HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1933-11-17, Page 7r
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' 'NOVEMBER 17, 1933.
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LEGAL
Phone No. 91
JOHN J. HUGGARD
Barrister, Solicitor,
Notary Public, Etc.
Beattie Block - - Seaforth, Ont.
HAYS & MEIR
Succeeding R. S. Hays
Barristers, Solicitors, Conveyancers
and Notaries Public. Solicitors for
the Dominion Bank. Office in rear of
the Dominion Bank, Seaforth. Money
to loan.
i
BEST & BEST
Barristers, :Solicitors, Conveyan-
cers and Notaries Pulblic, Etc. Office
in the Edge Building, apposite The
Expositor Office.
VETERINARY
JOHN GRIEVE, Y.S.
Honor graduate of Ontario Veterin-
ary College. All diseases of domestic
animals treated. 'Calls promptly at-
tended to and charges moderato. Vet-
erinary Dentistry a specialty. Office
and residence on Goderich Street, one
door east of Dr. Mackay's office, Sea -
forth.
A. R. CAMPBELL, V.S.
Graduate of Ontario Veterinary
College, University of Toronto. All
diseases of domestic animals treated
by the most modern principles.
Charges reasonable. Day or night
calls promptly attended to. Office on
Main Street, Hensall, opposite Town
Hall. Phone 116. Breeder of Scot-
tish terriers. Inverness Kennels,
Hensall.
MEDICAL
DR. F. J. R. FORSTER
Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat
Graduate in Medicine, University of
Toronto.
Late 'assistant New York Opthal-
mei -and Aural Institute, Moorefield's
Eye and Golden Square Throat Hos-
pitals, London, Eng. At Commercial
Hotel, Seaforth, third Monday in
each month, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
68 Waterloo Street, South, 'Stratford.
n
DR. W. C. SPROAT
Graduate of Faculty of Medicine,
University of Western Ontario, Lon-
don. Member of College of Physic-
ians and Surgeons of Ontario. Office
in Alberhart's Drug Store, Main St.,
Seaforth. Phone 90.
DR. F. J. BURROWS
Office and residence Goderich Street,
east of the United Church, Sea -
forth. Phone 46. Coroner for the
County of Huron.
DR. C. MACKAY
C. Mackay, honor graduate of Trin-
ity University, and gold medalist of
Trinity Medical College; member of
the 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; pass graduate course in
Chicago Clinical •School of C-icago;
Royal Ophthalmie Hospital, London,
England; University Hospital, Lon-
don, England. . Office -'Back of Do-
minion Bank, Seaforth. Phone No. 5.
Night calls answered from residence,
Victoria Street, Seaforth.
DR. S. R. COLLYER
Graduate Faculty of Medicine, Uni-
versity of Western Ontario. Memlber
College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Ontario. Post graduate work at
New York City Hospital and Victoria
Hospital, London. Phone: Hensall,
66. Offrce,_.King...Street, Hensall.
•
DR. J. A. MUNN
Graduate of Northwestern Univers-
ity, Chicago, Ill. Licentiate Royal
College of Dental Surgeons, Toronto.
Office over 'Sills' Hardware, Main St.,
Seaforbh, Phone 151.
ki
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TW
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f7
A WESTERN ROMANCE
BY CHARLES H. SNOW
(Conr'binued from last week)
,He came to gulchers where min-
ers had albandoned their diggings be-
cause of the lack of water for wash-
ing in the long dry summer and :aut-
umn. an the pitchy blackness he
crossed the 'Sonora road without
knowing it, and continued eastward.
It was nearing midnight when he de-
cided he was hopelessly lost so far
as this night was concerned. He had
a little foss in his saddle -bags. He
reined up in a small swale deeply
carpeted with dry grass.- Albout himn
on the ridge Digger -pines and white -
oaks stood out, their croaked branch-
es in silhouette against the stars.
IFeelin'g ,that he was far enough
from Rancho Linda Vista for safety,
Eillery�, unsaddled and tethered his
horse, who began to nibble fastidious-
ly at the dry fox -tail. Soon Ellery
had a fire 'blazing at the etsge..of the
clearing. The first started to spread
to the dry grass, but he whipped it
out with a bush after' letting • it burn
over a narrow circle. He ate his
food, rolled a cigarette, and sat down
on his saddle to medidate.
