CHAFFEE
ROARING HORSE
»Y ERNEST HAYCOX
Chaffee found and struck a
match. The light flared on
Mark Eagle’s rounding cop
pered cheeks and revealed the
smeared paint; revealed as
well the blanket enfolding
him. the fringed leggings. The
Indian drew the blanket open
fcnd displayed his bare chest.
Then the light went out and
Mark Eagle was speaking with
S rising sonorousness. “I was
raised an Indian till I went to
government school. A white
rar.'s ways looked good to me.
learned them; I followed
them. To be like a white man
was to be honorable, to keep
a straight tongue. I have kept
a straight tongue. But, my
friend, it is hard to go against
a man’s own blood. My heart
kept running out even while
I turned the pagee of the
led; ers. A*~ i one day after you
were gone,- when I saw how
evil a time had come to Roar
ing Horse, I went back to the
blanket. \nd now what have
I found? Tha’ I am no lonrpr
an Indian. The blanket is not
for me. My heart is divided—
and always will be. It is bad,
Never should I have left my
father for a government
tchool.”
iie paused a momem, ex
pelling a great breath; and
Chaffee thought the Indian
was staring at the sky. “I have
kept a straight tongue. I am
proud of it. But I know things
that you should know. And
now I will tell. I was back of
the stable that night—in the
darkness, thinking of my
father. Men came there, each
one apart. I saw them, but
they didn’t see me. The gamb
ler came, breathing very hard.
Perrine came, swearing to
himself—but these men did
not kill Satterlee even If they
meant to do it. Another man
Came, hardly breathing at all.
And he was there long before
any of the others, no more
than five yards from me. He
killed Satterlee, Jim. And his
heart was very cold and hard
When he did it. He had thought
about it a long time, or he
would have breathed harder.
I know these things because
that is my Mood. I have said
nothing all this while. It is
not a white man’s way to keep
a straight tongue—and a still
one? Maybe. But it is an
Indian’s \ to help his
friends. Is that not a better
thing? Satterlee was my
friend. So are you. I tell you—
IWoolfridge killed Satterlee.”
, "ter that, long moments of
•Hence intervened. Mark
Eagle had wrapped himself in
his blanket again, stolid,
patient. Chaffee drew a
breath. The match snapped
between his fingers. Out of
the distant wastes rose the
ancient chant of the coyote,
bearing in it the impress of
primeval desolation and etern
al mystery; and far, far away
that cry was taken up and re
echoed, indescribably mourn
ful. Chaffee spoke quietly.
“You go round up the boys,
Mark. Tell them to meet me
to-morrow nl^ht behind the
rodeo stands.’’
He might have gone by the
way of Melotte’s for his des- ,
tination was town. But sure
as he was of his partners’ dis
cretion he wos not at all sure
of Melotte’s crew. And, though
his presence was known by
now, he could at least keep
people from guessing where
he meant to strike. Mark
Eagle could do the chore
safely, whispering his sum
mons to one of the boys. They
would say nothing. Nor did he
want to meet Perrine again
to-night; and Perrine would
be scouring the main road. So
he took a circuitous route and
arrived back of Roaring Horse
near twelve. There was an
abandoned barn near the
rodeo field; he left his horse
In it, shut the door, and ad
JO
vanced along the deep dark
ness of the street.
The land office was closed.
He saw that first because it
was to the land office his at
tention immediately traveled.
Looking to the Gusher he
studied the corner windows
on the second floor—Wool
fridge’s quarters. And they,
too, were dark. Either the man
was abed or out on his ranch.
It made no particular dif
ference to Chaffee; he was
not ready to meet Woolfridge
to-night. At the same time he
noted certain changes about
Roaring Horse. It was a fatter
looking place. A number of
tents were up in the empty
lots between rodeo field and
the town proper. In the dwell
ing houses so usually tenant
less he saw lights winking.
The stores were open beyond
their accustomed hour, and
the saloons seemed to be doing
considerable business. Strange
faces appeared along the il
luminated window fronts—ap
peared and slid into the sha
dows. He saw Locklear come
out of the Gusher and sink
to rest in a shrouded corner
of the porch. And, still watch
ing, it became evident to him
that men were quietly patrol
ling the town. Quietly idling
at intervals by the hotel
porch. Passing word with the
sheriff.
