THE FEUD IN HICKEY TOWNSHIP.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13430, 11 July 1914, Page 9

THE FEUD IN HICKEY TOWNSHIP.

It was certainly a first-rate feud, and j a source of much pride to the settlers m and about Hiekey Township, just as a haunted house. i>r a murder mystery, or a long-lived scandal might have been — only i he feud was much mo 1 .".- :;'.;.!-:'-ictory, because it had been mi l'<;i- luiir years, and hardly a month li.id passed during all thai time that, hud nut wit3ifssed some new episode m the. affair, and endi one si-emed mi re .startling than its predecessor. And "so it was that the good people of Hit-key Township held their heads just a. little bit higher than j their le^s fortunate friends who resided m moiv peiif-efiil portions ol' the country. It— -the fond — all started on account of a yearling calf — than which, permit me (a stork raiser of limited but fruitful experience) to interpolate. there never was inn- can there- ever be a creature more hopelessly, unreasonably "ornery ." and one more, productive of sinful language and "display- of sultry temper on the- part of its keepers. Yearling calves have caused the record ins; angi 1 more trouble, broken tip more old friendships, produced more family jars, ■•md, m the form of veal, begotten moij indigestion and the insomnia reKultaut therefrom than — but this is not fln es-ny on the sinful, sportive steerlet. and his shortcomings. The Walkers and the Benedicts had been (id neighbors for years, "back m Towny." In fact, the elder Walkers and the elder Benedicts had been married about, tho same lime, at the beginning of th>' war, and had just settled on adjoining homesteads when tho first gun was find on Sumter. The men enlisted m the same company, fought side ' by side, ate and slept and .suffered together: and at home their young wives waited and wept together. When the little Walkers and the little Benedicts grew l.i rge enough to run about, they were playmates and boon companions;, the children of one family felt as much liberty m the home of the other as they did m their own — for twenty-eight years the t\v.> families had lived m peace and amity, and then lhat miserable calf precipitated an irreparable row. It was too 1 :id. all the neighbors said, but itis a noticeable fact that none of them attempted to patch up a, peace — life m Hiekey Township and at Hickey Corners would have been* dull, indeed, but for thf feud; bo everybody sat by and watched each new phase of the affair with nervous, jnorbid interest, and commentid thereon, but not m a manner likely to prove, conducive to a-tru.ee on "the part of the disputants. It ms this way. The Benedict and Walker houses. had been built on adjacent corners of the homestead quarters. ai:d were quite close together; m fact, one well, sunk on the quarter sec tion line between' the two homesteads; had furnished water for both families for lli!' first four years after coming to "Dakota, and it was only a short distance from either house. But it came to pass that on the Walker domain there was born, and grew, -md waxed fat and "sassy," a brindle calf, with a right smart chance of white m its eye and a plethora of deep-dyed mischief m its soul— and he (for it was a young gentleman "critter"), while yet of tender age but tough record, engendered the feud. He had vandered away" Iho day before, arid when he lfturned at nighfc ,the gate of the calf-pen was shut against him; and m th~ morning when.- Papa Benedict arose from post-breakfast family prayers and. followed by the younger male Benedicts, hied him toward the stable, he 1 eheld his neighbor's incipient steer nipping m the. bud sundry young and toothsome cabbages, and kicking out of the earth, m his bovine abandon, all he could not eat. Then was Papa. Benedict wroth, and. thereupon did he give way to profane word?, while the young Benedicts surrounded the offending calf and brought him up for judgment. Now. Papa Benedict was a man of hasty temper, but easily ' calmed ; so, \Hien the caJf was tendered him at. the md of a long picket-uope, his wrath had clrcre.-i-od several detp - ees, and he wound the rcpe around his hand and started to lead tho calf home. J It was while W was pondering on what to si! y to the calf's owner that the calf suddenly remembered a. previous engagement, and started, -in some haste, to keep it, heading directly across the croquet-ground. Papa Benedict wished to follow with more dignity than the calf do-sired; and presently his feet were scraped from under him by a wicket and Hie was being handled the way the vaqueros m South America are supposed to make butter — at the end of a lasso. He did not look very noat \yhen. n few minutes later he reached ! the Walker residence and called his neighbor out. He was holding the calf up short, but his temper had slipped its tether, and caused him to say bad words,' to which Papa Walker replied m kind— •w heron t Papa Benedict seized a convenTent neck-yoke and killed the cause of ihe trouble. v Of course there was a fight a.nd' considerable ill-chosen language; then., as soon ;is possible, Papa Benedict sued VajKi, Walker for the damage to his cabbages aral Papa- Walker sued Papa Benedict, for the value of the calf. After ihat they prosecuted each -other for assault and battery; the younger members .