CHAPTER III—Continued.
That night his comrades at the tav
ern had told him of this; they taunt
ed him with it; they laughed at the
girl. They did not like her—not one
of them. Narrow natures dislike and
distrust that which they cannot under
stand. Young Green also had aroused
his fears. Green had an education;
he had asked where the girl obtained
her education, therefore she must
have an education. To-night he was
assured of this.
He kicked' the book contemptuous
ly, and muttered, under his breath, an
oath against young Green. If ever he
came there again it would be a sorry
day for him.
Dolores said nothing.
A sudden frenzy seized him. He
stooped and snatched the book from
the ground. It was an old astronomy.
She had been reading the book, for
she- preferred it to any of her moth
er’s books, and when young Green
saw it the day he was there he was
much surprised, and promised to take
a volume on the subject the next time
he went that way.
She thanked him, and it was the
first time she had thanked any one
since Betsy Glenn died. That was
two weeks before, and he had not
come again as he said he would, but
she watched for him, feeling sure that
he would keep his promise to her, feel
ing strangely glad when she thought
of him. She had perfect faith in him.
Her father’s face was lurid as he
snatched the book from the ground.
His small eyes, close set, were full
of brute cruelty; the veins of his
forehead were swollen. In his hands,
used to wielding the heavy hammer,
the book was a toy; his fingers
closed over it, and in an instant it
lay in shreds at her feet.
For a moment she did not compre
hend what had been done; she looked
from the book to him and back again.
Then she arose; her face was white,
and her eyes flashed. She looked at
him. and he cowered before her. She
was tall and stately; he had never be
fore appreciated her dignity. Now he
appreciated it to the full. The book
was the dearest thing in the world to
her; he could have wounded her in
no other way.
Mechanically he gathered up the
scattered fragments and as she held
out her hand for them he gave them
to her without a word, without even
jjlancing at her. For the time she
was more than his daughter; her
eyes were on his face, and her spirit
ruled his. Then they strayed away
to the mountain top veiled in haze.
The fire died out of her eyes; her
hands, mecnanically holding the torn
leaves of her book, fell listlessly at
her side; her shadow lay long and
dark behind her.
There was a sense of mystery about
her which her father could not under
stand ; he shrank from it and from
her, and passed away up the dark
r.---1
More Listless Than Usuual.
bank heavy with the shadows of the
pines that swayed in the faint breeze,
and again silence fell around her.
CHAPTER IV.
The Mare.
"I have come again,” said young
Green, laughing.
He stood in the doorway of the
shop, holding the black mare by the
bridle.
Johnson had been sitting on a
bench outside of the shop, smoking a
:lay pipe. As the young man spoke
he arose and advanced toward the
mare.
“Another shoe so soon?” he
jueried, shortly.
“Yes,” said the young man, lightly.
“Her right shoe this time. Come,
W Bess; come, my girl!”
There was a sudden, sullen glow on
fohnson's face as he took the bellows
uid blew the fire Into a fierce blaze.
He laid the iron on the fire and rais
sd the hammer.
Young Green began to talk. He
spoke of the dry weather and the hard
roads; he told the news of the town
Mid of the trial that was to come off
if a notorious horse thief who had
been caught attempting to steal Bess.
The blacksmith listened in sullen
lilenoe between the blows of the ham
tner.
By and by young Green left him
and went up to the house for a drink.
Johnson was not the only silent one
that day. His daughter listened mute
ly to the young man’s conversation.
If anything she was even more list
less than usual, though a strange
color tinged her cheeks as he talked.
He left the promised book with her;
he had not forgotten it, he said, but
had been unable to take it before. For
a moment her face glowed with pleas
ure, and the silken lashes lifted swift
ly, but fell ere their eyes could meet.
She thanked him in a few simple
words in her low, sweet voice; then
her gaze wandered away to the hazy
mountain top in the distance. He
left in a few minutes, deeply disap
pointed in her, and yet strangely in
terested and puzzled. Had he mis
taken her? Was she incapable of the
thought he believed she possessed?
