OCR Text |
Show DESERT GOLD by ZANE GREY Author of Rider of the Purple Sage, Wildfire, AEtc. Brothers. Copyright by Harper CHAPTER XVUI Continued. 18 heart Is broken," sobbed Nell, for 1 I can't marry you!" "My erable beaten wretch, who knew his condition and felt the eye upon him. He sobbed and moaned and bo.Ied. But no one offered to help him to hit - ' feSt. v Backed against the door of the ball stood Ben CI ase. for once (tripped of all authority and confidence and courage. Dick Gale confronted him. He shook a huge gloved fist In Chase's face. "Tour gray hairs save you thla time. But keep out of my wayl And when that son of yours comes to, tell him every time I meet him. I'll adU some more to what he got today4 The bay'sli brightness faded out of Gale's fftce. Here, Belding saw, was the stern reality arrayed against his dreams. "That devil, Itadford Chase he'll CHAPTER XtX tell my secret," panted Nell. "He swore The Secret of Forlorn River, If you ever came back and married me In the early morning Gale, seeking he'd follow us all over the world to solitude where lie could brood over tell It." Belding saw Gale grow deathly his trouble, wandered alone. It was not easy for him to elude the Yaqul, white and suddenly stand stock-stil"Chase threatened you, then?" asked and Just at the moment when he had Dick ; and the forced naturalness of cast himself down. In a secluded shady comer the Indian appeared, noiseless, 'his voice struck Belding. 'Threatened me? He made my life shadowy, mysterious- as always. a elghtraare," replied Nell, In a rush The Ind'an had been told of the of speech. "He got so half the time, loses sustained by Belding and hU when he was drunk, he? didn't want or rangers. "Go-mand l'aqnl, with an imask me to be his wife. I was about ready jto give up and go mad when pressive gesture toward the lofty "Steps of No Name mountains. you you came home." He seemed the same as usual, but a She ended In a whisper, looking up wistfully and sadly at him. Belding glance on Gate's part, a moment's at was a raging fire within, cold without. tention, made him conscious of the old Gale gathered Nell up Into his arms strange force In the Yaqul. and held her to his breast for a long "Why does my brother want me to climb the nameless mountains with moment. "Dear Nell, I'm sure the worst of him?" asked Gale. "Lluvla d'oro," replied Yaqul, and he your trouble la over," he said, gently. "I will not give you up. Now, won't made motions that Gule found diffiyou lie down, try to rest and calm cult of Interpretation. Don't grieve any more, yourself? "Shower of Gold," translated Gale. .This thing Isn't so bad as ybu make It. That was the Ynqul's naroe for Kelt. Trust me. I'll shut Mr. Radford What did he mean by usl.ig It in conChase's mouth." nection with a climb Into the mounAs be released her she glanced tains? Were his motions Intended to quickly up at him, then lifted appealconvey an Idea of a shower of golden ing hands. blossoms from that rare and beautiful "Dick, you won't hunt for him go tree, or a golden rain? Gale's llstless-nes- s after him?" vanished In a flash of thought. Gale laughed, and the laugh made The Yaqul meant Gold! He gold! Belding Jump. meant he could retrieve the fallen for"Dick, I cannot keep you back?" tunes hMtaE ,wiw Iia4 """' saved pfjhejyhlte 'No,J he said. o his life that evil day at the Then the woman In her burst well. Gale he as thrilled gazod ' through Instinctive fear, and with her piercingly Into-- the wonderful eyes of eyes blazing black In her white face this Indian. Would Yaqul never conshe lifted parted quivering lips and sider his debt paid? kissed him. "Go me?" repeated the Indian, Gale left the patio, and Belding folwith the singular directness pointing lowed closely at his heels. They went that always made this action remarkOutside able In through the sitting-roohim. Mr. the sat the rangers, upon .porch "Yes, Yaqul." Gale, and Thorne. Dick went Into, his Gale ran to his rom, put on hobnailed room without speaking. boots, 811d a canteen and hurried back "Shore somethln's comln' off," said to the corral. Yaqul awaited him. The La dd, sharply; and he sat up with his Indian carried a colled lasso and a keen eyes narrowing. short stout stick. Without a word he Belding spoke a few