Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 1909)
by Meiwmth^u NtCHOYSON « ILLUzSTRAZIom 3Y RAY WALTERS tOPV/tKur 1907 BV BOBBS -/t£Pf?K l CCX SYNOPSIS. Miss Patricia Holbrook an<l Miss Helen Holbrook, h*r niece, were entrusted to the tare of Laura nee Donovan, a writer, summering near Port Annandale. Miss .Patricia confided t<> Donovan that sue •feared her brother Henry, who. ruined by a bank failure, had constantly threatened her for money from his father s win, or which Miss Patriot a was guardian they came to Port Annandale to escape Henry. Donovan sympathized with the two women. He learned of Miss Helens an .noying suitor. Donovan discovered ana captured an intruder, who proved to ne Reginald Gillespie, suitor for the hand or Miss Helen Holbrook. Gillespie disap peared the following morning. A rougn isailor appeared and was . ordered away Donovan saw Miss Holbrook and her la ther meet on friendly terms Donovan fought an Italian assassin. He met tne man he supposed was Holbrook, but who said he was Hartridge. a canoe-maker After a short discussion Donovan ieu surlily. Gillespie was discovered by Don ovan presenting a country church with $1,000. Gillespie admitted he knew of Hol brook's presence. Miss Pat acknowledged to Donovan that Miss Helen had been missing for a few hours. While riding In a launch, the Italian sailor attempted to molest the trio, but failed. Miss J^at announced her intention of fighting Henr Holbrook and not seeking another hiding ;place. Donovan met Helen in garden at night. CHAPTER VIII.—Continued. “An interest in geography, shall we call it?” she chaffed, gayly. “Or astronomy! We will assume that we are both looking for the Little Dippetv” "Good!” she returned on my own note. “Between the affairs of the Hol brooks and your evening Dipper hunt you are a busy man, Mr. Donovan.” “I am not half so busy as you are, Miss Holbrook! It must tax you se verely to maintain both sides of the barricade at the same time,” I ven tured boldly. “That does require some ingenuity,” she replied, musingly, “but I am a very flexible character.” “But what will bend will break—you may carry the game too far.” “Oh, are you tired of it already?” “Not a bit of it; but I should like to make this stipulation with you: That as you and I seem to be pitted against each other In this little con test, we shall fight It all out behind Miss Pat's back. I prefer that she shouldn't know what a—” and I hes itated. "Oh. give me a name, won’t you?” she pleaded, mockingly. “What a beautiful deceiver you are!” "Splendid! We will agree that I am a deceiver!” "If it gives you pleasure! You are welcome to all the joy you can get out of it!” "Please don't be hitter! Let us play fair, and not stoop to abuse.” "I should think you would feel con trite enough after that ugly business of this afternoon. Y;ou didn't appear to be even annoyed by that Italian's effort to smash the launch.” She was silent for an instant; I heard her breath come and go quickly; when she responded with what seemed j a forced lightness: “You really think that was inspired by—” she suddenly appeared at a loss. "By Henry Holbrook, as you know well enough. And W Miss Pat should be murdered through his enmity, don’t you see that your position in the mat- i ter would be difficult to explain? Mur- j der, my dear young woman, is not j looked upon complacently, even in this remote corner of the world!” “You seem given to the use of strong language, Mr. Donovan. Let us drop the calling of names and consider just where you put me.” “I don't put you at all; you have taken your own stand. But I will say that I was surprised, not to say pained, to find that you played the i eavesdropper the very hour you came | to Annandale.” A moment’s silence; the water mur mured in the reeds below; an owl hooted in the Glenarm wood! a rest less bird chirped from its perch in a maple overhead. "Oh, to be sure!” she said at last. “You thought I was listening while Aunt Pat unfolded the dark history of the Holbrooks." "I knew it, thoug^ I tried to be lieve I was mistaken. But when I saw you there on Tippecanoe creek, meeting your father at the canoe-ma ker's house, I was astounded; I did not know that depravity could go so far." “My poor, unhappy, unfortunate fa ther!” she said in a low voice; there was almost a moan in it. “I suppose you defend your conduct on the ground of filial duty,” I sug gested, finding it difficult to be severe. “Why shouldn't I? Who are you to judge our affairs? We are the unhap piest family that ever lived; but I should like you to know that it was not by my wish that you were