CHAFFEE ROARING HORSE BY ERNEST HAYCOX “I'm gone," said Red Cor •er&n, and hoisted himself foward the door. On the threshold he tarried. “Better •tey under cover yoreself. Per slne of Woolfridge or Lock lear might have friends here whkh'd squeal on yuh.” 1m all right. You travel.” Corcoran had one more leight thought. “Say, that Oay Thatcher ain’t difficult is piaoce upon. Not any. Ever 4hfa jc of—” But Chaffee’s face turned ■r black and unfriendly that Corcoran closed the door in Srnste and departed. CHAPTER XVI The Shadow of Catastrophe Gay reached the territorial capital twenty-four hours later, and after refreshing herself at the private lodging 2iouse where she maintained ier fixed residence, went di ractiy to the governor’s carters in the domed build ing that sat so serenely be tween sweeps of lawn and trees and commanded so many ▼tetas of the town. The gover nor was deep in the early jmnraing routine, but her name forwarded by a secretary opened instantly the inner 4oor. The tall and sparse membered gray warrior rose with a southern courtesy and laced his fair lieutenant. "Td begun to worry a little atoout you. Miss Thatcher. Bit •own. But you look fresh and •ompetent. I would give all that I owned to have the vigor mt your years once more. Tou’ve had breakfast? Well, take coffee with me. Sereno— •end out to the restaurant for coffee and rolls for Miss That cher and myself. Now—busi» j ness.” 4.1 AC ^UVCIUUI Ui tiilO VC1U lory was a pure and precious type of the bearded lawyer emigrant who had risen to in fluence through shrewd alli ances and popular appeal. He was a political being down to the very roots; he fought his battle* wholly on political premises. There was something of the glorified log roller about bim. He knew every man, or almost every man, in the terri- j tory who could command more than a dozen followers; his mind was a card catalogue of names and faces, and no little of his power rose out of the Ability to grip the hand of ■ome obscure qtlzen and say 3n a booming friendly voice: -Hello, Jeb Smith. Haven’t •een you for eight years. How big is that baby boy now?” ! Yet because he used the old And commonplace methods it was no less true that the governor was a capable officer. He used whatever instrument he could to establish his pur poses. And those purposes | were worthy. The territory was proud of the governor; it never had a better one. He loved his friends in the good old-fashioned way, and he lought his enemies to the last bloody political ditch also in the good old-fashioned way. Such was the chief to whom Gay Thatcher reported. And to him, over the hot coffee, •he rendered her report. At the end of it she added an Irrelevant thought. I am afraid I am giving you only hearsay or only what I saw. You would have been better served, perhaps, if you had j sent a man.” "No such thing.” was the governor's hearty denial. -Give me the privilege of knowing what I wanted done. You have done it. Admirably. A man might have cross «;amined some of ,hose folks. Height have listened at key holes. I didn’t want that. What I wanted was a bystander’s zeport. So friend William is up to.mischief? Went out to hi* desert tent and brooded over this fine scheme. William 37 is a dangerous critter. I never have any doubt about a horse that lays back his cars. That’s honest meanness. But I do mightily dislike the bland eyed brute that plays possum till you’re off guard. That’s William.” “Governor--how did you know he was up to anything?” The man smiled. “I have lived a long time in public life and I have acquired a little of the serpent's wisdom. In politics, my dear girl, we credit nothing to our enemies and suspect everything of them. I | like to have my foes, worthy and unworthy, near at hand where I can keep an eye on them. When they travel away from me I begin to worry over their welfare.” He rose from the table and walked around the room, losing the humor ously cynical attitude. His cheeks began to furrow up, , his chin actually appeared to ! jut farther out, and a chill came to his blue-gray eyes. Piece by piece, the governor : was mentally climbing into his armor. ‘‘I have known William Woolfridge a long while,” he I continued, almost snapping at the name. ‘‘And I never | liked him. He’s lean, and he doesn’t sleep sound at nights. I He's got an uncommon streak of genius in him, but it works the wrong direction. He always strikes me odd. A man always has a feeling v/nen he comes into the presence of a dan gerous animal or when he is faced with some mysterious element. I always have it