CHAFFEE
ROARING HORSE
»Y ERNEST HAYCOX
He reached daylight and
looked into a dim, bleak world
blasted by the bitter wind; he
heard the shrill and weird
trailing of the peaks lost above
the pall. A minute or two of
this was ample. He slid back
Into the cabin and built a
stronger fire to thaw the
irozen marrow cf his bones.
He had used by the fifth day
All of the wood. The next fuel
was the bunk. The posts and
the lodgepole stringers went
Into the stove. All that was
then left was the cupboard,
and he was afraid that once
the cupboard came down there
would be more rifts of the
cabin wall uncovered. Debat
ing over this, the fire died and
the snow water in the pan
cooled. He pulled on his sock
and shoe and rose to his one
good foot.
“Got to keep the fire
bumin’,” said he with aspry
cheerfulness. “While I’m warm
I might as well be good an’
warm. When I’m cold it won’t
make no difference, anyhow.
Mister cupboard, come to your
uncle.”
The cupboard was only a
dry-goods box nailed to the
wall. He hopped over to It
gripped the edges, hauling
downward with his weight.
The cupboard gave slightly
and resisted. Jim Chaffee let
his arms fall; and an expres
son of shocked surprise
flickered across his slim face.
Two ten penny nails—nothing
more—anchored that box.
And he couldn’t pull it down.
This was bold handwriting on
the cabin wall. He became
aware then that he was
weaker than he figured, and
he made no further attempt
at getting fire wood. Instead,
he hopped back to the stove
and plunged into an involved
train of thoughts.
“Now this ain’t really so
so bad. I’m alive, ain’t I? I’m
not hangin’ by mere perspira
tion to the edge of the canyon.
And I’m not dodgin’ any
bullets. Nobody can poison my
soup, because there ain’t any
soup to poison, it bein' cold, I
don’t need to worry about
beln hit by a hydrophobia dog.
Shucks, there’s lots of things
that can’t happen to me. The
point is, I wonder what Mack’s
up to?”
He had promised to drop a
line from Bannoc City. Mack
would worry abouc not getting
a letter. Mack would begin to
look ahead and count over
possibilities. Knowing his
partner very well, J»ra under
stood that after a certain
length of time had elapsed
without word Mack Moran
would not sit idle. The battl
ing puncher would get aboard
a horse and investigate. Right
there was a definite hope.
“Question becomes, how long
Will he wait?” pondered Jim
Chaffee. “If everything had
gone according to schedule
I’d have written three days
ago, and he’d have said letter
by now. He’ll be wonderin’
right now. But he’ll wait an
other twenty-four hours, any
how. Then he’ll start up this
way. If I can hold out till
Tuesday—”
Tuesday seemed remote. In
fact the longer he studied his
position the more impossibly
distant Tuesday became. He
took himself to account.
"Listen, Chaffee, what’s the
idea of expectin’ somebody
else to hoist you out of this
pickle? It ain’t your style.
You’re twenty-one, free,
White, and hungry. You got
Into this Jackpot. Now it’s up
to you and nobody else. Do
somethin’.”
A gunny sack lay over in one
corner of the room. He boosted
himself across the floor and
got It. Taking his knife he cut
a hole in the sewed end and
shook out the dirt. Then he
measured himself against it
and slit an aperture on either
side. Throwing the sack over
his head he found he had a
smock which, though quite
dusty and smelling very evil,
gave him so much extra pro
tection. Thus far he had no
idea at all of what he meant
to do. The next logical thing
seemed to be an inspection of
his gun, and following that he
moved toward the door.
“It’s a long way back to
Gorman’s lodge,” he mut
tered. "Too far to crawl. But
do somethin,’ anyhow. You
can’t expect a break unless
you go out there and make
one. Stick here much longer
and you'll be pickin’ banana#
off the wall. It’s serious when
a man begins talkin’ to him
self unless he’s a sheep
herder. Just amble out and
have a look.”
He opened me aoor ana
found the tunnel half filled
in. So he took up the bitter
work of clearing another alley
to the surface. Once again the
knife edge of the slashing
wind bit into his bones, and
once again he heard the shrill
walling of the peaks above
him. According to his judg
ment it was around noon, but
he had no way of exactly de
termining. There was no hint
of sun in the cheerless snow
mist, no hint of time’s passage
at all except the waxing and
waning of the thin, bleak
light. He was isolated, cut off
from human kind in this
high, storm battered world.
