HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1923-02-09, Page 7O. Il. Al`TXIN8ON,, I•D 3, DMA
Qaaduate of the Toya1 Wisp of
Dental iluzggeoae of Oettlorio .and 01
elte University of Torg4to. Lata Dias
Inlet Dental Office, MAROS- District,
Ne. 1 London, Out, Office hanya at
Bayfield, Ont.'Monday, Wednesday,
Miley and Saturday, from 0110 to
5.80 p.m. 2814-12
DR. F. J. R. FORSTER
Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat
Graduate in Medicine, University of
Toronto.
Late assistant New York Ophthal-
met and Aural Institute, Moorefield's
Ire and Golden Square Throat Hos-
pital's, London Eng. At Commercial
Motel, Seaforth, third Wednesday in
each month from 11 a.m, to 8 p.m.
ti0 Waterloo Street, South, Stratford.
Phone 267, Stratford.
CONSULTING ENGINEERS
James, Proctor & Redfern
Limited.
36 Toronto St., Toronto, Can.
Bridges, Pavements, Waterworks, Sewer-
age Systems, Incinerators, Factories,
Arbitrations, Litigation.
Phone Adel. 1044. Cable: "JPRCO"Toronto
OUR FEES -Usually paid ont of the
money we cava oar clients.
LEGAL
R. S. HAYS.
Barrister, Solicitor, Conveyancer and
Rotary Public. Solicitor for the Do
Minion Bank. Office in rear of the Do-
minion Bank. Seaforth. Money to
ban,
e st
BEST & BEST
Barristers, Solicitors, Convey-
ancers and Notaries Public, Etc.
Office in the Edge Building, opposite
The Expositor Office.
Mgt
PROUDFOOT, KILLORAN AND
HOLMES
Barristers, Solicitors, Notaries Pub -
de, etc. Money to lend. In Seaforth
en Monday of each wedk. Office in
&idd Block. W. Proudfoot, %.C., J.
L. %illoran, B. E. Holmes.
VETERINARY
F. HARBURN, V. S.
Honor graduate of Ontario Veterin-
ary College, and honorary member of
the Medical Association of the Ontario
Veterinary College. Treats diseases of
all domestic animals by the most mod-
ern principles. Dentistry and Milk
)'ever a specialty. Office opposite
Dick's Hotel, Main Street, Seaforth.
All orders left at the hotel will re-
adve prompt attention. Night calls
received at the office
JOHN GRIEVE, V. 8.
Honor graduate of Ontario Veterin-
ary College. All diseases of domestic
animals treated. Calls promptly at-
tended to and charges moderate. Vet-
erinary Dentistry a specialty. Office
and residence on Goderich street, one
doer east of Dr. Scott's office, Sea-
feWth. -
•
MEDICAL
C. J. W. HARN. M.D.C.M.
425 Richmond Street, London, Ont.,
llpecialist, Surgery and Genio-Urin-
ary diseases of men and women.
DR. A. NEWTON-BRADY
Bayfield.
Graduate Dublin University, Ire-
land. Late Extern Assistant Master
Rotunda Hospital for Women and
Children, Dublin. Office at residence
lately occupied by Mrs. Parsons.
Hours, 9 to 10 a.m., 6 to 7 p.m.
Sundays, 1 to 2 p.m. 2866-26
DR. J, W. PECK
Graduate of Faculty of Medicine
KcGi11 University, Montreal; member
Of College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Ontario; Licentiate of Medical Conn-
ell of Canada; Post -Graduate Member
of Resident Medical staff of General
Hospital, Montreal, 1914-16' Office, 2
doors east of Post Office. Phone 56.
gsnall, Ontario.
DR. F. J. BURROWS
Office and residence, Goderich street
e ast of the Methodist church, Seafortk
Phone 46. Coroner for the County of
Huron.
DR. C. MACKAY
C. Mackay honor graduate of Trin-
ity University, and gold medallist of
Trinity Medical College; member of
tie College of Physicians and Sur-
geons of Ontario.
DR. H. HUGH ROSS
Graduate of University of Toronto
faculty of Medicine, member of Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons of
Ontario; pans graduate courses is
Ckica'go Clinical School of Chicago;
Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, London,
Ragland; University Hospital, Lon-
don, England. Office -Back of Do-
minion
o-
m5 fon Bank, Seaforth. Phone No. 5,
let nails' answered from residence,
street, Seaforth.
