Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1906)
z- Q, "fsJ- ljf -,' ..STOCKINGS. The Two Vanrevels Burson Hose, the only stocking without a seam. Made to lit at the ankle and NOT pressed i o shape. Stockings with extra large tops for fleshy ladies. By BOOTH TARKINGTON, Author of "The Ccntlcmnn From Indlann" and "Monsieur Deaucalre" Copyrltfht, 1002. by S. S. McClurc Co. DCf 1 V f " s j A t l r (CONTINUni).) I Those two young men were members of a cheerful bnnd who feasted, laugh ed, wrangled over politics, danced, inndi- love and sung terrible chords on summer evenings together, as young men will. Will Cuininings, editor of the Rouen Journal, was one of these, j n tall, sallow man, very thin, very j awkward and very gentle. Mr. Cum mings proved himself always ready with a loud and friendly laugh for the poorest Joke in the world, his counte nance shining with such kindness that no one ever had the heart to reproach him witli the evils of his Journalistic performances or for the tilings ho broke when he danced. Another was Tap piugham Marsh, an exceedingly hand Home person, somewhat languid in up pcarance, dainty in manner with wom en, offhand with men, almost as reck less as Cralloy and often the hitter's companion and osslstant in dissipa tion. Young Francis Cheuowcth never failed to follow both Into whatever they planned. He was short and pink, and the uptllt of his nose was coherent with the appealing earnestness which was habitual with him. Eugene Ma drlllon was the sixth of tuese intimates, a dark man, whose Latin eyes and col or advertised his French ancestry as plainly us his emotionless mouth and lack of gesture betrayed tho mingling of unother strain. All these and others of the town ., were wont to "talk politics" a great deal at the little club on Main street, ami all were apt to fall foul of Tom Vanrovel or Crailey Gray before tho end of any discussion. For those wero the days when they twisted tho lion's ' tail in vehement and bitter earnest, when the eagle screamed In mixed fig tires, when few men knew how to talk and mony orated, when party strife' was savagely personnl, when toleranco was called the "pure fire of patriot Ism," when criticism of the existing order of things surely Incurred fiery anathema and black Invective, and brave was he, Indeed, who dared to hint that his country as a whole and politically did lack some two or threo particular virtues and that the Urst step toward obtaining them would bo' to help it to realize their absence. I Tills latter point of view was that of the firm of Gray & Vanrevel, which was a unit in such matters. Crailey -did most of the talking, quite bcautl Sany terrible chords on summer evenings. fully, too, and both bad to stand against odds in many a sour argument, for they wero not only abolitionists, but op posed tho attitude of their country In Its dltllculty with Mexico, and, In com mon will other men of the time who took their stund, they had to grow ac customed to being' called disloyal trai tors, foreign toadies, mnllgmiuts and traducors of the flag. Tom had long been used to epithets of this sort, suf fering their sting In quiet, and was glad when he could keep Crailey out of worse employment than standing Arm for au unpopular belief. There was one plnco to which Van revel, seeking Ids friend and partner when the latter did not come homo at night, could not go. This was tho tow er chomber, and It was In that mysteri ous apartment of tho Cnrowo cupola that Cralloy was apt to be deeply occu pied when he remained away until daylight. Strange as It appears, Mr. Gray maintained peculiar relations of Intimacy with Robert Carewo In splto of tho feud between Carewo and his own best friend. This Intimacy, which did not necessarily Imply any mutual fondness, though Crailey Boomed to djsllko nobodyL wus betokened by a furtive understanding of u sort be tween them. They held brief, earnest conversations on the street or In cor ners when they met at other people's houses, always speaking In voices too low to bo overheard, and they exercised a mysterious symbolism, somewhat hi the manner of fellow members of a secret society. They had been ob served to communicate across crowded rooms by lifted eyebrow, nod of head or a