The Canadian Valley News. (Jones City, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 48, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 1904 Page: 3 of 8
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L
TICKLE
GRASS
sr
BYEON WILLIAMS
TICKLE
GRASS
BY
BTCON WILLIAMS
The Restless Man.
Cloyed with the sickening life of the
iity, weary of Its unnatural demands
upon brain and flesh. Frank Scott
turned his back upon It and as the
trucks of the speeding train beat a
monotonous grumble at their servi-
tude. he dreamed of the countrj —the
country, fresh with air redoiet \ of
health, with wild flowers bloomifcv; In
tangled wlldwoods, of gurgling brocks,
of simplicity that charms and, most
of all. quietude where he could relax
and dream.
As the train pounded along the
graveled way, he wondered if he would
ever return to the fetid mart of the
city, crazed with money-grabbing and
clothed in hypocrisy.
No, he never would. Was it not
better to grow weary ot one's self In
the country occasionally than to. burn
out on the spit of mad rivalry in the
metropolis?
He consulted his watch. It was
7:30 Wednesday evening. Far away,
out in Iowa, in the little church,
prayer meeting was in progress. He
could mentally see and hear the tes-
timony of Old Aunty Squiggs as she
told in her piping voice of her sins
and her repentance.
"And God willing I want to lead a
better life, a life closer to the Lord
Jesus. Pray for me. brethren and sis-
ters, that 1 may be steadfast in the
Ijord."
Many a time he hail heard her sup-
plication when a boy. Now her hair
was white and her voice had the quak-
ings and breaks of second childhood,
yet testified she on of the goodness of
Cod.
"After all, Is it not better so?" ho
mused, "to live simply, trusting In
divine uplifting at the end, than to
-deep in the dregs of ambition and die
In the worship of Mammon?
He could hear the wavering, drag-
Sing hymn, led by Deacon Hampton
in his sonorous voice, and then the
benediction: "And now may the Lord
watch between me and thee while wo
are absent one from another!"
"Amen!"
"And amen!"
It was daylight when Scott arrived
tn Duncombe. At the train was John-
nie. Gallup, the busman. Johnnie had
drhren the gray and the bay since
they were colts. Now they were old
and stiff, hoary hairs standing about
their deep sunken eyes
At the hotel "Colonel" Johnson had
a familiar look that somehow im-
pressed Scott as pathetic.
And the stores! There was little
change since he left, except that they
seemed squatted and shoddy.
The faces were for the most part
familiar. Indeed Scott recognized
Grandad Wilson's long tailed coat,
once black, now yellow, but still Im-
parting something of dignity to its
wearer.
"Glad t' see ye! Glad t' see ye!
Oaown to New York livin, I hear!
Right smart place, I take It. Goin' t'
stay long er just makin' a flyin' visit?"
and Grandad clung to the visitor's
hand and shook it vigorously, holding
It long.
The younger men, youths when
Scott left Duncombe, seemed little
changed, and yet there was a sort of
revelation in them to Scott. They
didn't appear like this in his dreams.
Was It really that he had changed?
He went Ashing where in youth he
caught "lunkers," and managed to
catch a small crappie, a voracious
shiner and wet feet. Bathing in the
old swimming hole was impossible.
It was scarcely knee deep.
He returned to the hotel disgusted.
The evening of the third day found
him aboard the limited express, en-
thusiastically bound for the city.
"After all," he reasoned. "I sup-
pose there are worse things that
might happen a man than a residence
in the metropolis!"
Moral—If you love the country, stay
there.
& & &
The King'# Secretaries.
Within tlx- palace, grand and tall.
Three "llt-er-a-ry fellers" stay.
. Their duty 'tis to transcribe what
His "Job-lota" says and does each day.
But as he holds a sword o'er them.
'Tlx safe to gamble they are wise.
No doubt they till each day's, report
With many little milk-white Ilea!
The ordinary shoe, or sandal, is
formed of straw and leaves the big
toe bare. Stockings are worn by all.
Wide pantaloons and a long vest are
the principal articles of clothing, the
well-to-do adding a long outer coat.
On gala occasions only is the ovurcoat
worn by the middle or poorer classes.
Obeisance.
CVlthln the king's chamber, with consum-
mate graee.
You make salaams low, and then fall on
your face.
And If he should touch you, the customs
appraise
You "chesty" and honored the rest of
your days!
