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Show THE MIDVALE JOURNAL Thursday, August 27, 1931 •••....................•••.• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• By Edna Ferber ··············•········•···• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• WNU Service. Copyrlcht by Edna. Ferber. CHAPTER XI -15- Clm was nineteen, Donna fifteen. And now Sabra llved quite alone in the new house on Klhekeh street, except !or a colored woman servant sent from Kansas. She ran the paper alone, as she wished It run. She ordered the house as she wished it. She very nearly ran the town of Osage. She was a power in the territory. .And Yancey was gone, Clm was gone, Donna was gone. Sabra had refused to compromise with llfe, and llfe had taken matters out of her hands. Donna was away at an eastern fin· lshlng school-Miss Dignum's on the Hudson. Yancey had opposed that, ot course. It had been Sabra's idea to send Donna east to school. "East?'' Yancey had said. "Kansas City?" "Certainly not." "Oil-Chicago." "I mean New York." "You're crazy." "I didn't expect you to approve. I suppose you'd like her to go to an Indian 11chool. Donna's an unusual girl. She's not a beauty and never will be, but she's brilliant, that's what she Is. Brilliant. I don't mean Intellectual. You needn't smile. I mean that she's got the ambition and the Insight and the foresight, too, of a woman of twice her age." "I'm sorry to hear that." "I'm not. She's like mamma in many ways, only she's got intelligence and (!rive. She doesn't get along with the girls here-Maurine Turket and Gazelle Slaughter and Jewel Riggs and Czarina McKee, and those. She's different. They go switching up and They'll down Pawhuska avenue. marry one of these tobacco-chewing loafers and settle down like vegetables. Well, site won't. I'll see to that." "Going to marry her off to an eastern potentate-at fifteen'!" "You walt. You'll see. She knows what she wants. She'll get It, too." "Sure It isn't you who knows what you want her to want?" But Sabra had sent her oft to Miss D!gnum's on a diet of prunes and prisms that even her high-and-mighty old grandmother Felice Venable approved. Clm, walking the prairies beyond Osage with that peculiar light step of his, his eyes cast down ; prowling the draws and sprawling upon the clay banks of the rivers that ran so red through the Red Man's territory, said that he wanted to be a geologist. lie spoke of the Colorado school of mines. He worked In the 'Yigwam office and hated it. He could pi a case of type more quickly and completely than a drunken tramp printer. Even Je,;se Rickey. his mournful mustache more drooping than en•r, protested to Yancey. "She can't mal'e a newspaper man (>Ut of that kid," he said. "Not In a million years. Newspaper men are born, not made. Cil'!t, he just naturally hates news, let alone a newspaper office. He was horn without an arm, or something. You can't grow it if you haven't got it." "I know It," ~aid Yancey, wearily. ••He'll find a way out." For the fir~;t time a rival new!=:pnper flourished In the town of Osage. The town was scarcely large enr,ugh to support two dnily papers, but Yancey's }lOIItlcnl attitude so often was at variance with the feeling of the territory }lolitlclans that the new daily, slipshod and dishonest though it was, and owned body and soul hy territorial Interests, achieved a degree of popularity. Sabra, unable to dictate the policy of the Wigwam with Yancey at Its head, had to content herself with the management of Its mechanical worktoga and with Its Increasingly im}lortnnt social and club columns. Osage swarmed with meetings, committees, lodges, Knights of This and Sisters of That. The Philomathean and the Twentieth Century clubs bagnn to go in for Civic Betterment, and no Osage merchant or professional man was safe from cajoling and unattractive females In shirtwaists and skirts and eyeglasses demanding his name signed to this or that petition (with a contribution. Whatever you !eel that you can give, Mr. Hefner. Of course, as a leading business man • • .). They planted shrubs about the cinder-strewn environs of the Santa Fe and the Katy depots. They agitated for the Immedlo.te paving of Pawhuska avenue (It wasn't done). The Ladles of the Eastern Star. ~'he Venus lodge. Sisters of Rebekah. Daughters of the Southwest. They came Into the Wigwam office with notices to be printed about lodge suppers and church sociables. Strangely enough, they were likely to stay longer and to chat more freely if Yancey and not Sabra were there to receive them. Sabra was polite but businesslike to her own sex encountered In office hours. But Yancey made himself utterly charming. He could no more help It than he could help breathing. It was almost functional with him. He made the stout, commonplace, middle-aged women feel tho.t they He fiatw~re ro ...!!.l-1!