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Show THEJORDANJOURNAL,MIDVALE.UTAR --- - -- A New Year's Frsh • -~· 1ver ByEdithL~ • T ...... Oudook ~wish for you: That paat r~ucll roads unheeded You march ahead, Undaunted with th" uupe of truat be· cotten To win llfe'a bread; To wear a smile e'en when tean 'be your portion, With sighs unsaid. To 8nd fair blooms from laat year'a brown leavea sprlnclnar Upon your way: To reap the worth of deeci.JI by that left )'OU I. bit more gray, I. ~It more stronc to live and love with other" • From day to day. In frul tful ftelds may Time think wlae to give you I. ..entle part; Wltb love of home and frlendll to twine about you Hay this year startBlue akles to cheer and peace of God to guide you, 0 faithful heart! she over to his and presscheek his, said "Never telling me. It you want to. wiU be a little IHPUICI dieD we enD talk about lt." . ~ue1rea look upon Jlls face left tile breakfast let bla room. Tbere. with hlmnlf for a long •hould he tell Hilda, he t.iP.Id: tbBe wa• a ehaace t'hlngs 100111e rlgbt, and even If U1ey u~ perhaps hf C01Jld make good ltJU wltbJu tha Jear. Re was belli&' ~ te keep the kBowl· ,_. lOBS from her. It would shBJDe to tell It, and lilll a.t the too. Be would have to to ~ .,..,.., tllougbJ of the New 'i6:ri!ifbt BOOert barn·en to ~fm· coward be wu..- trJJag cou.ac:tenco u \be was •.l want to return tbl8 article." Str~~age to llf\y, · tht lfrl, at whom all these questions were being burled In the INt minute, mtd all tbe uproar and clamor around ber, was aa ..calm and aweet, UJWerfD& all the questlona of th(!fle last-minute hcRNQ shoppers. Allee, seemfDsly comb4lt1Dc the storm of rusto~rs assaUlna her counter, :c.1.;;.t• N~ Year tor COlD• Hnda, eveu lle11Pilte4 btm f{)F. hat be bad cheerfullY and quickly took care of be better than tbem. One eo,ldn't bellf 'but admire waa aet!Da tbe part her; ;Her golden hair, with Its natural The trutb was best- wave, her stataly, well-formed feutures t~- tt. (elllng aboukl weund gave one tbel opinion that unfortunate ctreu~tao. mUst have force!) her to her present 1MIJIItloo, for she eeemed agutn, lie found eoUrely Q\lt ~~ her sphere. ta~l peualvely out of Ute wiDThe fto~alfrer of the departmeat was unlike her, and lie wasn't miiiBIDC lhiDI, aa he anthat ·~ wu ttouhled. swered qu~ and rave directions. be llpproacbed the c:JWr. He smiled as be viewed tbe cbaoe be saJ.d.. pine right Into tile of tbe 111atter. "'You retDelDber 1tbout him. "Foony how ~ folks never tbl $tOdt 1M ~lked about laat weekof getting tbtnga until tbe last minute, ~ where t had JOU put the and then they wut them tn ~C!b a lefl JOu? Well, hurry." It 1s an lolt-tbat Tbat eYenlnc, closing ttme found tbe It 18 _.,ae-o-and I lmow bllti,Jl8 abOut It, tor I ad- floorwalker engaged In converlllltloa wltll the clerk at cou~ter "Sixteen." ~ · '" "4¥ C!IINI~·ecll•'fOU to do ft." "Yop have eertat,ly bad a bard day. ~"~;,p rWliiZ·..uun ta troubling I ·'l!ta.·•·•••f.fa queer light t am Inclined to tbblk you ril bave to have someone see you howe." "It wu a rather tryln• day," adulltted Allee. So, Mr. Grell and Allee taxied to her llome together. To their surp1'1ae, they found each other'a compan7 moet a,reeable. <llrlstmu past, Allee was agaiD h1J87. It .... bow almost New rear's. People were bul'l')'1ng to exchan~ the glfta that llurrled Christmas Bbopperl worked so bard to get. Demure, aweet Allee was aplu putting things away, coverblc counters In preparation for ··AtiJtl'ttllll' Oil e , Here's a clever story about a man born to be hanged before he was thirty for a crime he didn't commit-that's the way a gypsy queen told h!s fortune the nl~rht he was born. And what's