The night was colder than he had
anticipated, and -soon frost gleamed
on the dew -touched grass outside the
radius of the fire. Under the chill
stars a flock of wild geese honed
their way southward.. -.At -..intervals
coyotes howled dolefully, as if with
complaints of the approach of win-
ter.
Ellery built up his fire, stretched
out on his saddle blanket with the
saddle for a pillow, and tried to sleep
but slu•mlber•... would no't come. His
mind was too .full, his body„ too vir-
ile. He reviewed the events at Ran-
cho Linda 'Vista, mapped.. his plans
for the immediate future. From
time to time he rose to replenish the
fire, for as the 'hours wore into morn-
ing the cold became more biting.
Out of the present, out of the re-
cent past his thoughts drifted, across
the mountains, across the vast desert
reaches which five years before he
had travelled with a wagon -train
bound for the West, back to his old
home in the Blue -grass:'- With these
memories carne a sudden' decision. He
would get across the mountable be-
fore snow blocked the trails, and go
back home. His eyes were tender as
he pictured the surprise of his mother
and father. •He saw the old home,
staid, comfortaible, with its fluted
White pillars extending to the level
of the second -story roof. He• ceeld,
hear the darkies singing in their cab-
ins' next the. fields of tobacco. He
wondered if Lucy Breckenridge were
as pretty as she had been at sixteen.
And had she married?
He would ride into C.olumibia or
Sonora, tell the officers whathe had
discovered, help them prove it if
they asked, then take the Mono Pass
trail across the mountains. He had.
recognized' the signs, but felt sure- he
could get across into.the sage desert
before winter fell.
Impatient now, chilled, unable to
sleep, Ellety !saddled abourti three
o'clock. The straggling, wind -driven
clouds had formed a solid canopy,
and the night was black as ink. It
was the horse asmuch as the rider
that found the way around patches
of manzanita and chaparral, through
them. At times, Ellery led the an-
imal, lest it should be injured in some
rocky descent.
!By the first hint of the cold dawn
he was in a splendid forest, tall
pines and firs, rising ghostlike about
him. Among them spread frequent
black oaks. The air was -filled with
balsam and the perfume of the morn-
ing dew.
Strangely, Ellery had for miles
traversed a region where miners
worked nearly every gulch and flat,
hut had not come upon a single hu•
man habitation. Once he had smell-
ed smoke, but the shifting, puffy
winds had prevented his locating it.
Dawn revealed a sky leaden and
cold. The wind moaned through the
forest with a dirge -like promise of
early winter. Ellery tied Real to a
tree, and finding a fallen log, built a
fire near it, and curled up with his
back against the log. He was asleep
within five minutes. When he a-
woke he stared up through the tree-
tops to a bright spot in the clouds
that• -held him how high the sun was.
"Ten o'clock," he muttered. His
watch showed' ten thirty.
Be was ravenously. hungry, but his
first thought was of food for his
horse. There was no grass in the
forest, only the inevitable "mountain
misery," a short, fern -like weed that
seemed to grow everywhere. The
tarry secretion of the wheel had
caked the animal's legs to the knees.
A survey of the country from an
open slope told Ellery he had travel-
led too far, and that he 'Must drop
down to find the setblements. He
set out in an arc to northward,
meaning to reach the head of a long
basin he could see. It was past noon
when he came to a trail and reined
into it. There were patches of man-
zanita and mountain -lilac now inter-
spersed among the .pines' and oaks.
The trail was rounding the end of a
thicket when Real suddenly thrust
his short ears forward and quicken-
ed his light step. Ellery was prepar-
ed for a meeting with some miner
trudging hack to his diggings, but
not for what he saw as he rounded
the point of brush.
Not twenty paces away stood a fine
sorrel, every inch a thoroughbred, ifl
Ellery's astonished eyes knew any-
thing about horses. It was not the
fine animal, however, that held his
attention after the first quick look.
'Beside the horse a girl was
straightening up, as if she had just
released one of the sorrel's hoofs
iShe,was slim, of medium height, and
wore a long riding -habit of damp
green, A small hat of the same col-
or almost hid her soft brown hair. At
sight of the man on the coffee -color-
ed ;horse she uttered a little cry, and
DR. F. J. BECHELY
Graduate Royal College of Dental
Surgeons, Toronto. Office over W. R.
Smith's Grocery, Main Street, Sea -
forth. Phone: Office, 185 W; resi-
dence, 185 J.
