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The Wingham Times, 1915-10-28, Page 7►. 1 • .Q >Qber 28th, 9i$ • THE WINGHAM TIMES 7771.11, AillesseimmesitersetvaisteMiNilimmealie Freckles. BY Gene Stratton - Porter Copyright 1904, by Doubleday, Page & Co. SYNOPSIS. Freckles, a homeless boy. is hired by •Boss McLean to guard the expensive tim- ber in the Limberlost from timber thieves. Freckles does his work faithfully. makes .friends with the birds and yearns to know -mere about nature. He lives with Mr. and Mrs. Duncan. w He resolves to get books and educate ' himself. Ho becomes interested In a huge pair of vultures and calls hie bird friends this "chickens." a CHAPTER IV. PRtECIILES' WORLD or mourn. B.ECKLES bad walked the tim- ber line ten months. His pay was $30 a month, and his board cost $8. That left $22 a month, and the $2 was more than his clothing had cost him. At the very leest he had $200 in the bank. "I'll be having a book about all the thirds, ,trees, Bowers, butterflies—and, ems BUN GLINTED ON ITS SHARP. BODIED BEAR. •yes, by gummy. I'll be having one ::about the frogs—if it takes every cent 11 have," he promised himself. Freckles fell into a rapid pace, for >•he had lost time that murniug, and as rhe rounded the last curve he was al- most running. Then. wavering, flickering, darting ,here and there over the sweet marsh :grass. come a groat binelc shadow. 13e 'had seen some owls and hawks of the swamp that he thought could be -classed es large birds, but never any- .thieg like this, for six feet It spread its :,great shining %vines. its big, strong •feet could be seen drawn up among its feathers. The sun glinted on its sharp. alone -ea beef:. LtJIt, en_ a low tree., and Was Not Much of a Believer in Patent Medicines 'But Milburn's heart and Nerve Pills Are An Right. Mrs. Wm. McElwain, Temperance e'Vale, N.B., writes: "I am not much of a believer in medicines, but I must say Milburn's Heart and Nerve Pills, are all - right. Some years ago I was troubled with smothering spells. In the night I would waken tip with my breath all gene :.and think I never would get it back. 1 'was telling a friend of my trouble, and lie ,advised me to try Milburn's Heart and Nerve Pills, lie gave inc a box, and I had only taken a few of them when I could - sleep all night without any trouble. I .did not finish the box until some years . after when I felt my trouble coining .back, so I took the rest of then and they cured ins," Milburn's heart and Nerve Pills -have been oft the market for the past twenty-five years. The testimony of the [users should be enough to con- vince you that wet we claim for them is true. IL and N.1'ills are'o0c per box, 3 bogies for $1.-25: at all druggists or dealers, mailed direct oil receipt of price by The T. Iefilbunt Co., Limited, ';Toronto, Ont. n' second 1ate1eckles saw ane ter shadow sweep the grass. They were evidently mates, for with queer rolling hop the ifrst comer shivered his bronze wings, sidled up to the new arrival and gave her a silly little peck on her wing. Then he co- quettishly drew away and ogled her. He lifted his head and waddled from her a few steps, awkwardly ambled back and gave her a sort of kiss on her beak. The lover sidestepped a few feet. He spread bis wings and slowly and softly waved them precisely, as if he were fanning his charmer, which indeed was the result he accomplished. Then be bobbled up to his bombardment once more. He faced her squarely. this time and turned his head ftom side to side with queer little jerks and indiscriminate pedkings at her wings and head. She yawned and shuffled away indifferently. Freckles reached up, pulled the quill from his hat and, looking from it to the birds, nodded in settled conviction. With a ravishing swagger, half lift- ed wings and deep, guttural hissing the lover came on again. He suddenly lift- ed his body, but the other bird coolly rocked forward on the limb, glided gracefully beneath him and slowly , sailed off into the Limberlost. Freckles hurried'dowu the trail, and when he neared the path to the clear- ing and saw the boss sitting motion- less on the mare that was the pride of his heart the boy broke into a run. "Oh, Mr. McLean," he cried, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting very longi And the sun is getting so hot! I Iirjve been so slow this morning) I could have gone faster, only there were so many things to keep me, and I didn't know you would be here. I'll hurry after this. I've never had to be giving excuses before. The line wasn't down, and there wasn't a sign of trouble. It was other things that were making me late." This