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Show THE TIMES-NEW- S, NEPHI. UTAH THE BRANDING IRON The Spirit Christmas By Katharine Newlin Burt SYNOPSIS Copyright by Katharine N. Burt John Landls, eighteen yean old, wife of Pierre, la the daughter of John Carver, who murdered he for adultery. Her lonely life, with her father, In a Wyoming cabin, unbearable. Joan leave &lm to work In a hotel In a nearby town. Joan meets Pierre, and the two, mutually attracted, are married. Carver tells Pierre story of Joan's mother. Pierre forges a cattle brand. Frank Holllwell, young- mlnluter, presents books to Joan. Pierre forbids her to read them. Maddened by Jealousy. Pierre ties Joan and burns the Two-Bbrand Into her shoulder. Hearing her screams, a stranger bursts Into the house and shoots The stranger revives Pierre. Joan, telling-- her Pierre Is dead, urges her to go with him. At the stranger's home Joan's Injuries are attended to. which seemed to her to have filled this strange, gay house for an eternity. For the first time full awareness of ar the present cut a rift In the trouble! cloudiness of her Introspection. At once Prosper'B hand laid down Its pencil and he turned about in his chair and gave her a gleaming look and smile. Joan was fairly startled. It was as If she had touched some mysterious spring and turned on a daz zling, unexpected light. As a matter of fact, Prosper's heart bad leapt at her wistful and beseeching voice. lie had been biding his time. He had absorbed himself In writing, content to leave In suspense the training of his enchanted leopardess. Half-abseglimpses of her desolate beauty as she moved about his winter-bounhouse, contemplation of her as she companioned his meals, the pleasure he felt In her nipt listening to his music In the still, frost-hel- d evenings by the fire these he had made enough. They quieted his restlessness, soothed the ache of his heart, filled him with a warm and pa tient desire, different from any feeling he had yet experienced. He was amused by her lack of Interest In him. She evidently accepted him as a superior being, a Providence; he was not a man at all, not of the same clay as Pierre and herself. Prosper had waited understanding enough for her first move. When the personal question came. It made a sort of crash In the expectant silence of his heart. Before answering, except by that smile, he lit himself a cigarette ; then, strolling to the fire, he sat on the rug below her, drawing his knees up Into nt d CHAPTER XI Continued. unself-consclousne- He stood up near her feet at the corner of the hearth, tucked the Instrument under his chin and played. It was the "Aubade Provencale," and be played It creditably, with fair skill and with some of the wizardry that his nervous vitality gave to everything he did. At the first note Joan started, her pupils enlarged, she lay still. At the end he saw that 6he was quivering and In tears. He knelt down beside her, drew the hands from her face. "Why, Joan, what's the mutter? Don't you like music?" Joan drew a shaken breath. "It's as If It shook me In here, something trembles In my heart," she said. "I never beered music before, Jest whls-tlin'.- " And again she wept. Prosper stayed there on his knee beside her. his chin In his hand. What an extraordinary being this was, what a mngnlflVent wilderness. The thought of exploration, of discovery, of cultivation, filled him with excitement and delight. Such opportunities are rarely Riven to a man. Even that other most beautiful adventure yes, he could think this already! might have been tame beside this one. He looked long at Joan, long Into the fire, and she lay still, with the brooding beaumelody upon ty of that her face., It was the first music she had ever heard, "except whlstlin'," but there had been a great deal of "whistlin about the cabin up Lone river; whistling of robins In spring nothing sweeter the chordlike whistlings of thrush and vlreo after sunset, that " with which bubbling the blackbirds woo, and the light dl mlnuendo with which the bluebird ca ressed the air after an April flight Perhaps Joan's musical faculty was less untrained than any other. After all, that "Aubade Provencale" was Just the melodious story of the woods In spring. Every note linked Itself to an emotional, subconscious memory. It filled Joan's henrt with the freshness