AUCTIONEERS
OSCAR KLOPP
Honor Graduate Oarey Jones' Na-
tional School for Auctioneering, Chi-
cago. Special course taken in Pure
Bred Live Stock, Real Estate, Mer-
chandise and Farm Sales. Rates in
keeping with prevailing markets. Sat-
isfaction assured. Write orp wire e
Oscar Klapp, Zurich, Ont.
18-03. •-
with a quick gesture released the
tusked up, skirt of the long habit. It
fell about her slim ankles and lay in
folds upon the ground. The, horse
was holding up it right forefoot.
'Ellery swept off his sombrero. Even
now he could not believe that his
eyes were seeing this 'beautiful girl.
A creature -like her had no place in
this !primitive forest. Hier delicately
oval face was flushed with exertion
and embarrassment.
"Good day, ma'am," said
"Good day, suh."
Her soft, half -hesitant
ed Ellery back to the
through the South. He
horse before he realized
ed as he advanced. ,
"91VIay I be of some
Miss-"
"Thank you. suh. Tennessee has
picked up a stone. I was trying to
dislodge it. I shall be mightily oblig-
ed." -
"Both .thoroughbreds," Ellery mus-
ed as he strode toward .the sorrel.
Picking up the forefoot, he found a
hard, flat stone Wedged into the
shoe. He grabbed up another stone
and rapped the flat one out, but he
did not immediately drop the hoof.
The shoe, a slim, skilfully fashioned
strip of iron, interested him for a
few 'moments. It was not the shoe
of an ordinary saddle horse.
He straightened to see the girl six
feet away. Was she real? Was she
a dream? Was he crazy?
"Thank you, suh," she said with a
little curtsey. "I hardly know what
I would have done alone, and 1 could
not ride a lame horse, you see."
Without knowing it, Ellery was
staring at her, for she set his brain
awhirl, so strangely did she contrast
with the girls he had met since com-
ing to California. Her delicate beau-
ty,' her evident refinement, her gen-
tle, wide -'set grey eyes all seemed so
unreal that he felt an urge to sweep
her into his arms to see whether she
were a dream or a fairy or just hu-
man flesh and hone like himself.
And in thatshort survey he com-
pared her with Carlotta Esqueval,
the brazen primitive girl of 'Rancho
Linda Vista; and found himself won-
dering if, after all, she were like
Carlotta inside.
The girl was flushing at the close
scrutiny. '
`:Z beg your pardon. I am James
Ellery."
A smile flashed over her sweet face
and -when she spoke it was in a soft
drawl; and she slurred her-r's.
"I am pleased to make your
quaintance, • Mistah Ellery, I
Nancy Beaufort, suh."
iEllery started to take a step to-
ward her outstretched hand', but as
she moved auickly to meet him one
of her small boots caught in the folds
of her skirt and she toppled toward
him,•, With a leap he reached out, but
instead of setting her on her feet, he
swept her into his arms, lifted her.
Then before either of them knew
what was happening, he was kissing
her upon the, mouth.
Three times he pressed his lips to
hers before she came out of the sud-
den shock. Then she was fighting
like a tigress. Ellery, now almost as
stunned as, she, set her upon her feet
and stepped back. His face haslegone
white withthe realization of what
he had done.
"You cur! You coward! You
brute!" she cried. "How dare you'?
I have a mind--,--" She half lifted
her crop. Every bit of colour had
drained from her cheeks,' but her eyes
glowed. Her white lips were parted
until her even little teeth were bare
to the gums.
Ellery was exerting every atom of
will to hold himself. He inclined his
head, lifted it. •
"Nancy ,Beaufort," he sail solemn-
ly, "I just couldn't help it! You
took me back, back to my mother, my
sister, to a girl I knew in Kentucky.
With all my soul I beg your forgive-
ness!"
Her hauteur was superb. her in-
dignation a grand, tangible thir.g that
to Ellery made her all the more,beau-
tiful.
"I have heard that gentlemen come
from Kentucky," she said withering-
ly, yet in the same soft, slurring
drawl.. "You are not a gentlenean!'
Ellery bowed his head.
"51 accept your verdict, Miss Beau-
fort."
"Are you going to Colunnbia, suh."
"I am, Miss Beaufort."
"Then my father wilt call ,upon
you there!" Gathering the folds of
her habit so that ft 'dropped just a-
lcove her ankles, she moved quickly to
her horse; and though Ellery meant
to give her a hand up, she was in
the saddle before he coulld assist.
r"11My father will call upon you,
Mistah Ellery," she repeated, "that
is if you are gentleman enough not
to turn tail and run."
