The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, November 26, 1936, Image 3

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    WOLFPEN
■w
Harlan HaicHei*
ni^uHrahon/ Olr%jfvMy«r*—
Cf^Kt #, 74, C# ^ WN.U. J£/ir/C£
CHAPTER XVI—Continued
—£0—
Cynthia almost grew to love Jane
for the way she came into the
(house after her marriage to Jasper.
Jane was railiunt in her own hap
piness : it overflowed her heart and
expanded to include the whole Pat
tern household. She maintained the
most admirable poise between the
new mistress of the house as Jas
per’s wife, and a guest of honor at
Cynthia’s wedding. There were no
bristling or stuck - up city ways
about her. She was helpful, unob
trusively managing the details of
the kitchen and assigning guests to
the bedrooms. The womenfolk
spoke of it: “I reckon she can
carry on a place right well—Jas
per’s wife is a mighty fine girl.—
Yes, she takes right a - hold of
things.—She’ll be a good manager.
<—Jasper might have gone further
and fared worse. — Julia always
said she was a fine girl.—She comes
from might good people, Jane Bur
den does.—Wolf pen’s a good place
and I don’t reckon It’ll suffer any
with her in the house. . .
Jasper moved around as the head
of the house. It amused Cynthia,
when she had time to give it a
thought, to see Jasper consciously
trying to act the role of Sparrell,
Imitating his stride across the yard,
his phrases of welcome to men and
women, his inflections, his courtesy
and manner in the house. “There
Is nobody else in the world he^pould
better pattern after, though, and I
don't reckon anybody else besides
me notices it. Maybe it’ll come nat
ural to him after a while.”
Cynthia wanted to he married In
J her mother’s wedding dress. “It
will be like having her here her
self,” she thought. "Maybe she Is.
The way I used to talk about
Grandfather Saul stalking around
over the place. In her dress, en
veloping me in her, that would be
a good omen of happiness like
hers.” The dress had been long In
the cedar-lined closet. It smelled
of the trees and was scarcely faded.
The shoulders and the waist were
exact in their fit, but the skirt was
an inch and a half too long. Jane
and Lucy bent on their knees and
pinned It up; then they ran a neat
hem around its wide fullness. “If I
had been only two Inches taller, or
an inch, say. Lucy and Jenny are
tall. But I have better shoulders
and a waist like Mother’s and It’s
no real trouble to stitch In a hem."
She was beautiful in this gown,
so daintily quaint; the heavy coll
of black hair above the smooth
soft skin of her forehead, her
cheeks pink-flushed, and the look in
her eyes as they turned up to Reu
ben’s. People spoke of It. She stood
with him on the porch by the door
to the parlor so the people could
see the ceremony. All Wolfpen was
aglow with the day, the sense of
new life throbbing through the hol
low. There were sprays of wild hon
eysuckle in the stone jars In the
doorway and on each side. The
iclove bush by the steps gave off Its
'first smell of spice.
While they were standing there,
Cynthia happened to look across the
yard to the pear tree by the well.
The buds had burst suddenly under
the sun. "I’ll be a pear tree by the
well with pink-edged blossoms and
gold In the heart . . . better be
standing there with a sprig of blos
soms in your hand. . . . And I was
a sight and covered with corn-meal 1"
“Oh, Reuben,” she whispered, “the
pear tree. Look!”
she held the skirt of her wedding
gown above the grass and went to
the tree. She readied for ttie long
spray that hung over the well box,
bending it down and looking back
over her shoulder at Ileuben who
had followed her, watching her. She
smiled at him across the blossoms.
‘‘You’re as pretty as a picture
there," he said. Then he broke the
branch for her and she carried it
along her arm as she went back to
the porch for the ceremony. She
held it In her left hand across her
breast when 3he said to Amos
Barnes for Reuben, “I do.” And
when Reuben placed the ring on her
finger she held the spray on her
right arm, thinking. “The actual
marrying Itself is right simple. I
guess it is the feel In a body’s hear*
that makes It not simple. ‘Do you
take tlds man to be your wedded
husband?’ and for all that means
are only two of the tiniest words In
the whole world, ‘I do.’ But I do!"
The ceremony affected the Gan
non Creek folks who come to it,
finding the emotion akin to that of
a funeral. Then the dinner was
laid on long tables on the porch
and in the dining room and kitchen.
