The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902, April 04, 1901, Page 8, Image 8
8 THE NEBEASKA INDEPENDENT. April 4, 1901. Do You Own a Home? Would You Like to Own a Home? Will You Investigate a Practical Plan For Securing One? STATEMENT. Inqsiry Is made by prospective rseiabrs not prtonxlly acquainted with the nianagrtseiit as to the relia bility of the Independent Home Mak er Ceapasy. who composes the com paay, what asAtaraec have members tbst tfc company will carry out the pUc as ! forth In th prosper a. We ar glad to jir all such inqulr i. Meobc-rs have a light to know, Tfcr tare te-n so many fake schemes practice oa the people that they are rightly oa their guard. A legitimate exterprle requires no concealment and we expect to acswer all inquiries plain ly and to the point. The Independent Home Makers CctRpany Is a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Ne braska, baring a capital stock of $75, t0Q. The fleers of the company are president. Frank L. Mary, for two terms chief clerk In the goternor's exe of the state of Nebraska under the incumbency of Governor Silas A. Hokomb ead continued in the same petition daring the term of Gorernor W. A. Poynter. & period of six years. These ce&tiemea, if addressed at Lin coln. NetL. will testify as to hi abil ity and integrity. The auditor and fceeretary of the company Is Charles Q. De France, for three years recording clerk in the office of the gorernor of Nebraska under Governor Silas A. Jlolcomb's adminis tration and fcr the past two years chief bookkeeper l the -ilce of the treasurer of the state of Nebraska dur tf g the latter term cf Treasurer J. B. Meserre. new of Hastings. Net. These gentlemen wi- gladly testify as to Mr. De France's honesty, trustworthiness and reliability. The Tie president and treasurer of the company Is Colonel Frank D. Eager, late lieutenant colonel of the Fim Regiment. Nebraska volunteers (the Fighting First), and publisher and proprietor of The Nebraska Inde pendent. Mr. Eager reputation as a successful business man is established and requires no elaboration. He is well fitted to help push our enterprise to a tfceesvful if sue. As a further guarantee of good faith oa our part, and to secure our mem bers against los and that their money will be applied for the purposes as out Used ta the. company's prospectus, we are cow perfecting arrangements to hon4 the company's treasurer ia the United State Fidelity and Guarantee company of Maryland, a corporation with fl 60,009 cash capital. This bond will be Increased as the funds in his hands require additional security. By ciring this bond members are as sured of the absolute safety of their money, that It will be properly han dled. leaTing no ground for fear or hesitancy. As our depository we have selected the Columbia National bank of Lincoln, Ne!. Prospective members naay write to Dr. P. L. Hall, cashier of the above bank, as to the honesty and integrity of the o Seers of the com pany. We want every one who Joins us and places his hard-earned money ia our care to know that it will be ab solutely fe. we want him to know who he is dealing with, and when he subscribes for location stock that he is dealing with honorable and trust worthy men. The company was or ganized to give the people an oppor tunity to secure homes for moderate outlay, through means of co-operation cf a large number. We guarantee to oar members to honestly and faith fully fuiSU all our pledges. THE INDEPENDENT HOME MAK LlfS COMPANY. LOCATION. The settlement will be located in a rt-c!as farming country, where a good, healthy climate and good water p;ay be fo-nd. And, with the good class of settlers now applying for membership, the settlement should be 'all that caa be desired. As to the state or territory where this settlement shall be located, we are not wedded to any particular section. However, as a large majority of our prospective member live in about the same latitude as Nebraska, or north of that, and la view of the large number of suggestions that we go to one of the northwestern states, we are constrain ed favor Oregon. Washington, or pos sibly Idaho. We have now the offer of a choice tract of Idaho land, capable of producing heavy crops tinder irriga tion, and with aa abundance of water near at hand which can be utilized by putting ia a system cf canals but we are not sore that the majority of our members and prospective members would take kindly to farming by irri gation. Ia Oregon and Washington bodies of land can be secured where nature furnishes a bountiful water sup ply and it Is probable that our mem bers would prefer such a location. It is our desire to be free to make the loca tion where it will be to the best inter ests of oar members, because upon their sacces depends our owa. But vre should be glad to receive a fur ther expression of opinion from mem bers and those