when I get within ten yards of William.” “I have felt It,” said the girl. “I knew you would. You can’t lay a finger on it. You just know. William never set up to be a friend oi' mine. He has aired it in certain quarters he meant to smash me one of these days. He is hooked up with interests not bene-tidal to the general welfare of rhe territory. Now he’s engaged in a promotion scheme that .vill give us a black eye to the world and cause many poor people much misery. I always knew he’d turn rotten, but I never was able to figure jest which way he’d take. Don’t understand it, either. The man’s got plenty of money.” “Pride of personal power,” suggested the girl. The governor thrust a keen, penetrating look toward her. “You have ^ discovered his secret. Ten men would not have uncovered it. Women ft-el these things. Men have to learn them. Well, he Is too clever. He trims too close to legality. And many poor families will suffer. We must stop it. We must smash h'm!” “I have been thinking ab t those advertisements he issued,” said the girl. “If you will give me the morning to see certain people I think I can possibly bring you some thing useful.” “Who?” “Mr. Bangor and Mr. Hunnewell.” “Munnewell’s a rat,” said the governor. “Be careful of him. Bangor is trying to play the diplomat with me. He is trimming to the wind. If you want him to reveal business secrets, mention my name. Uncover your connections, and I believe he'll open up. Go to it. Now, it is very cold out side. Wrap well up, Miss That cher." And the governor es corted her through the execu tive offices and stood bare headed in the raw December wind, watching her go down the long flight of stairs. A tough, shrewd and gallant man. Gay went directly down Capital Avenue to the Power Building. Presently she was in T. Q. Bangor’s office and pieasauv-'j' cnatung over ims and that. Bangftr knew her social standing in tov/n, and he also rem :bored of her presence in Roaring Horse at the time of the rodeo. There fore he was cordial—a great deal more cordial than a few minutes later when she swept away the polite reminiscences and came to the issue. “Have you,” she asked rather bluntly, “any particu lar prejudices to talking shop with a woman. Mr. Eangor?” “Not in the least,” replied Bangor, puzzled. “Are you going to build a dam in Roaring Horse?” “Well, now,” he answered, and raised his hands to in dicate mild bewilderment. “Isn’t that a leading ques tion?” She admitted it was. “At the same time a public utility is more cr less open to leading questions. And I am not asking information for idle purposes.” “Let me ask a leading ques tion. then. Who is interested in this besides yourself?” “A gentleman at the other end of Capital Avenue.” re plied Gay. Bangor’s reaction was instant. The air of tolerant politeness went away. He studied the girl thought fully as if trying to reconcile her femininity to her indis putable position of trust. And he made a wry expression. “So the governor wants to know definitely? Well, he ought to know by now how the wind blows. But if he needs further assurance I wish you’d tell him we gave over the idea of building that dam almost two weeks ago. We don’t want to antagonize him at this stage of the game. And our interests have switched elsewhere. Tell him just that.” I Oil UUtUlUUUt'U 1/iiC lutu two weeks ago? May I ask at what particular date?” Bangor didn’t grow im patient, but he conveyed the air of a man not wholly satis fied. ‘‘The governor is very inquisitive, is he not? The date was—let me think—the four teenth of last month. At a board meeting. All our appli cations were withdrawn then.” She studied Bangor care fully. 'T want to ask you an other question, but I think I had better be fair and let you know the reason for all this.” And in as few wbrds possible she outlined Woolfridge*s land settlement scheme and his promise of an irrigation pro ject to the settlers. ‘‘Perhaps you know this. If you are not building a dam you can see the hardship it is going to work on a great many people. The governor feels badly about that. He wants to stop it. Mr. Bangor, it is almost criminal. And you are being placed in a false light with those people down there. My question is, did you tell Mr. Woolfridge you were not build ing the dam?” ‘‘Yes. A letter to him the evening following the meet ing of the board.” ‘‘Mr. Bangor, would you care to put that information in the form of a letter to the governor?” Bangor got up from his chair and went to a window, looking down the averue to the stately outline of the capital dome. He was