surreptitious turn of the wrist, so that those who observed them knew that a question had been asked and an swered. It was noticed also that there were five other Initiates to this masonry Eugene Madrlllon, the older Cheuo wcth. General Trumble, Tapplngham Marsh and Jefferson Burcaud. Thus on the afternoon following Miss Bet ty's introduction to Rouen's favorite sons and daughters Mr. C'arewe, driv ing down Main street, held up one foretlnger to Madrlllon as he saw the young man turning in at the club. Eugene nodded gravely and as ho went In, discovering Marsh, tho general and others listening to Mr. Gray's explana tion of his return from tho river with no fish, stealthily held up one linger in his turn. Trumble replied with a wink, Tapplnghnm nodded, but Crailey slightly shook his head. Marsh and the general started with surprise and star ed Incredulously. That Crolley should shake his head! If the signal had been for u church meeting they might have understood. Mr. Gray's conduct was surprising two other people at about tho same time Tom Vnnrevol and Fanchon Baroaud; the former by his sudden de votion to tho law; the latter by his sudden devotion to herself. In a breath he became almost u domestic charac ter. Miss Bareaud was even huppier than Bhe was astonished and she was mightily astonished to find her be trothed developing a taste for her so ciety alone. Formerly she had counted upon the gayeties of her home to keep Crailey near her; now, however, he told her tenderly he wished to have her all to himself. This was not like him, but Fanchon did not question. The Burcaud house was the most hospitable In Kouen. Mrs. Burcaud, a southerner, loving to persuade the vis itor that her homo wus his, not hers, lived only for her art, which was that of the table. Mr. Bareaud at fifty had lived so well that ho gavo up walking,' which did not trouble him, but at sixty he gavo up dancing, which did troublo him. Ills only hope, he declared, was In Crailey Gray's promise to Invent for nlm a concave partner. There was a thin, quizzing shank of a son, Jefferson, who lived upon qui nine, ague and deviltry, and there were the two daughters, Fanchon and Vir ginia. The latter was three years old er than Fanchon, as dark as Fanchon was fair, though not nearly so pretty, a small, good natural, romping sprite of a girl who hail handed down tho heart and hand of Crailey Gray to her sister with tho best grace In the world. For she had been the heroine of one of Mr. Gray's half dozen or so most seri ous affairs, and after a furious rivalry with Mr. Carewo the victory was gen erally conceded to Crailey. Ills tri umph had been of about a fortnight's duration when Fanchon returned from St. Mary's, and witli the advent of tho younger sister the elder, who had de cided Hint Cralloy was tho Incompara ble she had dreamed of since Infancy, was generously allowed to discover that he was not that vision; that she had fallen In love with her own idea of him, whereas Fanchon cared only , that ho bo Crailey Gray. To bo in love with Crailey became Fanchon's vocation. She spent all her time at It nnd produced a blurred ef fect upon strangers. Nor was she alone in suspecting Mr. Gray of gen ius. In the first place, he was so odd; in tho second, his poems wore "nlreudy attracting more than local attention," as tho Journal remarked generously, for Cralloy had ceased to present his rhymes to that valuable paper. Aye, Boston no less was his mart. IIo was rather radical In his literary preferences and hurt tho elder Cheno weth's feelings by laughing heartily at some poems of the iato Lord Byron, offended many peoplo by disliking the stylo of Sir Edward Bulwer and oven refused to admit that James Fcnlmore Cooper wus Uie greatest novelist that over lived. But these things were ns nothing compared with his unpatriotic defense of Charles Dickens. Many Americans had fallen Into a great rage over the vivacious assault upon the United States In "Martin Chuzzlowlt." Embroideries For which we are Headquarters i inch wide. 3c yard. 2A inches wide, 5c yard. 3 inches wide, Sc yard. 5 inches wide, 10c yard. Other widths at equally low prices. c Fancy Lace and Embroidered Stockings in the very latest designs. f . NEWHOUSE, Dry Goods, Laces. Nevertheless