The men were merry. The women
were efficient fu serving the food.
It was almost as if no new thing
had come into the hills; as If Cyn
thia were not marrying a man from
down the river but a Gannon Creek
boy. Then it was said that Reuben
was one of the Pike county War
rens who went to Lawrence and
Scioto counties in Ohio at the time
Julia Pattern’s people went there,
and that seemed to make the union
complete.
Many of the women brought gifts
to Cynthia of needlew'ork and the
loom. “It ain’t much, Cynthia, and
nothing you couldn’t do yourself,
but you can remember us by it."
“As If I needed anything to make
me remember all you folks.”
Shellenberger brought gifts: a
gray telescope with leather-bound
edges and brass corners and yellow
straps around it, and a silk umbrella.
“You’ve been mighty good to me,
you and your folks. Here’s a little
present for you. I wish you much
happiness.” That was all he ever
said about the board money. The
people thought the gifts princely,
in keeping with Shellenberger and
the fine wrords on a cultivated
tongue. Cynthia at first hardly knew
whether to take them or not. Rut
the telescope was a beautiful piece
of luggage for a young bride going
aw’ay for the first time on a far
journey, and she had never had an
umbrella." A body doesn’t pay money
for a place to sleep and a bite to
eat in our country, anyway. I reck
on it wras right nice of him to think
of it.”
In the evening when the people
were gone away, Hessle Mason re
mained, silently waiting a chance to
say a word to Cynthia.
"Ma was a right smart worried
she couldn’t come.”
“I wish she could have come, Hes
sle. You tell her." (Should I ask
her about Doug? or just let it pass
like it is? Ask, Just as if noth
ing ever happened.) “And how is
Doug?”
There was reproach In the sallow
eyes as Hessie spoke. “He still
frets a sight. He’s been calming
down some now. He’s learning to
do things all right now. He plowed
the garden yesterday. If he turns
his head to the o(T side, he can see
the furrow. He stumbles a bit, and
when he cuts too wide a swath he
gets in a fit of temper. It makes
a body right heart sick to watch
him. If some people had done the
right thing by him it wouldn’t never
have happened. He won't give up.
He’s going to do all the plowing. [
reckon he'll get along all right.” All
this she uttered In a slow even voice.
“I hope he does, Hessie.”
“He’s powerful proud. He knew
he couldn’t have you after it hap
pened to him. He’d kill hisself to
try to uo about the place just like
nothing happened. He won’t let
anybody say anything about it.”
This seemed to be the thing she
wanted to say, more with her eyes
full of reproach and the tone of
her voice than with the words. Cyn
thia did not go on with it. It would
be idle to try to explain it so Hes
sie could understand. She handed
her a basketful of things from the
table.
“You take these to your mother,
Hessie, and to Dong.”
Jasper got her mule and led It up
to the horse-block. She gave Cyn
thia a last look from her hooded
eyes and sallow face. “I guess I’ll
be going now. You leaving tomor
row?”
“les. Tomorrow morning,” Cyn
thia said, watching her ride stolidly
through the gate.
Cynthia's shoulders trembled, and
she ran to the porch where Reuben
was standing. She slipped her arm
through ids for reassurance and
looked up at him. He smiled at
her and stroked her hand.
"I hope we’re going to have the
sun for our trip on the boat to
morrow.”
“I am sure we will.”
The evening was soft with spring
and the pale moon. Cranesnest was
quiet under the stars. The Milky
Way lay like u wisp of fog once
more over Wolfpen as it had lain
in the days of Saul Pattern, calm
and immemorial above the affairs
of this hollow. Looking up the dark
hillside to the night sky, Cynthia
had the sensation that the year was
a dream and the events that had
befallen it no more substantial than
this plume of white mist In the
space above her.
They sat in the evening as a fam
ily on the old porch Tlvls and Spar
rel had built: Lucy and her family,
Jasper and Abral, Jenny and her
family, Jasper and Jane, Cynthia
and Reuben. The talk \va_ of the
life on Wolfpen through the years,
of the incidents in their fntnlly life.
Reuben sat very quiet holding Cyn
thla's hand, Cynthia going out to
be one of the family for a sentence
or two, then hurrying back to be
lost in her world with Reuben.