desiring to become members, as to their choice, whether Oregoa. Washington. Idaho, or some other north western state. If we locate fa aa Irrigated country, it may be nec essary to cut out the 1 CO-acre tracts altogether Cleaving IS the maximum ifumber of shares one person may buy) inasmuch aa SO acres under irrigation will be plenty for the average farmer -about all that he caa cultivate prop erly. There need be no fear that &0 acre will be Insuffclent for the aver age family, because it Is well known that nnder proper cultivation 40 acres of Irrigated land will produce on the average three to four time as much as the same cumber of acres of non-irrigated lands. Then. too. when once pre pared for cultivation, the canals and laterals ready, the water turned on. land price jamp cp to 110, IJ and $73 per acre In a very short time. But we want to hear from you on this mat ter. Our first thought was Oklahoma, but we find that the great majority of our applicants seem to prefer the north west. There is no doubt that Oregon, Washington and other northwest states will, in a few years, support a much larger population than at pres ent. The soil, climate and other fea tures, will undoubtedly make them the coming country. The Plan Our books are now open for member ship, and when ; a sufficient number have been secured the books will be closed and no more members accepted. Provision is made to settle about fifty thousand acres of good land. When we have sold a suScient num ber of shares to take up this amount of land we will sell no more. We shall then determine on our location, in which we will be aided by a commit tee selected from the members them selves. When the- location has been made me shall then select the most de sirable point nearest the center of the tract and found and locate our city. For this purpose 640 acres will be set aside, surveyed and platted into busi ness and residence lots. The business lots in the center and residence lots surrounding them. We shall then be gin at the city limits and for a short distance out lay off five-acre tracts, beyond these ten-acre tracts, then 20, then 40. then 80 and farther out 160 acre tracts. Each member should designate in his application the kind of lots or the size of the land tract he wishes to take. A great many people desire bus iness and residence lots, while others will want city lots and small tracts ad Joining the city which, as the city grows (and this one will) can be laid out into additions to the city and be made to yield the owner handsome re turns. Others will want the smaller tracts for fruit raising and truck farm ing. Others will take the 40, 80 and 160-acre tracts and later add more, which they will be able to do, from the company lands on long time and easy terms. ALLOTTM ENTS. AH allottments will be made by the Home Makers Company on alternate -tracts. No poor or inferior lands will be allotted to members. If there should be poor tracts they will be re tained by the company and disposed of for grazing purposes. Should a mem ber be dissatisfied with his allottment the company will try to exchange with him for a better tract. We will aim to please and satisfy all our mem bers. RULES OF MEMBERSHIP. Shares of membership are placed at 125 each, and will entitle members to allottments aspilows: ONE SHAKE gives you a city resi dence lot. TWO SHARES gives you a city busi ness lot or a five-acre tract adjoining the city. THREE SHARES gives you a ten acre tract, or a five-acre tract and res idence lot. If a ten-acre tract is je lected. the Home Makers Company will, besides deeding you the land, is sue to you its Guaranteed Bond for $23, payable on or before five years, drawing interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. This bond will be accepted at par by the Home Makers Company at any time in payment on any lands or lots bought from the company. FIVE SHARES gives you a twenty acre tract. Besides the Home Makers Company will Issue! to you its guaran teed bond for $50, payable on or be fore five years, drawing interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. This bond will be accepted as cash at par by the Home Makers Company at any time In payment on any land or lots bought from the company. EIGHT SHARES gives you a forty acre tract. Besides the Home Makers Company will issue to you its guar anteed bond for $75, payable on or be fore five years, drawing interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. To the above bond will be added $10 for each mile over two miles distant the tract may be from the city limits. This bond will be accepted as cash at par by the Home Makers Company at any time in payment on any lands or lots bought from the company. TWELVE SHARES gives you an eighty-acre tract. Besides the Home Maker Company will issue to you its guaranteed bond for $100, payable on or before five years, drawing 