THfc ALLIANCE ITERATE TUESDAY. M Aft CI I IS. 1021 THREE WW I UW FlmUILIf 7wrJK .M...Ct?f5fe- P&WJC "kitchener, .nd oil ISujMuhw 6YNOPSIS. CTTAPTEn I . ttvin with hi father on it tmall, b.idlv manjgetl ran-h. David i:liln hs reached tlm R of e!ihten with few educational advantages. An r cldent to the auto In which Dr. Hardy, mlnent eastern phynirlnn, and hit dsnifch r Irene, are tnurlns the country, hrltes new element Into Ma life. Dr. Hardy's leg ts broken, and he I necemarily con fined to his bed. Friendship, and aome thtnir more, develops between Irene and David. C:.rTrn It-Irons greatly enjoys the urn onventioiml freedom of runch life, and her acquaintanceship with David ripens into affection. On Dr H'iv s rer"vrry the vouna; people part, with the under- :tandlnqr that David will feek to Improve ins position In life and they will meet ,0VJLrI InT nothing hut the few bare acres of ths rancn, the enter man navm? innnnn lis del'ts paid. Da Id goes to the nearest town, determined to keep his twomlae to Irene bv acquiring an education ami making- himself worthy of her. He secures the first work offered, driving a team for a coal dealer, and meets a man named Con ward, about his own age, by whom ha Is Tied Into dissipation. """Early next morning he was awake nd astir. The recollection of hlsdoss sent a sudden pang through his morn ing spirits, but he tried to close his mind to it I "No use worryln' over that," he said, Jingling the few coins that now rep resented his wealth. "That's over and gone. I traded sixty dollars for my first lesson. Maybe It was a bad trade, t)ut anyway I ain't goln to squeal." He whistled as he finished dressing, ate his breakfast cheerfully, and set cut In search of employment. Almost the first person he met was the stranger who had schooled him In the gambling game the night before. 'There was something attractive about Jhts personality; something which in cited friendship anil even confidence, nnd yet beneath these emotions Dave felt a sense of distrust, as though part of his nature rebelled against the ac quaintanceship. v "Tl'!,i whs the rottc Ti act last ntgnt,"' the str rottenest luck you ranger was say Ing. "I never saw the beat of It. I was hopln' you'd stay and raise him next time; you might have got your money back that way." "Oh, I don't mind the money!" said Dave, cheerfully. "I don't want It back. In fact, I figure It was pretty .well spent." - c" W "X6fs more where It came from, eh?" laughed the other. "You're from the ranches, I see, and I suppose the price of a steer or two doesn't worry ;you a hair's worth." "From Is right," Dave replied. "I'm from them, an' I ain't goln' back. As for money well, I spent my last nickel for breakfast, so I've got to line up a Job before noon." The stranger extended hla hand. "Shake," he said. "I like you. You're no squealer, anyway. My name Is Con ward. Yours?" Dave told his name and shook hands. Conward offered his cigarette box, and the two smoked for a few moments In silence. "What kind of a job do yon want?" Conward asked at length. "Any kind that pays a wage" said Dave. '1 know the fellow that runs an -employment agency down here," Con ward answered. "Let's go down. Per haps I can put you In right." Conward spoke to the manager of -(he employment agency and Intro duced Dave. , "Nothing very choice on tap today," said the employment man. "You can handle horses, I suppose?" "I guess I can," said Dave, "some." "I can place you delivering coal. Thirty dollars a month, and you board with the bosg." "I'll take it." said Dave. , The boss proved to be one Thoraa9 letford. lie owned half a dozen teams and was engaged in the cartage business, specializing on coal. He was a man of big frame, big head, and a vocabulary appropriate to the pur- ficrses to which he applied It. Among his other possessions were a wife, nu merous children and a house nnd barn. In which he boarded his beasts of bur den, Including in the term his horses, his men and his wife, In the order of their valuation. The children were a by-product, valueless until such time as they also would be able to work. Dave's duties were simple enough. He had to drive a wagon to a coal yard, where a very superior young " man, with a collar, would express sur prise that he had been so long gone, and tell hi in to back In under chute number so-and-so. It appeared to be always a matter of great distress to this young man that Dave did not know which chute to back under until tie was told. Having backed Into po sition a door was opened. There was a fiction that the coal In the bin should then run Into the wagon box, but, as Dave at once discovered, this was merely a fiction. Asiae rrom iew accommodating lumps near the door the coal had