The rounding alley of the
pass beckoned either way.
West was back to timber line,
back to Gorman’s. East was
into the adjacent valley. All
landmarks were buried, and
the weaving, driving snow
chocked out everything but
the immediate foreground.
Rising to one knee he studied
this desolation neither hope
fully nor otherwise. He could
fight, and he was so prepared
to fight—the last great fight
for simple existence; yet at
the same time he was a gam
bler at heart, being a gambler,
studied his chances with a
critical eye. Not for a moment
did he allow himself the folly
of optimism. He knew very
well that the elements had
him hamstrung, that they
were pulling him down to a
soundless and not unpleasant
death. So much he admitted.
“Why lay down and quit in
that cabin? I might make it to
Gorman’s. I might. Wind’s
behind me and it’s down
grade. Well, if there’s any
other chance I’d better think
of ’em right now before I
start.
He was conscious all of a
sudden that the intense cold
didn’t bite him as it should.
He wasn’t feeling it like he
ought to feel it. “A good man
can stand lots of this,” said
he. “ But it gets a thin old
wolf like me sudden. I better
be movin’. I sure do wish I
could eat coffee and flapjacks
in that little log house of mine
once more.”
He crawled away from the
tunnel, testing his strength
against the snow. Ten yards
left him doubtful. Twenty
more yards and he stopped,
breathing hard and feeling
the quiver of his muscles. It
may have been a momentary
flash of despair that turned
him about for a last look at
the summit cabin; it may have
been a recognition of defeat;
or it may have been some im
palpable note of warning
singing along the whipping
wind. But he turned at any
rate; and deep in the mist,
beyoud the cabin, he saw a
tall silhouette moving across
the gray background of the
storm. It woke all the hope
he had left; it dredged up the
last of his strength. He stood
on his knees, trying to pene
thate the pall; he shouted,
knowing that the wind
whipped his words on down
the slope—the wrong way.
Then the silhouette disap
peared.
“Eyes goin’ bad. Why don’t
I get sore about it? Why don’t
I knck up a fuss? Now what—”
The silhouette reappeared,
quartered along the lifting
clouds of snow, and halted.
Didn’t have the shape of a
man. Maybe a horse. But what
would a horse be doing up
here? The tricks of the snow
tantalized him, thinning and
thickening, giving him an
instant’s glimpse of the mov
ing object and then shutting
if from sight. He dropped to
all fours and crawled against
the cabin, toiled on, and
stopped out of exhaustion.
The silhouette grew plainer,
broke the mists. A mule-tail
buck deer stood fifty yards
away, ribs sprung out against
sunken flanks; the animal
braced its feet wide in the
snow and lowered Its head.
Chaffee reached for his gun.
“Mister Buck, just take your
time. Don’t be in a hurry. And
drift this way, you son-of-a
gun!”
The deer advanced a iew
more yards and again took a
stand. The wind was driving
him onward across the pass.
How he had gotten this far
up Chaffee didn’t understand,
but he was not disposed to
reflect on the vagaries of the
animal kingdom at this precise
moment. Flat on his stomach,
he crawled, wishing the day
was still darker. He stopped,
afraid to move into the buck’s
line of vision, and he made a
tripod with his elbows and
propped the gun between
palms.
“ That’s al right. Take your
time. You got this far, now
come a little farther. No, that
snow ain’t to eat. And you
can’t smell me a-tall. Not
a-tall , Mister Buck. Wind’s
the wrong way. That’s right—
one foot in front of the other.
Same way my mamma taught
me to walk. Nossir, you can’t
see me either. I’m covered
with snow. It’s only a log you
see. Yeah.”
The buck plowed ahead,
directly in line with Chaffee.
The man pulled back the gun’s
hammer and took a test sight.
Right in the chest and a little
to one side. But it was still
too far. The buck had trouble
in making traction, and three
times during that long spell
of waiting the beast stopped.