Had 'jhe not, after all, the ambition
to be more than an untaught village
girl? Did her thought end with the
blue line of the mountains and the
hamlets scattered along their sides?
Dolores disappointed him; he
thought her so much better than she
had proved herself, and yet under it
all there was a sting in the thought
which he did not understand, student
of character as he was.
“She was positively stupid,” he said
regretfully. "Yet her face shows such
possibilities.”
He was walking slowly down the
narrow path to the shop, his hands
clasped behind him, his fair head
bent slightly forward. Dolores was
watching him, but he did not know it.
He never guessed of the wistful
brown eyes following him down the
stubbly path.
Bess whinnied shrilly when he
came in sight. She was restless and
snappish, but when he mounted and
rode out of the shop she grew gentle
again. As he rode away Johnson
called after him that she must have
gone some distance without her shoe,
for her foot was tender.
Dolores watched him with her far
seeing eyes as he rode up the moun
tain, then her gaze went down to the
shop. Her father was standing in the
doorway also watching the rider. He
had forgotten his pipe; his face in the
hazy sunlight was full of sullen
hatred, and he looked capable of
committing almost any act. His mut
tered threat of the previous evening
returned to her clearly and distinctly.
Her eyes widened with nameless fear.
She looked up the mountain again to
where the black mare was bearing
her rider proudly along the yellow
thread of road; she was no longer
listless; her face was white, her lips
quivering with excitement.
CHAPTER V.
Whose Was the Deed?
Dolores was waiting for something
to happen. A vague terror possessed
her; she could not have defined it
had she tried; she did not try. Young
Green’s face seemed to haunt her.
She watched her father continually
while he was in the house, for a sort
of fascination was upon her, and she
could not keep her eyes Irom his face.
Shft could nut explain the terror
that possessed her, but her whole
listless nature was aroused. She was
different, and her life was somehow
different, she knew not how.
The slow days passed, it seemed to
her, with even more slowness than
was their W'ont. Every morning the
red sun arose out of a veil of haze
from the mountain beyond the val
ley; every evening he sank behind
the gray peaks in the west.
Nothing happened after all; life
was stagnant; the sun arose and set;
the haze hung more dense and thick
over the mountain peaks. No rain
fell; nothing happened. Nothing hap
pened until—
One day the rumor floated across
the mountain that young Green’s
mare, one of the choicest breed in the
country, valued at what seemed to
the simple villagers a fabulous sum,
had gone lame. And this was discov
ered the morning after she was shod
by Johnson.
To most of the villagers this fact
meant nothing. That the one had
anything to do with the other never
entered their heads. They had no
cause for suspicion. But to Dolores
the rumor came like a blow. It seem
ed to her in a strange, far-away fash
ion that this was what she had been
expecting. This was why the kindly
blue eyes were always looking into
hers, and the pleasant face was for
ever in her thoughts.
Her eyes were on her father when
the news was told by one of the
neighbors. A nail was driven into
the mare’s hoof and she was dead
lame. The hostler had found it when
he examined her hoof, which was not
until the morning following the day
Green was at the settlement. It was
a hard blow to the young man, the
speaker said, for he had thought as
much of her as though she were a
woman. Conjecture was rife as to
who had done the deed. Suspicion
rested particularly in one direction,
and the suspicion was pretty well
founded, but the young man would
wait until there could be no doubt.
And here the story ended.
Dolores had listened silently, as
was her habit, no one noticing her.
The memory of her father's words
the other day returned to her with
a force she could not account for.
Over and over, mingled with the
memory of the black mare and her
rider, the words were driven in dully,
as though by the strokes of a ham
mer—even, distinct, deafening, most
terrible to the girl in the darkness.
“Ef ever thet young feller kems
hyar agen et'll be a sorry day fer
hem!”