Crailey Mtlll boi.... , 1 him, as every one had herot ! r agreed, tho most dexterous writer o his day and tho most notable hmuor'.s of any day. Of course tho Ihigii-dunnii had not visited and thoroughly studied such a city as Itouen, Cr.illey con fessed twlnkllngly; but, after all, wasn't there some truth In "Martin Chuzzlowlt V" Mr. Dickens might have been far from a clear understanding of our people, but didn't it argue a pretty ticklish vanity In ourselves that we were so fiercely resentful of satire, and was not tills very heat over "Martin Chuzzlewit" a confirmation of one of the points the book had presented against us? General Trumble replied to this suggestion with a personal one to the effect that a man capable of say ing a good word for so monstrous a slander that a mnn, sir, capnbie of de claring his native country to bo vain or sensitive, ought to be horsewhipped, and at this Crailey laughed consum ed ly. Trumble retorted with tho names of Benedict Arnold and Anron Burr. "And If It comes to a war with these greasers," ho spluttered npoplectlcnlly, "and It Is coming, mighty soon, we'll Hud Mr. Gray down. In Mexico throw ing mud on tho stars and stripes and cheering for that one logged horse thief, Santa Anna! Auythlng to seek out something foolish among your own people!" ' Don't have to eek far sometimes, general. ' murmured Crailey from tjio depths of tho best chair In the club, whereupon Trumble, uot trusting him self to answer, went out to the street. CHAPTER V. ISS OAItEWE was at her desk, writing to Sister Cecilia, whom she most loved of all the world, when the bells startled her witli their sudden clamror. The quill dropped from her hand, slio started to her feet, wide eyed, not un derstanding, wliile the whole town, drowsing peacefully a moment ago, re sounded Immediately with a loud con fusion. She ran to tho front door and looked out, her heart beating wildly. The western sky was touched, with a soft rose color, which quickly became a warm glow, fluctuating, and hi tho instant shot up like tho coming of a full aurora. Then through tho broken foliage of tho treetops could bo seen tho orange curls of flame, three-quarters of a mile away though they were. Peoplo calling loudly that "it was Carewo's warehouses" wore running down tho street. From tho stable old Nelson on her father's best horso came galloping nnd, seeing tho white figure In tho doorway, cried out in a qunver lng voice without checking his steed: "I goln' to tell yo' pa, Miss Betty, lie In de kentry on Ian' bus'ness. Go back in do house, missy!" The other servants, like ragged sketches In the night, flitted by with excited ejaculations to Join tho run ners, and Miss Betty followed them across the dew strewn turf In her light slippers, but nt tho guto she stopped. From up tho street came tho sound of n bell smaller than those of the churches and courthouse, yet ono that outdid nil otliers In tho madness of Its appeal to clear tho way. It was borne along by what seemed nt first an In definite black, mass, but which aB tho ED Some Bargains in Stockings Infants' Stockings at 10, 1 15 and 25c. Misses' Stockings at io, 1 2 A, 15 and iSc. A line, dressy stocking at 25c. . Hoys' Stockings at 10, 15 and iSc. j "No Mend" Stockings, 1 with extra linen knee, at I 25c aurora grow keener, producing oven here a falut yellow twilight resolved itself Into a mob of hoarsoly shouting men and boys, who wero runnlug and tugging at ropes which drew alon threo extraordinary vehicles. The camo rapidly down the street ant passed Mls3 Betty with a hubbub and din beyond all understanding ono lino of men, most of them in red shirts and oilcloth helmets, at a dead run with the hose cart, a second with tho hand en gine, the third dragging tho ladder wagon. Ono mnn was riding, a tall, straight gentleman In evening clothes And without a hat, who stood precari ously in the hobo cart calling In an an noyed tone through a brazen trumpet. Miss Hetty recognized him at once. It was he who caught her kitten, and slio thought Unit If slio hud been Fanchon Bareaud she must have screamed a warning, for his balance appeared a thing of mere luck, and If he fell ho would be trampled under foot and probably run over by the engine. But happily, she