of childhood and pained her only because It struck a spear of delight Into ber pain. She was eighteen, she had grown like a tree, drinking In sunshine and storm, but rooted to a solitude where very little else but could reach her mind. She had seen tragedies of animal life, lonely horrible flights and more horrible captures, she had seen partings. Joyous woolngs, and bereavements. She knew that the sun shone on the evil and on the good, but she knew also that frost fell upon the good as well 8 upon the evll: nor was the evil to be readily distinguished. Her father prated of only one offense, her mother's sin. Joan knew that It was a man's right to kill his woman for "dealln's with another man." This law was human; It evidently did not bold good with animals. There was no bitterness, though some ferocity, In first-hear- his hands. "I'd like to tell you about my writing, Joan. After all, it's the great Interest of my life, and I've been fulny seething with It; only I didn't want to bother you, worry your poor, distracted head. There's more In life than you've dreamed of experiencing. There's music, for one thing, and there are books and beauty of a thousund kinds, and and there's big, wonderful thoughts, d "mar-guer-lte- e love-plnlng- s, traffic of their loves. While she pondered through the first sleepless nights In this strange shelter ef hers, and while the blizzard Prosper bad counted on drove bayoneted battalions of snow across the plains and forced them, screaming like madmen, along the narrow canyon, Joan came slowly and fully to a realization of motive of Pierre's deed. He had tlj been jealous. He had thought that she was having dealings with another man. She grew hot and shamed. It was her father's sin, that branding on ber shoulder, or. perhaps, going bark farther, hpr mother's sin. Carver had warned rierre of the hot snd smothered henrt to beware of Joan's "look-Ian tonkin' at another mnn." Now, In piteous woman fashion, Jonn went over and over her memories of Pierre's love, altering them to fit her terrible experience. She whs stltl hrtd by all the strong menh of her short 'married life. She hnd simply not got as far an prosper Onel. She accepted his hospitality vaguely, himself even more vaguely. When she would he done with her pnsslonnt grief, her laborl-oi- s going-oveof the past, her active nd tormenting sneer with the lover whom Prosper hnd told her wn dead, then It would he time to study this other man. As for her future, she oftd no plans st all. Jonn's life rnme to ber as It comes to a child. unsullied by curiosity. At this time Prosper was Infinitely the more curious, the more rlted of the two. n' r And, in the Meantime, Her Education Went On. companionship and talk. What larks we could have, you and I, If you would care I mean. If you would wake up and let me show you how. You do want to learn a woman's work, don't you, Jonn?" She shook her head slowly, smiling "Ira so awful Ignorant, wistfully. yon know so awful much. It scares me, plumb scares me, to think how much you know, more than Mr. Holllwell ! Such books an' books an' books! An wrltln', too. Yon see I'd he no help nor company for you. I'd like to listen to you. Td listen all day long, but I'd not be understands'." He laughed at her. Joan's pride was stung. "You've no right to laugh at me." she snld. "I'd not be carln' what yon think." And she left him, moving like sn sngry stag, head high, light-steping. liefore dinner he rapped at her "Joan, will yon do me a favor?" A pause, then In her sweet vibrant voice she answered "I'd be doln' any thing fcr you. Mr. Onel." "Then put on these thlntr for din ner Instead of your own clothes, will door. you T" She opened the door and be piled Into her arms a mass of shining silk. on top of It a pair of gorgeous Chl nese slippers. "Do It to plense me, even If you think It makes yon look queer, will yon, Jonn?" she amllrd. looking up "Of course. from the plenmlng. sliding stuff Into his fnce. "I'd like to, nnyway. Press ing np that's fun." And she shut the door. She spread the silk out on 1he bed snd fmind It s loose robe of d'tll blue CHAPTER XII In sliver drnrnns snd embroidered wns lined with brllllnnt rose. Thi-A MsUsr of Tists. stuff. "Wrist sre you wrltln' so hard for, a skirt of this same Mr. OsslT Jonn vold the question In one weighted pocket she found wlstfo'lf