to be shoveled. Then Dave had to drive to an address that was given him, shovel the coal down a chute located in the most Inacces sible position the premises afforded, and return to the coalyard, where the young man with the collar would face tiously inquire whether Mrs. Wank had Invited him In to afternoon tea, or If he hud been waiting for a change In the weather. Tfvc By Robert J.C.Siead poems t mmt m ky Inrin Hfrrt TTla work and supper wore over by seven o'clock each evening, find now was the opportunity for Mm to begin the schooling for which he had 'eft the rnnoh. But lie developed - sud den disinclination to make the start ; he was tired In the evening, nnd 1 found It much more to his liking to stroll downtown, smoke clgsi-.'es on l the streel corners, or engage In nn orcaslonnl game of pool. In this way (he we(ks wpnt ,y an,i w n,,n nl, . ' month with . tford was up he bad neglected to find another position, so . ., ' , he Continued Where J Was. lie was Denj, grmi,lnHy nn,j unconsciously I submerged In an Inertia which, how- much 't might hate Its present Surroundings, had not the spirit to gcpj B more favorable environment. So the Tall and winter drifted along; Dave had made few acquaintances and no friends, If we except Conward, whom he frequently met In the pool rooms and for whom he bad developed a sort of attachment. One Saturday evening, as Dave was on his way to their accustomed resort. he fell In with Conwaid on the street "Hello, old man!" said Conward cheerily. "I was Just looking for you. Got two tickets for the show tonight Some swell dames In the chorus. Come along. There'll be doings. There were two theaters In the town, one of which played to the bet ter-class residents. In It anything of a risque nature had to be presented with certain trimmings which allowed it to be classified ns "art," but In the other house no such restrictions ex isted. It was to the latter that Con ward led. Dave had been there be fore. In the cheap upper gallery, but Conward's tickets admitted to the best seats In the house. It was an entirely new experience. From the upper gallery the actors and actresses always seemed more or Jess Impersonal and abstract, but here they were living, palpitating human beings, almost within hand-reach, cer tainly within eye-reach. Dave found himself regarding the young woman Immediately before him ; all In white phe was, with some scintillating mate rial that sparkled In the glare of the spotlight; then suddenly she was Jj, orange, and pink, and purple, and mauve, and back again in white. And although she performed the various steps with smiling abandon there was in her dress and manner a modesty which fascinated the boy with a sub tlety which a more reckless appear ance would have at once defeated. And then Dave looked In her face. It was a pretty face, notwithstanding its grease paint, and it smiled right Into his eyes. His heart. thumped be tween his shoulders as though It would drive all the air from his lungs. She smiled at him for him! Now they were away again; there were gyra tlons about the stage. Then there was a sudden break away In the dance, and the girl dls appenred behind a forest. Dave sup posed she had gone to rest; dancing like .that must be hard on the wind, He found little to Interest hlnTnow In what was going on on the stage. It seemed 'rather foolish. He wished the gfrl behind the forest would come down and rest there. Then she could see the show herself. Then she could there was a whir from the for est, and the girl reappeared, this time all In red, right before him. And then she looked down and smiled agnln at hlra. And he smiled back. And then he looked at Conward nnd saw him smiling too. And then he felt a very distressing uncertainty, which brought the color slowly to , his face. He re solved to say nothing, but watch. And his observations convinced him that the smiles had been for Conward, not for him. And then he lost Interest In the play. They hustled Into their overcoats to .the playing of the national anthem. "Hurry!" said Conward. "Let's get 1 out quick I Ain't she some darnel There through the side exit the stage door Is that way. She promised "Eating's Poor Business When There's a Thirst to Be Quenched," Said One of the Girls. to have her chum with her. They'll be waiting If we don't hurry." Conward steered him to the Mage entrance, where a little group was al ready congregated. In n moment the girl appeared, handsomely dressed In furs. With her was another girl, also from the chorus, but Dave could no recall her part, lie was suddeni;. aware of being Introduced. This Is my friend Helton." Con ward was saying. Dave was nbout to correct him when Conward mnnnged to whlsptr: Whist ! Yt.ur singe