Chaffee throttled the impulse
to shoot. Another yard would
make it surer. And when the
deer advanced the necessary
yard Chaffee argued with
himself again as if he were
lecturing an impatient child,
still another yard to be more
sure. “Yuh look hungry. Well,
they’s all sorts of nice grass
down beyond me. Don’t take
my word for it. Use your own
Judgment. Ain’t that what
you come all the way to find?
Now next time you stop, turn
half way round. I’ll be obliged
I’d rather aim behind a fore
quarter. Won’t hurt you near
so much.”
All this was unaer nis
breath. Feeling fast fled from
his arms. The muzzle of the
gun had a tendency to droop.
The buck halted twenty yards
or more away. Chaffee sighed
and squeezed the trigger. The
report of that shot roared in
his ears was flung back by the
wind; the buck reared, whirled
about, and raced into the teeth
of the driving mist. A moment
later he was beyond the pall,
and all of Jim Chaffee’s hopes
went with him. The revolver
dropped to the snow, nor did
the man make any effort to
secure it. Very, very slowly he
hauled himself toward the
cabin. He was sleepy and he
began to arguq with himself
about the insidious symptoms
of death by freezing. “You
know blamed well you got to
exert a little more steam.
Cabin ain’t but a mite off.
Hoopa—one more boost." His
head dropped and he never
knew when he went to sleep.
Gay Thatcher and Ranzo
Taber, coming along less than
five minutes later with Taber's
huskies, almost ran over him.
His feet hurt—that woke
him out of the stupor. They
stung like fury. So did his
hands; so did his ears. And
somebody worked over him
with a great deal of unneces
sary roughness. He opened his
eyes and saw Ranzo Taber,
whom he didn’t know. Beyond
stood Gay Thatcher.
“I missed -that doggone
buck,” he murmured.
‘‘I guess you did,” said
Taber. ‘‘He went by us like a
shot out of a gun. How do you
feel?”
“All the symptoms. Yeah, I
know you’re pinchin’ my legs.
Feelin’s cornin’ back.”
“Guess you can stoke up the
fire,” Said Taber to Gay.
The girl went over and
ripped the cupboard down
with one single motion. Chaf
fee couldn’t help grinning. ‘‘I
wasn’t able to budge it a little
while back. When I get out of
here I’m goin’ to hire some
body to haul six-eight cords
of wood alongside this cabin.
Where did you come from?”
“Have a drink first,” sug
gested Taber. Chaffee stran
gled over a jolt of whisky, but
the benefit derived therefrom
was immediate.
“When did you eat last?”
asked the girl, breaking the
cupboard into the stove.
“Not since I left Linder
man’s.”
The girl pulled a canteen
from her shoulders and came
over Chaffee. “I thought
something like that might
have happened. This is cho
colate. One big drink, Jim. No
more.
Ranzo Taber started for the
door. “Want to look at the
dogs. We better be hittin’ out
of this pretty quick. Ain’t long
till dark.”
Chaffee took a long drink of
warm chocolate. Every minute
brought an added sting and
jab of reviving piece of skin,
but he felt in pretty good
shape, almost as if he were
waking from a turbulent
dream. Gay Thatcher he began
to study with freshening in
terest.
In the week’s interval she
had changed some. Laying
aside the effects of man’s
clothing and high boots, she
appeared tired, somehow sad.
Her eyes were of a deeper
color; once when she caught
his direct glance a tinge of
crimson slowly rose to her
cheeks—and went away. He
remembered their meeting in
the jail and he wondered what
she thought about now.
“You tell your story; then
I’ll tell mine,” said she.
He took another pull at the
canteen. “Takes a woman to
think of a drink like that.
Wouldn’t this be a haywire
world without women? My
story don’t amount to much. I
got out of the jail, ran the
lines with Mack, ended up at
Linderman’s, borrowed a horse
and hit for the pass. Was kind
of tired, so the horse caught
me sleepin’ and threw me.
Twisted my ankle. Got to the
cabin. Been here ever since.
Was about to depart for
regions unknown when you
came along. How did you
figure l was nere.'
“I saw Mack. He told me you
hadn’t written. He was wor
ried. I got the whole story from
him and put two and two to
gether. So I circled around to
Bannoc City and went to
Ranzo Taber’s ranch. It is only
ten miles east of here. Ranzo
runs three strings of huskies
every winter for sport. I knew
that. You weren’t in Bannoc
City, and I figured you must
be somewhere along the trail.