words; and, led the way down the lane, turned up remembering an Impression he had the river toward the mountains. None wished to make upon Mr". Gale, he of Belding's household saw their demade them, strong. "Better stop that boy," he conclud- parture. What hod once been only a narrow ed, looking at Mr. Gale. "He'll do mesquite-borderetrail was now a some mischief. He's wllder'n h 1." rond. A deep Irrigation Just then Dick came out of his door. full of flowing muddy water, ran "Richard, where are you going?" ditch, parallel with the road. Gale had been? asked his father. curious about the operations of the "I'm going to bent a dog.' Chases, but, a bitterness he could not Then Dick strode off the porch. "Hold on!" Ladd's voice would help had Sept him from going out to have stopped almost any man. "Dick, see the work. He was not surprised to find that the engineers who bad conyou wasn't agoln' without fhe?" structed the diteties and dam had an"Yes, I was. But I'm thoughtless ticipated him In every particular. The Just now, Laddy." gulch made a magnificent "Shore you was. Walt a minute, dammed-uDick. I'm a sick man, but at that, no- reservoir, and Gale could not look upbody ccn pull any stunts round here on the long narrow lake without a feeling of gladness. The dreaded nno without me." seco of the Mexicans might come again He hobbled along the porch into his room. Jim Lash knocked and would come, but never to the InThat the ashes out of his pipe, and. hum- habitants of Forlorn River. stone-t-t ailed, gulch would ming his dance tune, he followed never leak, alul already It contained Ladd. In a moment the rangers water enough to Irrigate the whole of and both were packing guns. 'Where will we find these Chases?" Altar valley for two dry seasons. Yaqul led swiftly along the lake to asked Dick of Belding. "They've got a place down the road the upper end, where the stream adjoining the Inn. They call It their roared down over unscalable wi.Ils. club. At this hour Radford will be This point was the farthest Gale had there sure. I don't know about the ever penetrated Into the rough f)t-hllland he had Belding's word for It old man. But his office Is now Just that no white man had ever climbed across the way." They passed several houses, turned No Name mountains from the west. The Indian left the gulch and a corner into the main street, and tiyer a Jumble of weathered stopped at a wide, low adobe structure. The place was a hall, and need- slides arjd traced a slow course along ed only a bar to make It a saloon. A the base of the giant wall. He looked large tuble neac. a window was sur- up and' seemed to select a point for rounded by a noisy, smoking, drinking ascent. It was the last place In that mountain side where Gale would have circle of "Point out this Itadford Chase to thought climbing possible. Before him the wall rose, leaning over him, shutme," said Gale. "There! The Kg fellow with the ting out tlie light, a dark mighty mountainInnumerable cracks and red fuce. His eyes stick out n little. -mass. See! He's dropped Ills cards and his crevices and enves roughened the 'face Isn't red any more." bulging sides of dark rock. Dick striwle across the room. Ills Yaqul tied one end of his lasso to the heavy hoot shot up, and with a crash i short, stout stick and, curefully dlsenthe table split, and glasses, cards, chips tangling the colls, he whirled the stick flew everywhere. As "they rattled round and round and threw It almost over the first rim of the shelf! perdown and the chairs of the dumfound-eplayers begnn to slide Dick called haps thirty feet up. The stick did not out: "My name Is Gale. I'm looking lodge. Yaqul tried a.iln. This time It caught in a crack. for Mr. Radford Chase." He pulled hard. A tall, fellow rose, Then, holding to the lasso, he walked boldly enough, even swaggriiigly and tip the steep slant, hand over tinnd on the rope. When he reached the shelf glowered at Gale. "I'm Radford Chase," he said. His he motioned for Gnle to follow. Gale voice betrayed the boldness of his ac-'- found that method of scaling a wall tlon. both quick and easy. Yaqul pulled up It was over In a few moment'). The the,lnsso, and threw the stick aloft Intables and chairs were tumbled Into it to another crack. He climbed to anheap; a