on the height of a long belt of silver coins snd a little vest silk There, war It eVrrv It from a alienee f creamy lac breath, e roe-colnr- of By Robert Stead Widow Stately jf7"HE Widow Recognizes the Voice of Freddie borne lay In a nook In the Freed man, hillsIn Mischief Maker where f theot sun came mornings Friend Wife up from the east. Satisfied There At noon he poured is No Party of down gently among the Third Part tne evergreens thatclothed tne nuisides of her little farm, and in the eve- - treat Moreover, there was the Party of the Third Part. Friend Wife had never seen the Party of the Third Part, but she could not doubt her existence. For a year back her husband had forgotten to kiss her when he went to the office, and when he came home. And on those rare nights when he stayed at home he read the I newspaper, and yawned, and found the time heavy on his hands. So you see there must be a Party of the Third nlngs, before time for sunset on the part. This fear gripped the little woman plains below, be faded out In yellow splendor over stark white peaks that 8o deeply that one night she deterr i guarded the widow's valley from tne nitned she would know the worst. Her west. husband had not come home to dinner; Tha Widow Stately had neen a ne had telephoned that he was very widow even when she came Into that busy in the office. He would Just slip little nook in the foothills with her out and nave a bite. And he would son Frank, a winsome lad of fourteen likely be late don't sit up or thereabouts. Here they had dug she would know the truth ! So sne put on a ong ci0ak. and a In" with their little neru or oenera, and Frank had plowed the valley field veil affair that she could draw over for oats and potatoes, and, with the help of a carpenter, they had built the house of spruce logs where a mountain stream gurgled lullabies In the still nights. At the end of the six years they were on their feet. The fields had ex tended; the herd had grown ; the cream cans went down to town three times a week ; there was new furniture in the log house and a lilt of song again But one new In the widow's heart. pang was hers; mother love could not quite Stifle the pang when her hand some Frank rode out with the yellow- hnired! Allison girl from south of the riile. end of that same six years war. Ana now tne wiaow Is doubly a widow, and the Statel AllisonVgirl is old before her time. Dowrl the valley a mile or more live the Frtfedmans. And Freddie Fteed- nian, aft fourteen, unhappily runs to mlschielf. as the sparks fly upward. Was It hot Freddie who left the Stately At came the tJr gates daen at Halloween? was it not Freddie who unbolted the reach In the Who but Freddie widow' wagon? transposed the front and rear wheels of her buckboard? Who but Freddie shot tne wild ducks which she wns tamlng,and drnnk cream In her dairy when slie had gone to town? And tonight, as a blanket of Christ mas sncJw carpets the foothills and the valley, she widow returns from town with hef melancholy parcels for Christ mas cJi(eToiIit:ht the fire will burn on her hearth, and strange visions will wax and wane In the glow of embers; visions f the First Frank and the Sec ond Frank, and a nightmare of horror .rfS0--- "l mere at the End Sat an Oldisn It Was Her Husbandl Man. her face, and she went straight to his office In time to Intercept him before he left for his appointment. A light shone through the frosted doors, but all Inside was silent as the tomb. 'He has gone already I" she ex claimed to herself. Then she gently tried the door. It opened to her hand. Her eyes swept a vista of deserted desks. How forlorn and Irksome they looked! But everyone was gone. No! There at the end sat an oldish man. It was her husband It had never struck her before that her husband was beginning to be an oldish man. He had not heard her. He was Intent over statement with long columns of fig ures, and he was making calculations on a pad of paper before him. From where she stood she could see the gray tinge about his temples, and the thinning hair on the top of his head. His brow was set In deep fur And suddenly Friend Wife rows. found herself swallowing desperately at something In her throat. Suddenly she knew that there was no Party of the Third Part, and never had been a Party of the Third Part, and that ahe was a foolish, wicked woman. She