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"We learned afterward that Lida
and the lady missionary had gotten
along very well together until the
lady missionary asked a question that
she shouldn't have. She didn't un
derstand Lida, which wasn't to' be
wondered at.
"Then the Rev. Johann Haufer
came upon the scene. He was a Ger
man, as you might guess by the
name, one of those Moravian mis
sionaries who travel up and down the
land and are only equaled in devo
tion by the traveling cures. He was
a tall, delicate-looking man of about
35 years, with a thin face, blue eyes,
a lot of silky flaxen beard. He had
heard of Lida, and wherever there
was a soul in torment he liked to be
there to help.
"I shall never forget the meeting
between that mad girl and the gentle-looking
padre.
" 'Who are you?' she says, spring
ing to her feet and staring at him.
And, when he told her, I never heard
such abuse from a woman's lips. I
thought it would have knocked Rev.
Haufer down, like it had the lady mis
sionary. But it didn't budge him an
inch.
" 'You are in trouble, my dear girl,'
he says. 'There is something in your
mind that is troubling you. Yes, and
it won't give you any peace, neither,
until you out with it.'
"He got just so far when she sprang
at him like a wildcat. You see, she
had been badgered to death by peo
ple who wanted to reform her, and
then she hated men anyway, not hav
ing met any but the worst specimens
of them. We had to pull the padre
away. His face was all scratched and
bleeding.
"But he came again the next day,
and a week later, and at last he had
sort of awed the girl. Didn't preach
to her or anything, but just asked
her to tell him what it was that trou
bled her. We couldn't' make it out at
all. We thought he had overcome
her, the cowed way she acted.
'Then he had to go away. He nev-,
er came back to Edmonton, at least
not that year. We heard afterward
that he had been clawed by a bear;
miles' north, from one of the police,
who said he'd seen the padre after the
accident, and that he didn't think he
could recover. That was after Lida
had served ten months.
"We let her out after ten months
glad to. First thing she did was tot
go looking for the padre, breathing
vengeance on'the way he'd treated
her, asking questions he knew wor
ried lier, about her soul and all that.
Said she'd kill him if she got hold of
him. Then she found out he'd gone
north and was believed to have died
there. Anyway, there wouldn't be
any news of him for the winter, not
until the police came down in the
spring with their report.
"Lida disappeared from town. No
body guessed she was going'north to
kill what remained of Rev. Haufer.
She disappeared completely from the
minds of all. Edmonton was chang
ing all the time and new faces suc-
Lceeded the old ones.
It must have been two years later
when who should turn up in town but
Rev. Haufer himself. He looked sort
of changed. He'd grown stouter,
filled out physically and spiritually,
too, I should say; but he was as fine
a man as ever.
" 'So you wasn't killed,' I asked.
" "Not much,' he answered. 'I've
got that bearskin at home. What is
Edmonton like?' he- continued. 'I'm
to have charge of the Moravian
church here.'
"He'd given up the roving life. Ap
parently his superiors wanted him to
take a hand in the care of the grow
ing frontier town. He'd put up at
Shamus' hotel, and was starting to
build a house on what was then Main
street. There it is. Prettiest little
place along the road, isn't it. And he
did it all himself laid every stone,
and the carpentering was the work of
his hands besides."
Down the street came a burly, middle-aged
man accompanie'd by. a,
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