“Expectin’ me, I guess,” he
murmured, transferring his
glance to that room above
Tilton’s store where Doc Fan
cher kept office. Naturally
the panes glowed with the re
flection of Fancher’s lamp.
Fancher’s lamp. Fancher
never seemed to go to bed. He
debated, half of a mind to
detour and visit the county
coroner. Fancher was a stout
friend and absolutely safe. But
supposing Fancher was being
watched with the knowledge
he, Jim Chaffee, might make
Just such a visit? It was more
or less known, the close regard
these two had for each other.
Of a sudden Chaffee chuckled
softly. “Won’t do that—but
I’ll do the next best thing.”
He retreated, circled the
town at a safe distance, and
gained the back of Tilton’s
dry-goods store. This was
another of those buildings
with a flat roof and a triangu
lar false front rising above
the roof. Chaffee chinned
himself up a porch post, set
foot on a window ledge, hooked
his fingers across the cornice,
and teetered out in space. He
achieved the tar-papered roof
and went tiptoeing across it.
He was directly above Fan
cher’s office;in going to the
street side of the building he
passed the rectangular box
that capped the roof trap
door. If he opened that he
could look down on Fancher’s
very head. But he resisted the
temptation and curled himself
in a corner, shielded by the
false front and the yard high
coping that ran around the
other side. It was very cold,
but he alternately dozed and
woke till full daylight.
There were small ports cut
through the coping and false
front to let water flow off the
roof. Flat on his stomach and
one cheek to the tar paper he
could command a partial view
westward on the street
through these. And as the
the morning passed a great
many citizens crossed his
vision. Locklear, looking more
taciturn and unmanageable
than ever; three of the hired
gunmen walking abreast—at
which Chaffee murmured
some mild oath; Callahan the
saloon keeper, jowls looking
very fat and unhealthy by
day. These and others were
familiar faces. But he saw a
great many new faces—raw
boned and sunburned men who
slouched idly here and there;
who fell into pairs *nd by de
grees collected into a crowd.
Then the crowd would split
and move away. But it was a
singular thing that this draw
ing together occured many
times, and each time seemed
to be larger and to hold longer.
Men gestured with short Jabs
of elbows and arms; some
times the parley appeared to
grow heated.
Beyond noon, Perrine and
his gang rode into town. Chaf
fee’s interest sharpened. Even
from the roof’s eminence he
made out the giant’s sleepy
eyes and sandgrimed cheeks.
Perrine had L^en riding most
of the night, so much was
plain, and the burly one’s
temper lay heavily on the
scowling brow. The whole
party dropped reins by Calla
han’s saloon and went in.
There happened to be a group
of homesteaders—Chaffee had
decided they were such— <
clustered by the livery stable
at the time, and Chaffee noted
how these men turned to
watch Perrine’s crew. That
united scrutiny wasn’t the
ordinary type of interest.
Something more was in the
air. Then Doc Fancher
marched into sight, his bowed
legs stretching toward the
courthouse. Immediately
after, Chaffee became aware
that he himself was being
sought. Fancher had hardly
disappeared beyond Callahan’s
when there was a creaking of
boards below and the squeal
ing of Fancher’s office door.
The rumble of talk sifted
through the thin roof. They
were moving about.
He felt the insecurity of his
position. It might very soon
occur to them that it was but
a step and a jump through
the trapdoor. Turning over,
he rose and with infinite care
walked to the center of the
roof. Even as ho settled him
self prone across the trapdoor
1:? heard a chair being drag
ged along the office floor.
Fancher’s desk groaned. A
man stood on it, fingers brush
ing the under side of the trap
door hear near enough to
render audible what he said.
“—Look anyhow. Better
hurry. Fancher’s apt to come
back any minute.’’
The trapdoor moved slight
ly, pressure coming against
Chaffee’s stomach.
“Nailed down. Couldn’t be
up there. Let’s skin out.”
The other seemed to tA pro
testing; the near fellow’s an
swer was impatient. “What
would he be climbin’ up from
outside for? Lots of better
places to hide. Let’s skin away
before that wildcat Fancher
gets back. Me, I don’t hone—”
They left. Chaffee waited
a long time to make sure. In
fact he held down the trap
door the best part of an hour,
hearing the traffic of the
street grow heavier. It sounded
as if a great many men were
riding into Roaring Horse.