name. MlncV Kdwnrd. Don't forget." Conward took the first girl by the ami, n lid Dave found fhlmselr follow ing rapidly with the other. They cut through certain side streets, up n stair way, and into a dark hall. A door opened. Conward pressed a button, and they found themselves In a small 1 ut comfortably furnished room evi dently bachelor apartments. girls threw off their wraps nnd sauntered about the place, while Con ward started n gas grate and put some water to boll. "Sorry I've nothing for you to eat," he said, "but I've some good medicine for the thirst." "Eating's poor business when there"? a thirst to be quenched, said one ot the girls with a yawn. "And, bollovt me. I've a long. otic." The glasses were filled nnd raised. "Ho!" said Conward. "Here's looking!" said one of tin girls. Dnve hesitated, but the other girl clinked her glass against bis. "IlereV looking at you." she said, r.nd she np peared to lay special emphasis onHln last two words. Certainly her eye? were on Dave's as she raised her gins to her lips. And under the spell o' those eyes he raised his glass uno drained it. Other glasses were filled an drained. The t three were chattering away, but Dave was but vaguely con scious of their talk and could weavt no connected meaning Into It. lib head was buzzing with a pleasant dreamy sensation. A very gratefu warmth surrounded him, and with I came a disposition to go to sleep. Ht probably would have gone to sleep hai his eye not fallen on a picture on th wall. It was a picture of a girl point Ing her finger nt him. ... No girl could point her finger nt him. lb arose and made a lunge across th room. He missed her, nnd with tllffl- cult retraced his steps to the table to make a tresn start. "She's makln' fun of me," ho said, "an' I don't stand for tlirit. Nobody can do that with me. Nobody 6ee? I don't 'low It." "Oh, you don't?" laughed one of the girls, running Into a corner nnj point ing her finger at him. "You don't H turned hjbs attention to her steadying himself very carefully be fore he attempted an advance. Then with wide-stretched arms, he bor had her almost within reach she dart ed along the edge of the room. He attempted a sudden change In direc tion, which ended disastrously, and he found himself very much sprawled out upon the floor. He was aware of laughter, but what cared he? He was disposed to sleep. What better place to sleep than this? What better time to sleep than this? In a moment he was-dost to all consciousness. It was later In the night when he felt himself being dragged Into a sit ting posture. "Where am I?" he said blinking at the light. He rose uncer tainly to his feet and stared about the room In returning consciousness, "Where's the girls?" he asked "Gone," said Conward sulkily "Couldn't expect 'em to stick around all night to say goodby, could you and you sleeping off your drunk?' Dave raised his hand to his head, A sense of disgrace waa already upon him. Then he suddenly turned In an J ger on Conward. "You put this up on "You Made a Fool of Me. I've a Mind to Bash Your Skull In for You." me," be cried. "You made a fool of me. I've a mind to bash your skull In for you. "Don't be silly," Conward retorted. "I didn't enjoy It any more than you did Introducing you as my friend and then have you go out like that, Why didn't you tip me? I didn't know It would put you to sleep." "Neli her did I." said Dave. "Well, the next thing U to get you home. . Can you walk?" "Sure." Dave started for the door, but his course suddenly veered and he found himself leaning over a chair. Conward bellied him Into his overcoat, and half led, half shoved him to his boarding house. CHAPTER IV. Elden awoke Sunduy morning with a prodigious thirst, which Ire slaked at the wnter pitcher. It was the prac tice of M?t ford's gun? to select one of their number to care for nil the horse on Sundays while the others enloyed the luxury of their one day of lelsun Iu consequence of. thi-j custom the room was still full of snoring slcepcra nnd the air was very close nnd foul Dave sut down by the little table that frouted the open window nnd rested bis h,.,,,! his hands, lie was recalling, viih considerable effort, the events of the previous night; piecing them ("Ketlier In Impossible ways; re nssoiiiiiu Hi,. in until they offered some seqticii.