THREE NOTABLE WOMEN 283 



the news of the outside world. What I had 

 to narrate was made as brief as possible, so 

 that I might learn from her own lips the story 

 of her experience in this far-off region. She 

 was the only white woman to be found within 

 a radius of forty-five miles. 



Formerly this settlement had been the scene 

 of a gold-mine rush, and there are many empty 

 cabins still standing to attest to that exciting 

 time. At the present writing there are but 

 four of the cabins inhabited. This lady is 

 the mother of two children, a boy of ten and 

 a girl of six. Her cabin is large and roomy, 

 and, like the other cabins in this country, con- 

 tains but one room. It was, however, well 

 filled with suitable furniture and furnishings. 

 The big stove was sunken down through the 

 floor so that the bottom of the stove would 

 be on a line with the floor, to keep the heat 

 as close to the ground as possible. An iron 

 railing around the stove protected the chil- 

 dren and "grown-ups" from stumbling against 

 it. In a corner of the cabin was a well-filled 

 library, and this with two beds set end to end 

 took up most of one side of the cabin. A 

 place for cooking, another for a dining-table, 

 another for cooking utensils, a corner for 

 washing clothes and dishes, with a reservation 