flushed, panting, talkative lad was not the same creature that had sougbt him in despair and bitterness. With an eloquence of which he never dreamed Freckles told his story. He talked with such enthusiasm that Mc- Lean never took his eyes from his face nor shifted in the saddle until he described the strange bird lover, and then the boss suddenly bent over the pommel and laughed with him. "They're back there in the middle of the swamp now," said Freckles. "Do you suppose there is any chance of them staying with me chickens? If they do they'll be about the queer- est I have. But I tell you, sir, I am getting some plumb good ones. There's a new kind over at the mouth of the creek that uses its wings like feet. and walks on alt fours. It travels like a thrashing machine. There's anoth- er, tall as me waist, with a bill a foot long; a neck near two, not the thick- ness of me wrist and an elegant color. He's some blue and gray, touched up with black, white and brown. The voice of him is such that if he'd be go- ing up and standing by a tree and' sawing at it a few times he could be cutting it square off. I don't know but it would be a good Idea to try him on the gang, sir." McLean laughed. "Those must be blue herons, Freckles," he said. "And it doesn't seem possible, but your story of the big black birds sounds like gen- nine black vultures. They are com- mon enough in the south. I've seen them thick about the lumber camps of Georgia, but I never heard of any this far north before. They must be strays. You have perfectly described our nearest equivalent to a branch of these birds called in Europe Pharaoh's chickens." "He was loving her so," said Frec- kles in a hushed voice. Freckles lift- ed his brave, steady eyes to the boss. "If anybody loved me like that, Mr. McLean, I wouldn't be spending any time caring how they looked or moved. All I'd be thinking of was how they felt toward me. If they will stay I'll be caring as much for thellt as any chickens I have." The face of McLean was a study, "And now, Freckles, what has been the trouble all spring? You have done your work as faithfully as any ono could ask, but I can't help seeing that there is sotiiething wrong. Are you tired of your Job?" "I love it," answered Freckles. "It Will almost break me heart when the $$P.gg bens tearing .me t!ig mune Reid eeai'ing away' nig efilekens." - "Then what is the matter?" Waisted afeLean. "'I think, sir, it's been books. Being among these beautiful things every day, I got so anxious like to be know - Ing and naming them that it got to eating into me and went and matte me near sick when I was well as 1 could be. Of course I learned to read, write and figure some at school, but there was nothing tberit nor in any of the city that I ever got to see that would make a fellow even be dreaming of such interesting things as there are here. I've seen the parks, but they ain't even beginning to be in it with Limberlost. It's all new and strange to nee. I don't know a thing about any of it. The bullfrog told me to 'find out,' plain as day, and books aro the only way, ain't they?' "Of course," said McLean, astonished at himself for his heartfelt relief. He had not guessed until that minute what it would have meant to him to have Freckles give up. "Yon know enough to study out what you went yourself if you have the books, don't you?" e "I am pretty sure I do," said Frec- kles. "I learned all I'd the chance al in the home, and me schooling was good as far as it went. Wouldn't let you go past fourteen, you know. I always did me sums perfect, and I loved me history books. I never could get me grammar to suit them. They said it was just born in me to go wrong talking, but I could knock them all out singing. I was always leader in the home, and once one of the su- perintendents gate me car fare and let me go Into the city and sing in a boys' choir. The master said I'd the neatest voice of them all until it got rough - like, and then be made me quit for awhile, but he said it would be coming back by now, and I'm ralily thinking it is, sir, for I've tried about the line a bit of late. "That and me chickens has been all the company I'ye been having, and it will be all I'll want if I can have books and learn the real names of things, where they come from and why they do such interesting things. It's been fretting me to be shut up here among all these wonders and not knowing a thing. .I wanted to ask you what some books would cost me and if you'd be having the goodness to get me the right;. ones. I think I have enough money." Freckles handed up his account book, and the boss studied it gravely. "You