afraid of the governor; he was not at all doubtful of the secure position of his company. But he wanted no breach of ra lations between himself and the governor; no misunder standing that might result in unfriendly legislation at the ensuing biennial assembly. At this time he was not prepared to be stiff necked. He wanted harmony. The company had enough battles to fight with out adding still another. He owed Woolfridge something for past help, yet he had de cided directly after the meet ing with Woolfridge in Roar ing Horse that here was a man who could do a great deal of harm. Woolfridge was doing some harm right now in link ing the company with his own grandiose schemes. Two weeks ago he would have been afraid to openly oppose the man; but the last board meeting had materially Titered tne situa tion. He turned bad: to his desk and drew his chair before a typewriter. A little later he handed the following letter to the fcarl: My Dear Governor: In order to put our recent conversation on record I wish to say that this company does not contemplate building a river. We did at one time in vestigate the possibilities of that river, but at a revent board meeting, held November 14th of this year, wholly aban doned the idea. All our appli cations for rights were sub sequently withdrawn. It has come to our attention that certain individuals are advertising land in that dis trict with the assurance that we will build a dam. In tht connection I wish to say tha. a letter was forwarded to Mr. William Wells Woolfridge on November fourteenth, by his personal agent, Mr. Alexander Hunnewell, in which we dis tinctly stated that no dam was to be built. I desire to place this infor mation before you that this company be held wholly free from any unfortunate specu lation. Very truly . “Thank you,’’ said Gay, folding the letter into her purse. “I am sure you will never regret having expressed this in written form.” T. Q. Bangor smiled, some what grimly. “Had I felt I might later regret it, the letter certainly wouldn’t heve been written. Give the governor my personal regards and tell him I hope he wins his battle. However, that’s really a use less hope. He always does win. I have been charmed, Miss Thatcher—” Gay left the Power Build ing and walked swiftly to a less imposing structure farther down the street. She climbed one flight of stairs and entered a door labeled: “Woolfridge Investment Co. Alex. Hunne well. Mgr.” Hunnewell was in, his feet tipped up on a desk, cracking nuts between his teeth, and looking'very bored. He made no effort to rise when he saw his visitor. There was, in fact, a sudden and faint insolence in his welcome. “How do. This is a pleasure. Brightens a dull day. What can I do for you?” He was a flat, lifeless sort of a creature. In the presence of Woolfridge he trembled and was afraid of the very breath he drew. Being that type of man it was natural that he j should swing to the other ex- j treme when relieved of his superior’s presence and be come a petty tyrant; inevi vitable that he should exercise a back-biting meanness under the protection of a power that was not his own. “My name is—” “I know it very well,” broke in Hunnewell. “Fact is, I know considerably more about* you than you’d imagine.” “How very interesting.” murmured the girl, recogniz ing his quality. “I won’t take up your time, then, with un necessary information. I noticed you have been adver tising for homesteaders down ; in Roaring Horse. Of course, j I could find out by going di rectly to newspapers, but per haps you’ll tell me when you first issued the ads.” “Mailed out of here the sixteenth,” was Hunnewell’s prompt answer. He seemed to wish to emphasize his im portance. "I work rapidly. But if you're interested in land don’t let the date bother you. ; Still plenty of it open. Sug gest you go down to see Mr. Woolfridge.” The girl was hardly abk o 1 suppress the mingled anger ' and satisfaction. “In other words you got up the ads, with all the facts contained in them, two days after you were informed there was to be no dam built in the Roaring I Horse.’’