pool table had been shoved other tihelf, and Gale followed him. The aside; a lump lay shattered, with nil third effort brought them to a more Lndd rugged bench a.lmni'red feet above the running dark upon the floor. leaned acalnst a post with a smokinc slides. The Yaqul worked round to gun In his hand. A Mexican crouched the left and tinned into a dark fissure. close to the wall moaning over s bro- Grle kept r!r nt his heels. They ken arm. - In the far corner upheld came ou! presently intrt lighter space, by Comrades another wounded Mexiyet one that restricted any extended can cried out In pain. These two hud view. Broken sections of cliff were-oattempted to draw wejipnns upon Gale, ill) nides. land Ijidd had crippled I hem. Ileiv l lie nscent became t ill. Gule In the center of the rnoi:i laj l;:n! could YnquI Z"tis downhill; ford Chase, n l!:vji. toni h'd'dtr;. on l!ir climb, however, he was hard Moody figure, lie w.n not sei i tin I.. !t in Keep the Ind'an in sight. But ho was helpless, a n.is I? i:s not n (nrs;lon of strength or l. e!" lilac-colore- d . Pa-pag- d n p and-wen- t stone-floore- d clam-beredu- card-player- - heavy-shoulder- disl.-iiie- t ' It was a certificate twenty-on- t years lightness of foot These Gala baft be Yaqul bad never before aeea the yond the share of most men. It was a source of Forlorn river, If he bad old, and recorded the marriage of matter of lung "power, and the Ta- - ever ascended to this plateau, prob- Robert Burton and Nellie Warren. qul'js Ufe had been spent scaling the ably It bad been to some, other part, CHAPTER XX., desert heights, Moreover, the climbing for the water was new to him. .. He 1 m, . was Infinitely slow, tedious, dangerous. stood gasing aloft at peaks, at lower . ! Desert Gold. On the way op several times Gale rampants of the mountain.; and at A, summer day dawned on Forlorn of prominence, imagined he beard a dull roar of fall nearer landmarks was not Elver, a ' beautiful, still, hot. golden Ing water. The sound seemed to be Yaqul seemed at fault.;" He,'''-'under him, over him,' to this side and sure 'bf his location. day with huge sail clouds Of white Then he strode past the swirling motionless ever No Nil me peaks and to that. Whfenbe was certain he could locate the direction from which it came pool of dark' water and began to as- the purple of clear air In thev distance men ne heard it no more until he naa cend a little slope that led np' to a along the desert horizon. Mrs, Belding returned that day to gone on. Gradually be forgot it In the shelving cliff. Another object baited past physical Sensations of the climb. He the Indian: It was a' pile of stones, find her daughter happy and the ' burned bis hands and knees. He grew weathered, crumbled, fallen into ruin, burled, forever tat two lonely graves. hot and wet and winded. His heart but still retaining shape "enough to The haunting shadow iefl bee eyes. thumped so that It hurt, end there prove it had been built there. by the Gale believed he would never forget ' were Instants when bis sight was hands of men. Bound and round this the sweetness;.: the Wonder, the pasand his curiosity sion of her embrace when sho called blurred. When at last he bad toiled the Yaqul stalked, It him her boy and gave htm her bless-Into where the Yaqul sat awaiting him attested a further uncertainty. y upon the rim of that great wail. It was was as If he had come upon something The little wrinkled padre who mar--" none too sooti; surprising. Gale wondered about the Had It once been a r1edi.Gale and Nell performed' the Gale lay bock and rested for a while pile of stones. without note of anything except the prospector's claim? ceremony as he fold his beads, iwith-oInterest or penetration, and went blue sky. Then he sat up. He was "Ugh!" grunted the Indian Land, n mated to find that after that wonder though his ejicjamatlon expressed no his way. leaving happiness behind. "Shore I was a sick man," Ladd ful climb he was only a thousand feet satisfaction, jit surely put an end to or so above the valley. Judged by the doubt. He pointed up to the roof of sold. an' darn near a dead, one, but to get welK Mebbe Til be nature of his effort, he would have said the sloping yellow shelf of stone, Li'm he had climbed a mile.' The village