5 per cent interest per annum. To the above bond will be added $10 for each mile the tract may be distant from the city limits. This bond will be accepted as cash at par by the Home Makers Com pany at any time in payment on any lands or lots bought from the com pany. TWENTY SHARES gives you one hundred and sixty acres. Besides the Home Makers Company issues to you it guaranteed bond, payable on or 'before five years, drawing 5 per cent interest, for a sum equal to $K) for every mile the tract is distant from the city limits. No other rebate is giv en on 160-acre tracts. This bond will be accepted as cash at par by the Home Makers Company in payment on any lands or lots bought from the Home Makers Company. FIRST PAYMENT OF LOCATION STOCK. Members are not required to make complete payment down for such num ber of shares of location stock as they may desire. Yet, as a guarantee of good faith, the Home Makers Company finds it necessary to require a partial payment down at the time application is made. The schedule of payments which should accompany applications for stock is as follows: For twenty shares. ... i $100 00 For twelve shares .... 75 00 For eight shares. 50 00 For five shares.. 50 00 For three shares or less........ 25 00 Each applicant, at time of making his application, should state the num ber of shares he desires and the kind of allottment. His name will then be entered upon our books for such num ber of shares and allottment and credit given for the advance payment. The unpaid balance is payable within thir ty days after notice is given by the Home Makers Company that the se lection of a location for the settlement has been made. ; If, however, during the time which intervenes between making the first payment and the call for final payment, some misfortune should overtake the subscriber, he will not lose the amount already paid in, but may take such number of shares and such allottment as the money he has paid in will cover. For example, you have sent in $100 and desire a quarter section of land. If you can not complete the payment of $400 more, or can raise $200, you can take twelve shares and get an eighty-acre allottment. Or, you can put in $100 and get eight shares and a forty-acre allottment. Or, $25 and get five shares and a twenty-acre allottment. Or, the $100 already paid will entitle you to four shares, which will give you a ten- acre tract and a residence lot. In any event you will not lose your ad vance payment. A. dd 16 S3 INDEPENDENT HOME MAKERS CO. Lincoln, Neb. NOTES. Subscribe for the Nebraska Indepen dent and keep in touch with this great home-making enterprise. Send in your application for the al lottment you desire at once. Do not delay, and thereby retard the speedy formation of our organization, besides you may come just a little too late. Once in you are safe. The money you pay for your loca tion certificate will be secured by one of the largest and safest guarantee bond companies in the United States. YOU HAVE NO RISK TO RUN; YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SAFE. After having read the proposition of the Independent Home Makers Com pany hand or send The Independent to some of your friends who are in need of a home and call their attention to the great opportunity here offered to obtain one at moderate cost. You have friends who would be last ingly benefitted by our plan of home making. Why not send them The In dependent, so they may see the oppor tunity presented for securing a home at moderate price? A little effort on your part may be of great value to them. We want a good, wide-awake, ener getic man in every county to represent the Home Makers Company. While no fancy salaries can be paid, yet we are willing to pay for personal work as much as it would cost us to obtain members through newspaper advertis ing. Address, Independent Home Mak ers Company, Lincoln, Nebraska. As far as possible we try to answer all inquiries through The Independent, the task of writing personal letters to each inquirer being too great to at tempt while we have so many other matters which need prompt attention. If you do not receive an answer by letter, look through your next paper you will likely find your question an swered there. The men at the head of the Home Makers' Company are well known throughout the state of Nebraska where all have for years held positions of prominence and responsibility. The money you pay for your loca tion certificate will be secured by one of the largest and safest guarantee bond companies in the United States. YOU HAVE NO RISK TO RUN; YOU APPLICATION FOR IN Independent Home to the Independent Borne ltlakers,(& Lincoln, 12tbraka. I hereby apply for shares of Location Stock in the Independent Home Maker's Company at $25 per share, an advance paymentof $ , being herewith remitted. , it is understood tnat tnis stock is to be placed as