AUCTIONEERS
THOMAS BROWN
Licensed auctioneer for the counties
sf ,Huron and Petth. Correspondence
arrangements for sale dates can be
aside by calling up phone 97, Seaforth
sr The Expositor Office. Charges mod-
arete and patisfaction guaranteed.
R. T. LU%ER
Licensed auctioneer for the County
of Huron. Sales attended to la all
parts of the county. Seven years' ex-
perience in Manitoba and Saskatche-
wan. Terme reasonahle. Phone No.
175 r 11, Exeter Centralia P. 0., R.
R. No. 1. Orders left at The Huron
Expositor Offiee Sealert's promptly
.,reg
attOW&
eLight
IN THN
Clearing
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2607
TRENCH Ob ahem jolt el rels
ttaoncP. (ld01310 ' fr Ei.
. By
IRWING BACHELLER
-and 1 remember that my uncle's
pockets were a museum of belle and
nuts and screws' and washers.
The idea occurred to me that I
i would make a kind of sled which was
called a hunger.
So I got my'a* out of the wagon
and soon 'found' a couple of small trees
with the right crook for the forward
end of a 'runner and cut thet6i and
hewed their bottoms as smoothly as
I could. Then I made notches in
them near the top of their crooks
and fitted a stout stick into the not-
ches and secured it with nails driven
by the ax -head.. Thus I got a hold
for my evener. That done, I chopped
and hewed an arch to cross the middle
of the runners and hold them apart
and used all my nails to secure and
brace it. I got the two boards which
'were fastened together and consti-
tuted my wagon peat and laid them
over the arch and front brace. Han
to make them fast was my worst
problem. I succeeds l in splitting a
green stick to hold the bolt of the
evener just under its head while I
heated its lower end in the fire and
kept its head cool with snow. With
this I burnt a hole in the end of each
board and fastened them to the front
brace with withes of moosewood.
It was late in the day and there
was no time for the slow process of
hurtling more holes, so 1 notched the
other ends of -the hoards and lashed
them to the rear brace with a length
of my reins. Then I retempered my
holt and brought up the grist and
chairs and fastened the latter between
to boards in the middle of the front
brace, hitched my team to the chain
and set out again, sitting on the bags.
It was, of course, a difficult jour-
ney, for my jumper was narrow.
The snow heaped up beneath me and
row and then I and my load were
rolled off the juniper. When the
drifts were more than leg deep I let
down the fence and got around them
by going into the fields. Often I
stopped to clear the eyes of the hors-
es -a slow task to be done with the
bare hand -or to fling my palms a-
gainst my shoulders and thus warns
myself a little.
It was pitch dark and the horses
wading to their bellies and the snow
coming faster when we turned into
Retlleroad. I should not have known
the turn when we carne to it, but a
horse knows more than a man in the
dark. Soon I heard a loud halloo
end knew thee it was the voice of
lei ale Peabody. He had started out
to meet me in the storm and Shep
way with him.
"Thank God I've found ye!" he
shouted. "I'm blind and tired out
and I couldn't keep a lantern goin' to
save me. Are ye froze?"
"I'm all right, but these horses
are awful tired. Had to let 'em rest
every few minutes."
I told him about the wagon -.and
how it relieved me to hear him say:
"As long as you're all right, boy, I
ain't goin' to worry 'boutthe ol' wa-
gon -not a bit. Where'd ye git yer
jumper?"
"Made it with the ax and some
nails," I answered.
I didn't hear what he said about
it for the horses were wallowing and
we had to atop and paw and kick
the snow from beneath them as best
we could before it was possible to
back out of our trouble. Soon 'ge
found an entrance to the fields -our
own fields not far from the house -
where Uncle Peabody walked ahead
and picked out the best wading. Af-
ter we got to the barn door at last
he went to the house and lighted his
lantern and came back with it wrap-
ped in a blanket and Aunt Deel came
with him.
How proud it made me to hear
him say: .
"Deet, our boy in a man now -made
this jumper all 'Ione by himself an'
has got through all right."
She came and held the lantern up
to my face and looked at my hands.
"Well, my stars, Bart!" she ex-
claimed in a moment._ "I thought ye
would freeze up solid -ayes -poor
boy!"
The point of my chin and the fishes
of my ears and one finger were
tcuched and my aunt rubbed them
with snow until the frost was out.