__ | (TO H* CONTINUED) BIKO BURIAL PLR.M1T Pittsburg.,—Mrs. J. T Gyenes >\pd her canaries. Sweetheart and Big Boy. they were named. The tetter was a son ol Sweetheart and wj»s bora two years alter Mrs. Gyenes bought the former. Big Boy ircently died. Sweetheart died soon after—of a broken heart. Mrs. Gyenes believes. Now she's trying to secure a burial permit for the tertfs to be laid away in state in at. Lebanon cemetery. asks Mar<* ‘Studies' of Senators. Prom the Minneapolis Journal. The Milwaukee Journal takes a Quisling view *t tli» award of the ! Pulitzer prize for newspaper edi torial* to the Fremont, Neb.. Trib une for its interpretation of Senator , Norris and Nebraska’s motives in sending him to the United States i Senate. The Milwaukee paper does not regard the editorial—lately re published on this page—as conform ing to the riles of the Pulitzer award. Rather, says the Milwaukee Journal, it turns Nebraska’s con tribution to the United States Sen ate into “a little, spiteful, disgust ingly puerile thing.” • The rawhldin# of Norris and the people of Nebraska.” the Milwaukee : paper goes on. "tackles the eastern j majority who are on the Colvmhm j university board that awards the Pulitzer prizes, and forthwith the editor carries off the palm.” The Fremont editor endeavored to interpret Nebraska and Us Nor ris. It gave delight to readers who ' are not obsessed, as the Milwaukee Joumul appears to be, with undue : respect for Norris, or any other col league, because he is a senator of the United States. In this day, the senatorial toga is too palpably cut out of common cloth to warrant such extraordinary reverence. More over, such interpretations are valu able as contributions to public ap praisal. We should like to hare similarly delightful ratings made by other newspaper editors pertaining to the senators of their own states. The .Milwaukee Journal, for in stance, might do a service by simi larly sizing up Senator LaFollette. There are other senators, members of the Norris group, whose rela tionship to their own constituents might helpfully be interpreted to the world of readers. It’s All Gone By. From Pele Mele, Paris. Peggy: I'm divorcing Charlie. You don't know what I've gone through, living with him. Anne: Well, everybody says It was All he had. IRRADIATED FEEDS. I While ao one has yet been able to lind just what is the real nature of vitamin D, it now is agreed by investigators in nutrition that the precursor or carrier of vitamin D is .rgosterol, and it is the quantity of irradiated ergosterol in a foodstuff that determines its potency in vita min D. One college of agriculture has had under way many studies of the distribution, preparation, ac- j livation, and phys.ological proper- j ies of ergo-terol. Yeasts and molds have been found to be particularly rich in this important substance and are readily made potent in vitamin D by irradiation. Over 40 different , yeasts and molds have been tested to learn if any were more valuable in this connection than others, but little variation has been found, ex cept for three strains which were unusually low in their content of crgosterol. When abnormally large I quantities of irradiated ergosterol ire led animals over periods of time, serious disturbances follow and even death may result. The tolerance of the animal body to vitamin D is very great, however, and it has been i found that no ill effects follow the daily consumption of an amount 1,000 times greater than the mini mum quantity required in the ra tion to promote calcium deposition in the bones and to cure rickets. It j is when the amount fed is 10,000 times the normal quantity that in jurious effects occur. In these cases extraordinary calcium depositions take place in the soft tissues of the body, particularly the kidneys. All ordinary foodstuffs carry such a i limited amount of ergosterol it is impossible for animals or man to consume quantities that will be in jurious even when these foods have been irradiated. It is with the rare ergosterol compounds isolated in the chemist's laboratory that tho^e is danger of harm when taken in ab normally large daily amounts. These rare ergostercl compounds are ex ceedingly jxitent when they have j been irradiated, being 75,000 or more times as effective as cod liv er oil which is the most potent com mon source of vitamin D. There is as mu **; vitamin D in one ounce of irradiated ergosterol as there is in three and one half tons of the best rad liver oil. Imporant facts have been learned regarding the j commercial irradiation of common foodstuffs, particularly cereals. All ceryal products such as rolled oats, farina, corn meal and corn flakes . were found to be especially suscen- : tible to activation by ultra-violet I light treatment, and become potent : with vitamin D when irradiated for | I even a fraction of a second at a dis- i ! tance of nine inches from artificial sources of ultra-violet light. FEED ON WIRE The use of wire floors in brooding and for sun porches has developed in an effort to grow