MY'FRIEND ;v'
^ FLICKA’
Jk MARY'O'HARA .S.ii'.r.V^W
THE BTORV BO EAR: Ten year-old
Ken Mrt.anghlla fan ride any horae on
his family's Wyoming ranch, but he
grant* a roll of his own. Ill* father, a
(•tired army officer, refutes to give him
Me until his sehool grades Improve and
he learns to take responsibility. Ken'*
another trie* to protect him from the
stern discipline of his father and the
youthful bullying of hit older brother,
Howard, who always manage* to do
things right. Captain McLaughlin has
received a lettet from Ken's school ad
vising him that Ken bat not been pro
moted. So, while the others prepare to
round up the mare* and colts, Ken ha* to
stay in the boose and study.
Now continue with the story.
CHAPTER II
When Ken left the kitchen the
alarm clock on the wall shelf beside
the spice closet pointed to twenty
minutes to nine. He wondered if
he should time himself right from
then or from the moment he went
Into his room, or from when he set
his books on the table. This was a
very important point, but as he
could not decide, he went upstairs
as slowly as he could, just in case it
was all part of the hour.
He paused on the landing in front
of the picture of the duck. If he
atood there looking at the duck pic
ture he could get into another world.
He knew how to do it. To get into
another world you had to make your
self the same size, in your mind.
But he felt misgivings, standing
there. His mother would hear, from
the kitchen, that he hadn't gone all
the way upstairs. He went on up,
down the hall, into his room, and
noisily closed the door. Possibly
she would time him too.
He ctood a few moments looking
around. He and Howard each had
a small room to himself.
Ken loved his room. The walls
were white-washed, and there was
a big window opening out front over
the terrace and the Green. He could
see everything from it. Sunshine
poured in.
Best of all, Ken loved his little
walnut bed, because that was really
home.
It wasn't very tidy. He and How
ard had to make their own beds,
and be had made his in a hurry,
before he went out riding. Now
would be a good time to straighten
it up. That was a good dutiful
deed—about as good as studying—it
probably could be counted In the
hour. The quilt, which was light
green with sprigs of pink and blue
flowers on it, was crooked and
humped over the bedclothes under
neath. He threw it back, then
paused, his eyes on the wall at the
head of the bed.
There were these pictures—one on
each side — about eight inches
square, with a flat wooden frame
an inch wide.
And inside the frame—
He dropped the quilt, moved up
to one picture and stood minutely
examining it. What people! Peas
ant people, his mother had told him,
probably Swiss.
Down at the end of his room was
the strangest picture of all.
Ken went to look at It. There
was a verse written in the corner
which he knew by heart.
“Intreat me not to leave thee.
Nor to return from following after
thee.
For whither thou goest 1 will go.
And where thou lodgest 1 will
lodge."
It was a picture of a desert land.
And a man stood as if waiting to
go. looking at the maiden for whom
he was waiting. But she had run
back to throw her arms around a
woman, and there they stood, arms
about each other. And the verse
in the corner was what she was
saying. They were dressed in long,
draped, brightly colored shawls.
"Intreat me—" He jumped and
ran back to the bed when he heard
quick steps across the kitchen floor
below. Outside the kitchen door his
mother's voice called, "Here. Kim
—Here, Chaps—"
This time he really finished the
bed and smoothed the quilt. It
looked very nice. He stood regard
ing it, thinking that now he must
take down his books.
Resolutely he picked out his arith
metic book, sat down, opened it and
began to think.
Suddenly Ken heard the sound of
horses coming near the house and
started up so quickly that the leg
of his chair tangled with the leg of
the table and he went sprawling on
the floor, then scrambled up and
over to the window.
Ken leaned out the window as far
•a he could to see the last of them
as they went down the Green, Just
jog-trotting, and disappeared around
the end of the house—
•‘Ken!’* Nell’s voice came floating
up from the open window below.
"What are you doing?”
He scurried back to the table and
made it true before he answered,
“I’m doing my arithmetic."