brought into our councils. There is more in all this than appears!” “There is nothing in it but Miss Pat —her security, her peace, her happi ness. I am pledged to her, and the rest of you are nothing to me. But you may tell your father that I have been in rows before and that I propose to stand by the guns.” “I shall deliver your message. Mr. Donovan; and I give you my father’s Thanks for it,” she mocked. “Your father calls you Rosalind before strangers!” I remarked. I “Yes. It’s a fancy of his,” she mur ; mured, lingeringly. “Sometimes it’s ; Viola, or Perdita, but, as I think of it, ; it's oftener Rosalind. I hope you don’t l object, Mr. Donovan ?” i “No, I rather like it; it’s in keeping with your variable character. You seem prone, like Rosalind, to wood land wandering. I dare say the other people of the cast will appear in due season. So far I have seen only the Fool.” “The Fool? Oh, yes; there was Touchstone, wasn’t there?” “I believe it is admitted that there was.” She laughed; I felt that we were bound to get on better, now that we understood each other. “You are rather proud of your at "It It a Bargain?” tainments, aren't you? I have really read the play, Mr. Donovan; I have even seen it acted/’ “I did not mean to reflect on your intelligence, which is acute enough; or on your attainments, which are suf ficient; or on your experience of life, “Well spoken! i really believe that I am liking you better all the time, Mr. Donovan.” “My heart is swollen with gratitude. You heard my talk with your father at his cottage last night. And then you flew back to Miss Pat and played the hypocrite with the artlessness of Rosa lind—the real Rosalind." “Did I? Then I'm as clever as I am wicked. You, no doubt, are as wise as you are good.” She folded her ams with a quick movement, the better, I thought, to express satisfaction with her own share of the talk; then her manner changed abruptly. She rested her hands on the back of the bench and bent toward me. “My father dealt very generously with you. You were an intruder. He was well within his rights in capturing you. And. more than that, yon drew to our place some enemies of your own who may yet do us grave injury.” “They were no enemies of mine! Didn't you hear me debating that mat ter with your father? They were his enemies and they pounced on me by mistake. It’s not their fault that they didn’t kill me!” “That's a likely story. That little creek is the quietest place in the world.” “How do you know?” I demanded, bending closer toward her. “Because my father tells me so! That was the reason he chose it.” “He wanted a place to hide when the cities became too hot for him. I advise you. Miss Holbrook, in view of all that has happened, and if you have any sense of decency left, to keep away from there.” “And I suggest to you, Mr. Donovan, that your devotion to my aunt does not require you to pursue my father. You do well to remember that a stran ger thrusting himself into the arfairs of a family he does not know puts him self in a very bad light.” “I am not asking your admiration. Miss Holbrook.” “You may save yourself the trou ble!” she flashed; and then laughed out merrily. “Let us not be so ab surd! We are quarreling like two school children over an apple. It’s really a pleasure to meet you in this unconventional fashion, but we must be amiable. Our affairs will -not be settled by words—I am sure of that. I must beg of you, the next time you come forth at night, to wear your cloak and dagger. The stage setting is fair enough; and the players should dress their parts becomingly. I am already named Rosalind—at night; Aunt Pat we will call the Duchess in exile; and we were speaking a mo ment ago of the Fool. Well, yes; there was a Fool.” “I might take the part myself, if Gillespie were not already cast for it.” ‘‘Gillespie?” she said, wonderingly; then added at once, as though memory had prompted her: ‘To be sure, there is Gillespie.” “There is certainly Gillespie. Per haps you would liefer call him Or lando?” I ventured. “Let me see," she pondered, bending her head; then: “O, that’s a brave man! He writes brave verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths and breaks them bravely, quite traverse, athwart the heart of his lover; as a puisny tilter, that spurs his horse but on one side, breaks his staff like a noble goose; bui. all’s brave that youth mounts and folly guides.’” “That is Celia’s speech, but well rendered. Let us consider that you are Rosalind, Celia, Viola and Ariel all in one. And I shall be those im mortal villains of old tragedy—first, second and third murtherer; or, if