We carried the grist in and Aunt
beel made some pudding. How good
it was to feel the warmth of the fire
and of the hearts of those who loved
me! How I enjoyed the pudding and
milk and bread and butter!
"I guess you've gone through the
second peril that ol' Kate spoke of,"
said Aunt Deel as I went up -stairs.
Uncle Peabody went out to look at
the horses.
When I awoke in the morning I
observed that Uncle Peabody's bed
had not been slept in. I hurried down
and heard that our off -horse had died
in the night of colic. Aunt Deel was
crying. As he saw me Uncle Pea-
body began to dance a jig in the mid-
dle of the floor.
"Balance yer partners!" he shout-
ed. "You an' I ain't goin' to be dis-
couraged if all the hoaxes die -be we,
Bart?"
"Never," I answered.
"That's the talk! If nec'sary well
hitch Purvis up with %other hoes an'
git our haulin' done."
He and Purvis roared with laughter
and the strength of the current swept
me along with theta.
"We're the tTncle Peabody went
t folks in the
world,,anyway,""
on "Barts alive an' there's three
feet o' snow on the level an' more
HORSE Al LMEjaiTS
of 'rally kinds
quickly remedied with
DOUGLAS°
EGYPTIAN
LINIMENT
STOPS I'ilil:nlNC TNR•I'A YITLY.
I'IRP:VEN'1':; 111,00D 1'1)100010(:.
CURES '1')) •t 1I ti, 1 10'1'tI, A,
SPRAINS AND lltlllI$ES. The
be,11 111 , Liniment
Liniment Inc the
mein. _ s non.. ,n on bsos,dmld ,a.•.
HAA DY.
At all Denll_rs and Druggists.
htnnuractur„1 only by
DOUGLAS & CO., NAPANIOE, Ont.
A Woman's Pride
The useful pride which
makes woniau Cnrrful of
her apltara.nce mot cum-
-. ple:aun find., a hell) in the
pui,itt' noel delicate rlineiu{
fragrance of
)s 1
136.5f- (' ''..c';Y�� idest
tBahy
ALBERT SOAPS LIMITED - MONTREAL
�RAILWr,A'1
'•n';SYST M.
TRAIN SERVICE TO TORONTO
Daily Except Sunday
Leave Goderich . 6.00 a.m. 2.20 p.m,
Leave Clinton ... 6.25 a.m. 2.52 p.m.
Leave Seaforth .. 6.41 a.m. 8.12 p.m.
Leave Mitchell .. 7.04 a.m. 8.42 pan.
Arrive Stratford 7.80 a.m, 4.10 p.m.
Arrive Kitchener 8.20 ami. 5.20 pm.
Arrive Guelph .. 8.45 a.m. 5.50 pm.
Arrive Toronto ..10.10 a.m. 7.40 pm.
RETURNING
Leave Toronto 6.50 a.m.; 12. 55 p.m.
and 6.10 p.m.
Parlor Cafe car Goderich to To-
ronto on morning train land Toronto
to Goderieb 6.10 p.m. train.
Parlor Buffet car Stratford to To-
ronto on afternoon train.
BLANK CARTRIDGE PISTOLS
Well made and effective. Ap-
pearance is enough to scare
BURGLERS, TRAMPS, DOGS,
etc. NOT DANGEROUS. Can
lay around without risk or ac-
cident to woman or child. Mail-
ed PREPAID for 51 -superior
make $1.50, blank cartridges
.22 cal. shipped Express at 750'
per 100. -
STAR MFG. Rt SALES CO.,
821 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, N.Y.
(Continued from last' week.)
After the crops were in we cut and
burned great heaps of timber and
made black salts of the ashes
leaching water through them and
boiling down the lye. We could sell
the salts at three dollars and a half
a hundred pounds. The three of us
working with a team could produce
from one hundred and twenty to one
hundred and forty pounds a week.
Yet we thought it paid -there in
Lickitysplit. All over the hills mon
and women were turning their efforts
and strength into these slender
streams of money forever flowing to-
ward the mortgagee.
Mr.eDunkelberg had seen Benjamin
Grimshaw and got him to give us a
brief extension. They had let me
stay out of school to work. I was
nearly thirteen years old and rather
strong and capable. I think that I
"g'o't along in my books about as well
as 1 could have done in our little
school.