CHAPTER VI.
A Neighborly Gift.
“Et hev been so dry I 'lowed mebby
ther gyarding hyar dedn’t 'mount ter
much, bein’ as y© air up so high, so I
bringed ye some strawb’ries outen
our gyarding, Dolores.”
“Thank you; our garden didn’t
amount to much,” Dolores said,
gravely. She looked at her neighbor
without a sign of interest in her face;
she spoke in her usual listless man
ner; but under the listnessness and
apparent carelessness was the con
sciousness like a sharp sword, that
the gift was the forerunner of some
thing to follow else than her pleasure.
She emptied the berries out of the
basket into a dish and stood regard
ing them. Mrs. Smith said afterward
she looked as though she were trying
■ 1 ■■■-' . i
Dolores Watched Him.
to discover if they might be “tetch
ed.” In reality the girl did not even
see them.
She was wondering vaguely what
the woman would say about the mare.
That she had come for some purpose
outside of bring.ng the fruit was
clear to her. She waited with a sink
ing heart and strained ears for what
the woman would say. She knew well
that something must follow. That it
was in regard to the mare of young
Green she i.ad not a doubt. Perhaps
the suspicion in regard to the guilty
party had become a fact. Perhaps
this woman had come to tell her—
perhaps—
(To be continued.)
HABIT IN READING PAPERS.
Almost Every Person Has One Part
He Turns .to First.
“Very old persons,” said an observ
er, “nearly always, on unfolding their
newspaper, turn to the column of
‘Deaths.’ This is because, in the first
place, they are most likely to find
news of their friends there than in
the column of ‘Marriages,’ or any
other part of the paper, and because,
in the second place, they are interest
ed in death—they have it much in
their minds.
“Young girls turn first to the soci
ety news and weddings, and after that
to the fashions. Young men of the
healthy, open-air sort, turn first to the
sporting news, while boys universally
turn to this page first. The actor, of
course, reads the dramatic columns,
and the writer the book reviews, but
neither of these departments, I fancy
does any part of the disinterested
public consult first of all.
“The elderly gentleman of a pom
pous appearance reads the editorials
first, while his corpulent, cheerful
wife reads the recipes on the ‘house
hold’ page. Some clergymen read
the wills of the dead, to see what
charities have been remembered with
bequests. There are many people who
read the crimes, the scandals and the
shocking accidents first. Poets, as a
rule, will not read the newspapers at
all.”—Philadelphia Record.
Advantages of Early Christians.
Bishop Potter is telling a story of
a dear old lady who recently asked
him how it was that Solomon was
allowed to have so many wives—not
to mention the other ladles.
He explained that the manners and
customs of Solomon's days were dif
ferent to those of the present era,
whereupon she replied earnestly, “Oh,
don’t you think those early Christians
enjoyed great privileges?”—New York
Times.
Admitted His Guilt. i
“Do you not at times have soulful
yearnings which you long to express
in words but cannot?” asked the fair
maid who had a leaning toward the
sentimental.
“Yes, I was up against something
like that once," admitted the youth
with the noisy tie. "1 wanted to tel
egraph home for money and didn’t
have the price of a Marconi."
Strategy.
"It’s lucky I'm a dentist,” chuckled
the tall student.
"Why so?" asked the friend.
“Well, last night every time I kissed
Clara she screamed. When the old
man came down I told him I was mere
ly trying to pull a tooth.”
r
UNCLE SAM STANDS PAT IN THE WORLD'S GAME.
------
GAINS ALL ONESIDED
CANADIAN IDEA OF A RECI
PROCITY ARRANGEMENT.
It Is to Limit the Bargain to the Free
Interchange of National Products,
Whereby the American Farmer
Would Find Himself a Loser.
The millers of St. Paul and Minne
apolis favor reciprocity so they can
get their wheat cheaper, and we pre
sume other interests afTected would
favor reciprocity for the same reason.