it; suit you better, let me be Iago for honesty; Othello for great adventures; Hamlet for gloom; Shylock for relent lessness, and Romeo for love-sick ness.” Again she bent her head; then draw ing a little away and clasping her, hands, she quoted: “‘Come, woo me, I woo me; for now I am in a holiday ] humour and like enough to consent. What would you say to me now, an I were your very, very Rosalind?’” I stammered a moment, dimly re calling Orlando's reply in the play. I did not know whether she were dar ing me; and this was certainly not the girl’s mood as we had met at St. Aga tha's. My heart leaped and the blood tingled in my finger-tips as memory searched out the long-forgotten scene; and suddenly I threw at her the line: “ ‘How if the kiss be denied?’” She shrugged her shoulders. "The rehearsal has gone far enough. Let us come back to earth again.” But this, somehow, w-as not so easy. Far across the lake a heavy train rumbled, and its engine blew a long blast for Annandale. I felt at that in stant the unreality of the day’s events, with their culmination in this strange interview on the height above the lake. Never, I thought, had man par leyed with woman on so extraordinary a business. In the brief silence, while the whistle’s echoes rang round the shore, I drew away from the bench that had stood like a barricade be tween us and walked toward her. I did not believe in her; she had flaunted her shameful trickery in my face; and yet I felt her spell upon me as through the dusk I realized anew her ’splendid height, the faint dis closure of her noble head and felt the glory of her dark eyes. She did not draw' away, but stood quietly, with her head uplifted, a light scarf caught about her shoulders, and on her head a round sailor's cap, tipped away from her face. “You must go back; I must see you safely to St. Agatha’s,” I said. She turned, drawing the scarf close under her throat with a quick gesture, as though about to go. She laughed with more honest glee than I had known in her before, and I forgot her duplicity, forgot the bold game she was playing, and the consequences to which it must lead; my pulses bounded when a bit of her scarf touched my hand as she flung a loose end over her shoulder. “My dear Mr. Donovan, you propose the impossible! We are foes, you must remember, and I cannot accept your escort.” “But I have a guard about the house; you are likely to get into trouble if you try to pass through. I must ask you to remember our pledge, that you are not to vex Miss Pat unnecessarily in this affair. To rouse her in the night would only add to her alarm. She has had enough to worry her al ready. And I rather imagine,” I added, bitterly, “that you don’t propose kill ing her with your own hands.” “No; do give me credit for that!” she mocked. “But I shall not disturb your guards, and I shall not distress Aunt Pat by making a row in the gar den trying to run your pickets. I want you to stay here five minutes—count them honestly—until I have had time to get back in my own fashion. Is it a bargain?” She put out her hand as Emergency All Provided For Small Wonder Thoughtful Landlord Was Annoyed. “Gypsy" Smith, the evangelist, com plained at a meeting in New York of the discomfort caused by the customs rules. “They who receive from abroad packets or heavy letters, such as at tract the eye of the customs officials, find,” said Smith, “that the American government in this matter is as lack ing as the Haytian hotelkeeper. “A gentleman, you must know, stopped at a country hotel some fiO miles from Port-au-Prince to escape one of those tropical deluges so char acteristic of Hayti. “After dinner he turned in, for there was nothing to read in the hotel, the [night had turned chilly, and there was no fire. | “He turned in, and he fell at once she turned away—her left hand. As my fingers closed upon it an instant the emerald ring touched my palm. “I should think you would not wear that ring,” I said, detaining her hand, ‘‘it is too like hers; it is as though you were plighted to her by it.” "Yes; it is like her own; she gave She choked and caught her breath sharply and her hand flew to her face. ‘‘She gave it to my mother, long ago,” she said, and ran away down the path toward the school. A bit of gravel loosened by her step slipped after her to a new resting place; then silence and the night closed upon her. I threw myself upon the bench and waited, marveling at her. If I had not touched her hand; if I had not heard her voice; if, more than all, I had not talked with her of her father, of Miss Pat, of intimate things which no one else