Love is a half holiday in a rural dell
where blue-bells bloom: hate, a visit
to the fetid shambles. Go often to the
dale, but nail tight the gateway that
leads to the place of mental carnage.
The rich are peculiar. They ride in
private cars, have private hotel suites,
private yachts and private everything,
except private lives. The newspapers
look out for that.
The bunco man who spends his sum-
mers with the summer resort farmers,
or summers near, can learn things to
his advantage professionally.
If a woman respect not her husband
she loves him not. Respect is the
foundation of love.
When I die, on the whole, I believe I
would prefer to die of dyspepsia than
starve to death.
Almost time for apple blossoms
again! Sounds Inviting, doesn't it?
This is indeed a wonderful world.
Bee the Easter hat, for Instance.
Ail About Corea.
In Corea the serpent is the object
of superstitious respect, and. instead
of killing it. the Corean feeds it as
regularly as his domestic animals.
A Corean Delicacy.
In the mountain* of Corea roam the wild
boar and the bei
It is the duly of every housewife to
keep alive the ancestral fire. This is
of great moment to the happiness of
the household. Hence every woman
has all the anxiety and responsibility
of a Vestal Virgin.
It*
Entertaining the King.
The belief in evil spirits is common
among Coreans. The number of as-
trologers and fortune-tellers through'
out the country is extraordinary.
'Twould Never Do in Corea.
In front of the palace the horseman dis-
mounts
And leadeth his steed past the king's
fine abode.
But fancy the chauffeur dismounting like
this
And leading his red-devil by in the roadj
Polygamy Is not permitted, but con*
cubinage is a recognized institution.
V*
Ah Sin the Cook.
The mandarin sat in his justice's chali
And n.pat. with a bluff, at the big splt-
toon;
Then cleared out his throat, and his clar-
ion er>
Announced to the bunch there'd be
court thi-re soon.
A coolie was led where the law's hard
eye
Couhl fasten Its glitter upon his face.
Then thundered the Justlee in Japanese:
• "What crime must ye answer fer in
this place?"
"Hi yi," cried the coolie, "Me velley bad;
"ALL 8AAJE ME AFLAID."
"M ' et-ty up Chi Yang's yellow bow-
"Me ^pe^pyr, me saltec. me tastee—Just
"All same, me alflald! Me makec ko-
tow!"
"Ten years!" growled the Justice, "fer
eatin' him up—
"I had my own eye on this very same
pup!"
lie spat on the floor and he shut
book.
And thus closed the case of Ah Sin. the
cook!
Uncertainty.
No noble so brave and no noble so true
That the kiiiR may Hot cut off hi* head.
*Ti« comforting thought In the morning to
feel
By night you may be 'mid the list of the
dead.
Women hold a very low estimate in
the public mind and count for little
in the eyes of the law. They are con-
sidered so irresponsible as not to be
held to account for their actions. They
UVe in a state of lifelong pupilage.
Supe rstitious.
Touch not the kinj with Iron hand!
Thus by the statutes you are barred.
From this dlsgrar-e the king would tly.
And for high treason you would dk
Though boils attack his liver-pad.
Appendicitis hurt him bad.
He must not feel the surgeon's knife
Though putting might prolong his life.
Thus Is the king quite proof. 1 know.
From flat-irons that his wife would
Being miserable is a habit. After a
time It becomes a companion, and la-
ter a drug. If you are miserable, you
are mentally ill and need a mental
doctor. Put away the thoughts that
shroud your face in gloom! Let the
sunshine in!
There Is little social intercourse be-
tween the men and women. Marriage
Is arranged by the heads of the fami-
lies and the two who are to wed may
never have seen each r.ther until they
meet on the marriage platform.
People worry over their money more
than others worry for it, but give me
worry number one; its more filling J
V-*>
The man who would not embrace
opportunity would grow up an old
maid were he of the feminine gender.
Why this controversy over who
wrote "Mary's Little Lamb"? Wait
until wc hear from Indiana.
The man who spends his time criti-
cising others has little opportunity for
improving his own ways.
Fame is like wine—it makes some
men foolish.
U*
A prize fighter must needs have a
strong face.
-u*
Almost time for flies again—houst
and ball.
Hide j'our nobby in your own back-
yard.
v-*
A rooster can never enter the smart
J eet.
8CYTHE A3 CHURCH ORNAMENT
Placed There to Commemorate Peas-
ants' Defense of Their Faith.