One day in December of that year
I had my first trial in the full re-
srur)sibility of man's work. I was al-
lowed to load and harness and hitch
un and go to mill without assistance.
My uncle and Purvis were busy with
the chopping and we were out of
hour and meal. it took a lot of then[
to keep the axes going. So I filled
twc sacks with corn and two with
wheat and put them into the box
wagers, for the ground was bare, and
hitched up my horses and set out.
Aunt Deel took a careful look at the
main hitches and gave me many a
caution before I drove away. STi•e
said it was a shame that I had to he
Crimshawed" into a man's work at
nay age. But I was elated by my
feeling of responsibility. I knew ho'.v
to handle horses and had driven at
the drag and plow and once, alone, to
the post -office, but this was my first
icng trip without company. I haat
taken my ax and a chain, for One
found a tree in the road now and
then those day's, and had to trim an,'
cut and haul it aside. It was a -drive
of six miles to the nearest mill, over
a bad road. I sat on two cleated
beards placed across the box, with a
blanket over me and my raw over-
coat and mittens on, and was very
comfortable and happy.
1 had taken a little of my uncle's
chewing tobacco out of its paper that
lay on a shelf in the cellarway, for
I had observed that my uncle gener-
ally chewed when he was riding. I
tried a little of 'it and was very sick 1
for a few minutes.
Having recovered, I sang all the
songs I knew, which were not many,
and repeated the names of the presi-I
dents and divided the world into its '
parts and recited the principal rivers:
with all the sources and emptyings of
the latter and the boundaries of the
stetcs and the names and locations
of their capitals. It amused me in
the midst of my loneliness to keep my
tongue busy and I exhausted all my
knowledge, which included a number
of declamations from the speeches of
Otis, Henry and Webster, in the ef-
fort. Before the journey was half
over I had taken a complete inven-
tory of my mental effects. I repeat
that it was amusement -of the only `
kind available -and not work to me. !
I reached the mill safely and before
the grain was ground the earth and
the sky above it were white with
snow driving down in a cold, stiff
i wind out of the northwest. I loaded
in grists and covered them with a
blanket and hurried away. The snow
came so fast that it almost blinded
me There were times when I could
sce.rcely see the road -or the horses.
The wind came colder and soon it was
hard work to hold the reins and keep
my hands from freezing.
Suddenly the wheels began jump-
ing over rocks. The gorses were in
the ditch. I knew what was the mat-
ter, for my eyes had been filling with
snow and I had had to brush them
often. Of course the team had suf-
fered in a like manner. Before I
could stop I heard the crack of a
felly and a front wheel dropped to
its hub. I checked the horses and
jumped out and went to their heads
and cleared their eyes. The snow
was up to my knees then.
It seemed as if all the clouds in
the sky were falling to the ground
end stacking into a great, fleecy cov-
er as dry as chaff.
We were there where the road
drops into a rocky hollow near the
edge of Butterfield's woods. They us-
ed to call it Moosewood Hill because
of the abundance of moosewood a-
round the foot of it. How the
thought of that broken wheel smote
me! It was our only heavy wagon,
and we having to pay the mortgage.
What would my uncle say? The
query brought tears to my eyes.
I unhitched and led my horses up
intc the cover of the pines. How
grateful it seemed, for the wind was
slack below brit howling in the tree-
tops! I knew that I was four miles
from home and knew not how I was
to get there. Chilled to the bone, I
gathered some pitch pine and soon
had a fire going with my flint and
tinder. I knew that I could mount
one of the horse§ and lead the other
and reach home probably. But there
was the grist. We needed that; I
knew that we should have to go hun-
gry without the grist. It would get
wee from above and below if I tried
• to carry it on the back of a horse. I
warmed myself by the fire and hitch-
- ed my team near it so as to thaw the
frost out of their forelocks and eye-
brows. I felt in my coat pockets and
found a handful of nails -everybody
carried neals in one pocket those days
nr
L, ia,..i); •
For Fascinating Eyes e
Make the l'se rLrrine n
Deily Habit.'i!.+ I:. • dngr.vc
Lotion soon FI • ' , ( lent,
Radiant, ne.,i.'. Io,m,n,i� mina.
1....
�r° YE
)
...
l 'WOO Mick*y-
'Worked only th r+eg #burl 0
hack to the hone and played' .0 ,.
Sledge by the drepidv.