-,.. T. (inter he bad felt toward Conwnrd had subsided, but the ting of slmme rankled In his heart. Fool!" u. Knld to himself. And be- Htjse he could think of no more spe cific expression to suit bis feelings, and because expression of any kind irought a sort of relief. He kept on repeating the word, "Fool! fool! fool!" And as bis self-condemnation gradually won h'm back to a sense of torspcctlve he became aware of the lunger of his position, lie had left his ranch home to better himself, to earn things, to rise to lie somebody. He had worked harder than ever he- ore, t more disagreeable employ- nent; he hud lived In conditions that were almost nauseating and what had he learned? That you can't beat a card man nt his own game, price sixty dollars, nnd that the gallery seats are cheaper and sometimes Bafer than the orchestra. Then nil of n sudden he thought of Reenle. He had not thought of her much of late; he had been so busy In the days and so tired at nights that he had not thought of her much. Now she hurst upon him again with all that beauty and charm which had so mag netized him In those glad, golden days, and the frank cleanness of her girl hood made him disgusted and ashamed. It was to fit himself for her that he had come to town, and what sort of mess wns he making of It? He was going down Instead of up. He had squandered his little money, and now he was squandering his life. He had been drunk. ... Dave's nature was one In which emotions were accelerated with their own Intensity. And the sudden man ner In which Iteeule had now Invaded his consciousness Intensified the black ness In which he was submerged, as lightning darkens the storm. . . . He saw her on that last night, with the moonlight wooing her white face, until hjs own body had eclipsed It In a warmer passion, and he heard her words, "I know you nre true and. clean." r ? . TrilO nnil elpun "Yna ttinnb fJnl I fliii stfil that !" he cried, springing suddenly to his feet and commencing to dress. "I've been spattered, but nothing that won't wash off. Per haps" and he stopped as the great thought struck him "perhaps It was the luckiest thing In the world thnt the booze did put me out -last night . . It'll wash off." Fortunate fate, or whatever good angel It Is that sometimes drops un expected favors, designed that young Elden should the following day deliver coal at the home of Mr. Melvln Dun can. Mr. Duncan, tall, quiet and forty- five, was at work In his garden as Dave turned the team In the lane and backed them up the long,' narrow drive connecting with the family coal chute. As the heavy wagon moved straight to Its objective Mr. Duncan looked on with approval that heightened Into admiration. Dave shoveled his loud, without remark, but as he stood for a moment at the finish, wiping the stfeat from his coal-grimed face, Mr. Duncan engaged him In convolution. You handle a team like you were born to It." he said. "Where did you get the knack?" "Well, I came up on a ranch," said Dave. "I've lived with horses ever since I could remember." "You're a rancher, eh?" queried the older man. "Well, there's nothing like the range and the open country. If 1 could handle horses like you there Isn't anything would hold me In town." "Oh, I dou't know," Dave answered. "You might get sick of It." "Did you get sick of It?" , Elden shot a keen glance at him. The conversation was becoming per sonal. Yet there was In Mr. Duncan's manner a certain kindliness, a certain appeal of sincere personality, that dis armed suspicion. "Yes. I got sick of It." he said. "I lived on that ranch eighteen years and never was Inside school or church. Wouldn't that make you sick? . .- . So 1 beat It for town." "And I suppose you are attending church regularly now, and night school, too?" Dave's quick temper fired up In re sentment, but again the kindliness of the man's manner disarmed him. He was silent for a moment, and then he said: "No, I ain't. That's what makes me sick now. I came In here lntendin' to get an education, an' I've never got even a start at It, excep' for some things perhaps wasn't worth the money. There always seems to be somethln' else In ahead." "There always will be." said Mr. Duncan, "until you start." "But how's It to be done?" Dave questioned with returning Interest. Schools an' books cost money, au' I uever save a dollar.' , "And never will," said Mr. Duncan, "until you start. ' Itul I think I see a plan that might help, and if It up pea H to you it will also be a great conveu unce to me. My wife likes to go drlv ing Sundays, and sometimes on a weekday evening, but I Lav so many tilings on baud I find it hard to get nut with her. My daughter used to Jrlve, but these new-fangled automo tilles are turning the world upside iown nud maBy a buggy with It Well as I saw you driving in here I aid to myself, 'There's the man for . tat Job of mine, if 1 can get him; it I'm n u rich and 1 coulJu't pa; yon regular wages.' Put If I could square the account by helping with yt.ur studies n couple of nights a week I used to teach school and haven't altogether forgotten why, thnt would be Just what 1 want. Wluit do you siiy?" "I never saw