more, the I:"YPSY queen was right; she was a palm reader who knew her business and wasn't afraid to admit lt. So Oliver's father dlsap• peared and the neighbors cried, "Murder!" And before long they also yelled, "Oliver." And ftnally, just sl>t days before Oliver's thirtieth birthday came along a lynching bee strung him up. But, just the sa me, all this did not prevent 011 ver's getting elected to the state senate and winning a pretty wife and living happily ever after. By George Barr McCutcheon. Enough said! I Oliver October Baxter, Jr., wn~ horn In the town of llumlPy on a v!le October day In 1890. Rumley people were divided Jn their excitement over this event un<l the arrival of a band of gypsies, camped on the ed;:-e of the swu mp below the Baxter house. Oi her's parents WPre prominent In the ('ommeJ·cial. socinl nnu sp;rltunl lifE> of the town. Ills father was the prorrietor of tlle hardware store, n prom· lnent memher of the l'rt,sbyterlan rhureh, and a il'aller In the local lodge of Odd FPI!ows. ll is mothPr, Mary Bnxter, a <·omply, capable young woman, was beloved hy. all. No finer "youngnn" than Olh·er October had ever been born, acco]'(Jing to Mrs. Serepta Grimes, nntl Rerepta was 11n authority on babies. It was she who took command of Olh·er, his wotlter and his father, the fiouse itself, and all that therein was. As the atory of Oliver October rl'ally begins at 7 o'clock In the evening of bls IJ!rthda.v, we wlll open the narrative with 1\Ir. JoSPph Sikes, Mr. Baxter's old ant! tru~ted friend, hovering In sol!tary gloom over the baseburner In the sitting room or Baxter's house. He was Interrupted In his gloomy me<lltatlons by the Shimming of the kitchen door. His brow grew <lark. Thla was no time to be slamming doors. lluslllng to open the door, he was conlronted by a pair of total strangers -a tall man with short black whiskers and 11 frail little woniun with red, windsmitten cheeks. "I am Oliver Baxter's sister," an· nounced the woman, "and this Is my hUsband. Mr. Gooch. We di'ove all the way over here from Hopkinsville to take charge of things for my brother.'' "Well, I guess If you are his sister you'd better come Into the sitting room and take your things off," said M1·. Sikes, leading the way. Mrs. Gooch, having divested herself of cont. scarf, bonnet and overshoes, straightened ber hair before the lookIng glass. while her husband surveyed tbe room and its contents with the disdainful air of one used to much better drawled, as abe scuffled past blm Into the sitting room. "Nice balmy weather to be born In, isn't It?" l'llr. Sikes, taken unawares, forgot himself so far as to wink at the par· son, llltd then, In some confusion, stam· mered: "St·step right In, 1\Irs. Sage, and have n chair. Let me make you acquainted with Oliver's sister, from Hopkinsville. Reverend Sage, Mrs, Gooch. 1\lr. Link, lllrs. Gooch. And this Is Oliver's brother-in-law, her husbitnd, also of Hopklnsvllle." Everybody bowed. "How Is your dear brother, Mrs. Gooch?" Inquired llfr. Sa~. "I didn't know there wus anything the matter with Oliver." · "There Isn't a11ything the matter with him," said l\Irs. Sage, "that 1.3 good, stilT drlnlc of whisky won't cure." "Ahem!" coughed her husband. He had the worried manner of one who ne\·l'r knew what Is <'Oming next. His wife looked up into his face and smiled-a lo\·e!y, good-humored smile that was slowly transformed Into a mischievous grimace. "l'n~ always making breaks, am I not, Herby dear? It's a tPrrible strain, Mr. Goo<"h, beiug a parson's wife." "Umph !" grunted Mr. Gooch. At this juncture the sitting room door was opl'ne<l and the proud f>lther, followed by Serepta GrimE'S, entl'red the room. Bpaming, he surveyed the assembled gutl•erlng. · "lie's got the tlncst hend you evPr saw," he :mnouneed. "Got a head like a statesman." Reven•IHI Snge had mo,·e<J ovl'r to one of the windows, while the other occupants of the room surrounded Bux· tPr, and was g-uzing out bptween the cm·taing :H•ross the gale-swept porch into the biat;lmess beyond. He shivered a little, poor chap, 111 the thought tl¢'igs. .