At the first night the scythe is a
strange ornament for a church, but
there is nothing Incongruous in these
curious agricultural implements as
seen in the parish church of St.
Mary's, at Horncastle, in Lincolnshire
Thirteen of these blades are nailed
above the door iu the north chapel. At
one time the blades numbered forty
or fifty, but owing to rust and decay
many of them have been lost. Each
of the scythes is about a yard in
length.
The general belief Is that these
blades were placed in the church 1n
commemoration of the zeal of peas-
ants who wielded them in defense of
their faith in the rebellion known as
"The Pilgrimage of Grace," which had
Its rise at Louth in 1536.
When the people saw the ruins of
their churches and abbeys, they rose
in revolt, and arming themselves with
the Instruments of husbandry, such
as scythes, they went forth to en-
counter the enemy.
They were beaten and dispersed,
but in the eyes of their countrymen
they were heroes, and the rude imple-
ments with which they fought were
deemed worthy of an abiding place in
the old church, where the peasants
had worshipped.—Christian Age.
"A DIAL FROM HIS POKE."
Curious Timepiece That Was Used by
Our Ancestors.
A writer In English Country Life de-
scribes a curious timepiece which a
friend of his picked "out of a deal of
old iron." It is a brass circle of about
two inches diameter. On the outer
side are eugraved letters indicating
days and the months with graduated
divisions, and on the inner side the
hours of the day. The brass circle it-
self is to be held in one position
by a ring, but there is an inner slide
in which there is a small orifice, this
slide being moved so that the hole
stands opposite the division of the
the sunbeam shining through the little
month where falls the day of which
we desire to know the time; the circle
is held up opposite the sun, the inner
circle is of course then in shade, but
orifice forms a point of light upon the
hour marked upon the inner side.
The little dial gives the hour with
great exactness. It seems probable
that this was the kind of dial alluded
to in Shakespeare's "As You Like It":
And then he drew a dial from his poke;
And looking on it with la.-k-lustr.- eye,
**8ys, very wisely. "It's 10 o'clock;
Thus may we see," quoth lie, "how the
world wags;
'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine;
And after an hour more 'twill be eleven:
And so. from hour to hour, we ripe und
rlp«*.
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and
rot.
And thereby hangs a talc." When I did
hear
The motley fool thus mora! on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer.
That fools should be so deep contempla-
Making Candles in Old Times.
From the electric light bulb to the
eandle molds is a big Jump The care-
ful housewife of eighty years ago had
Just as definite a way of making lights
as we of to-day, aud she had her
troubles, too. Though the hot tallow
did not kill it left a bad burn when,
in filling her molds, she let it drip
over the edge. The wick, which was
fastened in the bottom end of the of
the mold, had to be held in the center
with one hand, while with the other
she filled the mold with the melted tal-
low from a dipper. When the tailow
had cooled, the candles were pulled
out backward by the free ends of the
wicks.
Ar.ti-Corset League.
About sixty ladies and many more
gentlemen have joined the Anti-Corset
League at Leeds. England, which is an
offshoot of the Leeds Society of Phy-
sical Culture. The males have vow-
ed never to marr^ "corsets wrecks."
Ladies are exhorted at the peril of ex-
communication from the society, to
abandon the use of corsets entirely,
and there is a hard axd fast rule that
every woman member shall have no
restriction of bands or other tight
clothing round the waist, but shall
endeavor to have all garments sus-
pended from the shoulder-
Music and Racing.
A steeplechase mare named Fire
Island, which won at Lingfleld. would
not take her food, and her owner was
thinking of turning her out of train-
ing, when it was discovered that the
animal had a wonderful liking for
music. A musical-box, playing about
two dozen tunes, was placed near her,
and this was wound up twice a day.
The result was magical, for within a
few weeks the mare won two races.-—
London Tit-Bits
FAT MAN, FAT FARE.
System That Puts Large and Sma'l I
on an Equality.
It takes Western people to lookout j
for themselves and give every man a I
fair show, even in rapid transit, say* j
the New York Times. It is not prob-
able that in Pueblo, Colo., there is !
the trouble with overcrowding in
street cars that is to be found in New
\ork, but on the Pueblo Valley rail-
road every man pays according to his
weight. If the corpulent mine-owner
and his fur coat envelop the slim strip
of a counter-jumper sitting next him
the C. J. does not meditate with wrath
THE GIRL
HALFWAY
AT THE
HOUSE
STORY
HY E. HOUGH. At'THC
O/Jrighttd, t 03.