Leaving the door he crawled
to a port and studied the
street. More homesteaders
were assembling in groups. He
also noticed Locklear, the
three hired gunmen and Per
rine’s crew posted indolently
here and yonder. Woolfridge
appeared from the direction
of the courthouse and walked
across Chaffee’s line of vision,
looking neither to right nor
left. The afternoon slid along,
the sun’s rim tipped toward
the western hills, blurred by
intervening clouds. Darkness
threatened to arrive prema
turely. And Fancher was back
in his office, swearing to him
self in full, irascible accents.
Chaffee, cramped and cold
and hungry, felt that the time
for patience was at an end.
He crawled to the trapdoor,
listened a moment, and struck
it sharply by way of warning.
Fancher challenged: “Who in
the name of—” and stopped.
Chaffee dragged the door half
away and looked down. Fan
cher’s face was wrinkled in
anger, but that shifted to con
cern when he found who was
above him. Chaffee dropped
to the desk, dragging the door
back into place.
“So you was the one who
moved my furniture—”
“Nope. Couple of gents in
vestigatin’ while you were
none. I heard ’em. They tried
the trap but I spraddled it
belly flat.”
‘‘They done it before. Boy
I’m certainly glad to see you
back and alive. But it ain’t
any place for a fellow with a
price tag on his jeans. You’re
sittin’ on a crater. Whoever
moves first starts somethin’
But if said fellow don’t move
first he’s apt to be blown tc
perdition. Jim, unless I’m as
crazy as a loon that street is
goin' to run red before long.”
‘‘Who’s so sore as all that?’
Fancher was genuinely dis
turbed. He was nervous; the
mark of worry lay in his eyes
He crossed to the desk and
pulled up a copy of the county
weekly, indicating a story
spread over the center of the
front sheet and surrounded
by the black border of reversed
column rules. “Read that.”
It was the story Gay That
cher had brought from the
governor. No attempt had been
made to stretch it out or to
dress it up. The first para
graph began it and the second
paragraph ended it, but these
two paragraphs linked to
gether made the story stark
and bitter:
This newspaper, along with
several newspapers in the ter
ritory, received from the Roar
ing Horse Irrigation and Re
clamation Corporation copy
for an advertisement to be
published in our columns. The
substance of the advertise
ment, as readers will recall,
was to invite settlers into this
counrty to buy land on the
implied promise that a dam
was to be built. We received
the copy for this - advertise
ment on the eighteenth of
November. Remember that
date.
We have since been in
formed by the governor of the
territory of a letter written
to him -and printed below—
by the president of the Power
Company in which that of
ficial says that the Roaring
Horse Irrigation and Reclama
tion Corporation was notified
as early as the fifteenth of
November that no dam was to
be built. Compare that date
with the one above.
Chaffee dropped the paper,
turning his head from side to
side. It both surprised him and
confirmed a doubt. The doubt
was of Woolfridge’s honesty,
but the surprise came of hav
ing to believe that Woolfridge
would ever expose himself to
such a backslap. “Doc, this is
an awful strong statement.
What it deliberately says is
that Woolfridge knew there
wasn’t going to be any dam
two days or three days before
he sent out the ad.’’
"Philips has run a news
paper all his life,” countered
Fancher. "And he knows
what’s libel and what ain’t.
He ain’t sayin’ what you claim
he says. Not in so many words.
He’s puttin’ two facts together
and lettin’ folks do their own
guessin’. And he got them
facts straight or he wouldn’t
of printed ’em. When the
governor steps into this mess
you can bet your sweet life
something’s rotten.”
“I don’t see it,” confessed
Chaffee. "Woolfridge is slick,
He’s smart. He’s wealthy and
he’s educated.”
“An built up a fine scheme,”
said Doc Fancher. “A get
rich-quick scheme. But some- 1
where along the line he left
a gate open. Left it open an’
behind him, never thinkin’
about it. The slick and the
smart and the wealthy and
the educated dudes in this
world do them just as often as
you and me. And what’s to
come of it? What’s going to
happen in Roaring Horse?
Jim, it scares me.”
“You’re clear,” observed
Chaffee. “Why worry?”
