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Show ., . THEJORDANJOU~NA~MIDVALE,UTAH ------- ---- ---- A•tAorof ••Tbe Cow Puncher .. .. The Homesteader• •• Bring Your Home Up to Date WNUSenlee O>p:rria"ht bJ' !tobert Btea4 By ROBER T STEAD BUT ON THESE PRAIRIES -'' 11 .,Tell me, Jean," I pressed at length, "why can't we go back; why can't we start over again-like that?" "lVe have always been good friends," she murmured. "Good friends-yes. Must it stop at that P" "'And neighbors/' she continued. "We have always been good neighbors. Perhaps that is the trouble." "If ow-the trouble'!" "lYell, it's like this," she said, and again the toe began to gyrate in the .mow. "We've known each other so well, and so long, there isn't anything-muc h-left to know, is there 'I Could you sta1~d the bor~dom. of a person who has no new thoughts, no strange ideas, no trhtms-nolhing that you haven't a.lready seen and known a hundred times 'I" "There never could be boredom with you, dear. Jtwt to have you writh me, to feast on you, to know you were mine, would be enough for me." "For about a week. You'd soon tire of a feast with no f/at~or to it. I tcould, at any rate. . . . Oh, I see it working out already. l don't want to gos8ip, and Jack and Marjorie have been everything they rould to me, but already 1 can see them settling down to the routi11.e--the deadly routine. Bad enough anywhere, but on the.~e prairies, with their isolation, their immensity-unb earable. I couldn't stand it." Frank Hall and Jean Lane, hero and heroine of this tine story of homesteading on the Manitoba prairies, are the tw\J persons talkln~r. It's a case of love since childhood In Ontario. But now the lovers seem to have come to an unfordable stream In 1\lanltoba. You see, the girl thinks •he knows the youn'" man too completely to be happy with himat least under the conditions of homesteaders' life on these great prairies. T.he romance of Frank and Je'\n begins early. Lured by his fouryear-old playmate, Jean, Fran!<, aged six, ventures on the forbidden wall of a dam. He falls Into the water, and Ia saved from possible death by clinging to Jean's outstretched arms. Next day he has a vision of romance when Jean Informs him that because of their adventure of the day before he Is In duty bound to marry her. He agrees, the only proviso being that they are to walt until they are "grownups." "With Jean's brother John, also aged olx, Frank begins school. Two years later they are joined by Jean and Frank's sister Marjorie. A little later Jean confides to Frank, In verse, her hope of some day becoming "Mrs. Hall." He accepts the "proposal." Frank Is fourteen when hls mother dies. He takes a job In the mill where his !ather works. The boys are eighteen when John's father Is killed In an accident. Two years later Frank's father and John's mother are married. Dissatisfied with conditions, and ambitious, the two boys make plans to go to Manitoba and '"homestead," the girls agreeing to go with them. Evidently the study of life among the homesteaders of Manitoba Is at first hand. So, In addition to the love story, the story has a sociological and historical value. The story of the marriage ot John and Marjorie on Christmas day, the gathering of tl1e nelghbcrs and the presentation of their wedding gl!ts Is an Illuminating glimpse of the democracy o! tho frontier. Il.obert St~ad, the author, was born on a farm In Manitoba. He hao been a newspaper editor and publisher and Is now an official of the Immigration and colonization department of the Canadian government. So be knows whereof he writes. he'd take me over, quick," she continued, with a quivering Up. -1John Lane was six, like me, and no My earl!est recollC<'tlon links back 'fhe allusion to him as her !Jigger. to a gray stone house by a road enwho would take her over brother. big tering a little Ontario town. Across quivering lip, were too tne and qulck, the road was a mill pond, and across much. the mill pond was a mill; an olc.l-fashI sernmbled to my !eet. "Come," I loned woolen mill which ·wns the ocrecklessness, casion and support of the little town. said, with masculine she followed and dam, the for starting He~lde the mil! was a water whet'!; joyously. not a modern turbine, but a wooden We are about half way over. when wltf>el which, on sun~hlny days, sprayed ~omPthing happened-! never knew u mist of jewels Into the river beplump!'d Into deep water nl'ath with the prodigality ot a fairy whnt-but I thrown from the shore. stone a like I prince. a great mouthful and came took The mill pond was held In check hy a stone dam which crossed from the up spluttering, choking, frantic. 