needn't touch your bank ac- count, Freckles," he said. "Ten dol- lars from this month's pay will get you everything you need to start on. TA.TaktEt2e "TOt' NEEDN'T TOUCH TOUR BANE AO- COVI T." I will write -a friend; in Grand Rapids today to select you the very best and send them at once." Freckles' eyes were shining. "Never owned a book in my life!" he said. "Even me schoolbooks were never mine. Lord, how I used to wish I could have just one of them for me very own! Won't it be fun to see the sawbird and me little yellow fellow looking at me from the pages of a book and their real names and all about them printed alongside?" "I'll have Duncan get you a ten bushel store -box the next time he goes to town," said McLean.- "You can put in your spare time filling it with the specimens you pick up until the books come, and then you can study out what you have. 1 suspect you could find a lot of stuff that I could sell for you. I'll order you a butterfly net and box and show you how sci- entists pin specimens. But I don't want to hear of your killing any birds. They are protected by heavy fines." McLean rode away and left Freckles staring aghast. Then he saw the point and grinned sheepishly. Standing on the trail, be twirled the feather and thought the morning over. "Well, if life ain't getting to be worth living!" he said wonderingly. "Biggest streak of luck I ever bad) 'Bout time something was coming my way, but t wouldn't ever thought any- body could strike such prospects through just a falling feather." On Duncan's return from his neat trip to town there was a store box loaded on the back of his wagon. He drove to the west entrance of the swamp, set the box on a stump tbat Freckles bad selected in a beautiful and sheltered place and made it secure on its foundation with a tree at rte back. Sesteseezug of geple9.,, tie alle i . Suffered Awfully FROM BILIOUS HEADACHES' When the liver becomes sluggish and inactive the bowels become constipated, the tongue becpmes coated, the stomach foul and bilious headaches are the upshot. Milburn's Laxa-Liver Pills will stimu- late the sluggish liver, clean the fouls coated tongue, do away with the stomach gases and banish the disagreeable bilious headaches. Mrs. J. C. Kidd, Sperling, B.C., writes: I have used Milburn's Laxa- Liver Pills for bilious headaches. I suffered awfully until I started to take them. They were the only thing that ever did me any good. I never have any bilious headache any more." Milburn's Laxa-Liver Pills`i;are" 25c per vial, 5 vials for $l.00, at all dealers, or mailed direct on receipt of price by The T. Milburn Co., Limited, Toronto, Ont. thaitree;'- sale Duncan. --r vacsna the time to examine into the grain of it, but it looks as if it might be a rare ane. Anyhow, the nailin' winna hurt it deep,' and havin' the case by it will make it safer if It is a guld ane." "Isn't it an oak?" asked Freckles. "Aye," said Duncan. "It looks like it might be ane of time flee grained golden anes that mak' such grand fur- niture." When the body of the case was se- cure Duncan made a door out of the lid and fastened it on with hinges. He drove a staple, screwed on a latch and gave Freckles a small padlock, so that he might safely fasten in his treasures. He made a shelf in the top for the books and last of all covered the case with oilcloth. It was the first time in Freckles' life that any one had ever done tbat much for his pleasure, and it warmed his heart with pure joy. "Mr. Duncan," he said, "I don't know why you are being so mighty good to me, but if you have any jobs up at the cabin that I could do for you or Mrs. Duncan hours off the line it would make -me mighty happy." "Freckles," said Duncan as he began gathering up his tools, "I canna see that it will hurt ye to be told that ye are doin' every day a thing that pleases the boss as much as anything ye could do. Ye're bein' uncommon faithful, lad, and honest as old Father Time. McLean is trustin' ye as he would his own flesh and blood." "Oh. Duncan!" cried the boy. "Are you sure?". "Why, I know," answered Duncan. "1 wedna . venture to say else. In those .first days be cautioned me na to tell ye that, bur, now be wadna care. D'ye ken, Freckles, that some of the single trees ye are guardin' are worth a thousand dollars?" ' Freckles looked limp, and his eyes popped. "Ye see," said Duncan, "that's why they maun be watched so closely. The other night down at camp some son of Baalam was suggestin' that ye might be sellin' the boss out to Jack and let - tin' him tak the trees secretly and no- body wad ever ken till the gang gets here." A wave of scarlet flooded