hereinafter di rected, on 6uch farming lands or city lots as are to be selected by said Home flaker's Company, assisted by a committee of holders of Location stock; that the same are to be divided and allotted to members as provided in the prospectus pub lished in the Nebraska Independent; and that I agree to pay in the remaining amount upon 30 days' notice that the required number of members has been se cured and the location selected. Should I fail to pay in the remainder due, the said company is authorized to make such allotment as the amount paid will entitle me to. My choice is.... , acres;. (Number of) (Married or single) (Number in family) (Occupation) A large number of our correspon dents express a desire that we locate in one of the northwest Pacific coast states. There are indeed many ad vantages to that section. We will thoroughly investigate various -localities and select only the one offering the very best advantages. We are not wedded to any particular place. If you are one of the fortunate ones possessed with a comfortable home, show our plan " to your friends or neighbors who want and need a home, and who under our system can secure it at moderate outlay and immediately enjoy the benefits of a well-settled community. ARE ABSOLUTELY SAFE. Already - several; hundred persons have signified their re -diness to join us in this great home-making move ment, but many of them and very properly, too express a desire to know in what state or territory we expect to locate the. settlement. It must be understood that, until we have secured options on the lands we need, we can not make public the exact location. However, we - have touched on this question more fully under the heal of "Location." Let us hear from you. Subscribers for location stock should use the blank printed in another col umn. Send money by postoffice order or bank draft, made payable to the Independent Home Makers Company. It is not good business to send cur rency in an ordinary letter. Fill In all the blanks. We want to know your occupation, whether you are mar ried or single, and how many in your family. Write your name in a plain hand or, better still, print it. Names are much harder to read than common words; and no person likes to have his. name spelled incorrectly. The president of the Home Makers Company a practical and experienced man will shortly make a tour of in spection of the northwestern states, especially in Oregon and Washington, looking up the various places to which the locating committee will be raken. Having had a number or years experi ence in handling and settling western lands, his judgment may, be relied upon. Herein is one great saving ef fected by our company: one man makes the preliminary inspection: a comparatively small committee, se lected from among the home makers themselves, . makes the final decision. The expenses are a mere bagatelle as compared what they would be tf each individual sought his own location. The Home Makers Company deperds for its success upon the soundness of its plan and the honesty and integrity of those managing it. We have no at tacks to make on other organizations engaged in similar work, believing it a poor plan which depends for success on the tearing down of others. Other colony and home-making plans differ from ours, some in degree, some in principle; but we bid God-speed to any reasonable plan for securing homes for the homeless. Ours is not the only feasible plan, but we believe a careful study of it will convince any reason able man that It is safe and sound. Our prices may - be higher than others ask but we make no pretence of giv ing something for nothing. We want to give the settlers every possible ad vantage, yet be able to faithfully ful fill every promise. The matter of perfecting our organ ization is being pushed as rapidly as possible. An undertaking the size of ours requires careful preliminary pre paration in order that everything may go along smoothly. Prospective mem bers naturally desire to know where the settlement will be located, whether they will be required to make any fur ther payments in addition to what they pay , for location stocky whether, in the event we ; fail to secure enough members, theirfcioney will be returned to them; whether those managing the affairs of the company are trustworthy, etc., etc. The first item is treated under head of "Location;" you will not be required to pay' a cent more than the full price for your shares; for example, twelve shares entitles you to 80 acres of land; you pay $300 for the shares, and no more; the twelve shares entitle you to a clear title to your 80 acres. As to our officers, read the article headed, "Statement." Should we fail to secure enough members which does not now seem; at all probable your money will be returned to you, less such small amount as may have been expended in postage and advertising