-h-d seductive. tered them with his fine eyes; he bowed them to the doors, their eyeglasses quivered. He was likely, on their departure, to crumple their carefully worded notice and throw it on the floor. Sabra, though she made short work of the visiting Venuses and Rebeknbs, ran their notice and, If necessary, carefully rewrote it. "God A'mlgbty !" he would groan at noonday dinner. "The office was full Like a of Venuses this morning. swarm of overstutfed locusts." Sabra was at the head of many of these Betterment movements. Also If there could be said to be anything so formal as society in Osage, Sabra Cravat was the leader of it. She was the first to electrify the ladies of the Twentieth Century Culture club by serving them Waldorf salo.d-that abominable mixture of apple cubes, chopped nuts, whipped cream, and mayonnaise. The club fell upon 1t with little cries and murmurs. Thereafter It was served at club meetings until Osage husbands, returning home to supper after a day's work, and being offered this salvage from the !east, would push It aside with masculine contempt !or its contents and roar, "I can't eat this stufl'. Fix me some bacon and eggs." From this culinary and social triumph Sabra proceeded to pineapple and marshmallow salad, the recipe for which had been sent her by Donna In the East. Its indirect etfects were fatal. When it again became her turn to act as hostess to the members of the club she made her preparations for the afternoon meeting, held at the grisly hour of half-past two. Refreshments were Invariably sen·ed at four. With all arran.~ements made, she was confronted by Ruby Big Elk with the o.stounding statement that this was a great Indian festival day (September, and the corn dances were on) and that she must go to the reser•atlon In time for the Mescal ceremony. ''You can't go," said Sabra, flatly. Midday dinner was over. Yancey had returned to the office. Cim was lounging in the hammock on the porch. For answer Ruby turned and walked with her stately, Irritating step into her own room just off the kitchen and closed the door. "Well," shouted Sabra In the tones of Felice Venable herself, "if you do go you needn't come back." She marched out to the front,porch, where the sight of the lounging Cim only aggravated her annoyance. "This ends ft. That girl has got to leave." "What girl?" "Ruby. Twenty women this afternoon, and she says she's going to the reservation. They'll be here at half· past two." It was rather incoherent, but Cim, surprisingly enough, seemed to understand. ''But she told you a month ago." "Told me what? How do you kno\v?" ''Because she told me she told you, e>er so long ago." She never men"~1nybe she did. tioned it again. I can't be expected to remember every time the Indians have one of the powwows. I told her she couldn't go. She's in there getting ready. Well, this ends It. She needn't come baek." She flounced into the kitchen. There stood a mild-mannered young Indian girl unknown to her. "W'hnt do you want?" "I am here," the girl answered, composedly, "to take Ruby Big Elk's place this afternoon. I am Cherokee. She told me to come.'' She plucked Ruby's blue and white checked gingham kitchen apl'on otf the hook behind the door and tied lt around her waist. "Well!" gasped Sabra, relieved, but still angry. Through the kitchen window she saw Cim hitching up the two pintos to the racy little yellow phaeton that Yancey had bought. She must run out and tell him before he left. lie had seemed disturbed. She was glad he was clearing out. She liked having the men folks out of the way when afternoon company was due. Ruby's door opened. The girl came out. Her appearance was amazing. She wore a dress of white doeskin hanging straight from shoulders to ankles, and as soft and pliable as velvet. The hem was fringed. Front, sleeves, collar were finely beaded in an intricate pattern that was more like embroidery than beading. On her feet were moccasins in Ivory white and as exquisitely beaded as the dress. It was the robe of a princess. Her dark Indian eyes were alive. Her skin seemed to glow In contrast with the garment. ~·he girl was, for the moment, almost beautiful. • This "Hello, Theresa Jump. do my will Is Theresa Jump. She work this day. I have told her. I will be back tomorrow morning." She walked slowly out of the house by way of the