-Gooch typified prosperity of the meaner kind. Over In Hopkinsville be was eonsidered the richest and the stingiest man In town. Be was what Is comllfbnly called a ''tax shark," derh·lng a lucrative and ohnoxloos In- The Light Fell Full Upon a Face r.ome through bls pt·actlce of buying up Close to a Window Pane. real estate •·t tax sales and boldh'lg It of going o1ll 11gnln into the bitter, ununtll it was redeemed by the hltrd· belientble night-at the thought or his pressed owner, or, ns it happened·ln cold little home at the farther end of many instances, acquiring the property the village. under n provision ot the Btt\te law He was thinking, too, of his wife and then In operation, wi.Jerehy after a pre- the mile walk she would have to take scribed la1~se of time he was enabled with him Into the very teeth of tbe tCl ~~re a tax deed In his own name.. butrettng gale when this •lstt was over. No ode, not even his fellow church She had -come to tbis wretched little members. bad ever been known to cet town from a great city, where houses the bl'tter of him. and flats were warm and snug. He ..I altai! take cbarge here," Mrs. thought flf the warm little room on the Gooch announ<'ed to Mr. Slkea. ''Is third ftoor of the boardlnr bouse where this the Waf upstalrsr• he had lived and studied for two full Mr. Sikes nodded. "But If I was yejlrs. It was In this house that he bad JOU," Ire sald "I'd ask Serepty Grimes met Josephine Judge. She was the before I took charge here." daughter ·of the kindly widow wbo con"1 will soon get rid of Mrs. Grimes,'' : ductfd the boarding bouB&-a tall, slim aald she. toaslug her head. girl who used slang and was gay and As she. started to leave the room, a blithesome, and bad ambitions I Ambf· loud knocking at the front door rose tlons1 She wanted to become an above the howl of the wind. Sikes, re- actress. She was stage-struck. ~~::;::::;::;; Burning bJs office as master of cereHe WitS not a theater-going youth. -1--:·-t-l- monies, pushed his way past Mrs. He had been brought up with an abGooch and opened 'the door to admit horrence for the stage and all Its Ina woman and t~ men. The first to lqulties. So he devoted hlm8elf, bean enter the Bitting room was a tall man and soul, to the saving of the mlsthe New tear's bollda.y wben the dll- wearlng a tbl!J black over<'oat and a gulrled malden, with astonlshlnc renttled IIIJbr-walker, Mr. Grell, Interrupt- higb silk hat. This was Rev. Be1·bert suits. They fell In love with each tel the pl'oC!$Chlre. He placed an en- Sage. pastor of the Presbyterian church other and were married. 'Cilope In her band of Rumley. The lady was his wife. He pressed Ills faee against the cold ''I asked If I mlgbt deliver tbla bt The other member of the trio, a fat, pan' striving to rid his mind of the lll!t'80P beeaa" I wanted to aceom- red.faced, joll)' looking man of lnde- doubts und wol'rles that beset lt. ~~ U With a tlttle request. The com- terminate are. was Sllas Link, the Suddenly he drew back with an exJ1aW appnch\hla t~elp nlld se"lcea undertaker IIDholsterer and liveryman l'lamatlon. The light fdl full.Y~Pon a y6u hve rendered il"thls time of year of Rumle)' face close to the window pane, a face .