Show S y l f Cure i I bj S f STORY THUS FAR FAIL Amos Croy tied led ed on a farm fann In Missouri 1 where he her riled r Jed and a son son Homer was born ay meant church company for dinand din din- lad and steer weight guessing Dehorn Dehorn- of of f the calves curin curing of hams wean- wean of f calves sausage making makin and help help- Newt break In the mules were all allI I of of his work He lie won a prize for foi forr forg Slog r g his most unusual dream It aed ed ed that everything was going wrong ithe the entire Croy family were In the ps Mrs Croy suggested a visit to poor farm When they saw the mis- mis there they decided their troubles h. h re not Dot so 60 serious or Important after all aU it it t was her way to make the men Mize luie their lot was wu not too bad it I CHAPTER XH XU XUI t f I ie e was swinging his trunk and in moment would be on top of me limped ped up But a man next tot to t put t his hand on my shoulder and l. l Sit down You wont won't be hurt saw other people were risking j necks so I did sit down none comfortably The circus pro- pro Lion slon turned a corner and missed t I seemingly by inches As I Iced ed ced m more carefully I saw the thele thelie lie le thing was a fake lake It wasn't a as aus aus us us s procession at all but only a ure e. e I had heard vaguely of ing ring pictures but they had aIls als al al- i s seemed off oft at the other side of world and had nothing to do with ls personally But here they were I II I was seeing them I J two two or three minutes the parade t over ver and I was out on the street In was standing in front of the I kUng iding g trying to decide which way J I b 1 there was a commotion among t ople and a great sight-seeing sight drew up A few people r- r ru 1 u uL and immediately that they others scrambled into their lj L. i A man sitting at the front frontI f I dout out Come on and take ain a aIn ai i In n a horseless carriage I 4 the situation and saw it free this time there was no place except in the front row beside I f n a wearing a pair of gauntlet gauntlets sand is s and sitting beside a wheel Ig as one on a corn sheller it t this wheel was parallel with ground found und and was fastened on an down d-down rod I squeezed in and moment moment the man shoved s some me J down and pulled other things ind nd d the great topped open-topped carH car- car H began to move A man also 1 5 1 jj on the front row stood liput up lip Gf ut t his hands to his mouth and jd Clear the path Clear the JI l aple turned terrified to see our 4 conveyance bearing down on 3 1 r and darted out of the way asi as i d and jolted past But I 4 pay for every c chug ug and jolt Ise se I was wedged in m so close to liver that every time he hauled wheel he dug an elbow into S. S But that was all right Eva Evin Evin Ev- Ev in the world was all right l q a f t we came to a kind of start- start tJ t lion tion where we all had to get d where new people got In tremendously triumphant for very well I had had a horse horse- Triage ride and that it would H tIbe Ibe b something to talk about oving pictures well pictures well no one iI er er heard of them or cared oil them Thus by an unusual Ys ke Kation e of circumstances I saw t motion picture and had my myr r rc ride within an hour I r l 1 w we were there my mother e wished she could see a kinso kin kin- Of en so Mrs Day found where f 1 as one and took my mother t morning at breakfast my myr r was was is still talking about it our stay was over and Day came to the depot with we got on the train When e i S off the neighbor was there t us and when we got home It had supper ready She sat I r r rimmed gold-rimmed glasses and up tinted up up ed-up nose listening while 5 S. S f the wonderful things en jdeen and done Ma ta said the UG G thing she had seen seenI is' is e kindergarten I was glad II I j had gone e 99 miles m ties Id I'd seen pg ng more exciting than a kin- kin en en n. n Pa said the most inter- inter thing Lhing he had seen was the I felt sorry for him rum ids ad an aristocracy founded Our people did not judge her er em by clothes or education An lily ly y even by money A per per- lily y ha e been known to have tin in the bank or sto stocks ks or orIS ors ori IS s i J put but ut we felt these would p away from him and hed he'd living in an L with a rela- rela I he has stocks and bonds he be turn them into intoe rive e asked and it was a ques Id d to lo answer The only safe sale 3 rung possession was land who had n a quarter section stand stand stand as ns high as the man mani mand i d r- r ra a half halt section After Alter all gad ad to be weighed on some IL tales cales and land scales were as any d a love lave of the soil as have havel I I ants in France but I dont don't l v I 1 ours urs was as ns deep or as asFor It J i For in France they lived are n n after generation on the thet t t bc be