While declaring that they wish re
ciprocity because it would be an ad
vantage to this country, the fact is
they want it because it would benefit
themselves. Do they pretend that this
cheaper Canadian wheat, if admitted
free, would benefit the American
wheat grower as well as the Minne
sota millers? They have not the face
to make such a declaration because
they know it would be laughed at.
They are after cheaper wheat, not
dearer, and cheaper Canadian wheat
moans cheap American wheat.
This is also true of oats, barley,
potatoes, poultry, eggs, cheese, butter,
hogs, cattle, sheep, wool, vegetables
and fruits. They are all much cheaper
in Canada than in the United States,
and their free entry into this country
would moBt assuredly cut down prices
now paid American farmers for those
staples.
Let us look at the situation as it
really is. The Canadians are trying
by every means in their power to
build up their country and develop its
resources. This is right and proper,
and altogether commendable. But
they find that to attract people to the
great Northwestern territory from the
western shores of Lake Superior to
the Pacific, markets must be assured
for the products they would raise. Un
der present conditions their market
is Liverpool, and thousands of miles
must be traversed by railway before
a shipping port Is reached, which is
certainly a great handicap to the set
tlers who may go there, and has pre
vented the rapid settlement of that
big country. Now, if those settlers
could market their grain and live
stock across the border in the United
States it would be of great advantage
to them financially, and settlers would
flock there by the thousands. Even
as it is, a good many American farm
ers have moved to that country, and
thousands more would take advan
tage of its cheap lands could a mar
ket for their products be assured over
the border. The cost of transporting
their products to the markets of Great
Britain eats up all the profits and
leaves nothing for the producer.
It is to give the farmers of the Do
minion a better chance that reciproci
ty with the United States is desired
by Canadians, not to help American
producers. They know quite well that
the staples produced in the Canadian
provinces are those that can be pro
duced in endless quantities in this
country. They also know that the
cheap lands and virgin soil of the
Canadian Northwest could compete
advantageously with the high priced
lands in the older states, more or less
denuded of their original fertility.
Reciprocity, therefore, would simply
mean the development of the Cana
dian Northwest and older provinces
at the expense of American producers,
and with that development would
come the milling industry and com
peting lines of transportation that
would finally rob the Minnesota miller
of the advantage he would enjoy for
a few years. And he would be aiding
all the time in the development of
his finally successful competitor.
The Canadian Northwest is so im
mense a country that if fairly popu
lated it could grow all the grain re
quired by Great Britain and the im
porting countries of Europe. It would
be suicidal for Americans to aid in
putting that country in a position to
do so.—Michigan Farmer.
Of What Avail?
Senator Hanna’s expression of fer
vid faith in a protective tariff as a
means of promoting prosperity seems
to have jarred upon the nerves oi* the
New York Evening Post. No free
trader likes to hear or read that kind
of talk. So the Evening Post sneer
ing'.? rays:
"With his praise of Mr. Roosevelt,
he mingled greater praise of the high
tariff. It was a miraculously perfect
thing. It was the cause of all our
prosperity. Of what avail was It for
the Creator to give us forests and
mines, until the party of protection
came along and offered Americans a
tariff bounty to work them?”
To be perfectly frank with our free
trade neighbor, we don’t mind saying
that “until the party of protection
came along” the people of this country
were not realizing much out of the
uncut timber and the unmined ore*
with which the Creator had so plentl
fully endowed this favored land. Il
was after “the party of protection
came along,” and not before, that la
bor and capital began to find work anc
wealth In our forests and mines. Thai
is a fact in history.
OHIO IDEA OF THE TARIFF.
It Is That Enemies of Protection Keep
Hands Off.
Following the collapse of the “Iowa
Idea" revision scheme, the Ohio idea
of what should be done with the pro
tective tariff system will be received
with applause. The Ohio idea, .as
set fort!', with simplicity and force in
the state platform of the Republican
party, is to let well enough alone.