Rodney Barnes' came over 'BSC*
ternoon and said that he would lend:
us a horse for the hauling
When we went to' bed that night
Uncle Peabody whispered:
"Say, oi' feller, we was in party
bad ahape this mornin'. If we hadn't
'a' backed up sudden an' took a new
holt I guess Aunt 'Heel would 'a'
caved in complete en' we'd all been
a-bellerin' like a lot o' lost cattle."'
We had good sleighing after that
and got our bark and salts to market
and earned ninety-eight dollars. But'
while we got our pay in paper "bank
money," we had to pay our debts in
wheat, salts or corn, so that our
earnings really amounted to only
sixty-two and, a half dollars, my uncle
said. This more than paid our in-
terest. We gave the balance and ten
bushels of wheat to Mr. Grimahaw for
a spavined horse, after which he
agreed to give us at least a year's
extension on the principal.
We felt easy then.
CHAPTER VIII
My Third Peril.
"Mr. Purvis" took his pay in salts
and stayed with us until my first
great adventure cut him off. It came
este July day when I was in my six-
teenth year. He behaved badly, aril
I as any normal boy would have done
who had had my schooling in the
candle -light, We had kept. Grimsha',v
from our door by paying interest and
the sum of eighty dollars on the prin-
cipal. It had been hard work to live
ermfortably and carry the burden of
debt. Again Grirnshaw had begun to
press us. My uncle wanted to get
his paper and learn, if possible, when
the Senator was expected in Can-
tor:.
So he gave me permission to ride
with Purvis to the post office -a dist-
ance. of three miles --to get the mail.
Purvis rode in our only saddle and i
bareback, on a handsome white filly
which my uncle had given me soon
atter she was foaled. I had fed and
petted and broken and groomed her
and she had grown so fond of me
that my whistled call would bring her
galloping to my side from the re-
motest reaches of the pasture. A
chunk of sugar or an ear of corn or
a pleasant grooming always reward-
ed her fidelity. She loved to have me
wash her legs and braid her mane
and rub her coat until it glowed, and
she carried herself proudly when I
was on her back. 1 had named her
Sally because that was the only name
which seemed to express my fond-
ness.
"Mr. Purvis" was not an experienc-
ed rider. My filly led hien a swift
gallop over the hills and i heard many
a muttered complaint behind Inc, but
site liked a free head when we took
the road together and I let her have
her way.
Coming hack we fell in with an-
other rider who had been resting at
Seaver's little tavern through the
heat of the day. He was a traveller
on his way to Canton and had missed
the right trail and wandered far a-
field. He had a big military saddle
with bags and shiny brass trimmings
and a pistol in a holster, all of which
appealed to my eye and interest. The
filly was a little tired and the
stranger and I were riding abreast
at a walk while Purvis trailed behind
us. The sun had set and as we
turned the top of a long hill the dusk
was lighted with a rich, golden glow
on the horizon far below us.
We heard a quick stir in the bushes
by .the roadside.
"What's that?" Purvis demanded
in a half -whisper of excitement. We
stopped.
Then promptly a voice a voice
which I did not recognize -broke the
silence with these menacing words
sharply spoken:
"Your money or your life!" -
"Mr. Purvis" whirled his horse and
lashed him up the hill. Things hap-
pened quickly in the next second or
two. Glancing backward I saw him
lose a stirrup and fall and pick him-
self up and run as if his life de-
pended on it. I saw the stranger
draw his pistol. A gun went off in
the edge of the bushes close by. The
flash of fire from its muzzle leaped
at the stranger. The horses reared
and plunged and mine threw me in a
clump of small poppies by the road-
side and dashed down the hill. All
this had broken into the peace of a
summer evening on a lonely road and
the time in which it had happened
could be measured, probably, by ten
ticks of the watch.
My fall on the stony siding had
stunned me and I lay for three or four
seconds, as nearly as I can estimate
it, in a strange and peaceful dream.
Why did I dream of Amos Grirnshaw
coming to visit me, again, and why,
above all, should it have seemed to
me that enough things were said and
done in that little flash of a dream
to fill a whole day -enough of talk
and play and going and coming, the
whole ending with a talk on the hay-
mow. Again and again I have won-
dered about that dream. I came to
and lifted my head and my conscious-
ness swung back upon the track of
memory and took up the thread of
the day, the briefest remove from
where it had broken.
I peered through the bushes. The
light was unchanged. I could see
quite clearly. The horses were gone.
