Show rt of Ibe Day J E t fA A FIDDLE FOR A FARM P of If Judgment I guess growled Lee Hall scrambling out of d and and nd scowling at t the te e sun which flooded flooded his shack with I as well quit Ive I've got to quit Its It's a country countr of sun sun- sun sub on l und und his warped unpainted shanty and arid leaned weakly ering sleepily through through the dust for s some me sign of hope e mountains rose like dun reefs above a sea of purple rom om his feet to the west stirred only by the eddies of S ting Ing scattering ie dust that blurred his eyes J and nd choked him hire ed the broken boomer It will never neer rain Im I'm all In Ill I'll if If I can 1 i lall 1811 l piece of bacon out of or t tad an old lard can and unwrapped a Do aad aad ad ad Then he broke up an old soap box his only piece of ofis is l bed ed and made a With the fetid water he had hus- hus made some coffee and having baked his bacon sat down tJ fast Cut he sald said speaking aloud a as lonely men must do If If poor amy arry y me I ought to reach town by n noon on If he Isn't Ill I'll have bavo Ie e murmured for he loved the very dirt which he had tolled f e his hope Oh God Cod If It It would only rain min F bed valley vaHey he found Dexter his old h hOrse stark and still so sq the he useless bridle bridie and ad with his hands behind him and his went back to his shanty From the wall where he j he took OOk some photographs of his people thrust them Into his d hen Then to the last the her picture of his sweetheart he looked all off ocr we ve must go I was game because I knew you set et on the new country but you dont don't want me to starve stat t l her r picture tenderly wiped d away the dust and w wrapped it In Paper p pr r. r Then he lue got down down the faded green STeen bag which held his moment r and took It out He Ie played Home Sweet Home I into nto ithe the sunlight ht and scanning the horizon for a 0 glimpse n f t l the fit Sky from front rIm to rim was flat fiat and radiant now with ht and a as the wind vind rose and enveloped him with a geyser ot of ne he he struck up The Devils Devil's Dream and went back Into his f h only hi his photographs his fiddle and the load of conscious kout out lout of his abandoned home and set forth for Somerset six six- S sore e and famished Ha Hall Hall- Hallwas l- l was yet five miles from the town I- I 4 I i c t jU l 4 3 aIl ti i c Then he met met Huggins loitering homeward on his mule laden with packages of grub I S Whar ye goin Hall Aint are ye Yep quitting Huggins pot Got any water Got a sup or two said Huggins dropping off his mule and handing over his bottle Hungry Go ahead cat em They're sody crackers C Couldn't ye hold out a spell longer Its It's got to rain one o 0 these days No use Hugging I cant can't get any more grub Wilkins wont won't stake me for another bill till It rains My horse died yesterday and I cant can't haul water Im I'm all In What'll you give me for the place So yer gain goin to relinquish Im I'm darn sorry Oh I dont don't want no more moro land Chances Is Ill I'll relinquish too if It dont don't rain fore June Tune Lets Let's set down They sat in th the shade of a great rock which shielded them theta from the sun D. D and dust Hall HalI eager r to get at least east 20 for his claim lalm described his shanty and his farm In language that seemed a mockery even to himself No I wont won't buy It declared Huggins but Ill I'll tell ye what I will do Hall Im I'm tired o 0 ridin and the suns sun's suns hurtin my eyes Ill I'll set here hero an play ye up even fur your claim Bet ye twenty agin the place I can beat ye How many games Five Hall was sweeping the sky with his feverish eyes No o No Huggins Its It's getting dark We hav haven't nt time but Ill I'll play you one game p All right twenty agin gin the farm No The fiddle against ten an c 1 c Go ye ye J 3 JAnd r And as they Dl played In the fading light the wind changed clanged round to the north so that they must put little rocks on the cards to keep them on the flat fiat stone which was th their lr table But Hall hail lost and though his neighbor teased him to play for the claim agin twenty the young young- fel fellow ow sullen now and dispirited refused and passed ed over the old fiddle which had been the solace of his months of ot loneliness He borrowed a dollar and oe crackers cri and as Huggins mounted his mule and set off ort with Better Detter luck next time the tired youth Jet his chin rest upon his knees and slept When he Woke woke his back was sore with leaning against the boulder and his limbs ached He crept away Into the dr dry sand yet warm with the heat of the sun and staring into the cloudless night counted a thousand st stars rs and di earned dreamed of his home In the States I i In fancy he sat with Tilly by the shore of Kentucky river In ip the shade of the forest tl trees S. S He could hear the south winds wind's l lullaby In iii the branches and the tinkling obligate to of the water the small of clover was In the air mingled with the pungent perfume of wild marigolds And when his sweetheart faded out of the dream and left leCt him sitting in the twilight his lips were hectic with the love stories he could not tell her and his blood hot with th the fever Lever of young happiness and hope So he stripped away his irksome garments an and anI plunged ino n o 0 the cool waters of or the stream paddling Its dimpled bosom with hl his fingers finger in Ia laying Ining his hot forehead wallowing his tired body In its freshening depths And Ithen he woke But his face was yet dripping with the reality of his dreams his wet clothes clung to him the depression hI his body had made In the sand Kind was full of water He sa up and faced the win wind which dashed sprays of water Into his eyes It was raining I S SHe He lIe stood up In the darkness with a a. benediction o on his lips tore o ort off his muddy tatt tattered red clothes and standing in the torrents which smote upon the rocks and pattered upon the plain with a music that can he heard In no other part of the world he looked and smiled Into the e face of 01 the pel pelting ng storm and yelled I I Thank God Cod It was the fiddle and not the farm l John H. H l aCe r In Record Record- Record I f A i r J J. J LI L h II I o j I TIP fie |