'l'he road almost In front of our door to slippery wall gave no grip !or my hands, and in a moment I must have a point on the mill Itself. The stone crest of this dam rose about two feet gone down again, but Jean's head shove the !eYe! of the water In the came out over the IE'dge and hPr litmill pond, and was about two feet tie arms were rPached clown to mine. Along this crest my father I graspeq them and hung on-hung wtrle. walked on his way to and from the in water to my neck, while Jean and mill, hut I had strict orders not to 1 hoth shouted lnstlly, Help cnme quickly In the person of altPmpt the feat, with the promisE> tl•a t I would l>e thrashed "within an my father, who hnd seen the accident from one of the upper windows of ln<'h of my life" If I did. And now I must Introduce .TPan the mill, find hnd come rushing out LnnP. dau.r::hter of our nParest neigh- at ~ p~ce which had quite upspt the his route. I was dragged es on opel at!~th t t J p t b or, •r d " r. e er 1.nne. ean 1s o rave 1 1 1 e am n a moment, and I with us through most of the chapters up on standing bP~Ide .Tean rPmember t cnn f tl tl t ·h t . of thl s some'" a 1n rna e a<'coun . 1lttle, and flnylng, 11 nne! you may as well meet her nt ~~ • lPr. c.rymg a I lease don scold him, Mr. Hall. I h _ "' "' ld 1our, h are- f oo t e d an d ,.o en- a 1""'' mare 1 11 1rn do It" . d anrt hlue-eYed, with a wisp ot white 1 expPcte my father to scold her, cotton dre~~s and a g-leam of whitt> he took her up In his arms and hut ro~P·leaf of lips tf"f'th set hetWPPn her to his breast. held to came ~he Df'murelv rlown the road a brnYe little girl, Jean; ''You're whPre I ln.v sprawled on the rl,:er little girl," I heard wonderful a you're hnnk contemplating thP lelsurPiy prPhPr on the ldssE>d he ci~inn of the \Yater whepl heyonrl. him !'a.v, anrl did to me. ever \Yiwn shP rPached me she pau<;Pd, silt face, which hE' hardly wet and me, !Pel flown, and hnrlPrl her feet in the soft Then, homeward he on silently speculating and mlsPrable, snnd of the bank. "J wnnt to ~ 0 to the mill," she snld, wl.:tt It mlty mean to be thrashed w!thwh••n her little toes were WE'll out or In an Inch of one's 11fe. Hut It proved to be a day of ~;~ur sight. I was not thrashNl within prises. "nut you cnn't go to the mill," T my life, nor at all ; I was or inch an !'laid, n·tth the mnture authority of nndr<'ssecl. and rnbhert with a warm six. "You'd fall ln." towel, and put In bert, and .c:l\·pn g "T wonlc.ln't, ne!ther."-!'he glnncPd large tumhlerful of hot choke-cherry at me plfiRhly from unrlPr her ~·pllow wine, hPcausp It was still enrl:v In loeks-"not If you helped mC'." the r;:enson And the water was ~old. Jt was a difficult t<itnation. ITere And my llttlP sister Marjorie <'Arne 11·as I, 11 youn~ man of six, honorer! und lookerl at me with large, rtark. hy a commission of grPat responsi- <'omprehendinll' E'~·N1, and said, "I bility from a ,·oung womnn of four. know why you didn't get thrn~hed." Mr nativE> gallantry, as wplJ 1\S a I get thrashed?" J "'Vh~· didn't plpus:lllt fpelln~ of competence, urged ventnrPd. tl•nt I lmmedr,,tely lead hpr across "Because yon Wt>re 110 awful wicked. that two foo~ strip of masonry. But ~·ou're awful had you don't get When tht p:lrPntal veto, and the I•rornlst' of Its only whpn you're a lltthrashed; bt·mg thmshea within an inch ot my she explalnE?d. bnd,'' tie It fl'. :-;orely, and, as It seemed to me, I had to stll:V In hl'd tor the reunfairly, curbed my clJivalry. malnder N the flay, which I think was "I'd like to take you over, Jean," more a pun!shmPnt than a precaution. J ronceded, "hut my father won't let so I had oppOTtunlty to think on me.'' Marjorie's philosophy. It was evldPnt ··nJrt you' fathe-r sny you mu~>tn't that she was right; I had the proof tal;e me over?" With almost un<'anny In my own exppr!Pnce; I had hepn Intuition she thrust at the vulnerable l'"ery wicked, and had escaped punishspot In the armor of my good be- ment. My consciousness ot evil-dohavior. Ing, however, rested lightly upon me. "!