Show ji I A 3 C ROY I 1 L I y F L C a TILE THE STORY THUS TAUS FAR Amos Croy settled fettled on a n farm in Missouri where he be married and a son SOD Homer Domer was born e meant church comp company ny for or din ser per and steer weight guessing Dehorning Dehorn Dehorn- In lag ing of the calves curing caring of hams weanIng weans wean wean- tD jug Ing of calves and sausage makin making were s jobs that Homer Domer helped with He always looked forward to helping Newt a neighbor neighbor neigh neigh- bor In breaking g t the e mules moles day day was a day for the ladles ladies It lasted aH all allday day and aDd they would take turns at al eating Homer Bomer began bean to try his literary talents lie be entered and won a contest by submitting submit ting a letter about his most unusual dream He won a 1 prize His father did not Dot think as 15 much 1 f this as be did the item about the calf CHAPTER SPa X S Pa didn't think much of anybody who would drive a fresh-broke fresh mule muleto to a wagon spring-wagon with women In it That was the difference between Pa and Newt Pa was always safe and conservative but Newt wasn't do anything as Pa put it But Newt vt never got hurt and nobody was ever killed In a few minutes our yard would be filled with laughing and talking people and Kaiser would be barking barking barking bark bark- ing his head off oft just as excited as asI asI asI I was to have company The women would go into the house bouse to change into their swimming swimming swimming swim swim- ming clothes while the men sat on the front porch and on the benches and talked When the were ready we would all start down through our orchard to the horse pond which was two or three times as wide as a house and eight feet deep It was supplied by bI a spring and by water pumped from the the windmill and was the only one in inthe inthe I Ithe the neighborhood People said we were lucky to have a pond When the women would start in inthey inthey inthey they had to inch because their Mother Hubbards would fill with air and go straight over their heads if they didn't watch out If one of the Mother Hubbards went a little too high the men would screech with delight It was manners when all the women were in for the men to togo togo go back to the house and let the women swim alone After a while we would hear the women coming through the orchard It was all right to walk down to the pond with the women but it wouldn't do to see the women until they had changed into dry clothes After the women were in m the house Pa would say I guess wed we'd better go down and see if they splashed all the water out and down through the Ule orchard wed we'd go The men would peel off their clothes Newt would give a run and go in with a terrific plop but Pa would walk slowly in because he wasn't wild like Newt Now v and then when there wasn't any splash splash- sol ash ash- ing we could uld h hear a a night bird go goby goby goby by with a swish of its wings or a calf call would bawl or tho the bull would give a short little run toward a cow At last the swim would be over and nd wed we'd start back through the orchard orchard orchard or or- chard to the house The women would be sitting on the porch and everybody would begin to talk at once Pad say Homer and Id I'd go down into the cave and begin bringing up the melons Ma and Phebe would light the lamps and andset andset andset set them on the porch and Pa would hang our lantern in the cherry tree I c could uld hardly wait He would rest the point of his knife on the melon and say Is it itI I going to be ripe or not It was always ripe because Pa knew m mel mel- l- l ons As the slices were finished they'd b go into the wash boiler More work for me rile tomorrow When everybody had had all they could eat they would sit around and talk me still able to take a few more nibbles At last it would be time to go Pa would still be worry worry- ing lag about Newts Newt's mule Dont you think Newt its it's kind of risky to drive him at night loaded with women wom- wom i en Mules aint as much inclined to torun torun torun run at night as they are in n the day Amos At the very bottom was the manure manure ma- ma nure nuie shovel which hung on a peg in in the stable and was dull and dirty and foul and never cleaned from one years year's end to another another-a a pa pa- riah Sometimes a mule would step stepon on it but that didn't matter Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- times he would break off the hand hand- grip That was all right too wed we'd go ahead using the shovel anyway Sometimes the handle would become loose and wed we'd nail in any sort of stick slick No one had any respect for fora a manure shovel in fact Im I'm sure it didn't have any respect for itself When a farmer had a sale he wouldn't even put it up it'd be bel I l tossed in with a lot of other