lay Faintly outlined there In red were the able to ride again sotne day: 1 Imprints of many human bands with lay It to you. An I'm agoln' to kiss beneath him, with Its new adobe struc tures and tents and buildings In bright fingers spread wide Gale hat often yon an' wish you all the Joy there Is contrast with the older habitations. He fJSfen such paintings on the walls of In this world.. An Dick, as Yaqul the desert caverns. Manifestly these says, she s shore your Shower, of saw the green alfalfa fields, and Beldtold Yaqul he had come to the spot for white small horses, looking very ing's He spoke of. Gale's rinding love and motionless. He pleased himself which he had aimed. Tlien his actions became swift and spoke of If with the deep and wistful by Imagining he could pick out Bian The feeling of the lonely ranger who had co Sol. Then his gaze swept on to the Yaqul seldom moved swiftly. The Indian always yearned for love and had never fact Impressed Gale. river. Indeed, he realized now why some one searched the level floor under the known It. Belding. once more prachad named It Forlorn river. Even at Shelf He gathered up handfuls 'of tical, and Important aa never before Ith mining this season when it was full of water small black stones, and he thrust projects and water Their welghtmade clnlms to manage, .spoke of Gale's It had a forlorn aspect. It was doomed them nt Gale. never to mingle with the waters of the Gale start, and then he trembled. The great good fortunf lh the finding of Indian's next move was to pick up a gold he called It desert gold. . Gulf. It wound away down the valley. en- Ah. yes. Desert Gold!" exclaimed piece of weathered rock and throw It growing wider and shallower, against the wall. It broke. He Dick's father, softly, with eyes of snatched np parts, and showed the pride. Perhaps he was glad Dick had broken edges to Gale. They contained found the rich claim he wa" yellow streaks, dull glints, faint trac happy that Dick had won the girl he loved. But It seemed to DJek tdmself ings of green. It was gold. Gale found bis lega shaking under that his father meant something very him ; and he sat down, trying to take different from Iovend fortune In his " all the bits of stone Into his np. His allusion to desert gold. Yaqul came to Dick t say good-bfingers were all thumbs as with knife Dick was startled, grlerad. and blade he dug Into the black pieces of rock. He found gold. Then he stared In his impulsiveness forgot for a modown the slope, down into the valley ment the nature of the Indian. Yaqul with Its river winding forlornly away was not to be changed. int o tbe Jlesej--t But he did not see BeldrBrmeffTovWoaOlmrl' was reality as gift The Indian packed a bag of any of that,".-Jlersweet, as wonderful, as saving as a food, a blanket, a gun, a knife, a candream come true. Yaqul had led him teen, and no more. The whole houseto a ledge of gold. Gale had learned hold' went oot with him to the corrals enough about' mineral to know that and fields from which Belding bade this was a rich strike. All in a second him choose a horse any horse, even he was speechless with the Joy ofjt. the loved Blanco DIable. Gale's heart But his mind whirled m thought about was In his throat for fear the Indian this strange and noble Indian, who might choose Blanco Sol, and he see fried never to be able to pay a debt. hated himself for a selfishness he Belding and the poverty that bad could not help. "But without a word come to him! Nell, who bad wept he would liave parted with the treasover the loss of a spring! Laddy, ured Sol. who never could ride again I Jim Ynqnl whistled the horses up for Lash, who swore he would always look the lust time. Did he care for them? I after his friend Thorne and Mer Itt would have been hard to' say. He cedes! All these people, who had never looked at the fierce and haughty been good to him and whom he loved, Dlublo, nor at Blanco Sol as he raised were poor. But now they would be his noble head and rang bla piercing rich. They would one and all be his blast. The Indian did not choose one Gale Found That Method of Scaling He had discovered the of Belding's whites. a Wall Both Quick and Easy. , partners. He caught a source of Forlorn river, and was rich lean and wiry broncho, strapped a