healthy chicks, tree from coceidiosis and worm in festation. Wire floored sun porches are very desirable. There is a ques tion, however, as to whether floor ing over the inside of the colony house with wire is economical and 1 practical. It is true, however, that j small, portable, wire-covered piat forms, to be located in the brooder houses and on which the.water re ceptacles and mash-hoppers can be placed, are very much worth while. They mav be built about two feed wide and three or four feet long, on frames of one bv three or one Dy four-inch scantling placed on edge, and the top covered with half-mch mesh cellarwindow wire. If the wa ter receptacles and mash hoppers are placed on such platforms the result is clean feeding, for the chicks cannot eat mash which has spilled from the hopper into the litter, nor can they eat or scratch in the wet litter which is often found around the arinKing recep tacle. The platforms can be placed in such positions as to help prevent the crowding of chicks In the cor ners. _ USE LIME FREELY Foultrymen are rapidly finding that the liberal use of lime about the poultry plant is very desirable. Limestone, ground ns fine as it is possible to obtain it, can be scat tered on the drop^mgs boards aft er each cleaning, as a deodorant and drying agent. Hvdrafed, or burned, lime should never be used, nor should it be allowed to ccme in con tact with tli* droppings, because it. liberates nitrogen. Ground lime stone can be scattered on the litter in the nests, on moist spots adja cent. to water fountains, and on the floor after cleaning, when new litter is added. Probably the greatest ad vantage from the use of lime is realized from heavy applications on poultry yards and brooding and ; rearing ranges. A ton of ground J limestone applied every year or two. as these ranges are plowed and [ seeded, will keep the soil sweet, j tend to act as a cleansing and dism- j l'ectant agent, and will induce a I maximum growth of legumes, such ] as clover and alfalfa, which crops make the finest, green feeds. SEEDING ALFALFA It has been found quite beneficial in seeding alfalfa on land underlaid with hsrdpan to use one-third white blossom sweet clover seed with the alfa'/jt r-ed. The white clover roots are much stronger growers and will penetrate the harci pan more readily than will the ali alfa roots. The sweet clover rcots jtre fleshy and w'h ;i they decay they leave much organic matter in the soil as well as holes in tv.3 hardpan. There will be little If any sweet clover left after the first cutting the | second season. In the meantime the yield of hay or pasturage has been increased quite materially, since the alfalfa does not come into a full yield till about the third season. II j the field is used for hog pasture it COMBINE HARVESTING Apparently the rate of harvesting v.ith combine on 110 Minnesota farms averages 2.1 acres per hour with eight-foot machine, 2.5 acres with 10-ioot machine. 3.1 acres wun 12-foot machine. Cost of cutting with eight-foot binder and thresh ing with thresher wfcs $3.45 per acre in northwestern Minnesota, 83 in southwestern Minnesota, and $5.13 1n aoutheastem (with seven-foot binder). Average cost of cutting asd threshing with eight foot combine wfas $1.53 per acre; 10-loot. $1.74: 12-foot, $1.75: 16 foot. $1.60. The principal disad i vantage of the combine (difficulty of reducing moisture content of will be necessary to clip the sweet clover, as the hogs do not relish it as well as they do alfalfa and will allow the sweet clover to grow too coarse. BEES FOR BK.CER CROPS May is a glorious month in th» northern prairie states. It is apple and plum blossom time and the fragrance of these flowers fills the air. This is supposed to bring a stir of romance to the neart oi youth and to bolster the courage of hard headed fruit growers with hope for large and profitable crops. These same Iruit growers will great en hance their chances tor a promao:® crop if they will remember that all the plums which grow in this region are self-sterile and require cross pollination before they can set a single fruit. It should also be re membered that most apples, under exceptionally favorable conditions at blossom time, will generally be able to set a limited number of fruits when self-pollinated, but they will rarely, if ever, set a commercial crop unless cross pollination from other varieties is made possible. This cross pollination can be effected only by means of insects, and it has been well demonstrated that the common honey bae is by long odds the most important