Freckles' face, and he blazed botly at tbe insult. "And the boss," continued Duncan, ignoring Freckles' anger, "be lays back just as cool as cowcumbers and says, 'I'll give a thousand dollars to any man that will show me a fresh stump when we reach the Limberlost,' says he. Some of the men just snapped him up that they'd find some. So you see how the boss Is trustin' ye, lad." "I am gladder than I can ever ex- prese," said Freckles. "And now will I be walking double time to keep some of them from cutting a tree to get all that money." "Mither o' Moses!" howled Duncan. "Ye can trust the Scotch to bungle things a'thegither. McLean was only, meanie' to show ye all confidence and honor. Heys. gflnsansl_set_a high price n The Wretchedness of Constipation Can quickly be mamma by CARTER'S LITTLE LIVER PILLS Purely vegetable —act surely and gently on the liver. Cure Biliousness, Head. ache, Dizzi- ness, and Indigestion. They ab their deo. Small Pill, Small Dm, seal Baca, Genuine must bear Signature foie etime'i r wberp to ruin Yet rims just tryin" to show ye bow he felt toward ye, itnd•I've gone and give ye that worry to bear." "I am mighty proud of evbat yon have been telling me, Duncan," said Freckles. "1 need the warning sure, for with the books coming 1 might be tiwpted to neglect me wdrk when dou- ble watching is needed." Freckles picked up bis club and start- ed down the line, whistling cheerily, Duncan went straight to the lower camp and, calling McLean aside, re. peated the conversation verbatim. "And, nae matter what happens now, or ever, dinna ye dare let anything make ye believe that Freckles hasna guarded faithful as any man could." "1 don't think anything could shake my faith in the lad." said McLean. li'reekles kept one eye religiously on the line. 'i'he other be divided be- tween the path, his friends of the wire and tt search of the sky for his latest arrivals, Every day since their coming be had seen theta, either hang- ing like small black clouds above the swamp or bobbing over logs and trees with their queer tilting walk. When- ever lie could spare time be entered the swamp and tried to make friends with them, and they were the tamest of all his unnumbered subjects. Tbey ducked, dodged and ambled about him, over logs and busbes, and not even a near approach would drive them to flight. For two weeks he had found them circling over the Limberlost regularly, but one morning the female was miss- ing. and only the big black chicken bung sentinel above the swamp. His mate did not reappear in tbe following days, and Freckles grew very anxious. He spoke of it to Mrs. Duncan, and she quieted bis fears by raising a de- lightful hope in their stead. "Why, Freckles, if it's the hen bird ye are missing it's ten to ane she's safe," she said. "She's laid and is setting, ye silly. Watch him and mark wbaur be licbts. Then Meow and find the nest. Some Sabbath we'll all gang see it." Accepting this theory. Freckles be- gan searching for the nest, but as tie had no idea where to look and 1Juncau eouid offer no helptui suggestion the nest was no nearer being found. C CHAPTER V. , rinECnLEs FACES TROUBLE. OMING from a long day on tbe trail. Freckles saw Duncan's children awaiting biui much closer the swale than they usually ventured, end from their wild gestures be knew that something had happened. He broke into a run. but tbe cry that reached hint was, "The books have come!" They found books on birds, trees, flowers, moths and butterflies. There was also one containing Freckles' bullfrog, true to life. And besides these were a butterfly net, a natural- Zst's tin specimen box, a bottle of gasoline, a box of cotton, a paper of long steel specimen pins and a letter telling what all these things were and bow to use tbem. At the discovery of each new treas- ure Freckles shouted, "Will you be looking at this now!" Mrs. Duncan cried, "Weel, 1 be drawed on!" When Freckles started for the Trait next morning the shining new spec] - men box flashed on his back. The black "chicken," a mere speck in the blue, caught the gleam of it and won- dered what it was. The .folded net hung by the boy's hatchet, and the bird book was in the box. He walked the line and tested each section scrupu• lously, watching every foot of the trail. for he was determined not to slight his work. But if ever a boy "made haste slowly" in a burry it was Freckles that morning. When at last he reached the space he had cleared out and titled up around his case tics heart swelled with the pride of possessing even so much that he could call his own. He had made a large room with the door of the case set even with