THAT GIRL
MONTANA
BY
MARAH ELLIS RYAN
AUTHOR OF
TOLD IN THE HILLS, THE BONDWOMAN,
A FLOWER OF FRANCE, Etc.
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
Copyright, 1901, by Rand. McNally & Company.
THAT GIRL MONTANA.
“That girl the murderer of a man—of Lee Holly! Thatpretty little girl? Bosh! I don’t believe it.”
“I did not say she killed him; I said she was suspected.And even though she was cleared, the death of that renegadeadds one more to the mysteries of our new West.But I think the mere suspicion that she did it entitles herto a medal, or an ovation of some sort.”
The speakers were two men in complete hunting costume.That they were strangers in the Northwest wasevidenced by the very lively interest they took in eachbit of local color in landscape or native humanity. Ofthe latter, there was a most picturesque variety. Therewere the Northern red men in their bright blankets, andwomen, too, with their beadwork and tanned skins forsale. A good market-place for these was this spot wherethe Kootenai River is touched by the iron road that drivesfrom the lakes to the Pacific. The road runs along ourNorthern boundary so close that it is called the “GreatNorthern,” and verily the land it touches is great in itswildness and its beauty.
The two men, with their trophies of elk-horn and beaverpaws, with their scarred outfit and a general air of elationgained from a successful “outing,” tramped down to the2little station after a last lingering view toward far huntinggrounds. While waiting for the train bound eastward,they employed their time in dickering with the Indianmoccasin-makers, of whom they bought arrows and gailypainted bows of ash, with which to deck the wall of somefar-away city home.
While thus engaged, a little fleet of canoes was sightedskimming down the river from that greater wilderness ofthe North, penetrated at that time only by the prospector,or a chance hunter; for the wealth of gold in thosehigh valleys had not yet been more than hinted at, andthe hint had not reached the ears of the world.
Even the Indians were aroused from their lethargy,and watched with keen curiosity the approaching canoes.When from the largest there stepped forth a young girl—arather remarkable-looking young girl—there was aname spoken by a tall Indian boatman, who stood nearthe two strangers. The Indians nodded their heads, andthe name was passed from one to the other—the name’Tana—a soft, musical name as they pronounced it. Oneof the strangers, hearing it, turned quickly to a whiteranchman, who had a ferry at that turn of the river, andasked if that was the young girl who had helped locatethe new gold find at the Twin Springs.
“Likely,” agreed the ranchman. “Word came thatshe was to cut the diggi