THE PLAIN S
THE STOHY OH Till! C O W H <
Ai*l9t0n & to m r a * r, A' e w York
upon bloated bondholders and their
monopolies, for he knows that the
bulky individual Is paying at least
twice the amount of his own fare.
That Is the way they do It on the
Pueblo Valley. Every passeuger Is
weighed, and pays according to his
avoirdupois. Before he enters the car
he steps upon a weighing machine,
his weight is automatically stamped
upon a slip of paper, which he gives
to the conductor, who charges him
accordingly. The moral effects of this
system are far-reaching, and New
York officials may take notice.
London Bullseye. ,
Lewis C. Dennett of Saco, Maine,
has a London bullseye watch, which
is nearly 200 years old.
The watch was owned by Isalh Den-
nott, grandfather of Mr. Dennett. The
watch was made by Thomas Spruce
of. IxHidon. While the watch has not
been running regularly for some time,
a jeweler said that he could repair it
so that it would keep as good time as
any watch made to-day.
There are in the inside case many
slips of paper which give the dates
that the watch has been cleaned. The
last time, according to the paper, was
In 1817, when Edward S. Moulton.
clock and watch maker of Saco, did
the work.
Gun to Have Immense Range.
A gun which will throw a projectile
flfty-nine miles, or, to be accurate,
59.117 miles, is one of the immediate
possibilities in ordnance, owing to a
system of construction devised and
now in use at Reading by J. Hamilton
Brown.
In order to convey more strikingly
to the mind what this means, it may
Cros6 Section of the Gun.
be said for illustration that a war-
ship lying off Atlantic City could
throw projectiles into the heart of
Philadelphia. Now York city could
be bombarded by a hostile fleet which
would be out of sight and out of range
of Sandy Hook's greatest guns. The
English and French coasts could be
made uninhabitable by land batteries
on either side of the English channol.
The gun needed to do this execution
would only be one of ten-inch bore,
and would throw a shot weighing 575
pounds, or a quarter of a ton.
Queer Foods.
Human nature may be the same the
world over, but tastes in matters of
cuisine vary a good deal.
For instance, in Arabia horse flesh
Is a favorite article of food.
The flesh of the elephant is partak-
en of with zest in certain parts of In-
dia.
Chinese taste, as we all know, runs
to cats, dogs, bear's paws and bird's
nests.
In the West Indies there Is a certain
large caterpillar found on the palni
tree which is reckoned a luxury of
diet, while in Java the nests of swal-
lows are considered edible.
Inhabitants of portions of Sweden,
Finland and other countries eat clay
with gusto: indeed, it is partaken of
in all countries of the torrid z me.
Cheng.
Horse's Remarkable Mane.
George O. Zlliigitt of Inglewood,
Eng., has a 10 year-old carriage mare
with a mane of silvery hair 18 feet
long, which is usually kept braided
and In a net. She has a colt a few
month old, whose mane and tail al-
ready reach the ground.
Text Book Behind the Times.
Tt will be news to Maine people to
!aarn thltt they are still under Eng-
lish domain. A text book used in an
English school says, speaking of Can-
ada : "The chief states at present are
Quebec, Maine and New Brunswick."
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Hill of Dreams.
Franklin found himself swept along
with a tide of affairs other thau his
own choosing, nis grasp on the pos-
sibilities of the earliest days of tills
new civilisation had been so full aud
shrewd that he needed now but to let
others build the house whose founda-
tion he had laid.
Yet ever a chill struck his soul as
he thought of the lost battle at the
Halfway Hotise. There was now grass
grown upon the dusty trail that once
led up to the low-oaved house. The
green and gray of Nature were shroud-
lag busily the two lonely graves of
those who had fought the frontier
and been vanquished in that night
of terror, when the old West claimed
its own. Tho Halfway House of old
was but a memory. And Mary Ellen,
the stately visitant of his sleeping or
his waking dreams, no longer might
be seen in person at the Halfway
House. Recreant, defeated, but still
refusing aid, she had gone back to
her land of flowers. It was Frank-
lin's one comfort that she had never
known into whose hands had passed—
at a price far beyond their actual
worth—the lands of the Halfway
House, which had so rapidly built up
for her a competency, which had
cleared her of poverty, only to re-
enforce her in her pride.