odds r and ends sometimes the man who r had bought it wouldn't even take the thing home A step above this this but but only a step l I Iwas was the long handled general utility util util- ity its shovel It was never cleaned and never sharpened and was left left standing any old where Sometimes l r it would be De left in the granary sometimes it would even get into the smokehouse Sometimes it I would be left lying on the ground and a wagon wheel would cross it But it didn't matter It was just the the shovel shove And that was the wa way it was always referred to as if it there had to be one on a farm and we had just as well weIl accept the f fact ct That would be tossed in at a sale too N Next going Next going up the social scale scale- was the scoop shovel a very bright and shining implement indeed This was used to scoop the shucked fresh-shucked corn into the crib when all the corn was in and the seasons season's crop was over the scoop shovel was put inthe in inthe inthe the crib and used to get et the corn into the feeding baskets Sometimes it would bang into a on the floor and get bunged up then it would be taken to the grindstone and smoothed till it was sharp and even again Oh it was an aristocrat aristo aristo- aristocrat crat When a n public sale came along the auctioneer would hold it up so that everybody could see how bright and shining and sharp it was But there was a sad and realistic touch If it was kept long enough and used enough it would fall to pieces and end up as a manure shovel It made a fellow stop and think One day when Pa came home from town and I raced out to get the mail mall I saw on the bottom of the wagon a kind of spade I had never neverseen neverseen neverseen seen before It was I found later seventeen inches lon long and nd five inches in-ches wide it was dished like the palm of my hand There were three spades all ominous ominously oiled I asked him what they were and when he said they were tiling a t it I I s r k N r J H 1 r Mr 1 Shannon was the newsman of the neighborhood spades my heart hit the bottom of the wagon The only tile the we had ever put in was a row to drain the cellar and we had used our everyday everyday everyday every every- day spade for that Why should Pa be getting tiling spades It was not long till tilI I found out that a tiling spade has two uses One of course is for laying tile the other is well is-well well I was to find out pretty quick Mr Shannon is coming Monday and well we'll get to put these to use Get to put these to use usel But Pa was that way Especially when it had to do with me working And al always always always al- al ways with a twinkle in those wonderfully wonderfully wonderfully won won- blue eyes of his Monday morning Mr Shannon came walking down the road in his floppy old hat with matches standing standing standing stand stand- ing up in the band We always called him Mr Shannon but we called Jim Vert Jim and we called Newt Kennedy Newt although ei either either either ei- ei ther Jim or Newt could buy and sell Mr Shannon He was the neighborhood neighborhood neighborhood neighbor neighbor- hood general utility man He farmed only forty acres so had to work workout workout workout out He never stayed overnight so after a days day's work he would go godown godown godown down the road rond he had come along that morning walking slower now Sometimes Pa would urge him to stay overnight but he always said I III expect Id I'd better go The woman dont don't like to be alone and off he would trudge He was the only one who worked for cash the rest swapped work If you came into a neighborhood and found one man worked for cash and the rest exchanged work then you would know he was a small farmer Mr Shannon was the newsman newsman newsman news news- man of the neighborhood for he worked first here then there and knew all that was going on When he arrived in the morning and went to the well to pump up a drink Ma would come to the kitchen door and ask him the news Hed He'd tell teU us and throw out the last of the water and the chickens would come running to see if it was something to e eat t. t Then hed he'd fill on up the jug and swing it up upon upon upon on his shoulder and go off to work At noon Ma Mn would have thought of other questions and Mr Shannon would think of news hed he'd forgot So the tiling spades on our shoulders shoulders shaul ders we started for the slough Our section of Missouri was called the rolling prairies there were the hills where a million buffalo must have stood and between these hills were what we wo called the sloughs pronounced slews slews low low flat fiat land as rich as you could wish to put your foot on The sloughs were covered with slough grass which was long and tough and which would cut your fingers like a sickle blade We used it for topping our stacks The cattle didn't like lika it