\"o; he C!ldn't say anything about I had escaped the strap which h•mg 70n." behind the kitf'hen coor, anrt wbich -.!'hen you can take mt>1" was a much more Immediate meUR<'e I dug my toes Into tba sand beside than any possible torments of the hers. but dld not answer. aftL'T world. I spent the remaining "If m:r bl,;.: hruvver Joh.n was here l>onrs of the day ln lmsgln~ ~tun- CHAPTER I .. I ' • tlons in which I would save Jean from >lll kinds ot disasters. Next morning found me none thP worse for my experlen<'e; Indeed my lip over the dum already seemed o more or less vague recollection. After breakfast I made a journey to the big pine which grew at the very encl of our little farm-a surviving mon arch ot the forest that in some wny had escaped the locust cloud of axmen which had swarmed th'r ougb tltP country twenty years before. Perhaps It whs as l ll!y under the g1·ent pine on that sunny summer morning and watched the filmy clouds float gently oycrhC'nd that I caught my first glimpse, shyly, wonderingly through the goldPn gatE's of romancE>. It was a vision of Jean; a vision which has remained with me through the yPars, growing, thrilling In my moments of happiness, fading In my hours of durkne~s. hut at no time Perhaps It was my quite obscure. first glimpse of that vision which brought me on that morning to my feet where the great pine's swaying lacework ot sun and shadow patterned the green grass and set m:Y heart liltIng with the joy of being alive. I was about to shape my Ups for a whistle when I be<"ame conscious ot a presence. It was Jean, her golden locks held together by a midget sunbonnet, save for some vagrant curls which nestled against the peach•plnk bloom of her cheeks; her chubby bare feet eeeklng cover In the grass. "I saw you golng to the big tree," she explain~. "so I corned too." "U"h-huh," I commented <'aut!onBiy, being gripped with a sudden sense that this young woman had led me Into difficulties only a day ago. Men cannot be too careful. She sidled toward me. "Do you know what you have to do for yesterday?" she queried. "No," I said, with some misgiving. thinking that possibly my behavior had been reported to the Lanes to my disadvantage. "Gwandma says when a young la-dy sa,·es a young gen-tle-man, he-has-tomawwy-her," she said, speaking very slowly at first, but finishing her sentence \vlth a little run. "So you have to mawwy me." She was beside me now, and her face was radiant with the excitement of her secret. Only "But I can't marry you! grownups do that!" I protested. "Won't we he gwownups some day?" "I guess so," I admitted. And then with a sudden burst of resolution I addPd, "And then I'll marry you." She held l1er face up to me and I leaned over and kissed it shyly. Then, hand In hand, we retraced our way down the cowpath, along the rows of sprouting corn, by the stables and past our house. .Jean led me to her own home. which was next to ours, down the road. "You have to ask mamma,'' she snirl, as our little figures dropped their l"hadows acro~s Mrs. Lane's kltchen floor. This was more than I had bargained I was beginning to dls<"over that for. :\IIss Jean was 11 young woman o! a<'But I was tlon as well as decision. gnme. "Mrs. Lane,'' I said, bra<"lng my legs for the ordenl, "I-want-to·marry , Jean." .T('an's mother lookPd at me with R smile that hrondened until It broke Into open laughter. "I am afraid you nre very prt>coI clous children." she rpmarked. didn't know what that meant, but she gave us each a doughnut. ancl we \Yent away happy, .TPnn twirling hers on her finger for a wedding ring. CHAPTER II That same snmmer r begnn ~;olr.g to school. Perhaps I ~hould Fay that .John Lane and T he~an going to sr·hool, as lt was ~omf'thin~ of a .!oint arl\"entnrP. We tnll,eel of it to;:NhPr for WP!'ks hefon> the grrnt event. At that time my ohjPctlve In life, In so fnr ns I hnd on<>. wn~ to he 11 locomoth·e engineer, but .John hull eler>terl to he the owner of a wc'olrn mill-hlnndly overlooking the little q\tefHion of capltnl-and we dlsf'us>:ed our school training In the light of these ambitions. On the eventful morning I remember my father coming Into the loft and leaning ov!'r my h!'cl, wh!'re I feigned sleep. "Pulr wC'e mannie," J lleard him suy, droppin;.: Into tha S<'otch tongue whlcll he reservpd for moments of emotion, "it's a long road he's starting on, and a hard one, too, or he'll no be like the rest o' us." :\fy mother scoured me well and dressed me In a clean new suit nnd took my cheeks between her hands and kissed me. and told me to work hard and grow up a goort man like At the g-nte I met John, my futher. and together we sturted down the turnpike of life. I spent the day becoming a<'customell to my new envlronruent, and marveling ove-r n <'ertain bale! spot on the tPa<'hPr's head \vhlch Rhone re~plenelent whPn the light struck It a j eertain way, unci wondPring what pos. .;!hie ae!Ynnta~:e it coul1l l!e to a lo· Pomotive engineer to know that A 11ad two slanting legs tied together n the middle. Two years later l\Iarjorle and Jpan started going to school, and we were proud boys Indeed as we led them up the aisle to the master's desk. In those dnys, wh!'n large families ,·ere st!ll considered proppr, two ch!ldrt'n were a compara t[\·ely smnll lml'eeliment; inde£>el, It wus commonly oaid among the townspeople thHt the ~mnllness of my father's family had made It possible for him to pay for and clear his farm. At any rate my mother was a person ot leisure by comparison with nPighbor women who \\'ere trying to clothe, clean, and discipline ten or tweiYe children apiece. The LanE's were In thP same 1appy circumstances as ourseh·es, and being also our nearest neighbors, a considerable friendship had sprung up between the two families. This developed as we ch!ldren grew older and had mutual Interests In studies and sports. Jack-he was Jack now-nnd Jean often came over to our house on a winter's evening, bringing their acbool Jean's Head Came Out Over the Ledge and Her Little Arms Were Reached Down to Mine. books, and the four ot us sat about our big kitchen tahle poring over our studies or throwing or Intercepting furtl>e glances between Jack and Marjorie, and, I may confess, between Jean and Frank. Jean was !nlr, with large blue eyes and dear pink cheeks and lips that always made me think of roses. They seemed always as delicate and tremulous as a rose leaf after rain. At eight o'clock we would close our books, nnd mother would sny, "MarJorie, you may hrlng up a basin ot apples," or pprbaps It would be a dozen ears of roasUn~~: corn, and we would sit ahout the fireplace, munchThen we Ing in great happiness. would have a g-ame of bllnfl man's buff, In" which I had a way of catching .Tean, or buttQn, hntton, who's got the button? or hide-the-handker chief. And at nine Jack and .Jean would leave for home, and we would go with thPm to th('lr gatE>, anrt I would help Jean where the drifts were deep. And Mar.iorle and I would walk hack arm In arm, and she would. talk an unne<"e~~ar)' lot nhout Jack. .Jean's fir;:t poein was written about thls time. Rhe developed It one niA"ht while o~tpnsihly busy at her studies, and sllpped It Into my hand when we parted 'In front of hPr house. I hurried homE>, hut my motht'r nnd :\Inrjorle sat so close to the lamp that I had no opportunity to read It until I Then I wPnt npstnlrs to bed. !<nwothE'd the crumpled little sheet and rendWhen I am old And Yery tall I hopo my name Wlll be Mrs. Hall. I lay awake for hours tllat night, jo;ously piecing togpther bits ot rltsrne, but I was no ,·ersltler, :mrl hnd to be content with prose. I put It in very rnatter-of-fnet form on my slate, whlrh I managed next day tc leave on Jean's desk: "Your proposal is nccepted.