and necessary expenses, a very small sum, for each member; none of this money will be used to pay officers' sal aries their reward must depend upon the final success of the enterprise. LOCATION STOCK THE Makers Company (Town or P. O.) 1901 ...City Lot (Residence or Business) (Name) (Postoffice) (County) (State) It will be impracticable for us to an swer by letter the thousands of com munications received from prospective members. Therefore, we shall endeav or to make everything so plain and simple that it will be unnecessary for them to write makin g further in quiries. We shall aim to answer all questions in a general way through the col--ans of the Nebraska Indepen dent; and if every member will care fully read The Independent each week, he can thereby keep himself thorough ly informed on all phases of the ques tion. Watch for The Independent ev ery week. Read every word about the progress we are making. Your question will be answered in some of the articles about the Home Makers Company. J . ' . r j DOCTORS SEARLES & SEARLES SPECIALISTS WE CURE all curable cases of Chtarrh of the Head,. Nose, Bronchial Tubes, Lungs. Stomach, Bowels, Kidneys and Bladder. CHRONIC or ACDTE, MUSCULAR or ARTICULAR RHEU MATISM, Enlarged and StifiE Joints. The Combined Treatment of the Great CURATIVE POWERS, Science, Medicine and Electricity. Properly appplied cures Chronic, Nervous, and Private Diseases of Men and Women. $100 for a case of Catarrh, Rheuma tism, Dyspepsia, or Blood poison we cannot cure if curable. Examination and Con sultation Free. Home treatment by mail in all diseases a specialty. All medicine- furnished. Call or address with stamp for circular, free book, and advice. Write today. P. O. Box 224 Ors. Searles & Searies lSS!SS& BRITAIN'S ELECTORATE. It Hm Inoroued Nearly Seven-Fold During Victoria's " Reign. When the queen came to the throne there were lees than a million electors out of a population of more than twenty-five millions. That is as much to' say that only 14 in every 100 adult males were possessed of the franchise. And yet five . years had passed since the great reform bill had tbeen placed upon the statute book after an epoch making battle. Today nearly 70 per cent of the adult males in the United Kingdom possess the franchise. The increase in population, added to the increase in the percentage of represen tation, has, however, given us an elec torate of about six and three-quarters millions. It is as well to note that during this extraordinary development of the electorate the- elected represen tatives of the people have scarcely in creased in number "by a score. In 1801, at the union of the British and IriBh parliaments, there were 658 members of the house of commons. Disfran chisements and suspensions of writs reduced the number in actual practice to 640, round about which figure it re mained tin Mr. Gladstone in 1885 rais ed it to 670. the present total of the house. It Is quite probable, therefore, that, should the much-disoussed "man hood suffrage ever come into opera tion in this country, it will not add a single member to the distinguished gathering at St. Stephen's. Nor, as a matter of fact, will it add to the elec torate itself as a large proportion as has been added in the last thirty-three years. For in that time 50 per cent has been added to the rate of adult male representation. A mere 30 pei cent more would give every man. over 21 a vote if he cared to use it Lon don Express. NO FORGE NEEDED. Modern Blacksmith Shop Bereft of It Chief Tradition. A blacksmith's shop without & forge seems a novelty, indeed, but there are two at least in New York, says the New York Sun. In these shops there Is applied a patent horseshoe made of a special steel which Is soft enough to permit of its being hammered and shaped, as far as may be necessary, without, heating. There are anvils there, and hammers are used, so that these tirae-honoi accessories of the blacksmith's shop still remain here, but there is no fire, no bellows with a grimy, swathy, stalwart blacksmith swaying on the handle with one hand while he gently pokes the burning coal in the forge with the other. There is no smoke here and no flying sparks, nor is there the long familiar odor of the burning hoof when the hot shoe is laid against it. These places are horse shoeing parlors. One ef those uptown occupies a long room that was de signed for a store in a building that stands on a corner. The shop proper, occupying the greater part, of the space, opens on the side street. The office, or reoeptlon-room, of the horse shoeing parlor at the front end of the store, occupies a square of space of the width of the building and running back about twenty feet, where an office railing is placed, dividing the reception-room from the blacksmith shop. On the floor of the office or reception room there is a $200 rug; there are comfortable