Under all the fantastic grimness,
all the mysticism, all the discredited
and riotous vagarlus of his insubor-
dinate soul. Franklin possessed a sav-
ing common sense; yet it was mere
freakishness which led him to accept
a vagrant impulse as the controlling
motive at the crucial moment of his
life.
To a very few men Edward Frank-
lin has admitted that ho once dream-
ed of a hill topped by a little flre,
tossed his head, and looked up in-
tently at the summit.
It was morning. The sun rose calm
and strong. The solitary figure upon
the hill sat motionless, looking out.
There might liave passed before him
a perspective of the past, the Plains
peopled with their former life; tho
oncoming of the white men from be-
low; the remnant of the passiug Latin
race, typified in the unguided giant
who, savage with savage, fought near
by, one brutal force meeting another
and both passing before one higher
and yet more strong. To this watcher
it seemed that he looked out from the
halfway point of tho nation, from the
halfway house of a nation's lrreslsl-
iblo development.
* • • • •
Franklin had taken with him
small canteen of water, but be-
thinking himself that ns of old the
young inau beseeching his dream
neither ate nor drank until he had
his desire, he poured out the water at
his side as he sat in the dark. Tho
place was covered with smnll objects,
bits of strewn shells and beads and
torn "medicine bundles"—pieces of
things once held dear in earlier minds.
He felt his hand fall by accident upou
some small object which had been
wetted by the wasted water. Later,
in the crude light of the tiny flame
which ho had kindled, this lump of
earth assumed, to his exalted fancy,
tho grim features of an Indian chief-
tain, wide-jawed, betufted, with low
brow, great mouth, nnd lock of lifo's
price hanging down the neck. All the
fearlessness, the mournfulness, tho
mysticism of the Indian face was
there. Franklin always said that he
had worked at this unconsciously,
kneading the lump between his fin-
gers, aud giving it no thought other
than that it felt cooling to his hand
and restful to his mind. Yet here,
x^A\ I I i //
■ ) y} JSJ /pfagfey
a growing self-reliance. If LTary El-
len were happy or not none might
say, yet surely she was dutiful and
kind; and gradually, with something
of the leadership she had learned in
her recent life, she slipped into prac-
tical domestic command of this quiet
but punctilious menage. By reason
of au equal executive fitness Aunt
Lucy rose in the kitchen also to full
command. The Widow Clayton found
her cousin Mary Eilen a stay and
comfort, useful and practical to a de-
gree unknown in the education of tho
Southern young lady of the time.
Of her life in the West Mary Ellen
spoke but little, though never with
harshness, and at times almost with
wiBtfulness. Her history had seemed
too full of change to be reality. For
the future she made no plans. It
seemed to her to be her fate over to
bo an alien, a looker-on. The rosea
drooped across her lattice, and tho
blue grass stood cool and soft and
deep beyond her window, and tho kind
air carried the croon of tho wooing
mocking bird; yet there persisted in
her brain the picture of a wide, gray
land, with tho sound of an urgent
wind singing in the short, tufted
grasses, and the breath of a summons
ever on tho air. Out there upon tho
Plains it had been ever morning.
Here life seemed ever sinking toward
its eventide.
This old family and the family
houso were accepted unquestioningly
by tho quiet Southern community
now. us they had ever been, as a part
of tho aristocracy of the land, and as
appurtenances thereto. The way ot
life had little change. Tho same
grooms led out the horses from the
stables, the same slow ilgures cut the
grass upon the lawn. Yet no longer
were the doors thrown open upon a
sea of light and color. Tho horses
were groomed and broken, but they
brought no great carriage of state
sweeping up the drive between the
lion-headed pillars of the gateway.
When Mrs. Clayton feebly sought to
propose brighter ways of life for the
young woman, tho latter told her gen-
tly that for her, too, life was planned
and done, the struggle over, and that
she only asked that she might rest,
and not take up again any questions
for readjustment.
"You will change after a whllo.
honey," said her protectress; but
Mary Ellen only smiled. It. was enough
to rest here in this haven, safe from
the purging seas of doubt and hope
and fear, of love and self-distrust. Let
it be settled. Let it be euded. For
her no cavalier should ever come rid1-
lng up the graveled way, nor should
lights ever set dancing again the sha-
dows in tho great dining hall over the
heads of guests assembled in her hon-
or. It was done—finished. And Mary
Ellen was not yet twenty-eight.