one side of it On three sides tine big bushes of wild rose climbed to the lower branches of the trees. Part of his walls were mallow, part alder. thorn, willow and dogwood. below there tilled in a solid mass of pale pink sheep laurel and yellow St. John's wort, while the amber threads of the dodder interlaced everywhere. At one side the swamp came close and cattails grew in profusion. In front of them he had planted a row of water nye- (-laths without disturbing In the least the state of their azure biotin., "nti where tbe ground rose higher for Itis floor n row ot foxtire that would soon be open. To the left he had discovered a queer natural arrangement of the trees that grew to giant size and were vet in a gradually 0arrowing space wt Char a long, open vista stretched away 1111111 lost in the dint recesses ot the -1ic'aMO. A little trimming back of underbush rolling out of dead logs, leveling et Door and carpeting of moss, rnnde It easy to understand why Freckles wad named this the "cathedral." yet be bad never been "taught that "the groves were God's tirst temples." On either side of the trees that con- stituted the first arch of this dim vista ot the swamp he planted ferns that grew waist high this early in the sea- son, and so skillfully had the work been done that not a frond drooped because of the change. Opposite he cleared a space and made a flowerbed. Every day snw the addition of new specimens. On the line side he left the bushes thick for concealment and entered by a narrow path he and Duncan had cleared in setting up the case. He called this the front door, though he used every precaution to hide it. He built rustle eel tit between several of VIrw Children Cry for F1efcheleti TORIA A, .‘„,.„ ...ez "\. `.;. . ',..: N‘ . ;\ • '',N : " . • ,. • . • , • , The Kind You IlaVie Always Bought, and which has Leen in Use for oven 30 yca,::s, has borne the signature eft i and has been made under his per.. sonal supervision since its infancy. aco9597-------"*�s Allow no one to deceive you in this. All Counterfeits, Imitations and "Just -as -good" are but Experiments that trifle with and endanger the health of ]infants and Children—Experience against Experiment. What is CASTORiA Castoria is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Pare- goric, Drops and Soothing Syrups. It is pleasant. It contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other Narcotic substance. Its age is its guarantee. It destroys Worms and allays Feverishness. For more than thirty years it Las been In constant use for the relief of Constipation, Flatulency, Wind Colic, all Teething Troubles and Diarrhoea. It regulates the Stomach and Bowels, assimilates the Food, giving healthy and natural sleep. The Children's Panacea—The Mother's Friend. GENUINE CAST®R 1 A ALWAYS Bears the Signature of In Use For Over 30 Years The Kind You Have Always Bought {THC CCNTAUR COMPANY, NCW YORK CITY - e the trees, leveled the floor and thickly carpeted it with rank, heavy woolly dog moss. About the case he planted wild clematis, bittersweet and wild grape- vines and trained them over it until It was almost covered. This morning Freckles walked straight to his case, unlocked it and set bis apparatus and dinner inside. He took out the birdbook, turned to the section beaded "V." Past "veery" and "vireo" be went, on down the line until his Boger, trembling with eager- ness, stopped at "vulture." "'Great black California he read. "Humph! This side the Rockies will do for us." '"Common turkey buzzard.'" "Well, we ain't hunting common tur- keys. McLean said chickens, and what he says goes." "'Black vulture of the south.'" "Here we are arrived at once" Freckles' finger followed the line, and he read scraps aloud. "'Common in the south- Sometimes called Jim Crow. Nearest equivalent to C -a -t -h -a -r -t -e -s A•t-r-a-t-a. " — the Pharaoh's chickens of Euro- pean species. Sometimes stray north as far as Virginia and Kentucky' sometimes farther," interpo- lated Freckles, "cos I got them right here in Indiana so like these pictures I can just see me big chicken bobbing up to get his ears boxed. Hey?" •"Light blue eggs"'— "Golly, I got to be seeing them!" — big as a common turkey's, but sbaped like a hen's, heavily splotched with chocolate' "— "Caramels, I suppose. And"-- " • — in hollow logs or stumps!" •-"Oh, bagginyl Wasn't I barking up tbe wrong tree though? Ought to been looking near the ground all tbls time. Now it's all to do over, and 1 suspect the sooner 1 start the sooner L'll be likely to find them." Freckles ate and drank his last drop ot water. He sat resting a little and watching the