-hal 11lost of our clerks lose tbelr "Reveretur Sage was a rood-looking so startling and so vivid that It did not headiJ ~ accompiJ&b uvthJng. 'DIIJ younc man of thirty, threadbare and a appear to be real. A pair of dark, envelope denotes a substantial ralae, trifte wan, with kindly brown eyes set gleaming eyes met his for a few secbut-.1 Jllll golng to plftJ traitor to m1 deep muter a broad, Intelligent brow. onds; then swiftly tile f11ce was with· nrm-e tbb)g which I shall nen•r do His wife was, surprisingly enough, a drawn. He leaned forward and peered ~tgu!n. but In th1a~ case T tlllnk 1 am handaome. dashing young woman. Sbe intently, Two lndistinr.t figures took justlfiNl. tn other words, beginning was tan, wmowy and startling. She shape In the unrelieved darkness at the with the ftrst of tbe year. New tear'!! -.ore a seWakln cost-at lenst It looked corner of the porch-two womeu, he Day. I lUll asking rou ~o come and 111le aeni-Wfib lleeves that baliOGtted made out. tab ebarc_e ol my specJa1 domlilil aQd ~ ~tt tlie. *houlders; rather ll'«ln"Joseph," he called, "there are two al'l coral eatl'blta wade up ot sr.du- stranre womeu on the porch. Perbapl ~ It as JOU ~ tbla one." :~ ad a lllnky aatln tkbt of yoa....." .Aii(leldllshecl an~.,_ her head. . l l l i . w..-.-~r UIIIGIL) HI~, ~~: "Go- aee who It Ia, Joe,'' commanded Mr. Slk '8ba Mr& tlttmea crJaplJ'. ........ l my ~ I Nil ratber fBartul of things that o Ill I s e b •• .a~rftts But e~ the moue;, lnlif.. have blullJ t.f along BORN TO BE HANGED 0iiver, Born in October weasel.. cto er Arrival of'tha 1VNU Santee ~HAPTER -1- Ol\1.lll one opened 1!1e tluur. A c4ill draft swept ln. She ahlvered. "Could you tell me the price of this?" "Is my parcel ready yet?" "Has my change come back from the cashier's cage?" "Bow many )'8J'd8 are there Ia this pleee?'' •Cou,ld you walt OD me. now. -~· By George Barr McCutcheon ••a• API•Y New Year, daddy I" H e I e a Danvers c a II ed out a. she ran to where her father was seated at the breakfast tab I e. Tllen, noticing the gloom upon his <"heertul fa<'e. abe cried out : dalldy, where Is your smile, and New Year's, too?'' Robert Duvers raised a white and face to meet his daughter's then his eyes fell upon his plate. Is tbe matterr Hilda "You know you have al· said that the best thing to do 110methlng Is trout1llng you Is to It out of your systPm. Why not what you pren<'h, !Iuddy, for tan't be anything very llreallful ?" Robert Dan-vers, how~vl'r, did not Inclined to speak. lnstencl, he stUf and tense his chair for long time, then raised hl8 bead made a moto sP'!U. But could' see the e1fort costing hlm -- ---- - - - - Sikes hastened to obey, and returned presently In great excitement. "Say, Ollie," he burst out, "there'll a cou(Jie of women out here from that gypsy camp. They claim to be fortune-. tellers. One of 'pm wants to tell the baby's fortune. She says she knowed n couple of weeks ago that he was going to be born today, that's what she says." "Well, I'm not going to allow any gypsy woman to go nigh that Infant," cr!Pd .Mrs. Grimes. "She says It ain't necessary to even see the baby. She says the only rellnble and genuine way to tell a baby's fortune Is by readln& Its father's hand." l'llr. Baxter arose. "Bring' her In, .Toe. Now, don't kick, Serepty. My mlnd'i!! made up. I'm going to know my son's futurE>." Mr. Sikes rushed from the room. A moment Iuter he returned, followed by two shivering women who stopped just inside the door. The host, with a nervous sort o1 geniality, beckoned to the strangers. "Better come down to the fire, Queen," he said. The elder woman fixed a curlou1 lonk upon 1\lr. Baxter. "I am the qupen ot the gypsll'S, Mls· tPr, hut how came you to know It?" she aslced In a . hoarse, not