(To bo continued.)
On the Hill of Dreams.
Chinese musical instruments made
of reeds.
whose smoke dipped and waved and
caught him in its fold. In brief, ho
got Into saddle aud journeyed to the
Hill of Dreams.
* * • • ♦
The Hill of Dreams dominated tho
wide and level landscape over which
it had looked out through hundreds
of slow, unnoted years. From it once
rose the signal smokes of the red men,
und here it was that many a sentinel
had stood in times long before a white
face was ever seen upon the Plains.
Here on the Hill of Dreams, whenae
the eye might sweep to tho fringed
sand hills on the south, oast to the
river many miles away, and north and
west almost to the swell of tho cold
steppes that load up to the Rocky
Range, the red men had sometimes
como to lay their leaders when their
day of hunting and of war was over.
Thus tho place came to have extra-
ordinary and mysterious qualities
ascribed to it, on which account, in
times gone by, men who were rest-
less, troubled, disturbed, dissatisfied,
came thither to fast and pray.
Hither they bore the great dead. It
was upon the Hill of Dreams that bis
people burled White Calf, the last
great leader of the Plains tribes, who
fell in the combat with the not less
savage giant who came with tho white
men to hunt in the country near tho
Hill of Dreams. Since that time the
power of the Plains tribes had waned,
and they had scattered and passed
away. The swarming white men—
Visigoths, Vandals—had found out
this spot for centuries held mysteri-
ously dear to the first peoples of that
country. They tore open the graves,
scattered the childlike emblems, pick-
ed to pieces the little packages of
furs and claws, jibing at the "mcdi-
clue" which iu its time had meant so
much to the man who had left it
there.
Toward the Hill of Dreams Frank-
lin Journeyed, because It hail been
written. As he traveled over the long-
miles he scarcely noted the fields, the
fences, the flocks and herds now cling-
ing along the path of the Iron tails.
He crossed the trails of the departed
buffalo and of the vanishing cattle,
but his mind looked only forward, and
he saw these records of the past but
dimly. There, on tho Hill of Dreams,
he knew, there was answer for him,
if he sufficiently besought; thai an-
swer not yet learned In all the vary-
ing days. It seemed sure to him that
he should have a sign.
* • * • •
Franklin looked out over a deserted
and solitary land as he rode up to the
foot of the hill. There were no linger
banners of dust where the wild game
rwept by, nor did the eye catch any
line of distant horsemen. It was an-
other day. Yet, as did the candidate
of old, he left his horse at tho foot
of the hill and went up quite alone.
It was afternoon as he sat down.
The silence and solitude folded him
about, and the sun sank so fitly slow
that he hardly knew, and the solemn
night swept softly on. Then he built
a little fire. • • In the night, after
many hotlrs, he arose and lifted up
his hands. • * At the foot of the
hill the pony stopped cropping grass,
born ultimately of the travail of a
higher mind, was a man from another
time, in whoso gaze sat the prescience
of a coming day. Tho past and tho
future thus were bridged, as may be
done only by Art, the enduring, tho
uncalendarcd, the imperishable.
e * * • *
Edward Franklin, a light-hearted
man, rode homeward happily. Tho
past lay correlated, and for the future
there were no longer any wonderings.
HJs dream, devoutly sought, had giv-
en peace.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
At the Gateway.
In a certain old Southern city there
stands, as there has stood for many
generations, and will no doubt endure
for many more, a lofty mansion whose
architecture dates back to a distant
day. Wide and spacious, with lofty
stories, with deep wings and many
narrow windows, it rests far back
among tho ancient oaks, a stately
memorial of a day when gentlemen
demanded privacy and could afTord
it. From the iron pillars of the great
gateway tho white front of the house
may barely be seen through avenues
made by the trunks of the primeval
grove. The tall white columns, reach-
ing from gallery floor to roof without
pause for the second lofty floor, give
dignity to this old-time abode, which
comports well with the untrimmed
patriarchal oaks. Under these trees
there lies, even to-day, a deep blue-
grass turf which never, from the time
of Boone till now, has known the
touch of ploughshare or the tool of
any cultivation.