So we came.” She fell silent.
But a moment later he was
startled to hear the swift ve
hemence of her words. “Jim,
do you know how close to
death you were out there in
the snow!”
*T can make a guess at it,”
he muttered, bothered by
something else. “I don’t see
why you went to all this
trouble.”
“Don’t you, Jim?”
(TO B> CONTINUED)
More than 6,000,000 head of range
livestock, with an aggregate value
exceeding $2,500,000,000 are kept by
farmers and ranchers In California.
Features Fail to Give
Average Criminal Away
San Francisco—(UP)—You can’t
tell a criminal by his features. Dr.
Leo L. Stanley, San Quentin prison
Ehysician recently informed mem
era of the Alturian club here.
Dr. Stanley produced photographs
of 25 prisoners who had entered
San Quentin consecutively, and
pointed out that a majority in no
way resembled so-called "criminal
1. a.” The pictures were made in
an effort to check certain widely ac
cented theories concerning this mat
ter through a “psychological study
of physiognomy," Dr. Stanley said.
Most convicts are average looking
men, he maintained.
An Unsatisfactory Plan.
A congressional redistrictlng bill,
which would have given the demo
cratic party of Missouri nine of the
13 seats the state receives under the
new apportionment law, has been
defeated in the legislature. There is
said to be no chance of enactment
of a bill which the governor would
sign and in consequence the entire
congressional delegation will be
chosen next year by the state at
large.
This means that the party receiv
ing a majority of the vote of the
state is likely to elect all the 13
members. In the circumstances, it is
conceded that the two large cities of
the state, St. Louis and Kansas
City, will dominate the contest, the
fight being largely between them.
The former is republican and the
latter democratic. Both, however, are
overwhelmingly wet and it is taken
for granted that whichever party
wins Missouri's delegation will be
anti-Volstead.
If Missouri's failure to redistrict
were followed by similar failure in
other states, where reapportionment
I has caused a reshuffling of repre
i sentation, the effect on the member
ship of Congress might be drastic.
Numerous long-sitting members,
masters of their own districts, might
go down to defeat. Also, it is prob
able, the result would be far great
er strength for the urban population
and its viewpoint.
—
q Is there a railroad in the
United States which operates trains
in only one direction? H. D.
A. The statement that such is
the case has sometimes been made
with reference to the Winston-Sal
en Southbound railway because of
its unique name. As a matter of fact,
the trains come bade.
OF INTEREST TO FARMERS
ABOUT FEEDING
Anyone given to sermonizing
would say that the feed situation,
which reaches its worst now just be
fore stock goes on pasture, has
brought with it certain blessings.
That a great many stockmen have !
learned to feed more efficiently and
more economically than they ever
fed before. That the sacrifice of
some poorer animals and more lib
eral feeding of the remaining ones
has been of direct benefit to the
livestock industry.
With which we can not entirely
disagree. Instead of the usual home
grown hay, corn, oats, barley or ka
fir, the ration has in many cases
been made up of fodder, beet pulp,
straw, molasses, oat feed, wheat,
etc. Some stockmen, as a result of
having to purchase feed materials [
and ready-mixed feeds have, for the
first time in their lives, fed a com
plete ration. Some of the*? “first
timers” have demanded of tneir ra
tions more than they ever did be
fore. It's that way; a feeder is al
ways quick to excuse in a home
grown or home-mixed ration a fault
he would not tolerate in a ready
mixed ration.
Having learned that the purchase
of supplemental feed is not a dis
grace but a step toward better feed
ing, these folks are not likely to go
back to “Just hay and grain,” a
home-grown ration that is inade
quate because it is in most cases in
adequate because it is in most cases
Incomplete. The case of these feed
ers is not so different from that of
the man who learns to like spinach
or carrots away from home, because
he feels that he has to eat what is
6et before him.
There are some lessons still to be
learned, however; for the winter is
not over, though the voice of the
turtle is heard in the land. It is
false economy to turn stock on to
the first grass of spring. For one
thing, too-early pasturing is bad for
the pasture. As for th^ animals
themselves—well, the first green
grass of spring is a great tonic but
an incomplete ration. A cow on
early spring pasture will turn the
tissues of her own body into milk.
Then comes a slump.