kitchen door, across the yard with her slow Insolent dragging step. A stab of suspicion cut Sabra. She flew to the back porch, stood there a moment. Ruby Big Elk walked slowly toward the barn. Cim drove out with the phaeton and pintos. He saw the Indian woman In her white His eyes shone, doeskin dress. enormous. He lifted his head as though to breathe deeply. At that look In his face Sabra ran across the yard. One hand was at her breast, as though an Indian arrow had pierced her. Ruby had set one foot In its creamwhite moccasin on the buggy step. Cim held out his ft·ee hand. Sabra reached them, painting. "Where are you going?" "I'm driving Ruby out to Ute reservation." "No, you're not. No, you're not." She put one hand in a futile gesture on the buggy wheel, as though to stop them by main force. She knew she must not lose her dignity before this Indian woman-before her son. Yet this thing was, to her way of thinking, monstrous. Cim gathered up the reins, his eyes on the restive ponies. "I may stay to Yet This Thing Was, to Her Way of Thinking, Monstrous. see some of the dancing and the Mescal ceremony. Father says It's very interesting. Big Elk has invited me." "Your father knows you're going? Like this?" ''Oh, yes." He cast a slight, an oblique glance at her hand on the wheeL lier hand dropped heavily to her side. He spoke to the horses. They were off. Ruby Big Elk looked straight ahead. She had uttered no word. Sabra turned and walked back to the house. The hot tears blinded her. She was choking. But her pride spoke, even then. You must not go the kitchen way. That Indian girl will see you. They are all alike. You must go around by the front wo.y. Pretend it is nothing. Oh. G•)d, what shall I do ! All those women this afternoon. Perhaps I am making a fuss over nothing. Why shouldn't he take the Indian girl out to the reservation and stop an hour or two to see the dances and the rites? . . . His face! His face when he saw her In thn t dress." She bathed her eyes, powdered her nose, changed her dress, came into the kitchen, smiling. Theresa .Jump pro,·ed clum:;y and unteachable. Sabra herself mixed and ser>ed the pineapple and marshmallow salad, and though this novelty proved a great success, the triumph of servmg It was spoiled for Sabra. She bundled the girl of!' at stx, after the dishes were done. Wearily she began to set the house to rights, but Yancey came home to a confusion of chairs and squashed pillows, a mingled odor of perfumery and cotfee; a Utter of cake crumbs, bits of embroidery silk, and crumpled tea· napkins. His huge frame moving about the cluttered sitting room made these femInine remnants seem ridiculous. The disorder of the household Irked him. Worst of all, Sabra, relieved now of her guests, was free to pour out upon him all the pent-up wrath, anxiety, and shock of the past few hours. Ruby. Cim. Theresa Jump. Peyote. Osage. If his own father allows such thingswhat will people say-no use trying to make something of yourself. Yancey, usually so glib with quotations from this or that sonorous passage tJf poetry, said little. He did not eYen try to cajole her Into a better humor with his flattery, his charm, his tenderness. His eyes were bloodshot, his hand more unsteady than usual. He had been clrlnldng even more than was his wont, she knew that at once. By no means drunk (she had never seen him really drunk-no one hadhe was seemingly Incapable of reaching a visible state of drunkenness), he was in one of his fits of moody depression. That great shoulders sagged. The splendid head lolled on his breo.st. He seemed sunk in gloomy thought. She felt that he hardly heard what she was saying. She herself could eat nothing. She set a place for him at the dining room table and plumped down before him a dish of the absurd salad, a cup of coffee, some cake, a plate of the left-over sandwiches, their edges curled dismally. "What's this?" he said. "Pineapple and marshmallow salad. With Ruby gone and all, I didn't get anything for your supper-! was so upset-all those women . . ." Ile sat looking down at the slippery mass on his plate. His great arms were spread out on the to.ble before him. The beautiful hand!'! were opening and closing convulsively. So a mastodon might have looked at a worm. "Pineapple and marshmallow :;alad," he repented, thoughtfully, almost wonderingly. Suddenly he threw back the magnificent head and began to lo.ugh. Peal after peal of Herculean laughter. "Pineapple and marsh-" choking, the tears running down his cheeks. Sabra was angry, then frightened. For as suddenly as he had begun to laugh he became serious. He stood up, one hand on the table. Then he seemed to pull Ills whole body together like a tiger who is about to spring. He stood thus a moment, swaying a little. " 'Actum est de republica.' " "What?" said Sabra, sharply. "Latin, Latin, my love. Pineapple and marshmallow salad ! 