crouching more and more on the gray In water. Yaqul had made him rich blanket on him, and fastened on the Hats, until It disappeared on Its sad In Gale wanted to rush down pack. That rast the gold. Journey toward Sonoyta. down Into tbe valley, and Then be turned to these friends, the slope, waste recogshimmering, tell his wonderful news. same emotionless, Inscrutable dark and nized Its life only at this flood season, his- - eyes cleared and he silent Indian that he had always been. and was already with parched tongue sawSuddenly of stones. the His blood He shook hands with the men, swept pile and insatiate fire licking and burning turned to ice, then to fire. That was a dark fleeting glance over Nell, and up Its futile waters. the mark of a prospector's claim. But rested his strange eyes upon Mercedes on knee. Gale's a hand Yaqul put It was old, very old. The ledge had beautiful and agitated face. It must It was a bronzed, scarred, powerful never been worked. The slope was have been a moment of Intense feeling hand, alweya eloquent of meaning. wild. There was not another single for the Spanish girl. 8he owed It to The Indian was listening. His bent Indication that a prospector had ever blm that she had life ad love and head, his strange dilating eyes, his been there. Where, then, was he who happiness. She held out those speakrigid form, and that bad first staked this claim? Gale ing slender hands. But Yaqul did not hand, how these brought back to Gale wondered with growing hope, with touch them. Turning away, he mountthe terrible lonely night hours on the the fire with the cold passing. ed the broncho and rode down the easing, I lava The Yaqul uttered the low, strange, trail toward the river. "What do you hear, Yaquir asked cry so rare with him, a "He's going home," said Belding. . Gale. He laughed little at the mood Involuntary somehow always associated with cry "Home!'' whispered Ladd; and Dick that had come over him. But the death. Gale knew the ranger had felt the resurglng shpddered. sound of his volce.did not break the The Indian was digging In the sand tide' of memory. Home across the spell. He did not want to speak dust under the shelving wall. He cactus andiava, through solemn lonely and again. He yielded to Yaqui's subtle nameless Influence: He listened him- threw out an objec; that rang against days, the silent, lonely nights. Into the the stone. . It was a belt buckle.. He vast und d world, of desolaself, heard nothing but the scream of - . withered tion, an eagle. Often he wondered If the threw out old shrunken, "Thorne, Mercedes, NelUlet't climb Indian could hear things that made no boots. He came upon other things, andhen he ceased to dig. the foothill yonder and watch; him out sound. Yaqul was beyond understandThe grave of desert prospectors! of sight," said Dick! r ing. Gnle had seen more hnn one. Ladd They climbed while the others, re-Whatever the Indian had listened Hid told him. many a- - stnryf of suchturned to the Abuse. ; When they to or for. presently he satisfied himself, and, with a -- grunt that might grtfesoine finds. It was grim, hard reacneu tire summit of the hill Yaqul t was riding up the far bank of the river. mean anything, he ros and turned fact. "He will turn to look to wave Then the keen eyed Yaqul reached " away from the rim. Gale followed, asked Nell. ... rested now and eager to go on. He up to a little projecting shelf of rock "Dear, he Is ;m Indian replied Gale. saw that the great cliff they had and took from it a sinnll object. He From the hrtgltt they watched him climbed was only a stairway np to showed no curiosity and gave the ride through the mesqultes, up over the the huge, looming dark bulk of the. thing to Gale, river bunk to enter the cactus. His How strangely Gale felt when lie plateau above. ull Into his hands a fiat oblong mount showed dark against the green Suddenly he again heard the-droar of falling wnter. It seemed to box! Was It only, the Influence of and whltennd for a long time he was the YnquI, or was there a nameless Plainly in sight. The sun hung red have cleared Itself of muffled vibrations. Yaqul mounted a little ridge and unseen presence beside thnt In a golden sky. Tbe last the watch-er- s saw or Yuqkl was when he rode and halted. The next Instant