It was the boast of this old family
that it could afford to own a portion
of the earth and own it as it came
from the hand of Nature. Uneaught
by the whirl of things, undisturbed
esi utially even by the tide of the
civil war. this branch of an old South-
ern family had lived on in station un-
affected, though with fortune perhaps
impaired as bad been those of many
Southern families, including all the
Beauchamp line.
To this strong haven of refuge had
come Mary Ellen Beauchamp from
the far-off Western plains, after the
death of her other relatives in that
venture so ill-starred. The white-
haired old widow who now represent-
ed the head of the Clayton family—
her kin somewhat removed, but none
the less her "cousins." after the com-
prehensive Southern fashion—had
taken Mary Ellen to her bosom, up
braiding her for ever dreaming of
going Into tho barbarian West, und
listening but little to the plea of the
girl that poverty had driven her to I
the company of those who, like her-
self, were poor. Now, such had been
the turn of the wheel, the girl was
nearly as rich in money as her older
relativo. and able to asuroe what lit-
tle of racial position there remained
in her wwldtlon.
Mary Ellen was now well past
twenty-seven. a tall, matured, and
somewhat sad-faced woman, upon her
brow written something of the sor-
rows and uncertainties of the home-
less woman, as well as the record of
JAPS GIVEN TO ATHLETICS.
From Early Infancy They are Train
ed to Develop Their Muscles.
Considering their size the Japanese
aro undoubtedly tho strongest people
In tho world. Time and again iheso
little brown men have demonstrated
their ability to endure fatigues that
would break down the most sinewy
Europeans. In any Japanese town
one cannot walk far without being
confronted by athlotlcs in one form or
another. In the streets you can rare-
ly escape the painted and gaudily
dressed tots who turn baby hand-
springs, execute BomersSults and do
other infantile stunts in a wheedling
effort to secure tho "hairy foreigner's"
wealth. A Japanese matsuri were not
the fair It purports without tho be-
spangled tight-rope performance, the
bamboo ladder climbing youngsters,
the wrestlers, tumblers, spearsmon or
fencers.
So deeply rooted is tho native love
for the strenuous life that the na-
tional sports of other lands have been
tried in Japan. Tho mikado, with
many of the imperial family, attends
tho annual spring races in Yokohama,
iiut nothing in tho line of imported
sports so appeals to the Japanese as
cycling and baseball. Cycling clubs
are scattered all over the empire,
thousands ot Americau bicycles spin
across the Island and tho foreigners
experience difficulty In keeping oven a
few of the records and trophies out
of native hands.
The Toklo baseball team Is an effi-
cient organization aud it frequently
drubs th® teams from other ports and
cities. At tho Yokohama cricket
grounds excellent and sharply con-
tested games may be v,; . ess- I occa-
sionally between the Toklo native
team and the Yokohama foreign or*
ganization.
Ancient Jewels.
Some of the most remarkable Egyp-
tian jewelry ever discovered has re-
cently been unearthed. The date as-
signed is as remote as 5000 B. C., but
the workmanship in gold and jewels is
marvelous. In exploring the tomb of
King Zer it was found that the tomb
had been entered for robbery at some
remote period and that the plunderers
had broken off the arm of the mummy
queen and hidden it iu a crevice in lh<*
wall—perhaps tin being discovered or
alarmed—and had not returned to re-
move It.
On taking off the wrappings Prof.
Petrie found four magnificent brace-
lets of gold, with amethyst, turquoise
and laplslazuli In varied and elegant
adjustments. The gold work was pe-
culiarly fine and delicate, though the
metal was soft and pure, apparently
with no hardening alloy. The stones
were beautiful and very strikingly and
peculiarly arranged.
Several amethyst, beads of the rich-
est and deepest purple, about a quar-
ter of an inch in diameter, are in the
possession of Edward Ayer of Chica-
go. He obtained them from Dashone,
Egypt, fhey being from the treasures
in the tomb of Princcss Merit, daugh-
ter of Amenhotep II. of tho Twelfth
Dynasty,
Not Even Readin'.
Cy Warman tells a story of .Tudg®
Thomas P. Macon, a member of th®
Denver bar and a typical Southerner
of tho old school.
The writer was discussing a local
political appointment with the judge.
"Why," said he, "the man can't
read writing!"
"Writin'!" exclaimed the judge.
"He cant read readin'."—Now York
Times.
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Keyes, Chester A. The Canadian Valley News. (Jones City, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 48, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 1904, newspaper, April 15, 1904; Jones, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc87655/m1/3/: accessed March 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.