In short, the turtle or the first
robin is not a trustworthy sign when
the matter to be settled is early
spring feeding. Particularly is this
true with horses and mules, which
are now going into a period of hard
work after a spell of comparative
idleness.
A poor time to try to save horse
feed. Five horses in good shape are
a more dependable source of power
than six on short rations. Two good
pitchers won the pennant and the
world's series for Connie Mack last
year. What would a naif dozen sec
ond rate ones have done?
The ration that is most economi
cal, now as always, is the one that
returns the greatest profit. It is not
necessarily the one that costs the
least per ton. The price tag is not
a safe index of the value of feed.
When you buy feed, buy on the basis
of results. Your feed dealer can, if
he is wideawake and handles a good
line of feeds, help y^u to save some
money.
STOCK MEDICINE CABINET.
Common veterinary supplies will
be more likely to be used when need
ed if kept in a cabinet in the barn.
The more convenient such supplies
are, the more likely are they to be
used to advantage.
A medium sized medicine cabinet
with a reasonably tight door will
keep supplies out of the dust, away
from flies, and in a place where they
will not be damaged by livestock. In
such a cabinet it will be found con
venient to have the following arti
cles:
A quart bottle for drenching.
A supply of Glauber salts.
A quart of raw linseed oil.
A small jar of plain vaseline.
A Jar of carbolated vaseline, or a
superior salve for wire cuts, etc.
A tight bottle containing some
sticks of caustic potash for dehorn
ing calves (or other dehorner.)
Healing powder.
Milk teats and tea plugs.
Adhesive tape or tar tape.
A bottle of disinfectant.
If the cabinet is large enough
other supplies can be kept in it, as
milker parts and fly spray.
CONTROLLING WORMS.
Avoiding worm infestation is much
more satisfactory than fighting it
afteT the growing chicks are infested
with them. Iowa State college poul
trymen recommend the following
program to prevent worm infesta
tion:
1. Keep the young and old stock
separate throughout the summer.
2. Provide clean cultivated range
each year that poultry has not
ranged over for two years previous
ly.
3. Provide a well drained and en
closed range for the laying flock
and seed it to crops each year.
4. Fill or drain all wet spots near
the chicken house and arrange the
fences so that all the range may be
cultivated.
5. Clean dropping boards regular
ly, remove dirty litter and disinfect
drinking utensils. Also clean the
poultry house frequently and twice
each year in warm weather scrub
the floor and dropping boards with
boiling hot lye water.
6. Allow abundant sunlight to
reach the parts of the floor of the
chicken houses as well as the ground
which the poultry ranges.
Once worms have obtained a start
in the birds, however, it will be nec
essary to use some treatment to rid
the flock of these parasites.
FEEDING VITAIMIN D.
Increasing the vitamin D content
of milk from four to eight times
is a feat recently accomplished by
the men at Wisconsin university.
This was done by feeding yeast to
three Holstein cows, producing from
40 to 50 pounds of milk dally. Each
~LOOKING AHEAD.
| The dairy cow herds will show
their appreciation by increased
I cream checks to owners who do a
! \od job of putting up alfalfa hay
next winter’s feed.
WORM LOGS LEGLESS
There are few farmers today who
have not had to cut down on the
number of hogs raised each year
because of trouble with worms and
necro. A good many men now are
using the clean ground system of
hog raising, and with good results.
Just before the sows are ready to
farrow, they are moved out to a
grass patch or clover or adada ,
cow was fed 200 grains of yeast
daily The result came a-s a great
surprise to the experimenters. They
were not feeding the yeast for this
purpose at all, but to see if it would
cause the cows to digest more of
the lime found in the roughage they
ate. These results were more sur
prising because all previous at
tempts to increase the vitamin D
content of milk by feeding cod-liver
oil or irradiated roughage had
failed. This discovery should be of
practical importance to dairymen
producing milk for children or in
valids. Such milk should be of spe
cial value to persons suffering from
rickets. Further studies are being
made in Wisconsin to see how little
yeast can be fed and still produce
an increase in the vitamin D con
tent of the milk. The variability
of the vitamin content of milk has
long been known, but this is the
first information on how this vari
ation may he controlled.