could have known, I should not have believed that I had seen Helen Holbrook face to face. CHAPTER IX. The Lights on St. Agatha’s Pier. On my way home through St. Aga tha’s I stopped to question the two guards. They had heard nothing, had seen nothing. How that girl had passed them I did not know. I scanned the main building, where she and Miss Pat had two rooms, with an interven ing sitting room, but all was dark. Miss Helen Holbrook was undeniably a resourceful young woman of charm and wit, and I went on to Glenarm House with a new respect for her cleverness. I was abroad early the next morn ing. retracing my steps through St. Agatha's to the stone bench on the bluff with a vague notion of confirming my memory of the night by actual con tact with visible, tangible things. The lake twinkled in the sunlight, the sky overhead was a flawless sweep of blue, and the foliage shone from the deluge of the early night. But in the soft mold of the path the prints of a woman's shoe were unmistakable. I beat down and examined them; I measured them —ungraciously, indefensibly, guiltily —with my hand, and rose convinced that the neat outlines spoke of a modish bootmaker, and were not apt to be ex plained away as marking the lightly limned step of a fairy or the gold sandaled flight of Diana. Then I de scended to St. Agatha’s and found Miss Pat and Helen loitering tranquil ly in the garden. They gave me good morning—Miss Pat calm and gracious, and Helen in the spirit of the morning itself, smil ing, cool, and arguing 'or peace. De ception, as a social accomplishment, she had undoubtedly carried far; and I was hard put to hold up my end of the game. I have practiced lying with pastmasters in the art—the bazar keepers of Cairo, horse dealers in Moscow and rug brokers in Teheran; but I dipped my colors to this amazing girl. “I’m afraid that we are making our selves a nuisance to you,” said Miss Pat. “I heard the watchmen patroling the walks Isst night.” “Yes; it was quite feudal!” Helen broke in. “I felt that we were back at least aj far as the eleventh cen tury. The splash of water—which you can hear when the lake is rough— must be quite like the lap of water ii* a moat. But I did not hear the clank of arms.” “No,” I observed, dryly. “Ijima wears blue serge and carries a gun that would shoot clear through a cru sader. The gardener is a Scotchman, and his dialect would kill a horse.” Miss Pat paused behind us to de liberate upon a new species of holly hock whose minarets ro3e level with her kind, gentle eyes. Something had been in my mind, and I took thi3 op portunity to speak to Helen. “Why don't you avert danger and avoid an ugly casastrophe by confess ing to Miss Pat that your duty and sympathy lie with your father? It would save a lot of trouble in tha end.” The flame leaped into Helen's face as she turned to me. "I don’t know what you met.n! I have never been spoken to by any one so outrageously!” She glanced hur riedly over her shoulder. "My position is hard enough; it is difficult enough, without this. I thought you wished to help us.” I stared at her; she was difting out of my reckoning, and leading me into uncharted seas. CTO BE CONTINUED.) into a deep, delightful sleep. Then he awoke dripping. The downpour was leaking through the palmetto roof onto his bed. ‘‘Shivering, he reached out his wet arm and rang. “The pad of bare feet approached. ‘What's wanted?’ snarled the land lord. “ ‘You must prepare me another room,’ said the guest ‘The rain is leaking in here in buckets.’ “ ‘And is that what you wake me for at this time of night?’ the landlord roared. ‘If you’d thought to look, you’d have found an umbrella under the bed; Use it, man!’ ” Uncle Allen. “I've noticed,” remarked Uncle Allen Sparks, “that the fellow who really swearB off from his bad habits doesn't go around advertising it beforehand." FIVE DAIRY COWS AND TWENTY ACRES OF CORN Fair Returns of an Illinois Tenant's' Dairy and Poultry Business Figured Out in Detail—By Arthur J. Bill. The following items of cost anil profit of a small tenant’s business for one year may be of interest, not for striking results, but as showing a fair ly clear farm account in three fea tures. Mr. Nollsch rents a part of Mr. Leigh F. Maxey's 160-acre farm in San gamon county, paying $75 per year for the house, barn, lots, orchard and gar den, covering about five acres; $5 per acre for 20 acres of pasture, and one half the corn raised on another 20 i acres. The writer understands that ' the tenant also makes money by labor outside the farm. The place is well equipped and there is much fruit of several kinds. The