Show THE BLUE-BELL BLUE LAND I i Out in the land where the sky lies deep turquoise all day and the clouds shoot behind the mountain peaks like monstrous white warships pitched his tent After taking charge of the herd in the early part of the summer he had trailed them across the big East range down to the Clear Creek side where the grass was long and fresh and green and where the bluebells colored the ridges and perfumed all the mountain nooks There the sh sheep ep nibbled and browsed all day anion among the hills far above the swift j s river which wormed its way silently down the valley It was August when he crossed the divide and now that th the sheep were settled for the summer had not much else to todo do o but smoke his cigarettes and dream of revenge Every morning f when the herd bunched together and lay down for their morning mornings s rest threw himself full length by his tent and taking out his cigarette papers and tobacco rolled one cigarette after another l and puffed blue clouds of smoke into the air seeing the scene so f clearly in hi his mind that no amount of pale blue smoke could dim t the sharp outlines R He saw himself come into the small town of Ha Hampton TIpton footsore foot fool sore starving and penniless He remembered how v he went into the saloon and was immediately accosted by Jim Clark the town bully who made it his boast that he could lick ariy any stranger that came into town His blood boiled up again now v at the thoughts of Clarks Clark's taunts and threats and he clenched his fists unconsciously unconscious unconscious- ly as he saw himself again out in the dusty country street encircled by a jeering crowd and confronted by Clark with his big hulking frame and leering mouth His cigarette burned his lips and brought him to himself with witha a start stait Putting another between his teeth he muttered half al aloud ud Ly i t t to his dog Bob who lay at his feet We Ve nearly done clone for him didn't we Bob Theres There's one oneA f A to r. r stranger that's be been n in that town that he aint licked and I guess them fellows all it when they saw me stretch him out in inthe inthe inthe the dirty road A crafty look came into eyes and he whispered I Iwas was lucky to get away like I did and get a job but by hell Ill I'll fix him yet for trying to start a fight when I was a stranger there And he bit his cigarette in two as he gritted his teeth Bob apparently catching the hate which possessed his master uttered several vicious barks and looking up saw a boy standing almost at his side The boy had yellow curly hair a rosebud rosebud rose rose- bud mouth and pigeon toes and when he lie spoke his voice was apure it a a apure toned tenor pure Good morn mornin in said the boy pleased with something ng but not who was no pleasant object to look at as he lie sat there therewith therewith therewith with his coarse ugly face flushed with hate I What do you VOll want said in return I want a job said the boy I heard you was was w without hou t a camp tender Youre You're Mr 1 aint you I spose a tenderfoot would call me that but others mostly call me said slanting his eyes The boys boy's rosebud mouth tightened a little and his tenor voice was somewhat harsh when he lie answered Im Ini no tenderfoot for forI I Ive I've been a tender for two years but I guess a feller can be polite if he lie wants to I sat up tip straight at that and said aid rather kindly M That's i your name son Clark Clark Billy Billy Clark said the boy promptly My ly dads dad's Jim Clark the champion fist fighter of Hampton I Yes I know your dad said and paused VV Well ell I can try you for awhile and see if you'll do he continued But Buthe J he lie turned his eyes away from Billie Dillie for no man could look into Billies Billie's young joyous face if he lie had black thoughts in his hs mind If Im I'm near the kid Ill I'll get near his dad some clay day he lie thought tos to J s himself 1 After showing Billie where the provisions were went to drive the sheep nearer camp and when he lie returned at dusk he lie pas passed ed into the tent without even noticing Billie who was frying J Jand 4 and sweating over a hot camp fire A moment or two later he lie came out with a long hunting knife in his hand and sitting down before 1 the fire began to sharpen it muttering to himself all the while j Billie looked at as he lie sat there with his long knife talking j brokenly to himself like a crazy man and he lie shuddered Leath Leath- i co coes coe's s 's black greasy hair hung it in strings over his cars making his eyes smaller and more slanting The thin hard scar which curved j n JO from the corner of his left eye down under his his his' chin was so gray gray J that it gave the rest of his face the appearance of being bloated and andt t purple But nut it was his hands which held Billies Billie's eyes in a gaze raze of r fascinated horror They curved inward so hard and stiff that they r looked like claws with nails that- that made Billie grow pale for fear fi that they