"What was that crash?"
"My chair fell over.”
"What made it fall over?"
“It just fell over—”
Nothing more from Nell, and Ken
summoned all his energy and
frowned at his open book. He must
make a plan. He would do cancella
tion over. He liked cancellation. It
was fun crossing out the figures
above and below the line and turn
ing everything into nothing.
i He hunted for his pad, opened all
the drawers, and found It.
Then he hard Nell coming up the
stairs, and she opened his door.
She had some fresh bureau
scarves over her arm, and came In
briskly and went to his chiffonier
to change the scarf.
"I was thinking, Ken, it would be
a good idea if you spent your study
hour on that composition."
"The composition?"
"Yes, the one you didn’t write. If
you write it nicely we could send it
to Mr. Gibson and tell him how it
was you came not to write any
thing—that you were thinking about
it—and he might let you have some
credit for it.”
"The one about the Albino.” said
Ken, and his eyes went thoughtfully
to the window. "How would I be
gin it?"
"Have you got paper there?”
"Yes."
"Well, just pretend you're telling
someone about it—someone who
doesn't know. Me, for instance. Per
haps I've forgotten. Who was the
Albino, anyway?"
Ken grinned, and said, “A big
white stallion—just a bronc—who
came over the border from Montana
when they had a drouth there. Dad
called tom a big ugly devil but a
lotta horse—”
“That's fine,” encouraged Nell.
"And what did he do?"
Ken sighed deeply, and wrote,
"The Story of Gypsy.” carefully at
the top of the paper.
Ken tore down the road. He'd
take the short cut They'd been
gone almost an hour and they were
on horseback. He’d meet them
She snorted in terror and went
straight up on her hind legs.
about halfway coming back maybe,
and see the whole bunch moving.
He’d And a good place and hide so
his father wouldn't see him.
He trotted along In the irrigation
ditch. It was dry because the wa
ter hadn't been turned in yet. This
way he would avoid the road and
the gates. Howard might be sta
tioned at any one of the gates.
He left'the ditch and climbed up
a hill. From here he could see Gus
and Tim working in the ditch in the
Crooked Meadow and could hear
their voices. Tim was swinging a
pick; the sound of the blow reached
him after he saw the pick land.
And a mile or more away he
could see Castle Rock, the great
beetling rock, jutting up seventy
feet high, with peaks and parapets
and turrets shaped like a castle. It
overhung the aspen grove at the
far end of the meadow.
That was where they were, down
there near the rock. His father
was rounding up the mares with
their foals, getting them out of the
woods, bringing them back through
the meadow slowly. He never ran
them.
Ken ran down the hill and headed
for the big rock. He ran as far as
he could and then stopped to get
his wind again and make a calcula
tion.
From where he was now, on the
grazing land which sloped down to
the barbed wire fence around the
meadow, he could see the wide gate
open and fastened back. That was
so the mares could come through
up to where he was. There was a
sort of road here, and the mares
would follow it naturally and stay
right on it.
If he could hide somewhere near
here, where he could keep his eye on
the gate, he'd see them pass quite
close.
He looked about for shelter. Here
and there was a jagged outcropping
of the pink granite which underlay
the soil, here and there a small
clump of wild currant bushes.
He drew back behind the bush and
lay down and suddenly felt very
tired and very happy. The report
card and the saddle blanket and
the study—all the unpleasant things
—were behind him.
He woke with a Jerk, coming up
from such a deep place that it
seemed he must have slept for hours.
He was bewildered and sat up,
trying to gather his wits. Then he
remembered and scrambled to his
feet—would he be too late?—they
might have passed while he was
asleep—he ran out from behind the
bush—head on into the bunch.
The mares were coming up from
the meadow, almost noiselessly on
the grass, McLaughlin in the rear,
and Banner offside in the middle.
They were walking as quietly as
the cows coming in for milking.
In the lead was a powerful, long
legged mare with a shiny black
coat. She carried her nose in the
air, her wild, staring eyes ringed
with white. Rocket, the loco mare,
daughter of the Albino.