unmusical voice. "Ahva~·s hest to be on the safe side," said Baxter. "But look here. Do you meau to say. Queen, that you can look at my hand and tell what's ahead of my !Joy upstairs?" "First, you must cross my palm with sliver." The company drew their chairs closer as Baxter dropped some coins Into the gypsy's palm. Silence per,·arll'd the room. Every eye was on ti'e dark, Impassive face of the fortunetPiler as she seized Ollie's hand and began: "1 set! a wonaertul child. Be Is !';trong and filturdy. I can see this eon of yours, mister, as a lender of men. Great honor Is 1n store for him, and great wealth. I · see men In uniform following your son-mllnY men: ml&ter, and all of them armed. I see ' him ns a successful man, as the bead" of great undertakings. Be baa beeD out of collesce but a few years." "That wll1 please bls mother,'' said Baxter, sniiHlng. "Sb !" put In Mr. Sikes testlly, "I see him," continued the fortune-, teller, "as he Is nenring thirty. lllci1, , rt-spected and admired. He will have many nlfnlrs or the heart. I see two dark women and--one, two-yes, three fair women.'' "That would seem to show that be's going to be a purty good-looking sort of a teller, wouldn't lt ?" said Baxter, proudly, ''He will grow up to be the Image of his father, mister." The gypsy·, leaned back In her chair, sprentllng her hands In a gesture of finality. "I see no more," she said. "Is thn t all ?" !I r. Baxter snlffed. "Well, Qu"een. I guess you took ua all 1 In purty nently.'' Outra'ged royalty turned on him . "You scofl' at me. l<'or that you shall ha\'e the truth. All that l have told you will come tn1e. But I did not tell I you of the end that I saw for him. Hark ye! This son of yours will go to the gallows. He will swing from the end of a rope for a crime of which he Is not guilty." She was now speaking In a high shrill voice; her hearers sat opPn-mouthed, aA' if under a spell that could not be shaken otr. "It Is all as plain as the noonday sun. Be will never reach- the age or thirty. That Is all. That is the end. I have spoken the truth. You forced me to do so. sight. Nrm Jrars. 192fi By EDWARD RETICKER la CHICAGO AMBRlCAN YEAR'S. N JilW And so we cloae thla book to Btart anew. No •lgha, Nor cast behind" a lookThe Book Is You. ... Shut It up and start again, And know each day's account Records the tiniest amount By which we grow as men. Mlnd not the blot•. The stain Fades with the lesson learned. Our Boule are something .. arned Throuch sorrow, grief and pain.. . Record the smiles, the Son .. Of Life we know as Love That llftg our course above 'l:he path• ot human wronc. :Record It All, and know No Fate shall bold the pen. We are not pawns, but men, And choose tlMI ways we go. New Year's Acaln must cl~e the book As Time rolls bT God ket!P Me unashamed to lookThe Book Ia L .. NewYear's omplications C CJJ1 eleanor e. King . . ...-.RISP, cold and snowy, It conformed admirably with pre~crlbed h o II d 11 y weather. 'l'be wind which blew In Belen's window was a relief from the bot, fumace-heated air I ' go." of the bedroom. Perhaps the evening's excltemeut had been too jp'eat. :She wondered. At any rate It was certain• Well, Oliver's got quite a ly late enou.rh to go to sleep, but Incaner ahead of blm. Can he stead she lived over the entire prolive up to It? ceedings of the New Year's Eve party which she hJld attended. The beat of the room was stlfilnc. Helen felt she ITO Blll CONTINUJCD.l wonld 911lother. She called, but the cry was scarcely audible. The loud snor· Bahama lalanda tog In the next The Bahamas are a group of 3,000 r o o m Informed Islands, mostly reefs, of wt.lch only 20 BPlen that her are Jnhablted. The prln<'lpal lsfands mother bad not are: New Providence, population 18,- beard the desper554; Obneo, populntlon 4,46.'