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Show f-f M3 A Couple of Scarecrows By PHILIP VERRILL MIGHELS (Copjrliitit, bj Joseph It, Howl--.) Lcsllo Forrest went to bed n peaceful nomad, and uwoke u rebellious farmer. farm-er. At llrst ho knew nothing nt nil of tho germ of war that slumbered under tho ample rolds or his yellow pajamas. He lay In his bed rcllcctlng, a letter In his hand, and his knees upheaving tho coverlet to form two rival fugl-yamns. fugl-yamns. "Your uncle James Is dead, nnd you aro his heir to tho Hlack Onksfnrri " was all ho had read of tho letter. Visions or meadow and stream, ot hillsides cool beneath majestic trees, tho gray of a lichen-feathered wall, o'crgrown with berry brambles, the wlde-spreadlug house, tit8tretchlng nrms of hospitality, nnd the curving path that skirted the ancient well on Its way to tho veteran gate that never shut, but merely stood knee-deep In tho grass camo over his mind from n "barefoot" time at long ago. This mood wits merely reminiscent, however, nnd not at nil to bo construed con-strued itB a consent to become tho owner own-er of a farm. "On tho whole," ho ruminated, scratching at tho bottom of his foot, nnd thereby causing n fearsomo commotion com-motion among tho coverlet fugtynnins, "the plnco lb good to hnve, If only for u homo a Bort of retreat. And then If ever I should get married Well, let's sco wlitt tho rest of It Bays." Ho resumed his letter: "Heir to tho Ulack Ouk fjirm, lnclud-In lnclud-In tho Hilltop addition and n legacy ot 125,000, provided you marry Abigail Umatllln Smoothers, n mucli-rcniovcl family connection. In tho event of your refusal to wed tho said Abigail, etc., you to Inherit the HI nek Oaks nnd 5ho to hnvo tho Hilltop addition and legacy "Now, hnng Ablgnll Utility Smithereens!" Smither-eens!" ejaculated ForreBt, bounding out or bed and sweeping tho coverlet ruglynmas Into space In n tidal wavo or blankets nnd sheets. "It's perfectly Idiotic! It's the kind of stuff you rend about! Abigail Curlpapers Olddy-grce'ns! Olddy-grce'ns! No, you don't, unclo Jomis, not on your daguerrotype. Sho can hnvo tho Hilltop nddltlon, nnd Now why In thunder did ho hnve to glvo her tho wholo bank? Twenty-.'lvo thou I think I'd like but not not with Abigail. No, Abby, go thy Smoothers wnys, In peace nnd curl-pnpers!" curl-pnpers!" Ho danced tho prelude of a marvelous marvel-ous snnkontlno gyration, nnd snt him down on tho edgo or tho bed to scratch at tho bottom ot his foot again. I ho rebellion was started nnd working well. "Helgho!" he mused, ns with hands on his knees, ho looked with wink. ess eyes on tho common design of tho carpet. car-pet. It's Juat tho luck It always goes about that way nnd Just us a tel-low tel-low Is actually taking an Interest In tho loveliest girl In tho unlvcrso, nnd begins to think ho'd Uko to settle down. Hero ho grow quite as sentlmoutal nnd retrospective as Is possible to any man In pajamas. "Wasn't sho charming!" ho exclaimed, ex-claimed, In delight. "Such dear blown eyes! Such hair It looked' llko what? llko raven-colored skeins of silk. Such spirit nnd genius of expressing herself. And yet a touch of sadness, too. 1 wonder why sho wouldn't danco sho said sho liked It. Well, perhaps wo mndo better progress nt getting ncqtinlnted ns It was." Ho wns silent a moment. "Miss Hocklond rather line. I wonder won-der what her llrst name Is? And I don't know whero she lives, or anything any-thing nbout her. That's tho trouble - with a formal Introduction nt n hop, anyway." Slowly Investing himself In conventional conven-tional attire, and lltictuntlng between rhapsodies on his unknown queen, and railleries on Abigail, Forrest went olf to his breakfast at last. Later ho took tho boat for Cornfield and tho Wick Oaks farm. "I'll look tho place over for n couple of weeks," said he, "and then I'm r,cing to hunt Miss Hocklauil up, or squander my youth nnd lortune In the elt'ort. ' - Three large erows wcro stinking nbout nnd cawing In a field that oo-longcd oo-longcd to tho Hilltop addition ono morning as Forrest came forth trom his farmhouse. Ho saw them out oT tho corner of his eyes, the sumo way that ho saw tho woman who wnlkod about the place from tlmo to time. Tliut Abigail would come to fetch him away, or, maybe, that ho should inadvertently inad-vertently wander down through iho vale Into her possessions nud there bo trapped nud wed In splto of himself, was a constant fear with Forrest. Abigail, no reflected, appeared ag gressive, progressive and acquisitive. Sho walked about her acres on the opposite op-posite hill with a certain vigor nud surc-t'ootedneEs that wero very sag-Restive, sag-Restive, ho thought. On hor hold, she woro a bonnet that looked llko a section of blue stovepipe, nnd hid her face as If It wero deep in a tunnel and peering forth. This, aud tho calico dress, secured at tho waist loosely, wero "ear-marks" of nn Abigail Abi-gail every time, tho young man assorted. assort-ed. i As ho glanced nt tho crows this particular par-ticular morning, ho saw her como and frighten thorn uwny. They nllghtod across tho creek In his field of oats. "Tut, tut, Abby!" he said nloud, "I banker not tor crow." When the turned, ho went to the hill tnd heaved a rock A the birds. The settled ngnln on tho Hilltop propenj, whenco, In