-F. H." When I was twelve Granny Lane died, and after that Mr. and ;\Jrs. LunP often c-ame oYer, too. As we worked at our lessons we ~~·ould henr the restless clicking of our mother~>' knitting needles, while our fathers fought over their che<'ker board in a sil~m·e broken only by an outb11rst of triumph npon ~ome <'lever strategy, or of chagrin when some deep-laid Or someS<'heme had gone agley. times the men would lay aside the hoard and, turning their ehairs toward the fire, with their pipes well lit and glowing In the bowl, would begin to recount tales of their youth when they were part of the locust army of ax men that had swept through the land and In some strange way had left atan.dln~ the great tree Just as I did mine, with KING W FINISH. The modem tones are just""" rne1a in the I've been looking for, and I found Free Color Chart, with 19 beautiful colors to choose from. And it's so easy to decorate with KING WALL FINISH-no lapping or rneaking. and anyone can do it. . at the end of our farm. Then lessons were forgotten, and we children drew I know my walla are dean and oanfrary, too. beddea silently close to the fire, as, big-eyed be!nlf tastefully decorated. Why don't you ocnd today £01: the Free Color Chan l and flushed with adventure, we enLow cost - euy to awly- the most attractive eofor tered the enchanted halls of Romance. C"'Ombinadono- and the last word in &anitadon. Thooe are It was when I was fonrtPen, and the things J'OO set when you decorate with KlNO wALL FINISH. Isn't it worth inveldKation 1 Write today for about to enter the mill, that mother name of nearest dealer and FREE Color Ollllt,. ahowins was taken sick. I had never known 19 beautiful colon to choose nom. '!HE CHICAGO WHITE LEAD &. OIL CO. mother to be sick, and It was hard to WeaternAve., Chi.:aso.Ill. 15th . understand the silent house and the darl;ened room. Mrs. Lnne came"'over and took charge, and Marjorie stayed at home from school to help. One day as I came up the path :\Inrjorie met me with, ":lfother wants you," so I went Into the room. Fa· CfJistribator ther was there; It sPems he l:ad not gone to the mill that afternoon. IIe was slttln.l;l' on a chair with his elhows resting on his knees and his Salt Lake City, Utah cheeks between his hands, and a stray beam of light from the afternoon sun __ _ _ ___ fell through the window and across J peowhere school a be might There I wondered that I I There Is a limit to enjoyment though his forehead. lncom• oo to not hnd never noticed before how old he l the source of wealth be boundless.- 1 pie are taugl.it how petent. Tupper. was. ''Is that you, !addle?" my mother called In a thin, weak voke, and I came beside the bed. "l\Iy boy, my boy I" she said, and her face worked strangely, but she could say nothing more than just "my boy." Then I knelt beside her, not knowing what else to do, and she put one ot her thin hands in my hair, and ran her fingers slowly, with a strange sort of caressing, up and down and about And then an odd thing my head. Now, thanks to Tanlac, Mrs. Bradley happened, She began to sing, In a "The I ••really and truly" feels like strange, high, tremulous key. Lord Is My Shepherd." She did not a brand new woman I sing It as you have heard It In church, but with a gentle rhythmic bent, like a Mrs. M.J. Brt~dltJ• n11d mru 11 t/11 lullaby, just as she hnd sung It to point where sht could sct~ruly tlo me many a time when I was a little her houuworlc. Two years of tlljftrchlld. Atter a while she sPemed to again. t on ing fr'm indigestion had slsatteretl slipped I and fall asleep, bPads hut moved, Father had never her heclth. What little she aft eauutl forehis on of sweat were standing stomach ftrmenlation, gas /Jioating bead. and pain. She lay awalct through Marjorie met me, round-eyed and tht long hours of the nigh/ anti was pale, at the <lonr, "Oh, Frnnk I Is tired out through the day. mother going-Is mother going-to Alttmpts W faikd "TlzaJ four bottles of Tan/at die?" The last words were treathed should correct my troublu when m~ Now I mjoy ajinl rather than spoken. malus it sum altogether 11HJ truly jee/Ji/u tJ lUff "I don't know," I said, pushing by digtstion good •ppetilt, her and gulping at something in my eoman. It is the idta/ton'i"" . ,ddress on request. throat , . . • • After mother's death Marjorie had * • to stay at home from school and take J see the results from Tanlac. 