'It Is all She over with the Republic.'" shrugged her shoulders Impatiently. Yancey turned, stiffiy, like a soldier, walked out of the room, flicked his white sombrero off the hall rack and put it on at the usual jaunty angle, went down the porch stair with his light, graceful step, to the sidewalk and up the street, the great head lowered, the arms swinging despondently at his sldP.s. Sabra went on with her work of tidying up the house. Tier eyes burned, her throat was constrieted. 1\f en ! 1\Ien! Cim off with that squaw. Yancey angry because she had given him this very feminine dish of left-overs. What was the use of working, what was the use of pride, what was the use of ambition for your children, your home, your town I! this was all It amounted to? Her work done, she allowed herself the luxury of a deliberate and cleansing storm of tears. Eight o'clock. She l1eated some of the afternoon coffee and drank It sitting at the kitchen table. She went out on the front porch. Darkness had come on. A hot September evening. The crickets squeaked and ground away In the weeds. She was conscious of an aching weariness in all her body, but she could not sleep. Tier eyes felt as though they were being pulled apo.rt by Invisible fingers. She put her palms over them, to shut them, to cool them. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. She undressed, unpinned the braids of her thick hair, brushed it, plaited it for the night. All the time she was listening. Listening. One. Suddenly 111he began to dress again with Icy fumbling fingers. She did up her hair, put on her hat and a jacket. ***************************************************** Not Easy to Calculate Cost of Writing Letter • Just what it costs to write a lette1· cents per missive, according to the Is not known to nine out of ten busi- cost of the stationery. ness men. It they ever think of it When the boss worth $10,000 or cost the and they figure the postage $20,000 a year does the dictating and of the stationery and let it go at that. uses a $GO per week secretary the Really the postage Is an insignificant letter will cost close to $1. Some letters written by band cost thousands item In the cost of a letter. An efficiency expert recently In- and thousands of dollars. Love notes, quired of 58 concerns about the cost for Instance, ho.ve had a cost that of their letters and It was learned depends on the minds of the jurors that only 14 had any definite Idea on hearing the damage su!t.-Bob Hoi· the subject. The average cost as fig. land in the Miami Herald. ured by these fourteen firms was beStandish Story Myth 1 tween 35 anu 40 cents. With an averApparently there is no evidence to age salary of $41) a week for the die· tator and $2ll for the stenographer support the assertion often made that who turns out 1!0 letters a day and . Capt. Miles Standish, military comwith the dictator usln~ six minutes mander of the 1\Iaflower group of Pilper letter the cost was 35.08 and 36.07 grims at Plymouth, lost one of bis legs In battle and wore a "cork" leg. None ot t11e contemporai'Y historio.ns and Not Named for Davenport chroniclers mention the fact, and it Is The davenport (couch) is a compar- not s;o stated in the reputable histories atively modern plere of furniture, nml of Plymouth colony. It Is not known was not namf'd for the Inventor, Dav- who started the story. Perhaps It enport. The davenport which Is nnme•l originally at·o_e from a confusion of . 'tandlsh with Peter Stuyye~ant, the after the Inventor Is a !':tyle of writ ing desk, smnll, ~renerally ~rr.nmentecl. on(•·le::;.:rd gon'rnor of l\'ew Netherand Intended for a boudoir. lnn•l. 11dhlinrlcr 1\Iagnz!ue. I She ~losed the door beh!nd her, locked ft. slipped the key Into the mail boL The Wigwam office. Yancey was not there. The office was dark. She shook the door, rattled the knob, peered In, unlocked It with the key in her handbag. Her heart was pounding, but she was not afraid of the darkness. A eat's eyes gleamed at her from the printing shop. She struck a light. No one. No one. The linotype machine grinned at her with Its white teeth. Its Iron arm o.nd, hand shook tauntingly at ber in the wavering light. With a sudden premonition she ran to Yancey's desk, opened the drawer in which he kept his holster and six-shooters, now that Osage