"Married. My name Is not Pattern
any more but Warren. Cynthia
Warren. Mrs. Reuben Warren. His
hand Is hot In a little while we
will go to bed. Together. I always
thought I would be plagued and
bashful when. But I’m not. We’ve
been married now, eleven to about
eight, say nine or ten hours his wife.
I am ready, Reuben. I love you.”
Abrnl broke the circle and every
body arose.
“I got some news for you, Cynthia.
Mrs. Warren. Tomorrow 1 go down
Cannon with a raft. And then I’m
going up to Pittsburgh.” He stamped
a few jig steps in his excitement
“Don’t ram it into Hart’s barn
down on that bend.”
"I go around all the curves. I’ll
be carving them before you’re up,
and I'm going to bed.”
Cynthia had put on the walnut
bed the lace-edged pillow case, the
tine sheets Julia had hemstitched,
and the choicest of the colored
quilts wrought into Intricate nee
dlework patterns. She was poig
nantly aware of Reuben in the
room. She did not light the lamp
or candle. The glow from the moon
filtered into the room. She stood
for a moment by the window look
ing down the hollow. It was stir
ring with spring and there was a
whispering among the trees on the
hillside. She could hear Reuben In
movement In the room behind her.
Under the moon the pear tree by
the well looked to be bursting into
full bloom under the pent-up urge
of Its nature. Reuben's movements
had ceased and the room was quiet.
She turned from the window. Reu
ben was standing by the foot-post
of the bed. She moved Joyously to
ward him through the dim moonglow.
Abrnl bad gone before daybreak;
out into the great world at last.
Jasper had taken one of the plow
mules to Poplar Bottom to turn the
ground. Jesse was getting ready the
She Moved Joyously Toward Him
Through the Dim Moonglow.
Finemare and the mules for the
journey to the river and the boat.
Jane and Lucy had the breakfast
prepared.
While Jesse and Beuben were
strapping the small trunk and the
new telescope on the pack-mule,
Cynthia made a last visit about the
house. She took down the Boone
powder-horn and Sparrel’s pioneer
clothing and looked nt them. She
went Into the medicine - room to
smell the herbs her father had left
there. She charged Jane to watch
over the things her father had left
in the desk by the mantel. She
went Into the weaving room for the
last time and sat by the loom, feel
ing the tears form, lifting In her
hands a ball of yarn, the last one
Julia had dyed. "It isn’t so easy to
leave everything. Maybe Jane will
lenrn to use it. She takes hold of
things. But it isn’t so easy." Then
she took the two volumes of tho'
history worn yellow by Sparrol's
thumbs through the years when he
read to her, and a few packets of
the flower-seeds Sparrel had gath
ered from Julia’s garden, and
packed them to carry away with her.
She heard through her tears the
voice of Reuben speaking to Jesse
and there was laughter in It. She
thought of the cottage in the or
chard above the rivers. The cherry
trees would be In bloom when they
got there. That would be her place,
as Wolfpen had been Julia’s and
was Jane's. “It isn’t so hard to leave
everything, going with Reuben."
Jesse rode away with them. Jane
stood at the kitchen door, as Julia
used to do when Sparrel was riding
over to town. She waved to Cyn
thia, and Reuben lifted his hat, re
turning the farewell. Lucy and
Jenny and their children were In the
yard. They found Jasper at work
in Poplar Bottom and bade him
good-by there. "Take care of your
self,” he said, “and come up and see
us now before long.”
They took the more difficult trail
around Cranesnest because Cynthia
did not want to pass the spot where
her father was struck down. At
the top of the mountain they
stopped to look down for the last
time into Wolfpen. The mill was
silent and the pond was dark with
Hie shadow of the hill behind it.
The shelf of graves was hidden by
Cranesnest. The house and orchard
were far away, tiny and quiet. Un
der them Poplar Bottom looked to
be standing on edge. Jasper wns
plowing, tiie old Iron plow blade
flushing in the sun when he turned
at the end of the row. lie strode
the furrows like his father, only It
was not Sparrel. lie called to Spar
rel’s mule In the cadence of Spar
rel’s voice; It lay poised in the hol
low like a thin fog and then float
ed up to Cynthia’s ears on the
mountaintop. It was only an echo
of Sparrel’s call.