chairs about for visitors or for customers waiting; there is a desk for the manager, and there are potted palms. And all this is separat ed from the shop Itself only by that office railing across the inner end of this reception-room, beyond which one sees down the length of the shop men busily engaged shoeing horses in this blacksmith's shop without a Are. DEAFNESS CANNOT BE CURED by local applications, as they cannot reach the diseased portion of the ear. There is only one way to cure Deafness and that is by constitutional remedies. Deafness is caused by. an inflamed condition of the mucous lining of the Eustachian Tube. aen this tube gets inflamed you have a rumbling sound or imperfect hearing, and when it is entirely closed Deafness is the result, and unless the - inflammation can be taken out and this tube restored to its normal condition, hearing will be de stroyed forever; nine cases out of ten are caused by catarrh, which is noth ing but an inflamed condition of the mucous surfaces. We will give One Hundred Dollars for any case of Deafness (caused by catarrh) that cannot be cured by Hall's Catarrh Cure. Send for circulars, free. F. J. CHENEY & Co., Toledo, O. Sold by Druggists, 75c. Hall's Family Pills are the best. The Story of the Story. BY M. W. CONNELLY. : (Copyright 1901: by Daily Story Pub. Co.) "Where are you going, my chil dren?" It was ; the admiring mothsr of Paul Rochambeau who addressed her stalwart son as he was leaving the tidy flower garden in front of hto home, paddle in hand, and making to ward the river. He was accompanied by a small brunette of perhaps eight een, dark of hair, darlt of eye, dark of eyelashes gratings from behind which prisoned love looked and a skin en riched by a faint ok ve tint. "- "To the land of blessings and bliss es, ma petite mere," replied Paul jo cosely, as he closed the gate. On the shore lay an upturned birch bark canoe, of two fathoms, and into this the young friends embarked. Paul had Just graduated from a Montreal college and had returned to his home at Portage du Fort, far up the Ottawa river, to idle a few months before begining life seriously. His companion, Louise La Rue, was from Sorel, far below, on a visit, to rela tives in Portage du Fort She had in tended going further up the river, also, to visit relatives,' but . .. . "There it ia! See? 'Voila. la!" "Yes. What a curious place for a grave! And then the path from the river's margin is so grown with weeds. Alone and forgotten! Well, I some times feel that I would like to be bur ied in such a spot. The solitude is at least constant." . "Not here. This solitude is fre quently broken. Every spring thou sands of voyageurs descending the river with their rafts of timber stop here, and visit this grave with its weather-stained wooden headboard, Every spring thousands of raftsmen come here, and there is scarce an hour in the day when one may not hear a perfect chorus of 'Notre pere qui dans le del.' etc." "What is the attraction?" "That is a long story, Louise; I will tell it you as we return down the river. The voyageurs are gone for this season but this place is visited now and then by lovers. It is a trysting place, this grave, where lovers plight their troth, as they do at certain stones and springs in Scotland and Ireland. You remember reading Black's 'Shandon Bells'? You recol lect where Willie Master Willie, it was and Kitty descended in the dell to a spring near where the saints shut up Don Fierna and the pixies? What is this he said? Oh, yes: 'Over run ning water: My love I give you; my life I pledge you; my heart I take not back from you while this water runs. Over running water: Every seventh, year at this time of the night, I will meet you at this well, to renew my troth to you; death alone to relieve me of this vow.' " "That is not the worst of the pledge. Ecoutait: 'Over running water a curse on one that fails: and. a curse on any one who shall come between, us two; and grief be the guest In his house, and sorrow dwell in his house for ever.. , ... Louise had not read the novel nor any other. The good Sisters in the convent of St. Suplice, where she went to school, had seen to this. So one said: "Oh, Paul! It is terrible! N'est pas? Let us leave here. Let us go." Like all French Canadians who pride themselves on their English acquire- j ments, this young couple could not refrain from dropping, now and then, into the native patois. Hence Paul's "Allons." . ... The descending Canadian sun threw a flood of light on the chromatic flames of the forest, splashing departing sum- j mer with a more than royal glory. Paul and Louise walked down to where the canoe lay upon the rocky beach. Paul was an athlete and the terror of the college campus as well as of the class room. His grandfather was considered a giant among the sol diers under the ill-fated Papineau. He grasped the thwart and