should suddenly grasp his throat and choke his very life out Billie turned the browning mutton in the kettle bake-kettle and put the lid on again with a bag but did not look up tip Then he lie grew desperate and called out Supper I t put down the knife quietly and reached for the plate with the supper which Billie Dillie handed him and gobbled down his food in silence Billie wanted to talk about something but he did r not dare for as soon soon as had finished his supper he took up tip his knife again and there was nothing left for Billie to do but fc wash the dishes i After the dishes were put away he lie took his harmonica from his coat pocket and played soft tunes to kill the homesick feeling I 7 which was stealing over him He Ie leaned up against a tree just out 7 of the range of the fire light and played and sang Way down clown Jj t upon the Swance River and My Old Kentucky Home and the loneliness which filled the boys boy's heart as he lie looked up at the vast J vaulted sky with its countless stars softened his voice until it mingled mingled min min- Bled with the fragrance of the wooded hills Billie became livelier with his own music and began melodies as Little Ikes Ike's Been Working on the Levee and My Girls Girl's a Corker t songs with which herders beguile long weary veary hours rt unconsciously kept time to the tunes with his toe and tt when Billie suddenly yawned and started that old railroad song L 11 which is sung in every sheep camp and on every cattle range he ht put his knife into his belt and stirred the fi fire e LL Keep your hand upon the throttle And your eye upon the rail See that Christ is your conductor And your watchword Never fail Billie Tillie trail trailed d the song off into a soft whistle and then hen said saidI I Igness Iguess Iguess guess gness Ill I'll turn in Beds in the tent said r Good night said Billie and although did lid not answer answer an an- an- an Kra v saver the expression of his face was vas more softened than it had been sat motionless for a long time before the dying fire then took the knife from his belt and examined the edge The big round moon peered up over the eastern peaks and saw creep softly to the tent and noiselessly lift up tip the flap A long silver moonbeam flooded into the tent and lighted up tip Billies Billie's face as T he lay there sleeping peacefully and following th the guidI guiding guiding guid guid- I ing ray leaned down over him with his long knife So So youre you're Billie Clark are you Well Ill I'll just keep you near me and some day Ill I'll get a chance at your father Then he lie placed the knife under his bed and rolled into the blankets beside the peacefully sleeping boy with the rosebud mouth and the pigeon toes One day clay in September did not bring the sheep home in the evening Billie tried to keep the supper warm but when the night came on pitchy black and silent and had not yet come he crawled into bed to wait for morning At daybreak he took the dogs and began to search but found only the sheep straying straying stray stray- ing homeward in the little hollow near the quaking asp grove He Hc traced the path over which the sheep had come the day before northward through the hollow up toward Jaspers Jasper's Peak Beak but the dogs lost the track in the heavy timber which grew at the foot of the peak and although they ran ahead smelling and sniffing no answer came to the calls and shouts and shrill whistles which Billie sent upon the still autumn air The sun had rolled rolle l to the western peaks and as the distant tinkling of the bells and the faint bleating of the sheep came to Billie the mountains seemed suddenly to have become cruelly big The long slopes of the ridges covered with thousands of pines which marched and crowded upward to the summit filled him with I awe And the sight of the quaking asp groves with their big white stems towering up like the silver pipes of an immense organ made him catch his breath with a sudden dread He sang his herders herder's song for consolation I I Keep your hand upon the throttle N NAnd I. I J And n d your eye upon t the 1 Ie ral rail 1 But the song did not keep the shadows from darkening nor northe northe the somber pines from sighing as he drove the sheep through them i When he reached camp he lie made up tip a crackling fire and rolled f into his blankets near it but distracting thoughts of poor still surged through his brain The next morning Billie rode out of camp rather pale and redl red- red l eyed He crossed the quaking asp grove and rode over the next i ridge and being tempted by the sight of a smooth-looking smooth hill covered covered covered cov cov- ered with the bluest of bluebells he forgot for a moment his troubling search and rode through the long grass sparkling with the morning dew which filled the little valley between him and the hill covered with the bluebells When he came to the foot of the hill the dogs stood suddenly still and sniffed A gentle breeze of Ff brought th the rare rare fragrance of th