sky to see 1.1 his big chicken was hanging up there. But be came to the earth abruptly, for there were steps coming down the trail that were neither McLean's nor Duncan's, and there never bad been others. Freckles' heart leaped hotly. He ran a quick hand over his belt to feel if his revolver and hatchet were there, caught up his cudgel and laid It across his knees, then sat quietly Waiting. Was it Black Jack, or some one even worse? Forced to do some. thing to brace his nerves, he puckered his stiffening Ups and began whistling a tune he bad led in his clear tenor every year of his life at tbe homo Christmas exercises. His quick Irish wit roused ter tell ridiculousness of it and he burst into a laugh that steadied him amazingly. Through the bushes he caught a glimpse of the oncoming figure. His heart flooded with joy, for it was a lean from the gang. Wessner had been his bunk mate the nigbt be came down the corduroy. This was no tim- ber thief. Freckles sprang up and called cheerily, a warm welcome on his face. "Well, it's good telling if you're glad 'to see me," said Wessner. "We been hearing down nt the camp you were So mighty touchy you didn't allow n man within a rod of the line." "No more do I," answered Freckles, "if he's a stranger, but you're from McLean, ain't you?" "Oh, curse McLeani" 'aid Wessner. Freckles gripped the midget. "'And are you railly saying so?" he Inquired with elaborate politeness. 'Yes, I am," said Wessner. "So Would every other man of the gang if They wasn't too big cowards to say anything unless maybe that other slob- bering, ollacotehurnn Duncan. Grind - vulture; " ing-rhe lives out -of us! working ns like dogs and pay?ng us starvation wages, while he rolls up 'his millions and lives like a prince!" Green lights began to play through the gray of Freckles' eyes. "Wessner," he said impressively, "you'd make a fine pattern for the fa- ther of liars! ' Ever' man on that gang is strong and hilthy, paid all he earns and treated with the courtesy of a gentleman. As for the boss living like a prince, he shares tare with you ;every day of your lives." 'Wessner was not a born diplomat, but be saw be was on the wrong tack. and be tried another. "Freckles. old fellow," be said. "it you let me give you a pointer I can put you on to making a cool eve hun- dred Without stepping out of your tracks." Freckles drew back. "Ion needn't be afraid of speaking res," he said. "There isn't a soul in the Limberlost save the birds and the beasts unless some of your sort's come along and's crowding the privileges ot the legal tinints." "None of my friends along." said Wessner. "Nobody knew 1 came lent Flack .1—! mean a friend at mine, 1f you want to bear sense and act with reason be can see you later, but it ain't necessary. We can make all,the plane needed. The trick's so dead small and easy." (TO BE CONTINUED.) `^ Ingenious Air Bombs. Bombs thrown from the air,are usu- ally exploded by contact. With the Martin IIale bomb, designed specially to be dropped from aeroplanes, there is a 'safety pin" which renders the bomb harmless until it has been withdrawn and until a fall of about '200 feet through the air has caused the propel- ler to rotate and release the tiring mechanism. All destructive explosives cause damage by the actual shock of the explosion—that is. I>y the disturb- ance in the air created by the expan- sion of the contents of the shell, by the fragments of the shell or the bullets which it contains flying in all direc- tions, by the fumes which may be giv- en off on explosion and which may have a stupefying or fatal effect on people In the vicinity and by the fall- ing of bricks and mortar displaced by the bombs.—London Mail. English as She Is Spoke. The professor who in his address on the correct prontn>c•iatiou of English said he preferred "urn" to "often" is on the winning side. No "pronouncing dictionary" with a reputation to lose ever sounds the "t" in the middle of 8001 words as Christmas, mistletoe, ostler, often or chestnut. Good actors, whose duty it is to speak "trippingly' on the tongue," eau cite authority to support their pronunciation of lan'ker- ehief and We'n'sday. And no one who 1 knows his way about In the elocution- ! ary field pays any regard to the spell- ing of such words as "extraordinary." —London Chronicle. Early Closing Scheme. She --Papa says that when coming to see me you must not come in a street car any more. lie—Really! Does he expect me to walk all this distance? She --Of course not. Ile says all he asks is that you 'wilt come In car- riage hired by the hour.—New York Weekly. Children Cry FOR FLETCHER'S CASTOR PA