"I ami riding to Columlbia," Ellery
returned, eyes steady upon her glow-
ing ones, and wanting mightily to
senile. "I shall look forward to the
pleasure of meeting your father,
Miss Nancy Beaufort."
"It will not be a pleasure, suh!"
she corrected, and reined about and
headed down the trail.
Ellery rubbed a hand acrvs his
forehead and felt drops of cold sweat.
Eris rigid features suddenly broke in-
to a contemptuous grin.
El'iery.
reply flash -
Bine -grass,
was off his
it. He bow -
assistance,
ac -
am
self-ontempt he jerked one of his re-
volvers from, its holster, and stared
into the Muzzle. He shoved the
gun back into its leather.
"I ought to do it, but if there's
such a thing as justice in this world
somebody else will."
She had been gone half an hour
before he mounted, He had not rid-
den more than a quarter of a mile
before he came to a simian clearing.
At . the farther side of the opening
was a rude log cabin, and before it
stood an old man clad in fringed
buckskin, and with a battered coon-
skin cap partly biding his long grey
hair.
There was the smell of frying meat
in the air, and with characteristic
impetuosity Ellery reined off the trail.
As he- approached he noticed that a-
botit' all that was visible of the old
man's features in the mass of grey
beard were a high, thin nose and two
very blue eyes. There seemed to be
a twinkle in the alert old eyes as
Ellery reined up.
"'Howdy, suh," he said. "Did I
smell venison frying, or did my nose
deceive me?"
After a quick look art his visitor,
the old man took two steps with the
soft bent -knee tread .peculiar to the
born mountain man, batted his cap
to one side, and said:
"Don't ye suh me, ye Banged young
upstart! I jest ain't used to it. I'm
Uncle Sim Knight from Turkey Track
Holler back in the Blue Iountings
o' C'liny, and I aim to be 'dressed
as sech!"
"Howdy, Uncle Sim," said Ellery,
a slow smile lighting his face, He
had seen many men like this one, but
not many in the 'California mines,
and his heart suddenly warmed. '"I'm
Jim .Ellery."
"Howdy, Jim," Uncle Sim Knight
from Turkey Track Hollow reached
up a bony hand, none too clean. "PM
right glad to meet ye. Yeah, ye
shore smelt deer meat a cookin', and
if ye ain't a mind to rile Uncle Sim
Knight, yell 'light and wrap yerself
round a sample o' that thar buck."
•
.CHAIPTER V
'The spot was one of sylvan beau-
ty, and one which such a Haan as
Uncle. Sim Knight would have been
expected to select as a .camp. The
grassy glade contained perhans two
acres. 'Along the gulch maples flam-
ed from dull gold to bright crimson,
and 'back against the dark green of
the encompassing forest the dog-
woods stood out like irregular balls
of flaming bronze.
At Uncle Sim's urgent invitation,
Ellery unsaddled and picketed his
horse with a lariat. He had seen at
first glance that the old man was
mining in the gulch.
"Good diggings?" he inquired.
"Wal, fair, Jim. 'Bout a couple u'
ounces a day, 'nough to keep- an old
badger like me in grub. I ain't what
ye might call a spendin' man, till I
git started or riled up. Then like
as not I'll bet my pile, say on a hos::
race. That's a danged fine nag ye
got."
"About the finest I ever owned,
Uncle Sim. I bought him yester-
day." '
"Whar? Come on in."
They entered the cabin, and Uncle
Sim turned to his cooking in the rude
fireplace. Ellery saw on Lne floor a
big gold -pan half filled with rfuggets
and fine gold. !Hie laid his heavy sad-
dle -bags beside it.
"I bought the horse from Don
Cayetano Esqueval at Rancho Linda
Vista," he said.
The old man whirled, eyes sudden-
ly narrowed.
"This hyar Don Cayenne Pepper
friend o' yourn?"
"I never saw him until yesterday."
"Wal," the old man tightened his
lips. "Iim glad o' that, fer I kind
o' took a likin' to ye, Jim, fast off,
and it's shore been a disapp'intmont
to me if I'd found ye war a friend
o' this hyar greaser."
Ellery's interest was roused now,
by what the old man had left unsaid.
He asked -him to explain.
"Ever hear o' Juan Moreno, Jim,?"
"Who hasn't?" queried Ellery. "He
was the worst of the Mexican ban-
dits."