the flowers to Billies Billie's nostrils nostrils b but t. t h he 4 was watching the dogs in In astonishment The dogs dashed up up th the y yA A t F hill and Billie dug the spurs into his horse and followed them He Ic t r J came to th the top of the h hill ll and there la lay in a narrow 1 trench patting and swearing at the dogs in In the same breath fe f J. J Im 1111 in in a hell of a fix said as calmly as if he had ad 2 I expected Billie every moment Its my back and thigh f The color came cane back into Billies Billie's face when he le saw that Leath Leath- 4 fc coe was not dead and he lie jumped off his hor horse e and walked to himI him J v 1 I I looked for you yesterday The sheep are all right right- he said f r W You was up by Jaspers Jasper's wasn't you I heard you holler but butI I couldn't make you hear me Ine Pull Tull off the saddle and help me upon up upon up I I f t on n old Bluch and I guess we can get to camp f 1 That night put his knife under the bed as usual but instead of measuring Billies Billie's throat as he had done every night since the boy came caIne he merely passed his rough hand gently over over 1 the soft face of the sleeping boy TI 11 I It was December before and Billie took the sheep in inthe fr the long ro rows vs of squatty sheds which were built down in the timothy timothy tim tim- othy fields in In the valley Even then the weather was so wonderfully wonder vonder wonderfully fully mild that it was vas Christmas before they realized that the winter winter winter win win- ter had begun On Chr Christmas morning handed Billie a note crudely written which said Dear Billie Billie I I offer with for I want vant to you a with me Christmas If you'll stay with me well we'll go halves in business Yours truly E. E LEA LEAT Tl t Billie reached for hardened hand and shook it and 1 then went out of the cabin for there were tears in his flis eyes which it he lie could not keep back He was vas proud and happy to think that I had en enough ugh confidence in him to offer offer to go as ashe asis is he said watched Billie from the window with a half smile on his face Then he took down the meat sack and lifting out a aYs Ys f t tf small roast of lamb put it in the oven for the Christmas dinner He lIe yM p peeled the carrots and parsnips singing to himself a song which 4 Billie had him taught li My girls girl's a corker she's a N New v e Yorker i Turn ta to ta turn ta to ta I My girls girl's a dandy she came carne from Sandy f Turn ta to ta turn ta to ta to ta f 1 l He beat time with his spoon on the stove and accented the f I 4 t t t. t j measures with his his feet Turn Tuni ta to ta Tum Turn ta to ta and then turned the delicious roasting lamb Suddenly he stood up tip and listened then he lie sprang into the middle of the room pulling his knife from his belt and cursing under his breath His face had turned purple making the scar scaT across his cheek stand out like a cord The door opened and big Jim Clark slouched inI inI in ri I you'd want to fight again said hoarsely and you thought Id I'd not be ready for you but I smelled you coming coming com com- ing up tip t the 1 Ie canyon Clark took one step toward him but sprang prang at his throat like a wildcat He dropped the knife for in his sudden passion passion pas pas- r sion he longed to kill the man with his own fingers They fell toN to N the floor on top digging his nails into Clarks Clark's throat and saying hoarsely Take that damn you and that and that and that I t Christ Christ- Christmas Then his fingers turned limp for out on the peaceful Christmas Christ Christ- i. i mas air came a tenor voice singing Keep your hand upon the throttle And your eye upon the rail j 1 Billie said he and staggered to his feet Then he lie jerked x Clark up tip and left him standing dazed and shaking while he lie went back to the dinner I t Billie burst burs into the room and saw his father Why dad dad he lie said and stared out the window when he lie heard the gladness in the thc voice Yes its it's me Bill Im I'm lonesome without you and I came up tip r J for you I heard you was vas here said Clark collecting his scattered 1 wits t to make up some kind of an excuse for his presence there 0 J 0 Billie looked at stooping over the stove and then at athis r H his IllS father 0 0 I hate to disappoint you dad he lie said bt but t me mc and Leath- Leath L coes coe's and I cant can't go home with you today Well Ill I'll be going then said Clark awkwardly 0 Youre going to stay to dinner said aid looking up You can an travel down the canyon tomorrow or the day clay after 1 0 Billie pushed his father into a chair at the table L Why yes you surely wouldn't miss the lamb and the gravy 0 t an and d tl the carro carrots t s and n d t the 1 parsnips I Its It's t s Cl Christmas today tody dad 0 Clark was silent Then th they y put the smoking dinner on the table and when f k I L had poured out the tIie coffee and passed it around he lie raised his own wn cup to his lips and said Heres looking at you 1 12 2 Y j |