As Ken shot out from behind the
bush, almost colliding with her, she
snorted in terror and went straight
up on her hind legs.
For a moment Ken was under the
dangling black hoofs of her fore
legs and smelled the heat of her
body, then she twisted to one side,
made a great leap and shot away,
and it seemed to Ken that it was
a hundred horses that leaped and
scattered after her, instead of just
twenty.
Ken ran to a pile of rocks and
scrambled to the top so he could
see all that happened.
Rocket had gone off at an angle
to the line of march and was on a
dead run, stretched out like a race
horse, with the whole bunch after
her. She was heading for the Rock
Slide, a place where the grazing
land broke down to the lower levels
of the next pasture over a long curv
ing hill of sheer rock. To go down
it on foot, he and Howard had to
sit and slide. No horse, not even
the most sure-footed, could negoti
ate that drop. If she went over she’d
go head over heels, she’d roll and
bounce to the bottom, and all the
others too, if they followed her, the
whole band of mares and colts pitch
ing down, somersaulting, rolling
crashing—
"Whoa — there — whoa — whoa—”
McLaughlin’s voice rang out on a
note of desperation. He was gallop
ing as fast as he could to head off
Rocket, but she had a long lead and
Shorty was slow.
Then Ken saw the big stallion.
Banner, shoot out of the crush. His
bright chestnut coat was like flame
in the sunlight. His feet thundered.
"Oh. go it, Banner—go it!" shout
ed Ken in an agony, dancing up and
down on his rock.
The two horses were running at
an angle to each other, Banner gain
ing. They converged near the Rock
Slide. Banner’s head was suddenly
right over Rocket’s, his golden
mane mingled with her black mane,
his mouth open and his big teeth
bared.
Suddenly his jaws snapped and
Rocket gave a furious squeal and
stopped with a jar Banner whirled
and lashed and his heels struck her
side with a ringing smack. The oth
er mares telescoped up against
them.
Then Banner was everywhere at
once, biting, driving, wheeling and
kicking the mares back.
Not one single mare lost—not a
colt hurt or crushed—Rocket her
self, panting and foam flecked, walk
ing meekly back towards the road—
Ken's terror was now for him
self. If his father should see him!
He might not have. Might have
thought it was something else that
scared them, a coyote, or perhaps
just Rocket’s craziness.
He slid down the rock and sat
hunched up at the base of it. He
was fairly well hidden there, rocks
and currant bushes all around him.
He could hear the pounding of
the horses' hoofs going farther away
and he began to breathe more easi
ly. Then a shadow fell on him and
he looked up and saw his father
sitting there on Shorty.
After one look into the blazing
eyes under the down-drawn brim of
the Stetson hat, Ken dropped bis
head and sat silent.
"I—I Just came to see the horses,”
he muttered at last
McLaughlin said nothing.
Ken looked up again and the look
on his father's face made him burn
all over.
He cried out sharply, "I didn't
mean to do it, Dad—I didn’t mean
to scare them—”
He wanted to go on and explain
that he had fallen asleep and then
run out to see if they had gone—
and Rocket was right there. But
there wasn’t time. Without a word
of answer or blame, McLaughlin
wheeled Shorty and went cantering
away after the mares.
Ken felt as if he had been put out
of the ranch, out of all the con
cerns that Howard was in on. And
out of his father's heart—that was
the worst What he was always hop
ing for was to be friends with his
father, and now this, so soon after
getting home— His despair made
him feel weak. He put his head
down on his drawn-up knees and his
hands were clenched tight
After a while he slid down flat and
slept again; a deep exhausted sleep
this time that made up the hours he
had lost riding so early that morn
ing.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
HOUSEHOLD
wf W 0 S* •# ty jtynn CwnithS
Tulip-Shaped Tomatoes Are Welcome for Luncheon
(See Recipes Below)
Spring Luncheon
Rationing doesn't mean that you
have to give up entertaining en
tirely. True, you
may be serving
dishes you've nev
er served before,
but if you’ve
tucked your think
ing cap at the
right angle, you’ll
find many things
with company manners which won’t
take too many ration points.