(TO B» CONTINUED)
OFFICE SINKING
Albany. N. Y.—It is reported that
the huge new statet office building
here is sinking and that it has
leaned since its construction, as a
result of its sinking, so that it is
more than four inches off perpen
dicular. The $8,000,000 structure
has sunk all of nine inches since
| it was put up several years ago, it
i is said.
Thurston County 4-H
Club Workers Active
Membership Exceeds All
Past Records and Still
Growing
Thurston count}', Nebraska has
430 4-H club members. This is ths
largest membership the county has
aver had, and exceeds tti* 1931 goal
for the county by 30. There has
been a 500 per cent increase in
club membership during the last
four years.
Swine clubs with a membership
of 114 and clothing clubs with a
membership of 154 are the two
most popular projects. Other club
members are in rope, poultry, hot
lunch, health, baby beef and corn
clubs. In all there are 40 different
club organisations in the county,
each led by one or more adult lead*
ers.
The largest club in the county
is the Oakleaf pig club. This club
had 39 members to start with but
H has been reported th%t there
have been several new applicants.
Prank Abei is the leader, and his
assistant is Harry Rose. Gerald
Minton is the president and Miss
Lida Abel Is the secretary. Both the
secretary and the president of this
live, aide awake group won trips
to 4-H club week this year for their
activities in club work last year.
E. T. Winter, county agent of
Thurston county, and Catherine
Thomas Hall assistant county
agent, are now busy helping club
leaders with their work and plan
ning the annual summer camp for
the club members to be held at
i Crystal lake July IS, 16 and 17. Af
ter the camp the next big job will
be the county and state fairs.
Last year 200 4-H club members
took half of the premium money
at the county fair. What 430 of
them will do this year can only be
surmised.
BLOOD WEDDING
Memphis — Several months ago
James O. Dunlap offered his blood
to save the life of Kathlyn WalL
Recently they were married. The
marriage was performed behind the
bars of Shelby county Jail due to a
sentence passed mi Dunlap which
will keep him in Jail for fire
months.
CONTROLLING MITES.
One treatment in time saves nine
can well be said about keeping a
chicken house free of mites through
out the five or six months of warm
weather when mites thrive. Of
course, the one treatment requires
several thing* if it is really effective
throughout the season. First, it must
be done with the right material. For
years we haw found nothing as ef
fective as on* of the specially pre
pared coal-tar mite sprays or paints
that are handled by most lumber
yards and poultry supply dealers.
These are so much more effective
than kerosene, used crank case oil,
crude oil. distillate and so forth that
these others should not be consid
ered except as temporary treat
ments. Neither are the use of fumi
gants like burning sulphur more
than a make-shift The trouble with
all these is that they are only mod
erately effective for a few days or
a few weeks, while a standard coal
tar mite eradicator will be highly
effective for four to six months. Re
cently it has been called to the at
tention of poultry specialists that
some fluoride preparations applied
in a spray are proving highly ef
l»odve. Second, the treatment
ah*»ld be thorough. No matter what
is used, merely treating the nests,
dropping boards and spots where
the mites are readily visible is not
more than a third or a fourth ef
fective. Tire entire wall and ceiling
<at least for two or three feet next
to the walls) should be treated as
well as nests, dropping boards,
roosts and other lumber equipment
in the house. Spraying is really the i
most effective and also reduces the
amount of time and material neces
sary to do a good job. Painting is
entirely practical and feasible if
neither a hand nor pressure spray
gun is available. Third, the treat
ment should be given early in the
season. If delayed until millions of
mites infest every crack and crevice,
dropping boards, nests and the ad
joining walls as well as having
breeding beds in litter and filth,
more material and skill is required
to do a 100 per cent effective job
than if the work is done before
warm weather. Mites are a warm
weather parasite and multiply very
slowly if at all before warm weather
arrives. Treating brooder houses be
fore they are put into use in the
spring is ideal. The next best time
is as soon as possible after the fire
is put out. Unless all the chicks are
roosting, however, the floors should
be covered with a quarter or half
inch of sand after treatment to pre
vent irritation from the coal-tar
mite eradicator.