Gule grave? Gale could not be sure. , But stood above bottomless cleft Into he knew he had. gone back to tbe old across a f Idge and" stood silhouetted which a white stream leaped. His as- desert meo& He knew something agali.Mt the gold of desert sky a wild, tounded gnr.e swept backward alon? hung In b.'iince. No accident, no lonely, beautiful picture. Then he was . this narrow swirt stream to Its end In luck, no ludlnn could ac- gone. . a dark, round, boiling pool. It was a count wholly for that moment.Eue Strangely It enme to Gale then that huge spring, a bubbling well, the out- knew he held In his hands more thnn he was gliul. Viiqnf had returned to river gold. hK ownthe greut spaces, the desolh-- . cropping of nn underground The box was n tin one, and not nt Hon. the solitude to the trails be had coming down from the vast plateau above. all rusty. Gnle pried open the re- trodden ;wben a child, trails haunted Yaqul had brought Gale to the luctant lid. A fnlnt old mosty odor now hy ghosts of his people,- - and ever source of Forlorn river. Inside the by his ttods. Gnle realized that In the penetrated his nostrils. Flashing thoughts In Gale's mind box lay a pocket wmppod In what YnquI lie bad known the spirit of the were no swifter thnn tile thrills that oneR might have been oilskin. He 4tesert, that this plr!t had claimed all ran over him. He would stake out a took It out and removed this covering. which wn wild and primitive In him. clnlm here nnd never be cheated out A folded pfliier remained In his hands. Tears gHidcned In Mercedes of It. Ditches on the benches and It was growing yellow with age. liluck eyes, ROd Thome kissed But he described a dim tracery of Ihera away. troughs on the steep walls vrould carry water down to the valley. Ben words. A crabbed scrawl,, written In. ' Thnt action recalled Gale's earlier ''base had built a great dam which blood, hard to read! He held II more mood, the Joy of the present", nnd "he would be useless If Gale chose to turn to the light, and slowy he deciphered tifowd to Nells sweet fnce. The .desert. Forlorn river from Its natural course. its contents: . ' was there, Wonderful, constructive, The fountain bend of that mysterious "Wc. Robert Burton und Jonas War- nobllng, benntiful, terrible, but it was desert river belonged to him. ren, give half of this rrold claim to not' for him ns It was for the Indian. Ills eagerness, his mounting passion, tlH? ni.in who finds It and half to Nell In the lght of Nell's tremulous, rewas cheeked by Yaqnf's unusual acPurton. daughter and granddaugh- turning smile thnt strange, - deep, The Indian showed wonder, ter." tion. . yt clutching shadow faded, lost Its hold 4 r even reluctance. , His hesitation, G.isplnA wl'h a bursting heart, forever; nnd he leaned close to ber, strange eyes surveyed this boiling well overwhelmed by on unutterable Joy of whispering: ."Lluvla d'oro" "Shower as If they could lint believe the; sight divination. Gale fumbled with the pa of Gold." the? simv. Gnle dlviued tnstutttly thut rer u.itil he got It open. , (TUB ENDJ TrWl fl n H JJV'rtWVWWrmu-t- YoiiV wmtiiiiif""""T I . i Man -- 4 , WWmi"" WW ""iiiin'mmnM.i,ii -- ' jt f ut agn' me Vyii J 0HATtt feu T. TwiRMIESii THE RETURN AT YULETIDE- - y. e -- dose-pressin- g t - good-by?- CHRISTMAS comes and tn old worU . Christmas comes, and the old heart goes Oayly fcack to the dear days past-D- ays whose breath of the buddtng rose Scents tbe year that have (allowed fast; Back to the Btar whose spell woe cast Over young eyes and daizled them,-- ' Filling rapt youth with a wonder vaet' Back to the Babe of Bethlehem! Christmas comes, and the old faith Uvea. Summoned back from the days gone begemmed with the Joy that gives Mortals balm (or their sob and sigh; Back Is the Star In the smiling k. Pilgrims haste aa It urges them On to the haven ver nigh-B- ack to the Babe of Bethlehem! I r Cookies for Christmas Time. Cream one-hacupful of shortening with one cupful of sugar; add two n eggs, one tablespoonful of cup-fumilk or cream, two and xme-haof flour sifted with two teaspoon-fui- s f of baking powder anil teaspoonful each of powdered, nutmeg and ginger." Mix and tand aside to chill for one hour. Roil out, cut into fancy shapes and bake in a moderate oven.. Fancy cutters furnish an assortment of cookies and are desirable when they are to be enjoyed bjLchll-dreLacking a variety of cutters, a pastry '.wheel can be ami, or patterns cut out of stiff cardboard can be mid on the dough, and the outlines followed with a slender kidfe. 