Be clever with your knives in
shaping fruits and vegetables into
attractive shapes and sizes for your
guests, and use bright colors for
garnishes and table accessories. Add
a good portion of your own charm
to make your guests feel at ease,
and Madame, your entertaining will
be a success!
Tulip-like tomatoes are a picture
on any spring luncheon table.
*Tulip Tomatoes Filled With Shrimp.
(Serves 6)
6 tomatoes
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups canned shrimp
V\ cup french dressing
H cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Dash of cayenne pepper
Cut tomatoes in sixths with sharp
knife, cutting through outside of to
matoes, and just
enough so that
each section can
be pulled back to
foam a petal.
Marinate shrimp
in french dress
ing for % hour.
Drain, then com
bine with celery, mayonnaise, lem
on juice and cayenne pepper. Chill.
Sprinkle inside of tomatoes with
salt, then fill with shrimp mixture.
Garnish with whole shrimp.
Smart idea for salad plates is to
include a small scoop of two or
three different kinds of salad to
make a picture plate. Here are two
splendid ideas:
Lemon Sunshine Salad.
(Serves 6)
1 package lemon-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice or di
luted vinegar
1 cup cold water
1 cup finely shredded cabbage
94 cup finely grated raw carrot
1 tablespoon minced onion
Dissolve lemon-flavored gelatin in
boiling water. Add salt and lemon
juice or diluted vinegar and cold
water. Chill until mixture begins
to thicken, then add remaining in
gredients. Do not shred vegetables
until just before using or a large
loss of vitamins will result.
Pineapple-Cottage Cheese Salad.
(Serves 6)
94 enp cottage cheese
94 cup nuts, chopped
1 tablespoon pineapple juice
1 teaspoon sugar
6 slices pineapple, fresh or canned
Green or red pepper
Lettuce
94 cup salad dressing
Lynn Says:
Nice to Know: Waxed paper
wrappers from bread are good
for wiping the top of the lid top
range.
Use grapefruit shells for serv
ing fruit or seafood cocktail if
you don’t have enough dishes.
Iron rust may be quickly re
moved from white clothes if you
squeeze lemon juice on the spot,
sprinkle salt over it and place it
In the sun. Repeat if the first
application does not work.
Use warm water instead of cold
for mixing flour for gravy. The
use of a rotary egg beater helps
smooth out lumps if they should
occur.
You’ll save time if you have an
extra set of measuring spoons in
the coffee container, and to keep
a measuring cup in each cc(Ham
er of flour, oatmeal and sugar.
It saves time and encourages ac
curacy in measurements.
Lynn Chambers’ Point-Saving
Luncheon Menu
•Tulip-Tomato Salad
Brown Bread-Cream Cheese
Sandwiches
Lemon Sherbet Tea
•Recipe Given
Combine cottage cheese, pine
apple juice and sugar. Add salt to
taste. Place a mound of cheese on
top of each slice of pineapple, then
garnish with diamond shapes from
green and red pepper. Serve on
crisp lettuce with dressing.
A dark brown bread, fruity and
tasty is excellent to serve with salad
luncheons. If your
salad does not
include cheese,
serve its fragrant
slices spread thin
ly with cream
cheese and jam
or make dainty
little sandwiches
with butter spread thinly, add a bit
of lettuce for crispness.
Baked Brown Bread.
(Makes 1 14x9x2-inch loaf)
154 cups sifted all-purpose flour
!54 teaspoons soda
1% teaspoons salt
% cup sugar
2 cups graham or whole wheat flour
H cup shortening
1 cup seedless raisins
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups sour milk
54 cup molasses
Sift flour, salt, soda and sugar to
gether. Add graham or whole wheat
flour, mix well. Cut in shortening
until mixture is like meal. Add
raisins and mix. Beat eggs, add
sour milk and molasses. Add dry
ingredients and blend together thor
oughly. Pour batter into a well
greased pan. Bake in a moderate
(350-degree) oven.