total expenses for the year 1908 were; rent, $175; hay bought, $70; chicken feed bought, $77; poultry supplies and lumber, $23; to tal, $345. Five cow's are kept and 1,275 pounds of butter were sold at an av erage price of 31% cents per pound, making $404.81. Three calves were sold for $27.41. Three hogs, having received for butter and calves, we have $159.97 of profit, or $32 per cow. This is a little more than the average' income of the best one-fourth of the dairy cows of Illinois, as figured out by the state experiment station from the full year’s record of 554 cows inj 36 herds. Rut strictly speaking, a part of this $32 should be credited to the work of butter making, and again the cows should be credited with the skim milk fed to the pigs and with the miik used by the family. In thus considering the dairy business alone, it should be remembered that, on the crop side, the farmer made, in addi-. tion to the above cow returns, what ever profit there is in raising the high priced corn of last year. The 650 bushels at 70 cents would be worth $455. The total income from the poultry was seen to be $304.67. The tenant's full estimate for their keep was $124. 52, plus $23 for supplies and lumber, $147.52 in all, leaving a net profit of Jacoba Irene, Queen of Illinois State Fair. milk as part of their ration, were sold at six cents per pound, amounting to $40.80. Two hundred and fifty hens were kept and from these, 1,144 dozen eggs were sold at an average price of 16 cents, $183.04; chickens sold, $100.73; turkeys sold, $56.90; total of the place Plymouth Rock Cock and Hen. at $854.69, which would include the sale of $41 worth of other products than those named above. The tenant's half of the corn amounted to 650 bushels, most or all of which was fed on the place. De ducting the total money expense named, $345, from the income, $854.69, the profit is seen to be $509.69. And to get the man’s total net income for the year's work there must be added to it whatever money he earned out side of this farm. Figured in another way, Mr. Nollsch estimates that his total expense for the year was $824, leaving him a net income of $30.69, but this expense must include the family living. But to examine these accounts sep arately, Mr. Nollsch estimates that the five cows at $209.95 worth of grain and $62.30 worth of hay, a total of $272.25, or $54.45 per cow. Deducting this large feed bill from the money BARN DOORS FOR LAMB FEEDING E. A. Robs, Livingston county, Mich igan., has devised a plan for letting feeding lambs out and in a driveway without opening the large doors and unduly exposing the interior. His barn is so arranged that he does his feeding on the ground floor, there be ing no basement to the barn and the bays raised eight feet from the ground by a board floor. This gives the whole basement of a barn 36x84 feet for feed ing purposes. While doors were pro vided at one end for the sheep, it was desirable on account of partition divid ing the basement into two apart ments, to provide an opening near the main doors on the rear side of the barn. The accompanying illustrations show how our subscriber accom plished this without the necessity of teeping the large doors open and ex osing the whole interior. As indicated, the trap doors, which $193.15 from the poultry. This lum ber was for equipment that would last; several years and need not all be charged to the 1908 business. A large item of expense allowed in figuring the $509.69 of profit, but not specifically referred to there, is the corn that three work horses ate, but if they were used to earn consider able money outside of the farm, only a part of their expense should be charged to the farm. This account, though not exact and complete in ev ery item, throws much light on the total income and the seperate sources of income from this little place. Cowpeas Useful Crop. It is a well-established agricultural fact that cowpeas are a very useful crop in a system of rotation for soil improvements. The cowpeas, like the clover and other legumes, is a nitro gen gatherer, and has the power of extracting free nitrogen from the at mosphere. and fixing it as nitrates in the soil through bacteria which grow in the nodules on its rooas. Also, the large fleshy roots of the plants pene trate and loosen up heavy soils, im proving their physical nature and making them more easily cultivated and more retentive of moisture. The crop will grow on thin land without manuring or inoculation, which is not true for clover and alfalfa, making the crop valuable for building up this land where the use of other legumes would