• "Not when I fust knowed him!"
Uncle Sim bristled like an angry bad-
ger. "No siree, when I fust knowed
Juan over in the Chis'pa Loma hills
thar warn't a lovin'er boy in all Cali-
forny. !It war us 'Mericans what
made a hellion outen him, Jim. Some-
day melbbe I'll tell ye the whole story,
bow Juan got so danged bad I jest
had to help trail him down. He war
killed by Lee Switiburn over to San-
gre • de Cristo in the Coast Range.
But what I.wuz aim'in' at was that
this hyar Don Cayenne Pepper used
to perteck Juan and his cut-throats.
That's what got most of us 'Merle-
.
"Of all the damned fools, Jim EI•
lery, you're the biggest! Why in
God's name did you do that, man?"
Still stunned by what he had done,
Jim sat down in the trail. It was,
going to take courage to ride into
Columbia, if Nancy ,Beaufort's father
was like Nancy herself. He had
known father of such girls.
"Of all times in my worthless life
When 1 should have kept my head,"
be muttered savagely. "She'll never
understand! Carlotta would have
.licked it. Oh, to hell with Carlotta!"
In the bitterness of disgust and
•
LIQIUID 17r P STE
STOVE MIMM1
ans 'down; on him."
Ellery knitted his 'brows.
"Do you think that if Don Cayetano
gave protection -4o Mexican bandits,
Uncle Sim, he would sort of hobnob
with Am•erimns of the serne stripe?"
''''What ye mean?"
!Ellery explained part of what he
had seen at Rancho Linda Vista. Un-
cle Sim wagged his hoary head.
"Wal, thar's a old sayin' as met a
man taike§ to bad cosmp'ny, it's sort
o' nacheral fer him to keep it up.
Squar yerself round now and try this
hyar deer meat and sour -dough
bread. 'I 'low it's fair, 'special if a
feller's hungry."
'That Uncle Sim Knight was none
too clean did not dampen Ellery's ap-
petite. In his soiled (buckskin, and
with his unkempt hair and beard, the
old man was somehow remindful of
a grizzly bear. Ellery was yet to
learn that he was a man given to
strange, quick and enduring friend-
ships, in which he would joyfully lay
down his life if this [became neces-
sary; or that from the moment of
their m!eeting'he had felt that he had
known Ellery for years.
"Wbar ye from in the fust place?"
Uncle )Sim demanded as he folded a
piece of meat into a slab of bread
and poised it . easy for a bite.
"My home is in Kentucky. I cross-
ed the plains in '49."
"'Wal; by Gawd! I'm from C'liny
myself, which danged nigh makes us
kin. Ye 'n' me 're goin' to be
friends, Jim."
"I surely hope so, Uncle 'Sim."
"Thar ain't no doubt 'bout it. Hell
and molasses, II pllumb fergot!" He
hopped from his stool and dragged a
jug front/ under the bunk, drew the
cork ,with his teeth, and extended the
jug.
"She's fair cawn-juice, Jim. She'll
start yer (blood runnin'."
Ellery took a drink, and Uncle
Sim 'took a longer one, after which
he wiped his hairy lips and chuckled:
"Boy, I war weaned on hard likker,
and .I don't see it's ever done me .no
harm, and thar's many a time it'd
been powerful hard gittin"'long 'thout
it."
(With the sudden agility of a boy
the old inan leaped into the air and
clicked his Imoccasined heels together.
He emitted a blood -curdling . war -
whoop. Then, tilting back his head,
he chortled in a cracked old voice:
"A scorpeen set on a t'rantler's back,
(And chuckled in ghoulish glee,
if I don't sting that pizen son -of -a -
gun,
shore be a stingin' me!"
'Ellery did not know whether to
laugh or not. He chuckled, however,
for there was something comical in
the old man, for all his formidable
appearance. At one side of Uncle
Sim's belt dangled a big cap -and -ball'
revolver, at the other ' side a long
bowie knife in a worn sheath.
"That thar's my fav'ryte sbng," an-
nounced Uncle Sim. "Allus sing 'er
when I feel good luck and when thar's
a fight in the air. Jim, I'd ruther
fight 'n eat any time, and Uncle Sim
Knight from Turkey Track Holler's
shore a old hellion when he gits ril-
ed. More'n onct I licked my weight
in wildcats and danged fools throw -
ed in."