while ours was a than chang chang- g 5 try Our people bought boucht a arito into rito to ed Cd It a while then tf t seemed to be a better loj lo 10 rte j I land and d moved on to that A ric a ll i I J t rP T f ft I I farmer might try hog corn tie farming in hi our section then feel fee he could do better in Iowa and move there Or he might want to try the hardpan in Kansas and so give that a whirl Or he might want to tc try Oklahoma red and move down there where he would have to tc raise kaffir corn To us in our section section section sec sec- tion we considered corn kamr-corn farming farming farming farm farm- ing about as low as one could sink Or he might want to try wheat in hi Nebraska or South Dakota so trade his land and take his chance on wheat Or he might want upland farming and move to eastern Colo Colo- rado Now and then one of ot our people people peo peo- pie would pick up and go to Texas where it was not farming but ranchIng ranching ranching ranch ranch- ing which was something we didn't understand at all One of the Sewells Sewells Sewells Sew- Sew ells moved to Texas and bought an onion farm No hogs corn or cat cat- tle We felt it was a family dis dis- grace One who sooner or later came up against aristocracy of land was the hired man Our hand band ate with us usand usand usand and nothing was thought of it If II a family poked its hired man off into the kitchen everybody in hi the neighborhood neighborhood neighborhood neigh neigh- would have been outspoken Evenings he sat by the same stove and took part in the family conversation conversation conversation conver conver- If the stove wasn't going to suit him he threw some cobs in hi if it was going too briskly he turned the damper and took care of that l l if y yr r r l f l J ll I I t j l li i I T Exciting sounds rang through the room There was a difference when company company company com pany was heard outside He might get up to go to his room but usually wed we'd say You dont don't have to leave Dell Stay and visit with them Usually he stayed One spring Pa began to hunt around for a hand He went to town and on the street he stopped the people he knew and told them he was looking for a good reliable man He went to the hardware store and left word there then to the he bank and lOd asked Joe Jackson if he knew of any changes In help Then to livery sta staple stable le to see if the proprietor knew of anybody looking for or a place But he didn't go to the pool hall anybody who hung around a pool hall wouldn't be any good When he came home he said hed he'd heard icard of a man who seemed promis- promis ing ng His name was Renzo Davis he ic said a man from the east side of the county A da day or so later a 3 wagon spring with two men in it turned into our drive lot but we did not connect this with our new hand for usually a new hired man came on horseback with a couple of suitcases tied to the saddle If U he came walking across the field carrying carrying carry- carry ing ng just one suitcase we regarded him lim with suspicion A man with one suitcase wasn't going to stay I long ong Especially if it he wanted to see sec his room first Or if 11 he asked how many cows It did not take long to see why Renzo R had come in a sprin wagon spring wagon for he had a 3 trunk anti and to our surprise surprise sur- sur I prise arise a violin case He had got a friend to drive him over soon the friend departed and Renzo our new newland hand land was left with us After supper we sat around talking talking talking talk talk- ing going through the process process of getting get i ting acquainted Renzo Remo told about I crops crops on the other side of the county and prices things were bringing He told about a big farmer who had put in a hay tedder It was the first time I ever heard the word I I see you brought your fiddle Pa said finally Would you ou mind play playing us something Ill try it said Renzo obligingly obliging obliging- ly and began to tune up plucking plucking plucking pluck pluck- ing one string after another with his thick work-hardened work thumbnail He H-e got sot some rosin out of a paper box put his violin under his chin and anddrew anddrew anddrew drew his bow across the strings In Ina a moment his foot root was going up and andI and I I down and our living room was filled II with the first fiddle music of its whole existence 7 i lr i 1 r r ri 3 r i Renzo Reno rested his violin on his lap la and talked a while Then back went his fiddle and again the thrilling ex exciting exciting citing sounds rang through the room When Renzo went off to his new bed our room seemed lonesome I Iwas It II was the best evening wed we'd had in lri months Well wait and see how he pans out Pa said I I hoped to God he would pan outI out I am glad to say he did He was wag waga wasa i a good worker and didn't rest his horses too long at the