QUALITY PRODUCTION
We are living in an age in which
the goal of quantity production is
rapidly changing to one of quality
production. We do not need more
sows; we need better cows. We do
not need more roughage; we need
better roughage. Our fathers raised
good crops of timothy hay. We
have increased the production per
acre somewhat to he sure, but the
increase in the percentage of clo
vers and alfalfa has been definitely
more important to the dairy indus
try. Many farmers need more pas
ture feed but practically all of us
need better pastures. In early sum
mer, many dairymen have enough
pasture such as it is; but it is too
often composed of poverty grass,
sweet vernal, and weeds—poor qual
ity grasses, low in protein and min
erals unpalatable. It Is just as poor
farm practice to provide milking
cows with such pasture as to feed
them timothy hay as the only
roughage all winter. The important
(actors which are associated with
quality in pasture feed are the
types or species of grass, the pro
tein content and palability. When
the fertility of pasture soils be
comes depleted, the better grasses
disappear and are replaced by pov
erty grass, sweet vernal, moss, cin
quefoil, etc. These poorer grasses
and weeds have little feeding value
and are eaten by cattle only because
so often there is no other choice.
The restoraton of soil fertility by
topdressing with fertilizer almost
Invariably brings about a return of
the better grasses such as Kentucky
bluegrass and white Dutch clover.
Many farmers have vastly improved
the character of the vegetation on
their pastures in a single season by
fertilization. Very poor sods cannot
be changed completely in one year,
af course, but surprising improve
ment can be made. A complete
change in the vegetation may be
brought about in two or three sea
sons by adequate fertilization.
-♦ ♦-- ——
SOME SWINE TESTS
A little bit of Denmark, trans
planted in America is the record
of performance plan plan for test
ing swine. It is only one of many
good things we have to thank the
Danes for. Briefly the R. O. P. plan
is an adaption of the cow testing
association, for use with swir.e. A
breeder wishing to test his herd for
production of superior carcasses
and greater economy in the use of
feed marks the litters, then the
county agent inspects the pigs and
verifies age, sex, sire and dam, ear
marks. and number of pigs living.
When weaned, two barrows and two
sows from the qualified litter are
shipped to the experiment station
to be fed until a weight of 225
pounds is reached. Then the pigs
are slaughtered and a study is made i
of all lactors necessary in a valu
able carcass. Boars and sows whose
oif-spring make outstanding rec
ords are listed in a register of mer
it. This plan, while new in the
United States, is makin headway.
In Iowa, during the la=t three years,
44 litters representing' nine breeds
and three crosses between these
breeds have been tested. Each en
try (two barrows and two gilts from
a litter of seven pigs weaned, in the
case of a gilt, and eight in the case
BARGAIN GRASS LAND
Pastoral, or grazing, in contradis
tinction to arable land is slowly at
tracting investment. Millions of
acres of this grass are available in
the Mississippi valley at prices that
would have appeared absurd even
during the prewar period. The po
tential value of such areas is in
creased by proximity to arable land
where winter roughage and grain
can be produced. A commercial !
cattle raiser who recently acquired
considerable rough acreage in state
expressed theopiolon that It offered
excellent ranching opportunity.
West of the Missouri river acquis
ition of crass is the higUm' altitudes
of a mature sow) was sent to the
station when 63 days of age and
started on test at 65 days. Weights
at this age were from 35 to 75
pounds. In the final sum-up of the
difference between cost of gain and
value of carcass, a litter of Poland
Chinas ranked first with a margin
of $5.25. They required only $6.97
worth of feed to produce 100 pounds
of pork valued at $12.22 per hun
dred. This litter ranked fourth in
the amount of feed required, fourth
on carcass value and were not in
the high 15 when it came to rapid
ity of gains. A litter of Spotted
Chinas with a feed cost of $6.88
and a carcass value of $12.05 (mak
ing a margin of $5.17) came in sec
ond. They were in seventh place in
rapidity of gains, eighth on low feed
cost and 10th in carcass value.