•if both houses "sassed' 1 each other at ♦ very available. opportunity; Mrs Walker and Mrs Benedict did no more "neighboriri"' ; and Mort Benedict and Nellie Walker "busted up" with each other. .That is, Nellie broke with Mort, 'A-ho, for liifl part, liad a wholesome contempt for feuds and such nonsense and vi-ouWl feign have ignored the state of #iffai)v. fo far as Nellie was concerned, except for the opposition any overtures from him would have received on all sides, anil especially from Nellie. So\he had to grin and bear it, leaving, however, all hostilities to the others, and speaking pleasantly to any of the Wa.lk.pi's he chanced to meet. ■ • .But finally, through a. rash act of hi? own,,, he was forced into the fond. Thcrr was .a husking-beo of the good oldfashionevl sort at Thompson's one night and the younger members of the hostile "Rouses attenxled. During the evening ]\fort found a read ear m his pile, and — he never knew what impelled him to do it, unless it was" that Nellie looked so pretty and" tempting — he took his former sweetheart m his arms and kissed her, not once, but three times As soon as it could be done without the girls knowing of it, Bud Walker and Harvey Free invited Mort and Pel JHorner out into the moonlight pasture, where Bud insisted on "having it out."

I Mort demurred, but m vain. and. much Ito Jii t> regret, wris fnrecd to "lick" i<> •■' | standstill M'U i-nly tho man lie hoped i some day 1" rail his brother-in-law, .but tho latter"* >. wind as well: Ft I ' Homer being ;i oippK 1 and iambic to aii'omnto'datc \ikiiiu !•' loc, who was "pinin' " on' aciMim; nf his principal's defeat. Tin! .settled it. Thereafter even tender- hearted Mrs Walker — wlio. like Mr* Benedict. .sincerely- but silently regretted Hie trouble that kept her ;i]iart from her old-time friends these four long years, and who had always had a pleasant greeting for -all tho family, especially for Mort. who -was a great favorite of hers — cut him dead when she happened to meet him, and even the frigid inclination of the head with which Nellie had been wont to recognise his presence on those rare occasions on which they met was now denied him. All tliis cut Mort deeply, but he was made of too tough fibre to show" it; so till tho end of the feud ho tried to act as though ho did not care — just a. 1 ? did Nellie, who. however, was obliged to confess to herself once m awhile that she did care, "lotsx" The spring of 188 — is a. memorable one m the history of many portions of the Dakotas. The amount of rain "m the fall and the snowfall of the winter preceding hau becyi very slight indeed, and there were no spring rains to encourage the farmers. Th° rreek--bed« and' eoules wcro dry; the l;i'<o beds >^nd sloughs were as innocent of water ac powder magazines ; and 1 the matted grasses and reeds standing m them were a* dry as was the grass" on the prairies. Everything invited the fire-fiend, whose work on the plains is so swift and "thorough — and he accepted . the. invitation. :'."'' From tho wheat regions up north came tales of his deadly .work—of countries almost entirely laid waste, of hundreds made homeless and penniless, with -nothing left, even wherewith to wring their bread out of the soilj : In. C County and its neighbors. however, all felt secure; the fires were far north of them, and being gradually exterminated. Besides they were m the Jini -.Hirer Valley ; it is curious how* much confidence the- proximity of a river will give to the settjer who is "tareatened Dy prairie fires. I\lort Benedict and his father were returning from the country town ono day, having been m to leave "mother'" for a two days' visit and to have tho breaking-plow repaired. For a day or two there had 'been rumors of fires only twenty miles or so to- the north, and they, were talking of this as they crossed the . bridge, four miles from homo. Ac they reached the top of the hill, on the west side of the river M_ort glanced at the northern, horizon, which was not distant, on account of a range of hills running east and west. and — Did his eyes deceive^him, or was that smoke, just rolling up above the line of hills? , "Look, father !" Startled, tho elder man did so. "Good God, Mort! She's