its fullest extent, and he proceeded to pull up the offending landmarks. The stakes, however, were replaced by his bachelor neighbors, and the intimation given that they should insist upon their line-an intimation which stirred Newcome's heart to the point of resorting to powder and ball to defend his claim. Against this spirit of her father, Alicia, his daughter, was powerless. Though but a girl in years, she Was his only aid and housekeeper, and alone had to bear her heavy burden. The fear of bloodshed, however, induced her to plead for peace-a plea which only aggravated the parent's unnatural harshness. He walked the floor, in his anger, uttering imprecations on his neighbors. Alicia, to divert his thoughts, at length timidly remarked:

"Mr. Mauvais, from the trading-post, was here to-day inquiring for you."

"What did he want with me?-the cursed Frenchman!"

"He did not state his business; he said he would call again in a day or two."

Newcome looked sharply at his daughter.

"Must have been urgent business, I should say! How long did he stay? What did he say to you?"

The young girl felt herself blushing, more at her father's tone and manner, than at any thing she recollected in the interview with the trader. This suspicious manner on the part of the questioner made her own hesitating and embarrassed, as she answered:

"I hardly can tell what he said; though I think he admired our choice for a building spot-remarked that this whole country was