MATERNITY STALLS
No dairy farm should be without
some means of complete isolation
of cows at calving time. This does
not mean that a box stall off in
one corner of the barn can be con
sidered as efficient isolation; neither
does it mean that a special hospital
barn muse be built, although sucli
a special unit is extremely desir
able on a large milk-producing or
breeding establishment. The prin
cipal thing is to keep the cow away
from the main herd until she has
returned to normal health and
there is no fear of her spreading any
infection which may have been pres
ent in her system. On a small farm
even a moderate-sized shed will be
found much more desirable thaa
nothing. Ten-by-twelve henhouses
have been made into very satis
factory calving stalls; two remodeled
hog houses have done good work.
Still, where funds permit, a building
especially designed for the purpose
will prove a good investment. The
esentials for a calving barn, no mat
ter whether it be of one-stall or 20
stall capacity, are an abundance of
fresh air and sunlilght, tight floors
and division walls, good drainage
and construction throughout that
will permit readily of thorough dis
infection. Such quarters will assist
materially in maintaining a healthy
breeding herd.
GOOD CISTERN FILTER
Clean, medium, fine sand make*
the most dependable outside cis
tern filter, where the maximum
cleansing is desired with a compar
atively rapid flow of water. Cen
trifugal or other types of mechan
ical filters are often used on the
downspot just ahead of the sand
filter, but these remove only the
coarsest and heaviest impurities.
Rocks or coarse gravel should not
be used except at the very top of
the sand bed, to keep leaves and
trash from packing down and clog
ging the flow. There should be at
least 18 inches of sand for satis
factory results.
A layer of about six inches of
coarse granular charcoal Is helpful
in eliminating odors and tastes by
absorption, but requires frequent
renewal or washing or exposing to
sunlight or heat. Removal of colors
and fine materials in solution can
best be effected by allowing slort
filtration through a wall across the
cistern of soft brick laid in mortar
cement. The brick wall filter built
as a closed box or bell around the
foot of the pump pipe is not advis
able, as this does not allow o!
cleaning out any slime which might
work through the filter.
PROPER LIME TO USE
Average limestone screenings are
worth 75 per cent as much as finely
pulverized limestone (commonly
called reground) if the }wo prod
ucts are of equal chamlcal purity.
Test work at the Illinois experiment
station has established the percent
age. These tests also Indicate that
maximum effectiveness in correct
ing soil acidity is achieved about
two years after application with
average screenings, finely pulverized
limestone and hydrated lime. If
average screenings cost $2 per ton
delivered, finely pulverized is worth
$2.66 and hydrated lime is worth
$3.60 per ton.
OILING HARNESS
The life of a set of harness can
be greatly increased by oiling twice
a year. Take harness apart, put it
in a wire basket and lower it into a
10 gallon can into which five gallons
of lukewarm harness oil have b«ten
poured. Leave the harness to soak
at least 10 or 15 minutes or until
bubbles no longer rise to the sur
face. Lift it out and leave in wire
basket above the can until draining
has ceased. Wipe off the parts with
a rag and put together. It is ad
visable to wash the harness before
hand and allow it to dry before
dipping.
DETERMINE SEX
Many rules and theories liavo
been proposed for determining the
sex of the chicks at hatching time,
or even from the egg. To date most
methods have proved unreliable. In
the Barred Plymouth Rock breed,
the size of the white spot on the
head may be used to separate the
two sexes with some degree of ac
curacy. The chicks with the large
head spots are usually males. In the
crosstab of certain breeds the sex
of fbe chicks may be separated with
a degree of accuracy on the basis
of color and growth of wing feath
ers.”
KEEP ONLY THE BEST
A noteworthy sire in a herd will
soon make his presence known, in
the herd and out of It.
DO YOU HAVE ONE?
Though it will not produce the
first season and It demands a sweet
soil, alfalfa makes a good hog pas
ture.
The greatest loss to the dairy
cow-keeper is caused by improper
feeding.
field, on which no hogs have run
for at least a year. The sows are
houses. The pigs are gorn in dis
scrubbed and put into disinfected
ease-free environment and stand a
good chance of making economical
pork.
ORGANIZATION NEEDED
The farmer is the only business
man in all the world, who Invariably
sells his products at the price that
Poultry house lloors should be
hlgner by six or eight inches than
the surroundings to insure good
drainage.