In contrast with the Iowa idea of tin
kering with the schedules, with the
“reciprocity" idea of driving wedges
into the pillars of protection and with
the free trade idea of tearing down
the whole splendid structure on which
the national prosperity rests, the Ohio
idea stands out in grateful relief:
"We oppose all attacks upon this
policy (the protective tariff policy of
the Republican party), whatever the
pretext, as tending to bring back the
disastrous days of Democratic tariff
rovision and free trade.”
The Ohio idea, continued, Is that
“changing conditions and the possible
benefits of reciprocity may call for
timely readjustments of schedules, but
protection as a principle and as a
policy must be administered by the
friends of American prosperity and
must not be sacrificed." The position
taken by the Ohio Republicans is in
full harmony with that of all but a
selfish or misguided fraction of their
party in the nation. Their idea, too,
is that no part of the prosperity struc
ture should be touched by the hands
of other workmen than those who
bullded it. The country just now is
satisfied with its strength and earn
ing power. There is no call for its
disturbance save from the importers
and shipping interests and wreckers
in “high finance" and the demagogues
of both parties. When the country de
mands a readjustment of the tariff
schedules the Republican party will
listen to its request. But there is no
sign yet that the country is dissatisfied
with prosperity. And it will be a long
time, we hope and we believe, before
the country either will clamor for a
modification of the tariff or intrust
the care of the protective system to
the Democratic party.
The Ohio Republican idea of “hands
off the tariff" is the idea of the Re
publican party and the idea of a vast
majority of this prosperous and con
tented nation.—New York Press.
Why Eve Pkicked the Apple.
Theodosia Garrison was dining out
the other night, and the conversation
turned upon various kinds of food.
The gentleman who had taken her in
to dinriier, and who prided himself on
knowing as much as a doctor about
foodstuffs, declared that apples were
excellent for the vitality of the brain
because of the phosphoric acid which
they contain in large quantities.
“Oh, then it is quite clear,” said
the poetess, “that Eve only plucked
that apple to supply Adam with a few
Ideas.”—New York Times.
Corner In Soup Bones.
It is rather mean of the Democrats
to blame Cleveland for the soup
houses which were in fashion during
his administration. Soup bones would
be cornered, no matter what Demo
cratic free-trader or visionary tariff
revisionist was elected to the pres
idency. Mr. Cleveland “never meant
to;” he was only a sure enough Dem
ocrat.—Donaldsonville (La.) Chief.
Protection Insures Prosperity.
The calamityites are peering through
their pessimistic telescopes for the
least sign in the break of prosperity,
but in vain. Our present good times
are based on a condition that is not
affected by droughts, strikes or other
temporary causes. So long as we are
enabled by protection to do our own
work, so long will we continue to be
prosperous.
Actual Results.
The protective tariff policy of the
Republican party has made the United
States the greatest industrial nation;
has added vastly to our foreign com
merce, greatly Increased the prosper
ity of the farmer, and has advanced lft
bor to the best scale of living ever at
tained.—From the Ohio Republican
platform.
Prices Still Declining.
Dun's index figure of prices, pro
portioned to consumption, was on
May 1 98.561—lower than for IV
months with one exception. And yet
wages are constantly advancing, much
to the net advantage of the incoma
earner who gains both ways under xh«
splendid operation of the Dingley law.
Summer Field Crop*.
The Iowa Experiment Station is
sending out some advice to farmers
relative to the sowing of late field
crops. In part the circular says: Un
precedented rains have prevented
many farmers in Iowa from preparing
and planting all their land intended
[or corn. In some sections floods have
ruined the growing crop. It will be
the middle of June before many can
work their land, and the Experiment
Station has had many inquiries about
late crops to ultllize the land. If
possible to obtain the seed a ninety
lay corn, like Farmer’s Reliance, Pride
of the North, or Early Longfellow
Dent, can be planted as late as June
20th, with reasonable assurance of
reaching maturity before the close of
the growing season. Nothing can fully
take the place of corn.