drew the door gently shut In the basement of the building was a restaurant, where also was a waiter who, for a consideration, would carry a meal to her husband's office. Quickly she gave the order, for two; It was to be a modest meal, not too expensive, but healthful, and garnished with love. The waiter carried It In and set It down on the little correspondence table beside Friend Husband's desk. And a beautiful woman snt down beside It and held out her hnnds to the troubled mnn with the long column of figures. Blanket oK Christmas Snow Carpets and smiled. Who are yon? Who are you?" be tha FootlllMs and the Valley. demanded. The fire will die out. at Vlmy Rldgi "I am the Spirit of Christmas," she will creep In. wan said. It wns a January night when Jonn, and Christum id alone. u and cheerless In the ashes, her rough head almost "You are more than that!" he cried. But as she Irlves up by the log 'You are my wife . . . my . . . had rend "Isnhella and the Pot of Basil" by the light of flames. It was house she sees a sturdy young figure my love I" oodshed, and can she In March, a gray, still afternoon, when, at work In the iiti lJ wTB Nwpp.r mine ) e spruce logs at the looking through Prosper's bookcase, he dreaming? have been cut and end of the nous she came upon the tale again. THE HOUSE OF CHRISTMAS Prosper was outdoors cutting a tun- piled for the liXiers nurning. Ann nel, freshly blocked with snow, and the sturdy young ilsure comes out and To an open bouse In the evening Jonn. having finished the "Life of takes her horses l Y the head. Home shall men come. s writer she loathed, but Cellini,1, than Eden "Let me put yotlr team away while To sn older place And a taller town than Rom. whose gorgeous fabrications her masyon go In and w rm yourself, Mrs. ter bud forced her to read, now hur Stately," snld a v ice. "See, I have To the end of the wsy of the wandering ried to the bookshelves In senrch of started a fire for y star. To the things that cannot be and that something more to her taste. She had she seemed that It So like Frank are. re the irnv air of a holiday-seeker- , dared not break th spell. Without a To the plsre where Ood was homeless turned "Cellini" with s smart push, And all men are at home. the rocker he by and. kneeling, ran her finger along the word, she sank In O K Ch'strton. fire. volumes, pausing on a binding of In that But corning so lo wns he I It wns the color bright A TRUE PROVERB that had pleased her snd the fat. at length she went t i the door. The J! st disappearing was of look ugure fair sturdy also the square shape, It was nearly twelve o'clock on and type. She took the down the road In tl a gray cloud of Christmas Eve and the magic hour on the nig happy night. hook and squatted are you?" she that would usher In the Christmas "Who ere you? Wli as a child with a new toy of his own genius was about to strike, but with called after him. choosing. (TO PE CONTIVt'ED.) hrlstmas," he Mrs. Fognrty It was never too late to "I am the Spirit of mend, and a long stocking, witb a answered. needle sticking In the last stitch of Jealous Spaniard Hid Wives. voice. his And then she kne Venetian blinds first "You're not I" she Inufc' The d. "You're the Inst hole, lay In her lap ss she cnme to Venlfp from nnln, where Freddie Freedman I" slept In her chair. No sound of bells awakened tier, snd when she opened The e e e they wer c11ed "Jenluslcv e her eyes axm the gifts that had re Jeinu P .nlsh tjiisbnnd kept his wife Friend Husbnnd had In seclusl ta. She was not allowed to placed the emptiness of the stocking at office the and Frlem day and the darning bnll st Its heel she draw up l r blinds, but she might peep all home. at day could only account for the kindness of out through the silts between the moped It seemed to Friend Wit' that her her unknown friend by ejaculating. laths. 