It was a moment of sentiment for
Cynthia, and of vision. The turned
earth lay brown and naked to the
sun, fertile and ripe for seed. Death
was now no more. Death was gone
with the winter snow, hurled In the
earth to be reborn. Perhaps Spar
rel lay with content by Saul and
Barton and Tlvls above his fields
and those of his fathers, seeing Jas
per in the long furrows. Perhaps
Julia rests In peace by Sparrel’s
side, seeing Jane raking seed Into
her gnrden, knowing the secret
swelling that would plump the new
wife's womb before the roasting
ears were ripe. Death had come to
Wolfpen suddenly, violently. Then,
reserved and silent once more, it
had withdrawn into the dark places
of the earth beyond the sight of
men, yielding place for another sea
son to the urgence and assertion of
life under the sweet ache and
thrust of the sun, and the moist
nurture of the rain.
They rode on through the forest
around the Cranesnest Ridge, Reu
ben, Cynthia, the pack mule, Jesse,
In file. The sun shone on the bud
ding trees. At the end of the ridge
where the trail began to drop Into
the Big Sandy Valley, Cynthia
stopped to look back. The top of
the Pinnacle was Just visible from
this point when the trees were not
In leaf. It wns taking the sun on
Its yellow edge, enduring above the
desolation in Dry Creek like the no
bility in the human soul outstand
ing the schemes and exploitations
of little and selfish men.
Cynthia turned from it to the
road ahead. Stretched below her
was the timeless circling of the riv
er through the valley toward the sea.
“I reckon this is good-by to Wolf
pen,” she said, patting the neck of
the Finemare and looking at Reuben.
"And welcome to an orchard at
the other end of the river,” Reu
ben smiled to her.
“And don’t miss your boat, you
two,” Jesse said.
[TIIE END.]
THE
GARDEN
MURDER
CAS E - =
Don't Miss This New
PHILC VANCE SERIAL
Starting in Our Next Issue ! !
-— ■ ■ -
_
HO$^RE
i/ouJ®DM
/ DR. JAMES W. BARTON
Talki About ®
The Liver and Wakefulness.
I OFTEN speak about the liver—
the king of the organs—because
of the great amount and the im
portance of its daily work. It does
more different jobs than any other
organ and has to do them in such a
big or wholesale manner. Of course
the heart which is only a few ounces
compared to the liver’s six pounds
in weight has the important job of
I)r. Barton
pumping the niooa
but that is its whole
job.
The little glands,
pituitary at base of
brain, thyroid in the
neck, adrenal situ
ated one on top of
each kidney, have
most important jobs
yet weigh scarcely
anything, but the
liver carries on de
spite the various
iorms oi damage
that occur to it. In fact, as men
tioned before, practically two of ev
ery three persons have some irrita
tion or inflammation of liver and
gall bladder and yet perhaps only
one in a hundred has real trouble.
Recent investigations would seem
to show that the liver has a regular
routine or system of performing two
of its important jobs, that is the
storing away of glycogen (sugar)
for future use, and the manufacture
of bile to assist digestion and stimu
late bowel action.
Glycogen and Rile.
"It appears that in man there is
probably in the liver the greatest
amount of bile being manufactured
when the least amount of glycogen
is being stored, and the greatest
amount of glycogen is being stored
when least bile is being manufac
tured. According to research work
ers the least glycogen is being man
ufactured at noon and the most
after midnight. While taking food
may affect this routine to some ex
tent, nevertheless this general rule
is maintained.”
These facts are of interest to
physicians treating diabetic pa
tients
This fact of the daily routine of
the liver in storing its largest
amount of glycogen at night—about
eight hours after the evening meal—
is thought to be the cause of sleep
lessness or wakefulness about two
o’clock in the morning in certain
individuals. Eating their large meal
of starchy and fat foods—potatoes,
bread, sugar, sweets, puddings,
cream—at the noon hour instead of
at six o’clock might be of some
help, but would certainly not tend
to keep them alert for mental work
in the afternoons.
* • •
Three Kinds of Overweight.
I sometimes think that most of us
are just a little too severe in criti
cizing those who are overweight.
While practically every case can
remove some fat by cutting down on
food, nevertheless there are some
overweights who honestly try to re
duce in this way, with results that,
to them at least, are disappointing.