~; Great ate call. Bubnma, 1,824; Anclros, 7.~. and After making HRrbor Island. The total area Is 4,- such an ado over 403% square mfiPs, anti the highest the New Year, point Is over 410 teet above sea ll'vel. \ welcomfnr 1•. so The principal city Is Nassau, which Is i heartily, so prosituated on New Provld'ence. and Ia a 1 tuaely, was-this the faslllonahle health re!Kirt. The mean way It was &'<}ing temperature In the hot .nonths Is 8S ) to JJerve hl'r? on degret>s I<'ahrenhelt, anC ln the <'Old ' 8 e c 0 n d tboup:Jt, months 66 degrees Fahrenheit. There however, 1t she are heavy rains from May to October, 1 bad to some way, end the rainfall In one year was 63.82, she concluded that this method would Stick to Home-Made Bread be no worse than Although bukers' products have iD 1 any other, Yet, how dlfgustlng to creased enormously In the last te1 1 smother to death. Tbu" reasoning years, due to the letting-up ol bomt away the hysteria, she relaxed, and as eooklor and baking and the JncreaslnJ j she sank down Into 'the pillow, she cuatom of entire families eating ou~ 1 continued to co down, down hundreds t~re are still many home makers whoj ot feet tbrougll endless space. Wlth bake their own bread appareutty, u clenched hands and set teeth she reallast Jear the United States Depanof Aa:rlcnlture sent out more !zed that th~ expected ending bad not tbaa 2.000,000 eopfea of the bi&IISU., been as simple as she bad anticlpatetl. ........... Ill the Home." Down, dO\""U; 110m& water ('.ame wto m• A bridge now came Into view; ~normous falls. It was a rushing, tumbling torrent ot bluish grPen, spnrlsllng water. She tried to hold her~elf huck, to hreak the fall. When Ill'len landc>d, to her surprist', she founcl herself In a snow bank Instead of wnter. She beheld huge Fiww banl>s and little snow banks everywhere. Looking to her rlgbt she saw the old grammar school she bad attended when a little girl. ForgettiDIJ her twenty-odd years accumulated since that time, Helen began cllmblna: up one mound, down and up another. How wonderful the snow wu I How soft, bow tiring, hut what fun, Going between the main school buildIng and the wing, she came to the ,.. slide on the school bill. Looking down, she noticed she had aklls on, just Uke olden times. To her delight she went skimming through the air like a bird. Aa she went the hill rolled out before her like so much dough unl1er the weight of the rolling pin. Around turns and down, every minute gaining more speed, until she wondered how all this accnmuiuted force w o u l d aveDI!P itself. "Helen, Helen, happy 1\ ew Year!" Helen I o o k e d a r o u n d In her hasty flight. Somerone was callln& very softly, but she <'ould not Fee ~ the person. A~taln · and again e the call. It was a haunting sound more llke an eebo, yet of s very fa· mlllar voice. B elo en waved as she snl<l to hersP.If, '1 can't lind you, but I can at least be courteous." Slle wa• coming to an abrupt curb. "Perhaps H I sit down and slide that will slow mt down some." She found she could not get down to the ground fast euo•ugh. Again she heard the call, now som& what loude1·. She was slttlnr up, rubo bill&" her eyes. "I can alt up, motb My legs will work now, and my ar!DI.• Her mother looked at her curiously, "Is this the way the New Year affec~ you? First you -n·ave your hand tlcally, then you mumble some m~ lnrless words. Just what does lt llu mean?" Belen laughed. Hit wasn't all end· Inc at all, was It! It was a berm nlng. The beginning of a ane new year." a huge span over .Do 1(£), 1911, We$tern Newspaper UDion.) New ear |