'altohusband took his office d ales "Well. well. Santa Clans himself must Ths mitt who shifts responsibility (ether too complacently, t r a time have been here, but who does he thick 1, after were married always I am. I wonder?" O. O. Hazard. they soon Aoda mat responsibility awaiups I was home before sit; now hVw" tr iS Itll Was are Mawesaesr Uatea.) bin maglc-maklng- death-struggle- the stockings stuffed Into the shoes. Joan She bad eagerly arrayed herself. trouble with the vest. It was so filmy, so vaguely made It seemed to her, and to wear It at all she bad to divest herself altogether of the upper part of her coarse underwear. Then It seemed to her startllngly Inadequate, even as an undergarment. However, the robe did go over It, and she drew that close and belted It In. It was provided with long sleeves and fell to her ankles. She thrilled at the delightful clinging softness of silk stockings and for the first time admired her long, round ankles and shapely feet. The Chinese slippers amused her, but they were beautiful, all embroidered with flowers and dragons. She felt she must look very queer. Indeed, and went to the mirror. What she saw there surprised her because It was so strange, so different. Pierre had not dealt In compliments. His woman was his woman and he loved her body. To praise this body, surrendered In love to him, would have been Impossible to the reverence and reserve of his passion. Now Joan brushed and colled her hair. Then, starting toward the door at Wen Ho's announcement of "Dinner, lady," she was quite suddenly overwhelmed by shyness. From head to foot for the first time In all her 'ife she was acutely conscious of herself. On that evening Prosper began to talk. It wns Joan's amazing beauty as she stumbled wretchedly into the circle of his firelight, her neck drawn up to Its full length, her head crowned high with soft, black masses, her lids dropped tinder the weight of shyness, vivid fright In ber distended pupils, scarlet In her cheeks Joan's beauty of long, strong lines draped to advan-tae- e fpr the first time In soft nnd fiibrics that touched the clinging spring of Prosper's delighted egotism. He told anecdotes, strange ndven- tures; he drew his own Inverted morals; he sketched his fantastic opinions; he was In truth fascinating, a speaking face, a lithe, brilliant presence, a voice of edged persuasion. She drew herself up straight In the chair, sipped her big coffee In dainty Imitation of him, gave him the full, deep tribute of her gaze, asked for no explanations and let the astounding statements he made, the amazing pictures he drew, cut their way Indelibly Into her most sensitive and preserving memory. Afterward, at night, for the first time, she did not weep for Pierre, the old lost Pierre who had so changed Into a torturer, but, wakeful, her brain was on fire, she pondered over and over the things she had Just heard, feeling after their meaning, laying aside for future enlightenment what was utterly Incomprehensible, arguing with herself as to the truth of speeches an Ignorant child wrestling with a modern philosophy, tricked out In' motley by a ready wit. He gave her "pretty things," whole quantities of them, fine linen to be made up Into underwear, soft white and colored silks and crepes, which Jonn, remembering the few lessons In dressmaking she had had from Maud Upper, and with some advice from Prosper, made up not too awkwardly. accepting the mystery of them as one And, In of Prosper's the meiintlme, her education went on. Prosper read aloud to ber, tutored her, scolded her so fiercely sometimes that Joan would mount scnrlet cheeks and open angry eyes. One day she fairly flung her book from ber and ran out of the room, stamping her feet and shedding tears. Hut back she came presently for more, thirsting for knowledge, eager to meet her trainer on more equal grounds, to lie able to answer him to some purpose, to contradict him. to stagger ever so slightly of his superiority. the And Prosper enjoyed the training of his captive leopardess, though he sometimes all hut melted over the pathos of her and had much ado to keep his hnnds from her unconscious young beauty. quently late. And he didn't seem properly distressed over It. That was what worried her most. So Friend Wife learned to mope a little, and to complain a little, and to wonder a good deal. And the mora she moped and complained the less did Friend Husband hurry from the office. The office had become his re- 1 tConduotsd by Natlunsl Council of the Boy Scouts of America.) CHURCHMAN Rectors ne less than laymen are finding In the scout oath and law and Id the organisation's platform Interesting effort and the satisfaction of achievement. Together with statesmen, scholars and business men, men of the church "Join on'' and perform the duties of scout dom. ' At an Impressive ceremony at