In justice to overweights it must
be stated that the great majority of
them inherit the tendency to over
weight. Close questioning by the
physician usually brings out the fact
that if neither the father nor the
mother were overweight, one of the
grandparents or an uncle or aunt
carried many excess pounds. Dr.
C. G. Lambie in the British Lancet
tells us that some 70 per cent of
overweights have overweight par
ents, so even where the parents
were not overweight, the tendency
to overweight is likely present in a
goodly number of other cases.
Dr. Lambie puts overweight into
three classes: (a) developmental
(natural or inherited tendency), (b)
metabolic (where the body proc
esses work slowly and allow fat to
accumulate instead of burning it
up), and (c) nutritional (where
more food is eaten than the body
needs).
“The energy requirement of the
body is the amount of energy need
ed to keep the body processes go
ing, to supply energy for muscular
work—walking, playing, working—
and to cover the dynamic action of
food. If these three needs are taken
care of. and still there is food un
used then this will be stored up in
the body as fat.”
It is estimated that from 70 to 80
per cent of all the food eaten is
used by the body just to keep its
processes going properly; that only
about 20 to 30 per cent is needed for
the work the body does with the
muscles in doing our daily work.
Thus a man of average weight
and height, 150 pounds, 5 feet 7
inches tall, in doing an hour’s walk
covering 2Va miles would require on
ly about a slice of bread to supply
the needed energy for the walk.
Thus if walking does not demand
a great amount of energy because
the body is always on the ground,
nevertheless if so much food is
needed by the body every day a
very considerable amount of this
food or fuel is used by the body
processes even if the individual is
lying quietly in bed.
However, when real hard work is
done such as outdoor digging, han
dling ice, coal, or oth,er heavy ma
terials, eight or more hours a day,
then a great amount of food is need
ed—just twice as much as if this in
dividual were lying quietly in bed.
©—WNU Service
Poor Soil Needs
Proper Treatment
Land That Produces Low
est Yields Found to Re
spond to Building-Up.
Supplied by the College of Agriculture,
University of Illinois.—WNU Service.
Those soils which produce the
lowest yields without treatment
make the best response to soil-build- |
ing practices, according to a bul
letin, "Crop Yields from Illinois Soil
Experiment Fields,” published by
the College of Agriculture, Univer
sity of Illinois.
"With the less productive soils, the
increased yield from treatment
was several times as great as the
yield obtained without treatment,”
the bulletin states. “However, on
the more productive soils yields
from the plots without treatment
were several times as great as any
increase that could be attributed to
soil treatment.
"Despite this fact, on each field
there was found at least one prac
tice that raised the efficiency of pro
duction enough to pay for the treat
ment.
"Whether the crop-producing ca
pacity of the less productive soils
can be raised to the present pro
ductive levels of the better soils
seems doubtful. The gray and yel
low soils after 25 years have po
tential levels only about one-half the
level of the better untreated soils.”
Since 1876 when the Morrow plots,
oldest soil experiment field in Amer
ica, were established, the College of
Agriculture has been studying the
soils of the state to learn practices
which would bring about more ef
ficient production, lower the cost of
production, improve the quality of
crops grown on the soil and main
tain soil fertility.
With the Morrow plots located on
the grounds of the agricultural col
lege at Urbana, a number of out
lying fields have since been estab
lished throughout the state to study
soil types in each section. During
the past year’s crop season, 26 per
manent fields were in operation.
Straw as Feed for Live
Stock for Fall, Winter
Straw from grain threshing, as
well as small grain hay or sheaf
grain, may well be widely utilized
in corn belt live stock feeding this
fall and winter, or at least until
emergency forage crops and pas
tures develop, says Wallaces’
Farmer.
The most satisfactory results from
straw as a feed for dairy cattle are
obtained when it is used to take the
place of only one daily hay feeding.
The intake of straw can be facili
tated by increasing the palatability
with molasses. Either cane or beet
molasses, diluted with one to two
parts of water and sprinkled over
poor hay or straw, will help. Beet
molasses is more laxative than cane
molasses and therefore should be
feci more sparingly at first.
Straw probably is most valuable
as a roughage for idle horses and
for wintering beef cows. Straw also
can be fed to sheep and to working
horses to some extent, but it is im
portant to add enough protein sup
plements and concentrates to sup
ply the needed elements that are
lacking in straw.