It was very still. The stranger lay
helpless in the road and a figure was
bending over him. It was a man with
a handkerchief hanging over his face
with holes cut opposite his eyes. He
had not seen my fall and thought, as
I learned later, that I had riden a-
way.
His gun lay beside him, its stock
toward ate. i observed that a piece
of wood had been split off the lower
side of the stack. I jumped to my
feet and seized a stone to hurl at.
him. As I did so the robber fled with
gun in hand. if the gun hill been
loaded 1 suppose that, his 11111' his-
tory would never have been written.
Quickly I hurled the stone al thcr.
robber. I remember it was a smallish
Than we Can tea s'u fa , pie 1
f- TRY iT 1'o Mir
stone about the size of a hen's egg.
I saw it graze the side of his head.
I saw his hand touch the place which
the stone had grazed. He reeled and
nearly fell and recovered himself and
ran on but the little stone had put
the mark of Cain upon him.
The stranger lay still in the road. I
lifted his head and dropped it quickly
with a strange sickness. The feel of
it and the way it fell back upon the
ground when I let go scared me, for
I knew that he was dead. The dust
around him was wet. I ran down the
hill a few steps and stopped and
whistled to my filly. I 9ould hear
her answering whinny far down the
dusty road and then her hoofs as she
galloped toward me. She came with-
in a few feet of lite and stood snort-
ing. 1 caught and mounted her and
rah to the nearest house for help.
On the way I saw why she had stop-
ped. A number of horses were feed-
ing on the roadside near the log
house where Andrew Crampton lived.
Andrew had just unloaded some hay
and was backing out of his barn. I
hitched my filly and jumped on the
rack saying:
"Drive up the road as quick as you
can. A man has been murdered."
What a fearful word it was that I
had spoken! What a panic it made
in the little dooryard! The man gasp-
ed and jerked the reins and shouted
to his horses and began swearing.
The woman uttered a little scream and
the children ran crying to her side.
Now for the first time I felt the dread
si cane of word and deed. I had
had o time to think of it before. I
thought of the robber fleeing, terror-
stricken, in the growing darkness.
The physical facts which are fur-
ther related to this tragedy are of
little moment to me now. The stran-
ger was dead and we took his body to
our home and my uncle set out for
the constable. Over and over again
that night I told the story of the
shooting. We went to the scene of
the tragedy with lanterns and fenced
it off and put some men on guard
l here.
llow the event itself and all that
hurrying about in the dark had
shocked and excited me! 'The whole
theater of life had changed. Its
audience had suddenly enlarged and
was rushing over the stage and a
kind of terror was in every fare and
voice. There was a red-handed vil-
lain behind the scenes, now, and how
many others, I wondered. Men were
no longer as they had been. Even
the God to whom I prayed was dif-
ferent. As I write the sounds and
shadows of that night are in my soul
again. I see its gathering gloom. I
hear its rifle shot which started all
the galloping hoofs and swinging lan-
terns and flitting shadows and hyster-
ical profanity. In the morning they
found the Bite ee footprints in the
damp dirt of the road and measured
them. The whole countryside was a-
fire with excitement and searching
the woods and fields for the highway-
man.
"Mr. Purvis," who had lost confi-
dence suddenly in the whole world,
bad been found, soon after daylight
next morning, under a haycock in the
field of a farmer who was getting in
his hay. Our hired man rose up and
reported in fearful tones. A band of
robbers -not one, or two, even, hut
a hand of them -had chased him up
the road and one of their bullets had
torn the side of his trousers, in sup-
port of which assertion he showed
the tear. With his able assistance
we sec at a glance both the quality
and the state -of mind prevailing a-
mong the humbler citizens of the
countryside. They were, in a way,
children whose cows had never re-
covered from the habit of jumping
over the moon and who still worship-
ped at the secret shine of Jack the
Giant Killer.
The stranger was buried. There
was nothing upon him to indicate his
name or residence. Weeks passed
with no news of the man who had
slain him. I had told of the gun with
a piece of wood broken out of its'
stock, but no one knew of any such
weapon in or near Lickitysplit.