As • suddenly as the hilarious out-
burst had started, it ceased. Uncle
Sim dropped to his stool and took a
mouthful of meat and bread.
"Ever have a shore 'Hough. fight,
Jimmie?" he demanded.
Ellery confessed that he had had
a few fights. Uncle Sim squinted one
eye and appraised him for perhaps a
half -minute.
"Danged if I don't b'lieve ye got
nerve," he decreed. "Wal, if ye hap-
pen to.,pair up with rue, ye'll likely
git a chance to show it."
It was not a protracted meal, for
Ellery- had been ravenously hungry,
and the old man wasted no time in
formality. When it was finished
Uncle Sim took another stiff drink,
and handed Ellery the jug.
"Thanks, Uncle Sim," said the lat-
ter."I° never like it after eating."
"Wal, ever' wan to his taste. I like
'er any time; and the • more I git in-
side me the better I feel. 'Sides,
kind o' got a feelin' somethin's goin'
to happen to ye 'n me that'd) keep us
from caw -n likker fer quite a spell."
"Me, too?" Ellery was amused.
He had no thought of remaining here
longer than to show that heappreci-
ated the old mountain man's hospi-
tality.
"I said ye, didn't I?" Unc:e Sim
bristled. "Don't ye b'lieve in signs
and feelin's? Wal, I do, and some -
thin' tells int ye and Uncle Sim
Knight air goin' to be powerful
friends and have a heap o' work cut
out fer 'em. Nope, I cain't 'splain
jest now. As fer sings, we're goin'
to have a danged early winter and a
hard 'un. The deer's beer' corrin' out
o' the high mountaings a month
early. The oaks is sheddin', and fer
two weeks I noticed geese travellin'
south; but what's wusser, fer the last
three days thar's been sundawgs
chasin' the sun, • Sech signs never
fail,"
(Ellery told of his plan to get across
the mountains before winter broke.
Uncle Sini wagged his head in abrupt
negation.
'Ye ain't goin'!"
"But why?"
"Wal, .in the fust place the snow'l1
be too deep, and in the second place
I jest ain't goin' to let ye. Jim. I
got rich ground hyar, and plenty fer
two of us. I jest got to have a fel-
ler 1' like round. 'Course we'll ride
intp..Colun!bia and Sonory from time
to' -ti e and raise us a leetle hell. A
feller cain't be 'spected to stay holed
up all winter like a grizzly b'ar,"
Ellery listened, not without inter-
est and amusement, as the old man
outlined his plans for the winter to-
pether, and wondered a little if old
Uncle .Sim• were gifted with the pow-
er of prophecy. Some people were,
though it was more probable that
Uncle Sim had gained his knowledge
of the subject from the superstitions
of the darkies in Carolina. The old
man tamped his pipe with some na-
tural leaf. 'Ellery rolled a cigar-
ette.
'Uncle Sim," he asked, "did you
see a young lady ride past not long
before I arrived?"
"I shore did, and she had that sor-
rel thorenbred at a run. Wonder
what she war in sech a hurry fer.
That was Nancy Beaulfort. Fates'
Cunnel Beaufort's gal. boy, Rides
out this way most ever' day, but ain't
ver:a'bje4, a9 #hit
mx wa , hei ''bets. quo' t r an. • e '.
a old C'liny iB•(b?ll'iy ' jekl IV
'her by sight 'A+) Tae."
Ellery adnsi d that 'fie' lad seers,
the girl up the tea*"
"She appeared 'very beaszti'fal,'
Uncle Sim."'
"Purtier'n a •yearli'n' doe in sumLxler
hair," agreed the old 'man, "And she
shore looks like s'he'd be syrteetger-
wild -(bee honeys. Ye stick by Uncle
Sim Knight and ye'l'l git to know
Nancy Beaufort afore winter's over.
Ye can talk sense -to her; 'cause ye're
quality, too, boy. Any Banged fool
can tell that."
In reply to a question from Ellery
Uncle Sim explained 'that - Colonel
Beaufort had been a planter -lawyer
in Tennessee before coming west. Re-
port had it that he was a man of
more than ample means and that his
residence in the mines was merely
the satisfaction of a desire for the
adventurous and picturesque. Be-
sides holding rich claims near Colum-
bia, Beaufort had a law office in Son-
ora, and owned a substantial inter-
est in the Milner bank at Columtbia,
which was making money hand.over-
fist buying gold from the miners.