Elizabeth, N. Jn Ilev. William Held Cross of Trinity church recently received the rank of tenderfoot scout and became a member of Troop No. 8, which Is sponsored by this church. At the sound of a bugle call the candidate and members of Troop 8 entered, A prayer followed. Then spoke the senior patrol leader, saying: "Like the knights of old who knelt In fho unseen presence of the master scout, and vowed fidelity to the Ideals for which knighthood stood, this candidate Is ready to vow fidelity to scouting and the ldenls for which it stands." The patrol leader then removed the neckerchief covering the eyes of the candidate, saying: "The troop neckerchief Is a figurative blindfold, keeping from your eyes and thoughts anything unworthy of a true scout. It bears the number 'eight,' the designation of this troop. Character, the duties of citizenship and service are Intertwined as are the loops of this 'eight' The knot Is a symbol of the service which every scout renders unasked and with no hope of reward except the privilege of service." An assistant patrol leader then removed the cord which bound the hands of the candidate, saying: "As I unfasten the knot that tics your hands, so does scouting loose the knots that have held In bonds your eyes, ears, spirit and mind. You are now free to enjoy the great out-of- doors. The woods are yours, the streams, the birds. You are free to enjoy the open, to practice woodcraft that the pioneer scout knew of old, free to hear the songs of the birds and learn their habits; free-t- o read the signs of the trail ; free from the bonds of civilization; free to follow the life of the open rond and the fire-li- t camp. Such Is the life of the scout." The candidate rector then made the promises of the scout oath and law, and received an explanation of the scout grip, motto and slogan. Twelve lighted candles, symbolic of the twelve points of the scout law, were then extinguished, as the scoutmaster said: "The symbol lights are no longer needed as the light of the law of scouting Is In the heart of very scout" A "GLORIFIED" GOOD TURN The vision of every boy scout to aid In saving human lives was fulfilled for Logan, Utah, lads on the recent fateful occasion when flood i1 swept down the Ilocky Mountain Canyon engulfing the little town of Wll- lariL The once quiet spot, sucflleniy became a scene of wild confusion a wrecked hopes, sent forth an anguishlf call for help, and to the glory s. i"Ul 11 film JIJt.n, WIMI1J1 IH hours after the call had been sent, 35 boy scouts from IOgan, equipped with food and bedding, were on their way to Wlllard, the first group to answer Its cry of distress. The scouts found turmoil and despair In the trail of the cloudburst's torrent Property had been destroyed ; people made homeless; lives lost. The scouts worked for- - three days on the scene of the dlssster. helping keep the place In sanitary condition, so that disease might be prevented. They drained stagnant pools, cleared away debris of various sorts, located dead animals and had them removed, dug sediment from the rooms of houses which had been left standing, and rierformed many other duties. "The Scouts of the Cache Valley (ltah) Council of the Hoy Scouts of Amerlcn," said atj observer of the work, "have to their credit the doing of many 'good turns.' but this la one their Of very greatest" Q. A. R. HONORS BOY SCOUTS A touching tribute from the ranks of the old and passing citizens to acout-Ing- 's work for the new making "manhood of character trained for citizenship," was paid by the Appernon post, O. A. It- - to the boy scoots of Belllng-haiWuh, when the veteran Soldiers, In dishnr.dlng the post because of thinning numbers, recently presented to the soout organization the flag and staff that had been carried by the post for the patt thirty-fivyears. ADMIRES BOY 6COUT SPIRIT n, well-space- - JOINS SCOUTING e Th. sight of a boy scout of Augusta, quietly guiding a blind u. gro across a crowded street at a point win re autos snd street cars rush past, was the Inspiration of a letter of appreciation of the scout rplrlt, by one sinlng himself 'A Friend of the Boy Stouts." "Thin Is perhaps only one of j hundred of act of helpfulness that are shown constantly by this youthful says the writer. "There j organization." j dxwa not appear to be discrimination where duty calls tot service." Ga j |