One day Uncle Peabody and I drove
up to Grimshaw's to make a payment
of money. I remember it was gold
and silver which we carried in a lit-
tle sack. I asked where Amos was
and Mrs. Grimshaw-a timid, tired -
looking, bony little woman who was
never seen outside of her own house
--said that he was working out on
the farm of a Mr. Beekman near
Plattsburg. He had gone over on the
stage late in June -to -bine olat
looked very thoughtfuleas Iva
back home and bad little tut;
teYou never had any Wee Who'_,
robber was, did ye?" he'ariked by 7th
by. •
"No -I could not see plain -,-it wig
so dusk," I said. °
"I think Purvis lied about tt
gang that chased him," he said. "Mei
be he thought they was after hint;
In my opinion he was so scairt bo
couldn't 'a' told a hennock ,from a
handsaw anyway. I think it wan
just one man that -did that job." .
How well I remember the long
silence that followed and the distant
voices that flashed across it now slid
then -the call of the mire drum in
the marshes and the songs of the
winter wren and the swamp robin. It
wa:: a solemn silence. '
The swift words, "Your money og
your life," came out of my memory
and rang in it. I felt its likeness tet
the scolding demands of Mr. Grim-
shaw, who was forever saying in ef-
fect:
"Your money or your home!" . t'
That was like demanding our liver
because we couldn't live without otter
home. Our all was in it. Mr. Grim-
shaw's gun was the power he had
over ua, and what a terrible weapon
it was! I credit him with never re-
alizing how terrible.
We came to the sand -hills and
then Uncle Peabody broke the silence- '
by saying:
'I wouldn't give fifty cents for as.
much o' this land as a bird could fiy„
around in a. day.
Then for a long time I heard only
the sound of feet and wheels muffied.
in the sand, while my uncle sat look-
ing thoughtfully at the siding. When
I spoke to him he seemed not to-
hear
o.hear me.
Before we reached home I knew
what was in his mind, but neither
dared to speak of it.
People came from Canton and all
the neighboring villages to see and
talk with me and among them were
the Dunkelbergs. Unfounded tales of
my bravery had gone abroad.
Sally seemed to, be very glad to
see me. We walked down to the
brook and up into the maple grove
and back through the meadows.
The beauty of that perfect day was
upon her. I remember that her dress
was like the color of its fire -weed
blossoms and that the blue of its sky
was in her eyes and the yellow of its
sunlight in her hair and the red of
its clover in her cheeks. I remem-
ber how the August breezes played
with her hair, flinging its golden
curving strands about her neck and
shoulders so that it touched my face,
now and then, as we walked! Some-
how the rustle of her dress started a
strange, vibration in my spirit. I
put my .arm around her waist and
she put her arm around mine as we
ran along. A curious feeling came
over me. I stopped and loosed my
arm.
"It's very warm!" I said as I picked
a stalk of fire -weed.
What was there aboutthe girl
which so thrilled me with happiness?
She turned away and felt the rib -
lion by which h, r hair was gathered
at the back of her head.
I wanted to kiss her as i had done
years before, but I was afraid.
She turned suddenly and said to
me.
"A penny fc,r your thelughts."
"You won't laugh at me?"
"No,"
"1 was thinking how beautiful you
are and how homely I am."
"You are not homely. I like your
eyes and your teeth are as white
and even as they can he and you are
a big, brave boy, too."
Oh, the vanity of youth! 1 had
never been so happy as then.
"I don't believe I'm brave," I said
blushing as we walked along beside
t wheat -fields that were just turn-
in"
"I was terribly scared
th< night -honest I was!"
t you didn't run away."
"I didn't think of it or I guess I
would have."
After a moment of silence I ven-
tured:
"I guess you've never fallen in
leve."
"Yes, I have."
"Who with?"
"I don't think T dare tell you," she
answered slowly, looking down as she
walked.
"I'll tell you who I love if you
wish," I said.
"Who?"
"You." I whispered the word and
was afraid she would laugh at me,
but she didn't. She stopped and look-
ed veryserious and asked :
"What makes you think yon love
me?"
"Well, when you go away I shall
think an' think about you -an' feel as
I do when the leaves an' the flowers
are all gone an' I know it's going to
he winter, an' I guess next Sunday
Shep an' I will go down to the brook
an' come back through the meadow,
an' I'll kind o' think it all over -what
you said an' what I said an' how
warm the ,no shone nn' how putty
the wheat looked, nn' T amiss I'll hear
that little bird slinging."
We stopped and listened to the
song of a bird -I do notremember
what bird it was -and then she *bp-
i pored:
i
(Continued next week.)
•