"iI hear the gal's all he's got,"
Uncle Sim: added. "4Sbe goes ever'-
whar with the tunnel. They tell me
they're as much to home in San
Francisco and Sac'emento as they are
at the Columbia House. Miss Nancy
she's quite a belle down in San Fran-
cisco."
"I can well imagine," replied E.
lery, picturing again her pretty, in-
dignant face.
"And the tunnel shore is a man
fer race-hosses. Jim, if- he sets eyes
on that thar yeller hoss o' yourn he'll
likely make ye a fine offer fer him."
"He can't have him," Ellery declar-
ed. "I'm going to ride that horse
back to Kentucky."
Uncle Sim bristled belligerently.
"By Gawd, ye're,not! Ye're goin'
to stay right hyar with me on this
hyarsjaim this winter. Thar's plen-
ty gold fer two, and 'sides, what
do I care fer gold'?" Uncle Sim made
an indifferent gesture toward the pan
of it on the floor,.
Indeed, he did net care for gold
except in the satisfaction of his sim-
ple taste. The getting of it afforded
him the adventure his ors soul crav-
ed. 'Strangely, in this land of lavish
gold there was much suffering, the
suffering of failures and inconi e -
tents, and Uncle Sim Knight took
more pleasure in giving a sack of
gold -dust to some poor family than
in ' any other thing except hunting.
Birth, instinct, training, had made
the old Haan a woodsman and moun-
taineer. When the news of the gold
discovery in California had reached
the Cumberland's •he had set out, a-
cross the south, across the unexplor-
ed southwest, braving Comanches and
Apaches, out along the arid Gila
Trail, across the Colorado. the .Teh-
achipi, and up the San Joaquin to
the mines.
Here he was in his element. Time
gulches and flats gave hint so much
gold that he had to scatter the sur-
plus with a lavish hand. He mined
perhaps a fourth of his time. A
fourth he spent in the towns. The
remaining half he devoted to hunt-
ing, for to him, there was a far
greater thrill in killing a big grizzly,
stalking a puma, or bringing down a
cunning old buck than in taking ten -
thousand -dollar nuggets from the
shallow gravel.
"But really, Uncle Sim, I can't
spend the winter here with you, much
as I'd like to," said Ellery. "I've got
to be going along. As soon as I get
my business in Sonora attended to
I'll head for the Mono Pass."
Uncle Sim's beard bristled like the
roach of an old grey badger.
"Ye're a Banged liar, young fel-
ler! Ye,'n rue's goin' to spend this
hyar winter together. Now don't ye
be a tellin' me ye cain't. 'Course
thar's qnp thing what'd make me not
want ye fer"a••pardner."
"What's that?" Ellery smiled tol-
erantly at the old man's seriousness.
"If ye're a.married man I wouldn't
want ye round any longei'n to jes,
be hospiterable, .Jim."
"I'ni not married," said Ellery.
Uncle Sim slapped his• buckskinned
leg.
"Then by hell and no-lasse she's
all settled!"
"But really, Uncle Sin:-"
"Shot up! Le's have 'nother drink
to hind the bargain."
Ellery decided to humour the old
man to the extent of agreeing with
liim, then ride away- later. He was
thinking that the old mountaineer
would not he an over -agreeable com-
panion through the long winter. Be-
sides, by nature Ellery was not do-
mestic. He, as much as Uncle Sim,
wanted to feel the throbbing pulse
of life all about him.
They went outside and sat on a
log. The sky was still leaden, and
the variant puffs of wind through
the woods sent leaves of oak and
maple and dogwood tumbling in swift
colour against the dark background.
Uncle Sim squinted upward,
"Jim, she's shore a goin' to storm.
Snow afore to-morrer night, or I'll
eat my moccasins. I never yit seen
them sun-dawga fail. No siren!"
Suddenly from the timbered trail
came the pound of hoofs. A man on
a mule swept into sight and reined
into the clearing. With a mighty
"whoa" he pulled the puffing animal
to a stop. He was a gawky young
fellow with a lantern jaw which work-
ed excitedly on a cud of tobacco.
"Howdy, Johnny," said Uncle Sim.
"What's all 'the rush? Most usual
ye and that thar myule ain't it sech
a dam 'ed big hurry."
(Johnny's jaws worked faster. Hir
mouth opened, closed, opened. His,
protruding eyes were wild,
"Hu- hu- hu" he stammered, glans
ing hack toward the trail. '4Huhe1:'s
turned loose in town! The M -Milner
bank's been robbed and two men
shot!"