ends of the tho rows and didn't mind pulling milk milkweeds weeds It was understood on rainy days a hand could do light work in inthe inthe inthe the barn such as greasing the harness har ness or cleaning out the cobs from the mangers Renzo would do more mora than that If II it stopped raining he would dart out to the woodpile and begin begU to split railroad ties If it ii started to rain again he would gc back t to the barn and climb into the manger with his cob basket We saw we had a treasure Bur Pa still was skeptical Now and ther them we would get a treasure but some night he would come home as drum as hell Sometimes wed we'd have tc tt go to town and bring brins him out Bulit But Bul if it one ever got drunk enough t toland to te land in jail Pa was through with j I him no matter how perfect he was wai waihi walI in hi other respects I One day Renzo told Pa that i il 11 Pa would get him some traps h ht he would see what he could do about abou the gophers Never before had a hand volunteered to trap gophers for it meant additional work on to tot top of this Pa didn't think he lie could trap trat them gophers being what they are So he gave him a steel trap and told him to see what he could do In a day or two Renzo came in hi with a gopher tail Soon he had an an- other So Pa went to town and got halt half a dozen traps Renzo would dig a hole about a foot square until It crossed the run then get on his knees and go through a careful process process process proc proc- ess of covering the trap and weighting weighting weighting weight weight- ing the tongue with just the right thickness of dirt Then he would fasten the trap to the board and put putI I the board over the top of the hole and cover it with dirt so as to shutout shut shutout shutout out the light In a day or two he would have a gopher Renzo became a most welcome addition to our family he was cheerful and had a sense of humor and could tell the simplest thing that had happened to him during his days day's work and make It absorbing I began to realize after a time that he exaggerated But that was all right the element of essential truth was there and by making allowances al al' we could come pretty close to the kernel The neighbors came to esteem him and when we were invited to a party Renzo went along as a matter matter mat mat- ter of course Sometimes I had the uncomfortable feeling that he was the most welcome one of us us He developed a quality that few hands had Of making money in addition to his his his' wages A horse belonging belonging belonging be be- longing to a neighbor had been shocked by lightning and was considered considered con con- worthless Renzo traded for him put him Wm by himself in a pasture on soft ground and brought him out of his shakes He traded him for a better horse and pretty soon bought a set of harness at a public sale Little by little he began began began be be- gan to pick up things Gradually as his circle of acquaintances acquaintances acquaintances ac ac- widened there came a asocial asocial asocial social problem He wanted to go with the girls and there the heart- heart I wrench began for Renzo however deserving owned no land Personally Personally Personally Person Person- ally he was pleasing and he was ca ca- pable But he didn't own land Saturdays he would stand on the edge of ot the sidewalk on the west westside westside westside side of the Square where the crowd was thickest and when one of ot our I farm girls came along he would take off his hat which some of our I young men didn't do and speak to I the girl and make an excuse to I walk down the street with her Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- times he would come to the back bad of the grocery where he knew the girland girl girland girland and her family were having dinner trying to pretend this was ace accidental acci dental and make friendly advances This was all right but he mustn't ask them to go anywhere with him The girls who had spoken to him so friendly a at the debates and spelling and ciphering matches now on the streets could hardly see sec him He bought a black derby which the kind of was hat the city men menI were wearing and kept it carefully I in in the hatbox side of his trunk but this did not change his social status I He got a new suit but even this made no difference A fashion of white hands was going around so I he bought heavy pigskin gloves and wore them so they would sweat his brown paws white He wore a red bandanna handkerchief drawn tight up against his neck with the ends poked through a brass ring so his neck would be white too loo He never spoke to me about it t except once It was at the end of ofa a corn row while we were resting our teams I guess they look down on me I But some someday they Uley wont won't You'll see seel seelI J f I IV I TO BE CONTINUED V f i i i 5 5 t t. t i |