0 lf well-beate- lf ls one-hal- n. I Ili'MMMHOMIIW i . Christmas! come, when the world shall go Bounding' back to the beat of days Daya when He In a manger low Sages charmed Into prayer and praise; Back to the Star whose sneaking rays All men spy as it beckons them Over Judea'a winding ways-B-ack to the Babe ot Bethlehem! -- James C. UcNally, In 81. Louis ' for G.Washington has told us much about George Washington's Christmases. But from the record of his life we' learn how be spent some of his Christmas days. , It was a very cold Chrlstmastlde in 1777 at 'Valley Forge. Snow was ou the hills. Everything was frozen. And Washington's army was In great need clothing and shelter. Instructions of tmrties of men to go foraging for food aTe entered In the orderly book for that Christmas day at Valley Forge, which was anything but merry for Washington. Still' more desperate were the food In 1779, conditions, at Morristown, when Washington reported that his army was on half allowance and near "We have never expestarvation. rienced a like extremity at any period of the war," declared Washington, pleading that food be ser.t. There was a welcome Christmas present for Washington and bis men at New Windsor In 1780 when a big Christmas wagon canie with over 2,000 shirts and other comforts made by Philadelphia women patriots things needed by the men nnder Washington, who were cheerfully suffering all sorts of hardship in order that this country mlgt be free. The Philadelphia women also raised, that year, over $300,-00In aid of .the soldiers. The fine old Colonial mansion (the Craigle house) in .Cambridge, Mass., (now widely "Vnown as the home of Henry Wi Longfellow), was the plnca where - Washington - spent his first Christmas as commander of the Revolutionary army in 1775. Mrs. Washington wag there with blm (as she was later at Valley Forge), and there was some pleasure in the midst of the heavy cares and responsibilities carried' by the great' Washington. A year later Christmas day found Days that Bright through eras of murk and maze; Back to the Star whose speaking rays ' Wise men spied as It beckoned them Over Judea'l winding ways-Ba- ck to the Babe of Bethlehem! , j U ONE! to its fairy. day law Him whose splendor burns rWashtngton at the head of 1ils 2.400 jbraVe men 'making his celebrated crossing of the Delaware river, nine miles above Trenton. The snow and aleet were blinding. It is recorded, nnd the 'cold was Intense. But hearts were brave. Wherever he was, a Chrlstmastlde, "Washington was, Cheered with the thought-tha- t jbe cause" of the struggling colonies' would,: surely win. A Hope He Fills ?rBofe of 'Em few days before Christmas, 1770, ha wrote' to his- older- brother, John Au"Between you gustine Washington: .1 nnd me, our affairs are In a very bad situation. , . . However, under a full persuasion of the Justice of our cause, J cannot entertain an Idea that It 'will flnaHs. sink, though It may re- j main some time under a cloud." "Washington must have had.' acme ery merry Christmases at Mount Vernon. There were no children of his own With' whom Washington .coutd romp." But .we can easily-imagigeneral putting en a the, fnW benrd ,of . fu??y white whiskers nnd slliiging'a pack over his back for the delight of tbe little ones In the ' a. - ' fr tti debt-payin- g i Hard Christmases -- ne d ;. mug-nlnre- ; ; Jftik w -- ,m 1tlJjyHM ImX 4 rU:.55i.fa ? 7sA-v,- " : neighborhood, . General Washington was truly the 'Father of His Country,' and we have a very good idea Xrf the sort of holiday plrtt in whlcbhe observed the "glad t Thristmastlde" when our republic waa ' n Its Infancy. In one all onr No bright history as ir handed down a more ra-- , - !inatIpn.bos dlant Christmas message of hope and . raith. Clean Leather Furniture. Add a little vinegar to tepid water md wash the leather with a clean loth; wipe dry. To polish apply tbe following; Whites of two egg beaten t snghtly-nostiff) and mix with two teaspeonfuls, of turpentine;1 rub wit ;.fp . Yj I clean, drr tlotli |