Third place went to the litter of
Poland Chines which ranked first
in low feed requirement. They were
in 14th place in both rapidity of
gains and value of carcass. A litter
of Chester Whites which made pork
for $6.77 per hundred pounds, the
cheapest of any of the 44 litters on
test, ranked fourth in margin. They
were handicapped on total score
by a low scoring in carcasses. The
average daily gain for the highest
ranking litter was 1,683 pounds for
102 days. Next came another Duroo
litter, with a figure of 1.64, and
then two cross-bred litters with
figures of 1.619 and 1.601 respec
tively. While results are still too in«
adequate to form the basis for any
definite conclusions, it is apparent
that Poland Chinas and Spotted Po
land Chinas seem to have advan
tage in margin and economy of
gains. Duroc Jerseys in rapidity of
gains and Tamworths in value of
carcass. Figures do not tell the
whole story. The Durocs did not
seem to be finished for market at
225 pounds and consequently suf
fered in carcass value. The bacon
breeds, on the other hand, were
prime at 175 to 200 pounds and in
carrying them to 225 pounds the
feed cost from the standpoint of
economy went up somewhat.
CULTIVATING SOY BEANS
Soy beans are more susceptible to
injury from weeds than are most
other farm crops, because of their
relatively slow growth during the
early stages of development and
their lack of ability to compete suc
cessfully with weeds. A field of soy
beans That is weedy is usually a
failure. If weed seeds germinate, or
if a crust forms on the soil before
the young plants come through the
ground, the first cultivation should
be given at once. The implement*
suitable for this early cultivation
are the weeder, rotary hoe and
spike-tooth harrow. These imple
ments may be used successfully for
cultivating the crop until the plants
are about six inches high, whether
the crop has been drilled in close
rows for hay or pasture, or in wide
rows for seed production. It is bet
ter to cultivate before the plants
come through the ground rathei
than just after they appear above
the surface, as they are brittle and
break easily just after they come
up. After the plants have made a
growth of three or four inches little
damage will be done, especially if
the crop is cultivated in the middle
of the day when the plants are
somewhat wilted. The crop will nol
be injured so much by these im
plements if it is cultivated at an
angle of about 45 degrees with the
row'. Of these three implements,
the rotary hoe is more efiective in
breaking the crust and does nol
destroy as many plants as does the
weeder or spike-tooth harrow. II
is not, however, quite as effective in
destroying weeds. When the crop 14
drilled in close rows it is usually
not practical or possible to culti
vate after the plants have made a
start. Neither red nor Savoy type*
present any big obstacles from a
cultural standpoint. They are in de
mand tliroughout the entire year,
and late red in particular is a good
storing type for winter sale.
TO KILL DANDELIONS
The most difficult of the lawn
problems is that of keeping out tin
weeds. The old method of dealing
with these interlopers was to dig
them out with a weed knife, but
this back-breaking job is just about
the most inefficient and difficult
method of all. Experimental work
on the subject has demonstrated
that the only logical and practical
method to control dandelions, plan*
tain and similar intruders in tha
lawn is to drive them out by creat
ing favorable growing condition*
lor the grass and unfavorable con
ditions for the weeds. In other
words, create a weed-proof turf. In
order to build up the w'eed-prooi
turf, it is necessary to fertilize the
lawn. The fertilizer should consist
of sulphate of ammonia and a com
plete fertilizer, mixed in equal pro
portions and r.pplied at the rate ol
10 pounds per 1,000 square feet ol
lawn. The first application should
be made about the time the grass
begins to grow in the spring, fol
lowed by a second application some
six weeks later. Where ammonium
sulphate can not be obtained readi
ly, a 12-4-4 or 12-6-4 fertilizer may
be substituted for the mixture. The
sulphate of ammonia performs two
functions; it acidifies the soil, mak
ing conditions unfavorable lor weed
grow th, and the material is rich iq
nitrogen, thereby stimulating gras!
growth. The complete fertilizer, in
addition to nitrogen, will furnish
potash and phosphorus, the other
two essential plant lood element*
often lacking in lawn soils. Lime
should not be applied to the lawn,
as it encourages the growth of dan»
delions and plantain.
RATS ARE COSTLY
Look often to your granaries, lest
rats and mice rob you of your
hard-earned possessions.
is in progress. Depleted stock-cattle
supplies should make such invest
ment profitable. The moment is op
portune to pick up tracts of rough
land that have gone pegging for
bids, owing to the plow-minded
disposition of the agrarian commun
ity. Not only is land cheap measured
by cost a few years back, but the
stocking problem, with either cattle
or sheep, has been simplified b*
new scale of prices.
STICK TO FARM. SON
Insurance statistics show that tha
life expectancy of a boy who Jives
in the oountry is seven years great
er than that of the city boy.