pollinating agent. Every fruit, grower should see to it that from one to two colonies of bees per rare are available in a location "close by the orchard to per form this most important act oi cross pollination. FARM PATENTS TOO l'EW CHICKS Surveys made a*ter the lirst twro months of the Hatching season in dicate a very material reduction in the number of chicks to be brooded this spring. This is no doubt due to the very low price of eggs, which caused many poultrymen to fear that baby chicks will be unprofit able. As a matter of fact, the re verse is likely to be the case. When ever economic conditions bring ex tremely low prices, these are fol which promptly results in a reduced supply of eggs and poultry—and higher prices. As this is written there has been a reduction in early chicks hatched of from 2i to 30 per cent as compared with recent sea sons. Unless a substantial part of this reduction is made up by in creased hatches of late chicks, we may be faced next fall with a re duced pullet population, material reduction in egg yield, and exces sively high prices. Too few chicks this spring also will result in a shortage of spring chickens, which are in demand for frying and roast ing purposes throughout the sum mer and fall, causing too high prices for these commodities. An appreciation of these factors should encourage a heavier hatch of lat® chicks. _ j early pullets pay rest It is generally considered that early maturing pullets are the high producing hens. Maturity and date of first egg has been the subject ol much study by experiment stations. Conclusions from their work are: Pullets that laid their first eggs early in their laying year were of earlier sexual maturity than those laying later. The time the first eg* was laid had a close association with winter egg production. Birds that laid Ureir eggs in September had the highest winter egg production. Pul lets tnat laid first egg from Sep tember 6 to December 13, laid 50 or more eggs in winter. There was a slight association between date of first egg and the rate of spring pro duction. Pullets laying first egg in December laid greatest number of spring eggs. Poorest spring produc tion was 58.4 eggs, the average of the birds that produced first egg in March. Recora® snowed a close association between date of first egg and total annual production. Pullets that laid first eggs in Oc tober laid largest total for year. A production ol 200 or more eggs was attained by those pullets that laid first egg September 6 to December 13. i ABUSE OF FALL PIGS f Feeding trials indicate that it la practical and easily possible to get as rapd gains through the winter on fall pigs as through the summer on spring pigs. To do this, how ever, requires more skill in feeding. By skill in feeding we mean mainly supplying the right kinds of feed. A great many swine producers oo not get as good gains on fall piga as on spring pigs because fhey^ do not feed rations that are complete enough in protein, mineral, ana vitamin supply. The result of this is that pigs become unthii.ty and tend to develop rickets. Excellent results are had from gram and grass during the summer but there is no grass during the winter, and jrain is not enough for the com plete nutrition of young growing nigs. Hence a good many farmers are disturbed about their fall pig ‘•hotes along about tris time of year. Should these pigs, that have been unintentionally abused during the winter survive until good grass is ready they will usually curl up [heir tails and lo their best to make up for lost time. MEW VARIT1FS SWF.ET CORN What's a garden without sweet corn? And without Golden Bantam, still the standard for quality? Some of the newer varieties surpass Gold en Bantam far earliness. Among these are Golden Gem, Golden Early Market. Banting, Golden 60 Day. Extra Early Bantam. Golden Sunshine, etc. Some of these are 10 or 12 days earlier than Golden Bantam. WAUGH YOUR FLOC K. A w 11 managed fleck of young hens hould average 17 eggs each during Julv and 14 eggs each dur ing August. Flocks which fall short of" this average need more thor ough culling and better attention. stored grain) was overcome by us ing a windrower. Cost of cutting with windrower was 46 cents per acre for 12-foot marlline, and 44 cents for 16-foot machine. PROVIDE GOOD VENTILATION Temperature of barns will remain more uniform, stock will be health ier. and the frost nuisance will be practically eliminated by good ven tilation. ^_ Sooner or later the sheriff wvll knock down the run down farm. Sweet clover can be pastured In the fall.