Navicular Disease
Navicular disease is very difficult
to treat successfully. Its location
within the hoof makes its treatment
hard to administer. The sesamoid
sheath becomes inflamed and the
navicular bone is involved. It oc
curs in the front feet, usually only
one being affected. A horse may
seem lame at first and after exer
cise the lameness disappears. If
lame in both feet the gait is stiff.
The front shoe shows most wear at
the toe as a result of putting the
foot down toe first to favor the
tender parts. Blister and rest are
about the only treatments, and they
give only temporary relief.—Rural
New-Yorker.
Millers’ Toll
Wheat testing 60 pounds to the
bushel should return abut 38 pounds
of flour to the producer when the
wheat is exchanged for flour. Sixty
pounds of wheat will mill 44 pounds
of flour, 14 pounds of bran, and 2
pounds lost in the milling process.
This means that the miller keeps 6
pounds of flour, and all of the bran
and shorts in a bushel of wheat when
the flour is milled on the exchange
basis.—Indiana Farmer’s Guide.
Seed Corn
Much seed corn is not fancy in
appearance, but it may be entirely
satisfactory for seed, nevertheless.
1 In the dry areas, stalks that were
able to mature even small ears may
| be regarded as having better than
average resistance to drouth. It is
advisable, however, to avoid saving
i moldy ears or those which come
from stalks infested with smut, rot
j or any other kind of disease.
“Green Wrap” Tomatoes
Since the tomato season in any
locality lasts but a few weeks most
consumers who insist on the “fresh"
vegetable the year round get what is
known to the trade as the “green
wrap” (tomatoes that are held in
storage and ripened) about eight
months out of the year. This busi
ness of picking green and ripening
on the way to the consumer has
become a well developed and highly
successful business.
Humorous
Substantial Estate
Mrs. Murphy — What! You’re
going to sell up and marry that
hard-up lodger of yours? What on
earth are you going to live on?
Mrs. O’Flynn—We’ll be all right.
The poor fellcw owes me enough
to keep us in comfort for years—
Montreal Star.
Skip It
First Tramp—Is this town any
good?
Second Tramp—No, I’d say not!
I had four jobs offered me in one
day.
INDEPENDENT
“Yep, I served in de army for
two years.”
“An’ wuz youse honorably dis
charged?”
“Discharged! Well, I should
say not. I up an’ quit on me own
hook.”
Self-Service
Modern Mother—Lloyd, you’ve
been a bad boy. I shall have to
punish you.
Young Lloyd—Aw, gee, Ma, I
didn’t do anything.
M. M.—None of your back talk,
young man. Just hook yourself
up to my reducing vibrator and
give yourself a good spanking.—
Pathfinder.
Real Soaking
A Scot was engaged in an argu
ment jvith a conductor as to
whether the fare was 5 or 10 cents.
Finally the disgusted conductor
picked up the Scotsman’s suitcase
and tossed it off the train, just
as they passed over a bridge. It
landed with a splash.
“Mon,” screamed Sandy, “isn’t
it bad enough to try and over
charge me, but now you try to
drown my little boy.”—Berkshire
Eagle.
New Dialect
Eastern Visitor—Has the advent
of the radio helped ranch life?
Pinto Pete—I’ll say it haslWhy,
we learn a new cowboy song ev
ery night, and, say—we’ve found
out that the dialect us fellers have
used fer years is all wrong
CHEST [OLD
HAD HIM IN AGONY.
Found Amazing
RELIEF
from PAIN
No need to suffer
agony of muscu
lar achea and
pains! Thousands
report wonderful
soothing relict with HamUns wizard Oil.
Just rub it on—rub it in. Acts quick. Re
lieves that terrible soreness. Loosens up
stiff, achy muscles. Has a pleasant odor.
Will not stain clothes. At all druggists.
LOS ANGELES
ROOMS
| BATHS
J»7f
OfieHost
convenient
Ofic Best.
accommodations
^Finest
, meals Grill
Ebsy chair* sleep-inspiring bed* Tavern
lorqe rooms with luxurious fittings Coffee
Unsurpossed service and luxury
ore yours at amozingly low cost
Ifeur
^HOTEL
CLARK
P.GB.MORRISS Mgr.