be out of the question. Cement Promotes Thrift. Cement is a promoter of thrift. It is so easy to work that the farmer and his help can utilize their spare hours doing a little at a time. For example, they can start with a small feed floor in the barnyard, then add a walk to the barn, then to the well, then con tinue it to the house, then around it, etc. Care of Plow. Now that the plowing is all done, wipe off all dirt from wood and iron work. Give a good coating of oil to the metal parts next spring so there will be no delay in getting the plows to scour. are three feet high and six feet long, are hung on specially made hinges and fastened at each end by small push bars. When the large sliding doors are drawn together and secure ly fastened, there is no difficulty of handling the secondary doors. During the day the doors are raised but when desired can be lowered and everything made as snug as one pleases. This plan has been worked for two years with very satisfactory results. Use Attractive Packages. In supplying either milk, cream or butter to the trade, use the most ap proved and attractive packages. There are many good ones now on the mar ket. Ill fitting collars and accumulations of dirt on collars are principal causet of horses having sore shoulders. MAY BE BRITISH ENVOY Sir Maurice De Bunsen Spoken of as New Ambassador to the United States. New York.—Sir Maurice De Bunsen. British ambassador at Madrid, who. according to a report received in Lon don from the Spanish capital, may succeed Ambassador Bryce as Great Britain’s representative, at Washing ton, will, if he comes to the United States, return to the scene of his first Sir Maurice De Bunsen. experience in the diplomatic service. Sir Maurice began the career in which He has rapidly risen as an attache at Washington in 1878, and while of Ger man origin, may be said to owe the start of the fortunes of his house to America. His grandfather, the first Bunsen, having served as private tu tor to young William B. Astor, son of John Jacob Astor, who laid the foun dation of the great wealth of the pres ent Astor family, was given his start in life through that connection. Sir Maurice served as secretary of legation at Tokyo, consul general in Siam, secretary of the British em bassy at Constantinople, secretary of embassy and minister plenipotentiary at Paris and ambassador at Lisbon be fore going to Madrid as ambassador in 1906. He has an independent fortune. CLAY STATUE IS DESIGNED Chicagoan Makes a Shaft of the Great Statesman to Be Unveiled Next April. Chicago.—A statue of Henry Clay for the mounment erected at Lexing ton, Ky., 50 years ago, has been de signed by Charles J. Mulligan, the Chi cago sculptor. It will be set in place April 12, the birthday anniversary of the statesman. The original was designed by an English architect, but a year ago light ning struck the statue, which was 16 feet high, surmounting a shaft of 125 feet, and the head fell to the ground. The c>ay Statue. This was not greatly damaged, and it was used as a measurement for the new statue, which Mr. Mulligan has recently made. An appropriation of $10,000 was made by the state of Kentucky for the Jew statue. Making the Connection. An enterprising Scotch liquor deal er offered a prize for the best answer to a conundrum: “Why is my whisky like the bridge of Ayr?” A boy sent in, “Because it leads to the poor house,” and the unprejudiced umpires gave him the prize. With even readier wit a Yankee saw the connection in a kindred case. At a certain railway station an anx ious man came to the door of the bag gage car and said: “Is there any thing for me?" After some search among boxes and trunks, the baggage master dragged out a demijohn of whisky. “Anything more?” asked the man. “Yes,” said the baggage man, “here's a grave stone. There's no name on it, hut it ought to go with that liquor.”—Youth’s Companion. The Little Darling. Little Willie was missed by hie mother one day for some time, and when he reappeared she asked: “Where have you been, my pet?” “Playing postman." replied her “pet.” “I gave a letter to all the houses In our block. Real letters, too.” “Where on earth did you get them?' questioned his mother, in amazement. “They were those old ones in your wardrobe drawer, tied up with rib bon,” was the innocent reply. Sarcasm Extraordinary. “My opponent,” thundered the can didate for Little Plumpfleld-on-the Marsh, “has called himself a man of ense. I tell you, gentlemen, that if hat man's brain was to be placed tin ier a thimble, it would feel like % dlackbeetle on the floor of Albert hall.”—Loudon Tit-Bits.