had become so effete as to make them an unessential article of dress. They were not there. She knew theu that Yancey had gone. Doc Vaillant. She closed and locked the door after her, stepped out into the quiet blackness of Pawhuska avenue. Doc Valliant. He would go with her. IIe would drive her out there. But his office and the room at the rear, which was his dwelling, go.ve forth no Gone out somewhere-a response. case. Down the rickety wooden steps of the two-story brick building. She stood a moment in the street, looking this way and that. She struck her palms together In a kind of agony of futility. She would go alone If she had a horse and buggy. She could rent one at the livery stable. But what would they think-those men They were the at the stable'! gossips of the town. It would be all over Osage, all over the county. Sabra Cramt driving out Into the prairie alone In the middle of the n!ghf: Something up. Well, she couldn't help that. She had to go. She had to get him. Toward the livery stable, past the Bixby house. A quiet little figure rose frf'm the blackness of the porch where all through the day the traYellng men and loafers sat with their chair;; tiltl)d back against the wall. The red coal of his cigar was an eye in the darkncss. "Sabra! What is this! What are you doing running around at this hour of the night?'' Sol I.evy, sittlug there in the Oklahoma night, a lonely little figure, sleepless, brooding. He had never before called her Sabra. "Sol! :::lol! Cim's out at the reserI Something's happened. vation. know. I !eel it." He did not scoff at this, as most men would. He seemed to understand her fear, her premonition, and to accept It with oriental fatalism. "What do ~·ou want to do?" "Take me out there. Hitch up and drive me out there. Cim's :;:ot the buggy. He went out with her.'' He did not ask where Yancey was. He asked nothing. "Go home," he said, "Walt on your porch. I'll get my rig and come !or you. They shouldn't see you. Do you want me to go home with you first?" "No, no. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything." Sol Levy had two very fine horses; really good animal~. They won the races regularly at the local fairs. The little light rig wltb Its smart rubber tires whirle~ behind them over the red dusty Oklahoma prairie roads. llis slim hantls were not expert with horses. He was a nervous, jerky They left the town behind driver. them, were swallowe<l up by the prntrte. The reservation was a full two hours distant. Sabra took ofl' ht>r hat. The night air rushed against her face, cooling !t. A half hour. "Let me drive, will you, Sol?" Without a word he entru~ted the reins to her strong, accustomed han us; the hands of one who had come of )i:enerations of horse lover;;. The animals sen;;ed the change. They leaped ahead In the darkness. The light buggy rocked and bounced over the rutted roads. Sol asked her nothing. They drove In silence. Presently she began to talk, disjointedly. Yet, surprisingly enough, he seemed intuitively to understand-to fill in the gaps with his own instinct and imagination. What she said sounded absurd; be knew it for tragedy. ". . • . pineapple and marshmallow salad . . • hates that kind of thing • . . Ruby Big Elk ••• Cim peyote • . . The. . • his face • resa Jump . . .'' "I see," said Sol Levy, soothingly. "Sure. Well, sure. The boy will be all right. The boy will be all right. Well, Yancey-you know how he isYancey. Do you think he has gone away again? I mean-gone?" "I don't know.'' Then, "Yes." Three o'clock and after. They came in sight of the Osage reservation, a scattered settlement of sterile farms and wooden shanties sprawled on the bare unlovely prairie. Darkness. The utter darkness that precedes the dawn. St111ness, except for the thud of their horses' flying hoofs and the whir and bump of the buggy wheels. Then, as Sabra slowed them down, uncertainly, undecided as to what they might best do, they heard it-the weird wavering cadences of the :Mescal song the hall-like clatter of the gourd ro.ttle shaken vigorously and monotonously; and beneath and above and around It all, reverberating, haunting, ominous, the beat of the buckskin drum. Through the st111, cool night air of the prairie it came to them-to the overwrought woman, and to the little peaceful Jew. Barbaric sounds, wild, sinister. She pulled up the horses. ~'hey sat a moment, listening. Listening. The drum. The savage sound of the drum. Fear wall gnawing at her vitals, wringing her very heart with clammy fingers, yet Sabra spoke matter-of· factly, her voice holding a bard little note bccau;;e she was trying to ke~ It from quavering. !TO Blll CONTINU&JU --, Intermountain News -Briefly Told by Busy Readel'8 TO HONOR PION~ER PLAN FIVE HOUR DA~ PEACH CROP ~ SHORT FEED LAMB..c;; EARL~ TO BUILD BREAKS ROAD OGDEN, UT.