hnlf-nn-hour, Abigail "shooed" them again to tho field of hor neighbor. "Confound Sunr Impudencol" nld Forrest "I don't caro now If sho docs 8eo me. I'll go right down now nd bounce her saucy black scoundrels." Sho was standing In her f)Md wilfully. "No, I don't caro If sho dues see no," ho repeated. Hut perhaps ho did, at least, In that particular garb, for ho donned a ragged coat and n crumpled hat beforo proceeding along tho hill. "1 think, maybe, bIio won't bo so anxious anx-ious to ge't me," ho mused, "If iho thinks I'm a blooming hobo." Hut why should tho spirit of Forrest be proud? The woman ncross the way was so very far from wanting to got him as ecn to nvold her fields If die thought him nbroud In his. Sho trembled trem-bled dally lest ho como to hor door, or across tho creek, to pour a $25,000 talc of lovo and adoration In net startled ears. Sho had long beroro c included, in-cluded, with every Indication ot logic that sho hated this person, suggested as ho wns In the will ot her ancient distant relation, yclept Unclo James as a suitable future husband. Aud now to ndd further Insult to tho Injury caused by his presence on tho opposite farm, he drove his wretched crows into in-to every Held she hnd. This spectflod morning found her Hushed, angry nnd determined, hence her obstlnuto stind against tho birds. "Oh! oh! my Abby!' chuckled Forrest, For-rest, "you undcrtuko to mnko n scaro-crow scaro-crow of yourself, I see. Well, my dot' lug Glddygreens, I should very much enjoy removing my hat In acknowledgement acknow-ledgement of your eminent fitness only I fear you'd think mo proposing Hut If you can bo n senrewomnn, I tan nlso bo a scarcman, which samo kindly kind-ly remember." Ho planted himself on the slope, nnd tho crows went off In dismay. Then stood the two, distantly glaring nt each other, and telegraphing hato-messnges hato-messnges along tho filmy lines of web thnt spiders had stretched between. "This will never do," mused Forrost "I'll fetch a proxy, that'll mnko her wild." Forthwith ho proceeded to build a regulation Bcnrccrow, of masculine mas-culine meln, thnt flapped Its alcoves In tho wind In n vncuous ecstacy. Wns Abigail so disconcerted? No not Ablgnll. Sho caused to be erected u fcmnlo scarecrow, oh tho hill that wns hers, with a bonnet on Its head, and n string nbout Its slender, unbending unbend-ing wnlst. It too waved Its armlcst Bleeves. Now was n strange duot enacted that was wrought by tho zephyr that wafted through tho vole of tho creel: nnd weaved about tho hills. Toying with the scarecrows from behind, the breozo would lift tho sleoves, first of tho Bcarowoman, next of the man, itnd extend them forth townrds each other, on the hills, In n shocking and palpa-hlo palpa-hlo Invltntion to "come." If the zephy woro strong It would lenn tho scare-man scare-man forward and nod his head In gal-lantry, gal-lantry, nnd then go nbout and bend tin: woman sweetly, nnd move hor bonnet In a manner quite coquettish, To sny that tho owners of tho figured wero Indignant would bo utterly lund-cquntc, lund-cquntc, they wero right down mnd ami outraged. They were also ashamed id pull tho wooing figures down, ror thnt would be Indeed a confession that the spooning antics hnd been noticed. At tho end of -i week tho zephyr nnd loosened the Joints or tho scare-couple to such nn extent thnt their frantic efforts ef-forts to embrace ncross tho vale wori nearly equalled by their shumelcs't bowing and scraping from morning till night. Ablgnll meditated flight. Fori est thought of suicide, nnd of slipping ncross In tho night to do a persona! violence on tho senrewoman, with nn nx. "As soon ns tho liny Is In," ho muttered, mut-tered, "I'll get nwny rrom this nnd gi to seek Miss Hocklnnd." ICarly ono morning, whllo tho various vari-ous preliminaries of a thundcrstomi wero being completed, young Iloreaa. tho blustering brother of Zephyr, cnuu tearing up tho creek-valo nnd Issued forth at tho top ns a whirlwind, mat scudded hither nud yon, nnd up the hills nnd down. When he hnd gono '.ho landscape wns utterly Innocent of scare-people lints, .bonents, nnd nil. Forrost wns Into upon tho scene. "Thank goodness!" ho said aloud, 'the Btorm pulled tho scare-Abby out bj tho roots." Then ho nddod, ns ho took In tho lay of tho country, "Hello! tlx doggono wind bus leveled our Uenu Hrummel, too. Ho wnlked to tho place whero the beau had nourished nnd found only n holo In tho ground. Down to the creok and through rn folding willows Forrest went. Con'iut at length to n little clearing, ho leaped tho brook to find himself fneo to iac with Abigail, who likewise sought hei departed "crow." "What!" ho cried, "you Miss Hock land!" "Oh why you Mr. Leslie?" sha answered. "My name Is Lesllo Forrest," ther said he, his faco aglow with pleasan: emotions: "Oh! nnd mine Is Umatilla Hocklnnd Hock-lnnd Smoothers but I I sometimes leavo off the latter purt," sho suld; ami u merry twinkle nnd it blush began at her eyes nn-l went all over her witching witch-ing countenance. Glancing towards tho willows, In embarrassment, perhaps, tho twe young peoplo suddenly discovered he scareiiiun and the scarowonian, stand! Ing together ngnlnst tho trees, nn urnv less sleeve of tho beau flabbily vruppeo nbout the lady's waist, nnd hor bonne! drooping coyly. |