1ong charge of the house. Marjorie hA.d a '-· I t wor....., ' t h ave d Y JOut t h'1s great tome. h' on ou deep her behind ability native vast t mg That's the black eyes, and In a short time mate seat of trouble. It cleans the fast. ters were running as smoothly as · down your · goes to,isons that are teanng 'ke a L 1t 1 the In job a I took could be hoped. blood and driv ·out th~omach and aids digestion-gives mlll-my dream of being a locomotive health. It tones up th;holesorne food. engineer had vanished almost with by baby teeth-and I was now workyou a real appeti -: faay to day putting off the time of Ing from seven In the morning until ~ Tanlac this very day. YoW' drugDon't drag on six at night for a consldPrntlon of reckoning. Start • My father three dollars a week. , . gist call supply you. onsttpatton, take Tanlac Ve~ earned ten dollars a week, so we were Non: For 'ature'l own harmless laxative. In easy circumstanres. There were Pills, · table no picture shows to tempt our spare quarters, nor automobiles to make us envious o! our mere fortunate neighbors. Jack L~ne aiM took a job In the mill, when I did. We graduated Into long trousers together, and mnde om· youthful excursions, arm in ann, Into the town on Saturday nights. Jack was a handsome boy, with the fa!r Various sktn ancl hair of his sister Jean, and Don't Cut Out a turned was many a coquettish eye "She hns a flowE't-like Shoe Boil, Capped on him as we strolled about the little "Trifle too laYish with town, or even as he worked at his Louisville Cou Hock or Bursitis for But while .Tack post In the mill. wns by no means above a mild tl.irtaCuticura Soothes Itch t!on, he used to dismiss such events On retiring gently rub remark, drufl' and Itching with eomprenenslve the with "They're not In the class of Marjorie ment. Next morning will r11duce them and leave no blem-or Jean." Cutlcura Soap and hot ishes. Stops lameness promptly. Doe1 \Ve wPre eighteen when the Rccldent lhem your everyday toilet not bUster or remove the hair, and happened to Peter Lane. He was r1nd have a clear skin and horse can be worked. $2.50 a bottle working about a shaft, as he had rtone :tands.-Advertls ement. delivered. Book 6 A free. pPrhaps a thousand times before W. F. Yo11111. lat., 510 LJ- St., SpriqfieiJ, Mau. rlothlng h!s ot end when some loose All Lit Up 'lty InHe clutched the lapped around lt. li~ltt for every tw~ 1 beone Japanese goldfish cultivators use With sh11ft nnd whirled with It until the · In Oh~;n C'lairsville, St. ponds, not tubs within doors, labltants, open-air strPngoth of his nrn•s g-a,·e way; then ~!eves It is the best lighted to in AmertC'n. fanciers 'do ns his hody flew out &llld his hear! struf'lt Amerira. a beam. . . . Outslcle the mill wheel placidly ~prayed Its mist of jewels as from the hand of a fairy prince. Wall Fints h Salt Lake Glass & Paint Co. ' The Nights were Torment LAC OUR HEALJ :rH I Death has disorganized these two households so closely associated. What is their future? (TO' B!!l CONTINUED.) Worth-W!tile Furniture Gradual buyh'~ of worth-while fur· nlture is so much mot·e sensil•le than hasty ~election of a panorama of pieces tl•at do nothing- more thnn relieve a home of utter barrenness. Apparently It never occurs to some people to huy part of n handsome suite when thPy cnn't atrord the suite complete. They crowd a room with tawdry matching pieces, l~norlng the future of their home entirely, when they might hap· plly combine a lovely new dress!'r Nitb the simplest bed, until their wntcblng pieces can be bought. Mahogany and walnut finish go well together, walnut and certain finishes of oak combine M:reeably, but mahogany and oak wUI not make friends.-Familv Herald. Scouring Aah Volcanic ash is used In maktng • scouring soaps, abrasives and 11mUar j • products.-Scl~ Service. SAY and INSIST! .1d prescribed by physicians for f'roved safe by ........ v.••· Lumbago Neuritis Headache Colds Toothache Rheumatism Neuralgia Pain DOES NOT HEART |