For corn hay for this season, select
the earliest maturing variety of corn
you can obtain in your locality. It
can be sown broadcast, planted or
drilled. Plant the hills as close to
gether as you can with your corn
planter, or if you use a corn drill
place - in drill rows 36 to 42 inches
apart and kernels 2 to 4 Inches apart
In the rows, using from 20 to 26 pounds
of seed to the acre. For roughage
this corn hay Is most excellent and
It will probably give more rough feed
of good quality per acre than we can
now hope to get in any other way this
late in the season. By using a corn
harvester the crop is harvested quite
easily. If sowed very thick a grain
binder can oftep be used. Corn can
not be readily or easily cured if
mowed and harvested as we do hay.
When bound and placed in shocks that
are not too large it usually cures out
quite well. By planting sweet corn
In rows similar to the plan just men
tioned or drilling in rows 24 to 30
inches apart, a very fine quality of
fodder can be obtained which is great
ly relished by all kinds of farm stock.
Among other crops that can be put
In at this time are sorghum, millet,
kaflr corn, soy beans and buckwheat.
Break Up the Crust.
When rain falls on heavy soils, the
water penetrates It only slowly, as
the spaces between the soil particles
are very small. After the rain, the
sun and the wind begin their work,
and the evaporation from the soil
causes it to form a crust. This crust,
while preventing the air from reaching
the roots of the plants, serves as a
medium through which the water in
the soil may the more readily pass
off, without going up through the
plants. The latter, therefore, often
seem at a standstill in their growth.
The water must not be permitted to
pass out of the soil except through the
plants if we are able to prevent it,
and we can to a large extent pre
vent this by breaking up the crusts
as soon as they form. This generally
occurs after a heavy rain. The heavier
the rain the firmer the crust is likely
to be.
We too often forget the great law
of capillarity that is working in our
soils. Those who have not given at
tention to this matter imagine that
plants drink water in bulk. This Is
not true, at least for any length of
time. When there is a down-pour a
plant may take up water if it be
thirsty for it, but It is probable that it
takes up water only In a certain pro
portion to its food. It cannot gorge
Its cells with water minus food. Most
of the water it takes is drawn up from
the lower portions of the soil by
capillary attraction, and the film of
water is surrounded by a larger bulk
of air and by these two the plant
food in the soil is made available for
the plant. Now, the hard-packed soil
is a soil with great power of drawing
up water. Some one has described
the sun and the wind as th« pumps of
the Lord to draw moisture out of the
earth. The saying is largely true.
But these pumps should be made by
man to draw moisture out of the
leaves of our plants, that growth may
be accelerated.
Weeds.
We sometimes see the term “noxious
weeds,” but we would inquire if all
weeds are not “noxious” (harmful),
considered from the agricultural
standpoint. Whether weeds are nox
ious or not depends on time and place.
If the land is not under cultivation,
far better is it to have weeds than
nothing. They prevent the ground
from becoming baked and hard. Who
has not seen a piece of baked, hard
ground remaining for years without a
covering? A weed is not noxious if
it takes the ground after harvest and
protects it from the sun and winds.
The quality of noxiousness comes in
when weeds are permitted to smother
the crop that the farmer is trying to
grow. They are especially noxious
when they grow in a corn field during
a period of wet weather, whea *j>a
farmer cannot get onto the ground
with his cultivator.
Weeds, if permitted to grow in any
crop, sap its vitality by using up the
plant food in the soil. If they suc
ceed in attaining greater height than
the crop they are among they further
injure it by their shade. The best
way to tight weeds is to keep the
ground cultivated and not permit them
to get a start. It is surprising how
little time it takes to go over land
that has been previously cultivated
during the season. If done at the
right time the cultivation will be ef
fective in keeping down the weeds,
and the labor will be far less than it
would be were the weeds permitted to
get a start.