In a panther -like spring. entirely
unlooked for in a •man of his years,
Uncle Sint was up. He hauled John-
ny off the mule and demanded that
he give a sensible explanation. Mean-
while Ellery was on his feet, listen-
ing alertly. -
Uncle Sim's eyes glowed triumph-
antly as they turned upon Ellery.
"Thar! I told ye somethin' war a
goin' Ito happen, Jim!• • This hyar
country's been too danger peaceable..
I told., ye ye'n me'd have somethin'
to do."
"But I don't understand, Uncle
SPOT&
?HOPI
ROOM )IA,
MPRH PUH r TH -i {1
A MT1( •
WITH PNi
!?n4 PHfiNI; !M PrvERrso9M
Sim," said Ellery. "I don't see what
I can do."
To the great astonishment of
Johnny, who by nature feared viol-
ence, Uncle Sim laid one hand upon
his knife, the other upon his revolver.
He leaned forward and glared at El-
lery.
"The hell ye don't? Wal, Jim, ye
'n me's goin' to ketch them robbers. .
Cannel Beaufort's a Tennessee man.
Ye're from Kaintucky, and I'm a old'
C'liny hill -billy. If that thar don's
make us ree-fated, jest tell ne whale
does. Air ye cumin' 'long, Jim; or do
I have to carve a piece outen yer ear
by way o' argiement?"
(Continued next week.)
Winter Fair Dates
Ottawa. Winter Fair -November 14
to 17.
•Royal Winter Fair, Toronto -Nov.
22 to 30.
Ontario Provincial Winter Fair,
Guelph -December 5 to 7.
Winter Fair At Guelph
The Ontario Provincial Winter Fair
to be held Decehnber 5 to 7 inclusive,
will undoubtedly draw a particularly
strong entry. At no show is there
a more attractive display of draft
horses than is seen in the single and
teams at Guelph. The classes for
market cattle are always strong and
there is usually a good showing in
the ' three beef breeds., The sheep
show is outstanding. In the seed de-
partmlent there are good prizes and
keen competition. The evening horse
show is an attraction that always
pleases. Write to R. W. Wade, Par-
liament Buildings, Toronto, for prem-
ium list, and remember that entries
close on November 20. This is the
fiftieth annual Ontario Provincial
Winter Fair to be held at Guelph.
"Royal" Prospects Good
Advance information from the
management of the Royal Winter
Fair is to the effect that prospects
are (brighter _fer the coming Fair
than any in its 12 -year history. It
is expected that there will ;bin a par-
ticularly heavy entry of all classes
of live stock and farm products. For
eight days, November 22 to 30, there
will be on display some of the best
products of the land. The small
breeder or, small landowner will 'be
found in competition with the pro-
ducts from large holdings. The boys
will have an opportunity to show
their beef calves in a wide open com-
petition. Formerly it was necessary
to be a member of a calf club in or-
der to show, but this year any boy
between 14 and 20 years of age who
has a calf sired by a purebred bull
born on or after September 1, 1932,
which he has fed, cared for and fitted
two months prior to fair dates, may,
enter in competition.
LONDON AND WINGHAM
South.
P.M.
Wingham 1.55
Belgrave 2.11
Blyth 2.23
Londesboro 2.30
Clinton 3.08
Brucefield 3.27
Kippen ..... 3.35
Hensall 3.41
Exeter 3.5
North.
A.M.
Exeter 10.42
Hensel' 10.55
Kippen 11.01
Brucefield 11.09
Clinton. 11.54
Londesboro 12.10
Blyth 12.19
Belgrave" 12.30
Wingham 12.50
C. N. R.
East.
A.M. P.M.
Goderich • 6.45 2.30
Clinton '7.08 '3:90
Seaforth 7.22 8.18
Dublin 7.33 3.31
Mitchell 7.42 3.43
West
Dublin 11.19 9.32
Seaforth ..... 11.34 9.45
Clinton 11.50 9.59
Goderich 12.10 10.25
C. P. R. TIME TABLE
• East.
Goderich
Menset
McGaw
Auburn
Blyth
Walton
A.M.
5.50
5.55
6.04
6.11
6.25
6.40
McNaught " 6.52
Toronto 10.25
West.
A.M.
T ronto 7.40
M Naught 11.48
Walton 12.01
Blyth 12.12
Auburn 12.23
McGaw 12,84
Menaet 12.41
Goderich 12.46