A lot of good quality protein, vita
mins and minerals come in that neat
little package, the egg! Right now
you’ll be finding they’re plentiful, so
make good use of them:
Eggs Creole.
(Serves 4)
2A cups tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped One
Vi green pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon green pepper
94 cup fine bread crumbs
Vi cup celery
4 eggs
V4 cup grated American cheese
Vi teaspoon salt
Vi teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
Cook tomatoes, pepper, onion, cel
ery and seasonings together with
bay leaf for 10 minutes. Strain,
add bread crumbs. Place sauce in
individual casserole dishes. Break
eggs on top and sprinkle with salt,
pepper and grated cheese. Bake in
a moderate oven until eggs have
set and cheese is melted.
Oatmeal puts plenty of vitamin B,
into diets and keeps you stepping
with pep and energy the day long.
Try these delicious cookies:
Honey Oatmeal Hermits.
14 cups honey
2 eggs
H cup lard or other fat
H cup warm water
2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Vs teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins or chopped dates
Cream honey and fat until smooth
and creamy. Add well beaten eggs
and oatmeal. Add sifted dry in
gredients alternately with warm wa
ter, saving only a small amount of
flour to dredge raisins or dates.
Blend in fruit and mix thoroughly.
Drop by spoonfuls, 3 inches apart on
a greased baking sheet. Bake 15
minutes in a moderate (350-degree)
oven for 15 minutes.
Lynn Chambers welcomes you to
submit your household queries to her
Croblem clinic. Send your letters to
er at Western Newspaper Union, 210
South Desplaines Street, Chicago, Illi
nois, Don’t forget to enclose a stamped,
self-addressed envelope for your reply.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
Bugaboo of Soil
Acidity Dispelled
Acid Condition May
Even Be Beneficial
Soil acidity is a “bugaboo that
farmers for years have been useless
ly fighting,’' according to Dr. W. A.
Albrecht, chairman of the soils de
partment of the University of Mis
souri. As a matter of fact, acidity
may actually be beneficial Instead
of harmful if proper soil conserva
tion measures are used.
"It is not the acidity in soils that
is injurious,’’ Dr. Albrecht ex
plained, “but the shortage of nutri
ents that are replaced by acidity.
Given the proper fertility, plants will
turn In their customary or usual
performance even in the presence
of soil acidity. This acid condition
is merely a case of increased short
age of plant food nutrients for which
crops suffer.”
Dr. Albrecht cited experi
ments with soybeans in which
Increased soil acidity made both
calcium and phosphorus actu
ally more effective than In more
neutral soli. Improved the feed
ing value of forage and kept the
sand element lower.
Our experiments indicate that it
is no longer necessary to fight soil
acidity,” he declared. “On the con
trary, acidity is beneficial if lime or
calcium, phosphorus, potash and
other plant foods are utilized to re
store full fertility and if soils are
helped to maintain their needed
stores of organic matter by means
of sod crops or corresponding re
cuperative rest periods.
“We can now say that 'acid tol
erant’ legumes have been discov
ered. But they tolerate acidity only
when fertilizer materials are prop
erly supplied in balanced amounts.”
In this connection it was pointed
out that the three vital plant foods
on which crops depend most are: 1—
nitrogen, which encourages early
and abundant growth, builds protein
and develops the fleshy portion of
roots; 2—phosphorus, which hastens
the ripening of seed and promotes
early maturity; and 3 — potash,
which is the balance wheel, enabling
a crop to make better use of the
other plant foods, develop resistance
to disease and maintain an improved
quality.
I understand the Americans are
doing very well on the food front, too.
Agriculture
in
Industry
By FLORENCE C. WEED
PRUNES
All prunes are plums but not all
plums are prunes. Washington and
Oregon grow an Italian variety while
California produces the French
prune. These are distinguished from
other plums in that they will not
ferment when dried without remov
ing the pit.