lifted the light canoe into the water, kneeling .in the bottom, paddle in hand, to steady the fidgety shell. . . She was watching the miniature ed dies curling around the boulders at the water's edge. He spoke, and she started as from a dream. Stepping "Here It is." ' ' ' into the canoe with the agility of an Indian woman, the shore was left and the caaoe shot away, not cleaving, but skimming over the waters. Paul had little need of effort because, the cur rent was strong, yielding to the suc tion from the Calumette falls below, where the water fretted itself Into a Niagara. For a moment Louise's voice floated put "Cest les avirons qui nous mont en haut." but, recollecting herself, she said: "Tell me the story of the grave on Calumette Island we have just JttL Her eyes were exclamation points! "Well," said the boy, breathlessly. "That's all." vr ' "What!!" ' ' "S-sh! Don't talk so loud., That's all I dan tell you. Then they j were engaged." - i "Jementaly! ' Why, how'd she know what he meant?" f "Why, she knw!". "Muet be a mind reader then." "Pshaw! She - knew from the way he acted. She's known a long time," said the miniature woman, with a wise look. f "Well, of all the fools. . And he took a prize for oratory last year, too. He ain't much like a feller I was readln' about yesterday. He went down on hi knees, so- " And the youngster flopped down on the grass with the grace of a young kangaroo, and rolled his eyes like a dying cow. "And he said, Qu-ween of my hear-rt and a lot lore stuff that I can't remember. It . s bully," he added, falling back into a lounging attitude. "juend me the book." "Pa got it," he said, indignantly. "I kep' it behind a row of books in the book case and he got a-hunting somep'n and found It and chucked it into the - fire. I don't . care. I can write a piece just as good, an get it by heart. Catoh'me a-makln such a fool of myself as that college dude." "When you have written It may I read it?" "Yes," he replied, condescendingly, "I'll let you see It. It'll be a cracker jack, you bet." "Maybe I could help you write It," she suggested, humbly. Oh, I sha'n't need any help,'" he "I d-don't you think I er that is." said, complacently. "I know Just how it ought to go." "Grown people are so commonplace," she sighed. . "Do you suppose we'll ever be like that?" "Land, no!" said he. as he slouched back to his book. "If I thought I'd ever be such a fool as that feller; I'd trade myself off for a dog and then shoot the dog." A mocking bird, drunk with moon light and dew, was careering from tree to tree,, singing madly, and send ing showers of pink petals down on a couple who were ; wandering through the orchard. ' Her hair was a golden tangle, and the soft folds of her gown fell with studied carelessness from' her ivory throat. His manner, was the manner of a young, man deeply, devotedly In love with the dearest girl in the world. From his high, shining collar to his polished shoes, all . was Immaculate, Irreproachable. Not a hair on his glossy head was out of pRtce. They were silent. He, because his tongue refused to speak the words that were clamoring for utterance. She, because she ; was sorry for him. It was not maiden shyness that lurked behind her demure face and down cast lids but pure perplexity. No master of diplomacy ever faced a mors delicate issue than that which con- fronted her. "It's exactly eight years since Uncle John asked Aunt Lucy to marry him," she said at length. "It was In apple blossom time, and the mocking . bird was singing in the moonlight. The odor and the song always bring it back to me." 4, "By Jove! Eight years -" Hs was struck speechless by the contem plation of so much bliss. "Do you remember how we laughed over the proposal? By the way, you never showed me the "one that you talked of writing." "I never wrote it,", he said, with a grin that was almost a grimace. Then with a tremendous effort, "I d-don't you think I er, that is, w-we could d-dispense with anything of that sort, Lucy?" The situation for the next several moments did not admit of connected conversation, but as they strolled to wards the honee a, little later, h said, with an arch look, "We've grown up quite as commonplace as the re3t of the world, after all, haven't we?" "Commonplace!" he ejaculated, f vently. "Well, if this is common place. I Another pause, a lengthy one. "Do you remember wondering . why the mocking bird rioted among ths apple blossoms and sang like a mad thing?" he asked, solemnly, after a little. "I know now. If I could do the same it wouldn't begin to express my feelings." When, after several pauf es, they finally reached the lilac hedge, the young man startled the nestling , rob ins with a, sudden guffaw of laughter. L With his mind's eye he saw a lanky boy on his knees in the grass beyond the hedge. ; "A half-grown cub of a boy U sev era! kinds of an idiot," he said.