a-comin'. We. got t' ra.ee, t' save anything !" And race they did, but the fire was racing, too; and when they drove their panting horses into the door yard, the flames were only a few- miles away and coming down at lightning speed. While Tom and Roy saddled their ponies and rounded up the live-stock Mr Benedict and the thi'ee elder boys and Bessie m an incredibly short space of time put into' the two waggons everything that it was possible to save, after which Hal and George saddled their ponies, joined Tom and Roy with tho herd, and the whole procession, headed "by . the two waggons, driven by Mori an^ his father, moved off at a rapid pace toward the river. ■ Then, arid only then, did Mort notice that there was no sign of , human life about' the Walker placed* His heart gave a leap. ',-''■ "Bess !" he said sharply ; "did— did they get away? Did ye notice 'em movin' round ?" ■ Th© ( girl's eyes 'opened wide. \ "Oh: Mort ! I haven't heard 'or seen a sign of 'em all day !" ■ "Take them reins. I'm goin' back an' see." He leaped from the waggon and ran back, noting as he did so how hot the air had become and how near the bijr wave of smoke was. 7»lrs. Walker, singing softly as she bustled about the kitchen, was a bit startled to see who her unannounced visitor was. • ' . "Mis' Walker, where's all your menfolks? No, I. didn't come fer troubleonly th's a prairie-fire only a little ways off, an' comin' down like mad !" •:. Mrs Walker sank into a chair. "Oh. heavens ! An' father sick a.-bed an' all tb' boys over t' Berry's* on a breakin'b'ee!" "■'.;. "Good Lord! Ain't I glad I come back] Where's th' liosses?" "Oh. Mort'! They're all loose m the paster !" "Git what things ye wantnli save t'gether real quick-! They ain't no spare time. 1 ' And Mort tore out of the house like, a, madman, and down the pasture, not ■ noticing that Nellie had entered .the kitchen and was Ha ring at him open-eyed. Both Mr Walker's waggon-tennis were composed of animals usually a i docile as lambs; but to-day, bunched together m a corner of the pasture, they sniffed the coming, flames, i-' 1 it seemed to pot witd imps intr their lumbering carease^j and. it was a. loner, trying time before Mort could catch two of them, swear, pray, try as ho might — and the great fire rolled swiftly nearer. The wind had shifted from northeast to northwest. Mort saw. with a sinking at bis heart, i that there was an even chaner- of getting cut off from, tho river. * * * -* ♦ Sir Walfcer was on n. feather-bed on tho floor of the watraon, and Mrs Walker crouched' beside him. Nellie ran back into the house for the family Bible, then climlwl ■••• ».p?wh> Mort. "Git up ! v Clk." Tho Ik aw whip came down hard on the horses' flanks, and the race was begun. I Faster came the flames; tho billow of I 'smoke rolled over them, now and then dropping feathery grass-cinders as it passed ; they could hear the roar of the fire and feel its hot breath whenever the , wind increased m velocity — and Jim River so far away ! • Nearer came the great wave of flame ; the air avbs dense and suffocating. Mort m his frenzy lashed the now running horses incessantly, cursing, praying, saying he knew not what. Mrs Walker wept and prayed ; Mr Walker now and then gave a feeble moan; Nellie, on the seat beside Mort, kept her lips tight closed and said nothing, only clinging to the sent more desperately as thewnggon rbouncod and lurched.

.Mint looked ,-it. her; hrr sil< ik.p anp,orod him. "(In ofT'n lh' scat !" Ik ruartil. "lJmv .I've think [ c'n drive with, you siitiii' llmr?" Tho girl obeyed, and It'll, rather than climbed, hack into the box. .Mort Benedict's lvcnilectinns mi' what eivuned .after th;it are very dim. He remembers driving deeper and deeper into ilic terrible heat and smoke, of tearing through «i. volume of flame that seenud endless — flame, that burnt lii.« eves, his nostrils, his throat, and s;.v-reli-ed hi.s hair jiik! eyebrows- -thtMi, with, o final leap, tlie horses dashed down the slope into the shallow river, and he knew no more, **■ * * When Mort awoke he could not for some time realise where he \vasj and lay for' some minutes trying to remember. Oh. yes; lie was m Will Berry's' roam. He remembered the antlers on the wall and the white curtain^ at the windows. Some, one came m softly from the next. room. . ''Who is it?" ho asked. It was Nellie, and she came and leaned over him. "Tfs me. Mort. I've ber. hero all th' time. I thought ye knew me. sometimes. You've be'en sic." " "Aro ye here t' stay. NelT — .always, 7 mean ?" She sat dojvn on the edee of the bed and put lipr hands on his shoulders: "If ye want me to. Mort." He drew her face down to his, but put her at arms' length presently. "lint how about th' feud; Nell?" "They ain't no more feud. Mort."