anything on four feet I couldn't drive," said Dave, "an' If you're willing to tnke a chance I am. When do we start?" "First lesson tonight. Second les son Thursday night. First drive Sun day." Mr, Duncan did not explain that he wanted to know the boy better tiefore the drives commenced, and he felt that two nights together would satisfy him whether he had found the right man. Dave hurried back to the conlyard nnd completed the day's work In high spirits. It seemed he was at last started on u road that might lend somewhere. After supper he sur prised his fellow laborers by changing to his Sunday clothes anil starting down a strovt leading Into the residen tial part of the town. There were speculations that he had "seen a skirt." Mr. Duncan met him nt the door nnd showed him Into the llvlrtg room. Mrs. Duncnn, plump, motherly, lov able In the mature womanliness of forty, greeted him cordially. She was sorry Kdlth was out ; Edith had a ten nis engagement. She was apparently deeply Interested In the young man who was to be her coachman. Dave had never been In a home like this, and his eyes, unaccustomed to com fortable furnishings, nppralsed them ns luxury. He soon found himself talk ing with Mrs. J)uncnn about horses, and then about his old life on the ranch, nnd then about coming to town. Almost before he knew It he had told her about Heenle Hardy, but he had checked lilnisclf In time. And Mrs. Duncnn had noticed It, without com ment, nnd realized thnt her guest was not u boy but a man. Then Mr. Duncan talked about gar dening, nnd from that to Dave's skill In backing his team to the coal chute, and from that to coal Itself. Dave had shoveled coal ell winter, but he had not thought about coal except as something to be shoveled and lli cy cle J. And as Jjr4 punenja explained to mm the wonderful provisions of nn lure now sue nati mo tin coa world's supply of timber for fuel should be hearing exhaustion, and as he told of the Immeasurable wealth of this great new hind In coal resources. and of how the wheels of the world, traffic and Industry and science, even, were dependent upon coal and the man who handled the coal, Dave felt his breast rising with a sense of the dignity of his calling. He had had to do with this wonderful substance all winter, and-not until tonight had It fired the divine spark of his Imagina tion. The time ticked on, and although he, was eager to be at work he almost dreaded the moment when Mr. Duncan should mention his lesson. But be fore that moment came (here was a ripple of laughter at the door, and a girl In tennis costume and a young man a little older than Dnve entered. "Edith," said Mrs. Duncan. Dave arose and shook hands. Then Mr. Allan Forsyth was Introduced. Mr. Forsyth shook hands heartily, but Dave was conscious of being caught In one quick glance which embraced him from head to heel. . And the glance was satisfied self-satisfied. It was such a glance as Dave might five a horse when he would any, "A good horse, but I can handle hi in." It was evident from that glance that Forsyth had no fear of rivalry from that quar ter. And having no fear he could af ford to be friendly. Dnve had no distinct remembrance of what happened Just after that, but he was conscious of an overwhelming desire to hear Miss Duncan sing. How -yc. if t How Like Reenle She Wail like Reenle she was! And Just as he was beginning to think Mr. Duncan must surely have forgotten his lesson be heard her asking him If she should sing. And then he saw Forsyth at the piano why couldn't he leave her to do It herself, the butt-In? and then he heard her fine, silvery voice rising In the notes of that song about the land where the sun should never go down. . . . And suddenly he knew how lonely, how terribly, terribly lonely he was. And he sat with head bowed, thut they might not know. . And then there were other songs, and at last Mrs. Duncan, who bad slipped away unnoticed; returned with a silver, teapot and cups of delicate china, Slid mndwiches and cake,-and they s.i about and ate and drank and talked and laughed. And when he looked at his watch It was eleven oYloi k ! "L cues we didn't gvt any lesson reti away in the mscovereu lands billions of tons of i. homing tiiein in reserve until the 71 ' 2. I a 7 m tonight," he snhl as he shook hand r with Mr. Duncan at the sidewalk. "I am not so sure," replied his tutovi. "The first thing for yon to leRrn 1 that nil learning does not come from books. A good listener can learn much as n good reader If be listen to the right kind of people." And as Dave walked home the thought deep ened In him that It really had been tv lesson, and that sir. Duncan had ln tended It that way. And he wonderetl what remarkable fortune had been his