if they ran out of 01 timothy they'd eat cat it But they didn't fancy it When the spring rain c came me the water would spread out over the slough till tell it w was s a quarter of a mile wide sometimes the cattle would be caught on the other side sometimes sometimes sometimes some some- times calves would be caught Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- times a foaling mare Pa had set out a row of stakes and we began to run a ditch through the thick matted year old roots The cattle came up and sniffed the black earth and the birds flocked down and feasted We worked close enough to visit but it was hard grueling labor At noon I would be so weary I would fall asleep on the floor it seemed to tome tome tome me my eyes would hardly close till Pa would be calling me and Mr Shannon would be at the pump Day after ter day we worked At last it was finished and there it was like a gash in a human body Little did I realize what later would happen Every so often there would be an important event in our lives our lives our visit to see Wadley Brothers o our r harness makers Pa would go inand in inand inand and say Tom do you suppose you youcan youcan youcan can turn me out a set of rope harness harness harness har har- ness which was his humorous way of asking if Tom could make him a good t iset et of harness Tom would say Have you got the money to pay for em Amos which was his humorous way of pretending that he wouldn't even trust Pa for a set of rope harness He sat on a stool without any back but also he had a rocking chair and now and then he would move over and rock He smoked a pipe as he worked when he finished a bowlful or got tired of smoking he would knock the pipe and hang the pipe on a rack he had made The store had a delightful leathery smell is there anything in the world like such a pleasant stimulating odor as fresh-cut fresh leather On the floor around him were the cuttings from his work like hair around a barber chair When he had a great many of these he would sweep them up and mould them into a horse col col- col- col lar On the walls were the most fascinating pictures in the world it seemed to me the famous racers racers racers rac rac- ers and trotters and pacers of their day Maude day Maude S. S Dan Patch When he spoke of them he spoke tenderly and reverently I would like to go an see them run sometime he would say Pa would glance at me and wait waita a moment because horse racing was wicked So would I he would say almost with a sigh There would be a little silence then Tom would say the roads out your way Amos Tom had much to be thankful for He took immeasurable pride in his work and he and hl his brother were their own employers Tom wore a aleather aleather aleather leather apron like a blacksmiths blacksmith's except it wasn't burned full of holes He was an artist in his line and was proud of his handiwork farmers farmers farmers farm farm- ers would say a set of Wadley Wadley Wadley Wad- Wad ley Brothers harness and there was v no higher praise He had surprisingly surprisingly surprisingly sur sur- few tools but in some amazing way he got results On one end of his workbench were sheets of leather from which he could quickly and skillfully cut off the pieces he needed I delighted to see him take his knife with its sharp curved blade and draw it through a apiece apiece apiece piece of leather and get exactly the kind of piece he wanted He loved his work and took great pride in doing it well and he loved to have havethe havethe havethe the farmers come in and discuss with him the kind of h harness they wanted What about the Amos Wh What t kind of you got in mind I want good heavy Tom I dont don't need it so much in the fields but when I get out on the hard roads with a load of corn then I need heavy Im getting more and more calls for heavy Tom would say and then they would discuss the details as carefully as ns a tailor and a client making decisions on a suit You want any money down Tom Not from you Amos You come comein comein comein in in about a week and have a first look at the harness Pa would go in from time to time watching the progress of his set of harness What about white gutta- gutta percha perch a rings Amos Im I'm gettin getlin lots lotsof lotsof lotsof of calls for percha gutta-percha rings They look all aU right while the harness harness harness har har- ness is new but they crack in the sun Then they peel and show the iron Give me plain iron rings Tom After Alter all you cant can't beat bent iron At last would come the day when the harness was done There it would be on a cJ great frame black I and shining from the oiling Tom had given it and Pa and Tom would stand side by side admiring it Do you want a for the Amos I dont don't believe I do Tom There aint anything a mule colt likes to I eat a I put on a strap name Amos TO BE CONTINUED |