-It Is announced that permission has been granted for the erection of a monument in honor of Jededinb Strong Smith, Utah explorer and trapper. The monument will be placed at Lake street and Washington avenue. ID.AHO FALLS, IDA.-Pians tor a ten-hour working day, nccomodnting two shifts for five hours each, are being discussed among local potato dealers with the view of relieving a possible unemployment situation this fall and wiflter, BRIGHAM CITY, UT.-T he Utah peach crop will run about 500 cars this year, which is far short of a normal yield. DRAGON, UT.-The UInta h Railroad company, by action of the public utilltles commission of Utah has been given permission to discontinue its agency station here. BURLEY, ID.A.-Lambs will go Into the feed lots here approximately three months sooner than usual as an experiment in conditioni::Jg fat lambs for the market to be carried out by a company with yenra of experience in fattening llvestock. CED.AR CITY, UT.-Plans are being considered to begin constru~ tlon of a new highway to Cedar Breaks, eliminating much of the steep climbs and sharp curves of the present road. SILVER LAKE, UT.-The summer postoftlce here will be closed early in September by order of the post office department in Washington. IDAHO F ALI,S, ID.A.-With pea harvesting in most sections nearing completion, pea picking operations 1n plants of the upper valley will begin during the !ore-part of Septtember, according to reports from seed companies in Idaho Falls, Rigby and Ririe. MAGNA, UT.-The Utah Copper company does not plan any curtailment of employment or production, declared Daniel C. Jackling, president of tbe company, in a recent interview. BURLEY, ID.A.-'l'he need for Inspection of all apio.ries, in order that interstate shipments of honey can be made without law violation, is stressed by honey and bee lB· spectors of Cassia and Minidoka counties. PROVO, UT.-The tomatoes in this section are coming in in fine shape. Growers are profiting by the new method of grading, as they are picking their tomatoes at the proper time, and being paid on grade basis, and are receiving more money than in past seasons. TWIN FALLS, IDA.-Reduced prices on discard molasses and dried beet pulp, used as a stock feed have been announced by the UtahIdaho Sugar company. Because of the lack of alfalfa bay, it is expected that quantities of molasses will be used for cattle by the farmers and feeders. PRICE, UT.-Remodeling of the main floor or the city ba 11 to provide new office quarters for the Price chamber of commerce was started recently. Half of the floor space will be uttl!zed by the cho.mber, and will be so arranged as to have display quarters, secretary's office and committee rooms. SALT LAKE CI'£Y, UT.-With the exception of Los .Angeles, Salt Lake has had the smallest increase in the retnil cost of food since 1913 of 51 major cities of the United States Included In a report for June issued by the local office of the department of commerce. PROVO, UT.-The spillway chan~el, which carries water frvm the Strawberry reservoir Into the tunnel at the East Portal and thence Into the high line of the Stawberry Water User's association, bas been deepened. It Is expectM the channel will be deep enough to drain sufficient water to complete irrigation contracts ot the company thla )"ear. BOISE, IDA.-The Mountain States Seed Growers, Inc., was organized here recently to deal In small seeds such as alfalfa and clover in southwest Idaho. Members of the farm board's cooperat1Ye wheat organization were named officers of the seed concern. VEG.AS, NEV.-Survey1 LAS have been completed on the trio of unconstructed portions of the Goldfield-Beatty highway, and It Is expected contracts !or construction of all three will be advertised early in September. The first 14 miles south of Goldfield is still in Its original state, and this contract is expected to be the first of the three to be awarded. LOGAN, UT.-The life saving equipment purchased by the county commission some time ago was delivered to tbe sheriff's office recently, The equipment includes a non-sinkable, all-metal boat, several hundred feet of rope, swivels, grappling hooks, and a woven-wire screen to string across the water to catch floating objects. ELY, NEV.-A deficit of nearly twenty thousand dollars Is nnn&unced by Nevada Consolidated copper company in its operation !or the fiscal year. |