remembered, she was not Fanchon Bareaud. Before, behind nnd beside the depart ment raced a throng of boys, wild with the Joy experienced by their species when property Is being handsomely de stroyed. After them came panting wo men, holding their sides nnd gasping with the effort to keep up with the Hy ing procession. Miss Betty trembled, for she had nev er seen the like In her life. She stood close to the hedge and let them go by. Then she turned In after them and ran like a fleet young deer. She was going to tho lire. Over all the uproar could be heard tho angry voice through the trumpet calling the turns of the streets to tho men In vain, upbraiding them nnd those of the other two companies Im partially, and few of his hearers denied tho chief his right to express some cha grin, since tho department, organized n She was going to the fire. half year, hard drilled and this Its first fire wortli tho name, was lato on nc couut of tho refusal of the members to move until they had donned their new uniforms, for tho uniforms had arrived from Philadelphia two months ago, and tonight offered tho first opportunity to display, them In public. 18? India LInons Worth more, but sell at following prices: 27 inches wide, Sc yard. 52 inches wide, 12AC yard. 36 inches wide, 15c yard. 40 inches wide, 20c, 25c. Long Cloth at 15c yard. Nainsook at 20c yard. "Hail Vanrevel!" panted Tapping ham Marsh to Eugene Madrlllon us tho two, running In the van of tho "hoso company," splattered through n mud puddle. "You'd think ho was Carewe's only son and heir Instead of bis worst enemy. Hark to the man!" "I'd let it burn If I wero he," return ed the other. "It was ail Crailey's fault," snld Tap plngham, swinging an arm free to wipe tho spattered mud from his face. "He swore he wouldn't budge without his uniform, and the rest ouly backed him up, that was all. Cralloy suld Curewo could better afford to lose his shanties than the overworked depart ment its first chance to look beautiful and earnest. Tom asked him why he didn't send for a fiddle," Marsh fin ished, with a chuckle. "Carewo might ufford to loso a little, even a warehouse or two, If only out of what he's taken from Crailey and the rest of us these three years." "Taken from Vanrovel, you mean. Who doesn't know whero Crailey's Here's Main street. Look out for the turn." They swung out of the thick shadows of Carewo street into full view of tho fire, and their faces were Illuminated as by sunrise. The warehouses stood on tho river bnnk, ut tho foot of tho street, Just south of tho new "covered bridge." There wero four of them, huge, baro sided buildings, the two nearer the bridge of brick, tho others of wood and all of them rich with stores of every kind of river merchandise nnd costly freight furnlturo that hnd voyaged from New England down tho long coast, across tho Mexican gulf, through the tint delta and hud mudc tho wind ing Journey up the grout river a thou sand miles and almost a thousand more, following the greater nnd lesser tributaries; cloth from Connecticut that had been sold in Philadelphia, then carried over mountains and through forests by stenm, by cnnal, by stngo und six mulo freight wagons to IMtts burg, down the Ohio nnd tlienco up to Itouen on the packet; Tennessee cotton, on Its wny to Massachusetts and Rhode Island spindles, lay there beside huge mounds of raw wool from Illinois, ready to be fed to tho Rouen mill; dntes nnd nuts from the Caribbean sea, lemons from groves of tho furuwuy tropics, clgurs from the Antilles, to bacco from Vlrglnln nnd Kentucky; most precious of all, tho great granary of tho farmers' wheat from the level fields nt homo; nnd all the rich stores and the houses that held them, as well as the whurfs upon which they had been lunded nnd the steamers that brought them up tho Rouen river, be longed to Robert. Cnrowo. . (To ba Continued ) A Guaranteed Cure for Piles. Itching, blind, blooding, protruding plies. Druggists nro authorized to refund money if Pnzo Ointment fulls to euro in 0 to M days. CO cents. Hiivo you boon betrayed by promises of quacks, swallowed pills and bottlo inudioine without results except a dam aged stomach? To thoao vo oiler Hoi lister's Rocky Mountain Tea. 36 cents. C. L. Cotting. ". i'l 1 i 9M