At the University of California, oil
has been crushed from pits of prunes
which is rich in vitamins, reddish in
color, with a pleasant aroma and
taste. It will likely be used for
spraying prunes to aid them to re
tain their moisture so that they will
be juicier when they reach the con
sumer. The canning of prune juice
is a growing industry since the com
petition of fresh fruits and juices
has curtailed the dried prune mar
ket.
Prunes, grown almost entirely
on the Pacific coast, now exceed
the amount produced in foreign
countries. It was not until 187#
that the first commercial or
chard was planted in California
and the growth of this Industry
has been rapid.
In California, the plums are dried
for six to ten days by the sun. In
Oregon and Washington, they are
cured 12 to 48 hours in evaporators.
After drying, they are put into bins
to "sweat,” then they are graded
and packed. Sizes range from 20 to
30 in a pound up to 100 to 120.
Agricultural Notes
Safety First now means better
farm production and full participa
tion in war activities. A first aid
kit or cabinet might well be placed
in every kitchen.
• • •
Building supports, such as founda
tion and piers, must be maintained
to prevent sagging and distortion of
structure. Wood sills should be kept
off the ground by masonry supports.
I
JUST
So Consistent!
"Doe® your husband always live
up to his promise of his courtship
days?”
"Always. In those days he said
he was not good enough for me,
and he has been proving it ever
since.”
NOT FIRST CHOICE
“Do you like your new baby sis
ter, Tommy?”
“Oh, she’s all right! But there
are lots ot things we needed
more.”
Convinced Him
Jim was accused of stealing a
pig. He secured the services of
a lawyer and was acquitted. Lat
er the lawyer seeing him alone,
said, “Come, Jim, tell the truth.
You did steal that pig, didn’t
you?” “Well," replied Jim, “I
thought I stole dat pig, but after
hearing you talk, I don’t believe
I did, sah.”
A little girl tried to get the early
morning religious services over
the radio. She dialed for about
ten minutes without success and
finally exclaimed: “Mother, all I
can get is the silent prayer.”
Feelings Hurt
A harvest hand was caught in
the thresher belt and whirled
around past Farmer Green sev
eral times before being tossed
free.
“Quick!” cried Green, rushing
up to his inert form. “Are you
hurt? Speak to me, speak to me!”
“Why should I?” grunted the
hand angrily. “I passed you a
dozen times just now and you
didn’t speak to me.”
NO ASPIRIN FASTER
than genuine, pure SL Joseph Aspirin.
World's largest seller at 104. None safer,
none surer. Demand SC Joseph Aspirin.
Lost Desert Mines
Emeralds have been found in
ancient tombs in Northern Africa.
Arabs say they came from mines,
now lost, in the heart of the Sa
hara desert.
SNAPPY FACTS
ABOUT
RUBBER
Airplanes now transport - or leers
and sopplios to South American
rubber forests In hours. IkvtU war
placed rubber on the "have not"
list in tho U. S., weeks and months
wore consumed in carrying sap*
plies to tho rubber tappers.
When one considers that far more
than 20 years car and truck owners
were encouraged to abuse their tires,
through various forms of rood haz
ard guarantees, it must Le acknowl
edged that a laudable patriotism is
being shown by them new La con
serving their rubber supplies.
Remember the days whoa 10
riounds pressure per cross section
rich was tho standard Inflation
recommendotionl Rough riding
and flats wore tho ardor of the
doy.
A n.w highway hat bean constn-ctod
to the Mercapata gold mines in Peru.
But rubber is the most important ilea
being carried over iL
BEGoodrich
Tibet Tent Dwellers
Although Tibet is one of the
bleakest and windiest countries in
the world, half the population live
in tents.
W Kills A
APHIS 1
V One ounce makes six gallons^Ajj^j
W tiom on label. • Insist on
[ toiacco IT-Mooum t CNMUU1..
r COfSOIAIION, INC Of ton AT ID A %'XJkW^i
AOUISVIllI K INIUCV T Jap