The air was full of the perfume of balm o' (illead. and his feet were light, with the Joy of youth. And be thought much of Edith and of Itccnie Hardy. In subsequent lessons Dave was rap idly Initiated Into many matters be sides parlor manners and conversa tlnn. Mr, Duncan placed the first and grentest emphasis upon learning to write nnd to write well. They had. many philosophic discussions, In which the elder man sought to lead the younger to the acceptance of truths that would not fall him In the strain of nfier life, and when a conclusion, had been agreed upon it was Mr. Dun enn's habit to embody It In a copy for Dave's writing lesson. As soon ns Dave had learned to read a little Mr. Duncan took him one day to the public library, nnd the young man groped In amazement up and down the great rows of books. Pres ently a strange sense of Inadequate ness came over him. "I can never read nil of those books, nor half ot l hem," he said. "I suppose one must 1 read them in order to, be well to formed." Mr. Duncan appeared to change the subject. "You like fruit?" he asked. "Yes, of course. Why " "When you go Into a fruit store you stand and say, 'I can never eat all of that fruit, crates and crate of It, and carloads more In the ware house?' Of course you don't You, cat enough for the good of your sys tem and let It go at that. Now Just apply the same sense to your reading. Head as much as you can think about, and no more. The trouble with many of our people Is that they do not read to think but to. wive themselves the (foyVle of thinking. The mind, left to Itself, insists upon activity, so tny chloroform It." m , Dave's talks with Mr. Duncan b?w came almost nightly occurrences, ei ther1 at Hie, Duncan home or wb.ca b drove the family for the master oC the house often accompanied them or when they met ejowntown, at fre quently happened. , And the boy waa not slow to realize the broad nature of the task to which Mr. Duncan had set himself. His education was to be mint or every unowieoge ana- experi ence that could go Into the rounding- of n well-developed life. The climax seemed to be reached. when Mr. Duncan Invited Duve to ac company him to a dinner at which ex noted thinker, Just crossing the con tinent, had consented to speak. "It wl'l be evening dress," said Mr- Duncan. "I suppose you are hardly fitted out that way?" 'I guess not," said Dave, smiling broadly. He recalled the half-humor ous sarcasm with which the Metford. gang referred to any who might seen abroad In their "Hereford fronts." He had a sudden vision Ot himself running the gantlet of their ridicule. But Mr. Duncan was continuing. "I think I can fix you up," he latd. "We must be pretty nearly of eta, and I have a spare suit." And almost before he knew It It was arranged that Dave should attend the dinner. It was an eventful night for him. His shyness soon wore off, for daring thefe months he had been learning to accept any new experience gladly. And as he sut among this corupemy if tha h.ir nilniln nf tho tnwn h ftdt that a new world was opetdng betoro him. Ills good clothes seemed to work, up In some way through his subcon sciousness and give him a sense of ca pability. He was In the mental at- rnosphete of meu who did things, and by conforming to their customs h bad brought his mind into harmony with theirs, so thut It could receive suggestions, uud who knowb? return suggestions. And he wus made to ihiuk, think, think. (Continued in Next Issue) Ol'R FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS Suppose you had served your coun try as a soldier and managed to come out of it all without a scratch from German artillery and snipers and ma chine guns and bayonets, but with something more than a scratch on your lungs; and suppose they were going to send you to the Kadison Inn at Min neapolis to see if the United States Public Health Service could patch up your lungs and restore you to self supporting activity; and suppose thirty odd property owners in an exclusive residential dis trict adjacent to the Radisson Inn set themselves up as a committee of con scienceless objectors, held an indigna tion meeting and telegraphed the surgeon-general protesting. agtu'nt leasing the Inn for a sanitarium fot tubercular ex-soldiers; and suppose thinks like this hap pened in many other places over the United States and you got the idea that nobody wanted you and your de fective lungs around; and suppose your lungs did get well and another war broke out; you'd feel like rushing off to the nearest recruiting office, wouldn't you? Life. TEACHERS' EXAMINATION Regular teachers examinations will be held at the court house March 20. OPAL RUSSELL, 30-33 County Superintendent, The golden rule was invented for others.