The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, August 26, 1906, PART FOUR, Page 47, Image 47

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    THE- SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, AUGUST 26, 1906.
47
CHAPTER III.
m EXT morning Mr. Mima aecompa-
1 nied Feta for a mile on his route,
' and then shook bands and went his
own way and the boy peddler was fairly
afloat.
He was not a forward boy, and he had
felt all along that it would he almost too
much for him to face people and answer
their many questions. As he approached
his first farmhouse he found himself
afraid to go In, and he had passed It by
20 rods when he came upon the owner,
who, was repairing a fence by the road
side. There was no passing him, because
he called out:
"Hello, boy, which way you traveling?"
"To Janeavllle," was the reply.
"What you got In your trunk?"
"Yankee notions."
"Then you are a peddler, eh?"
"I have Just started out."
"Is that so? You are the youngest ped
dler I ever saw. Did you stop at the
house?"
"N-no. sir."
"I see how It was," said the farmer.
with a laugh. "You are a bit afraid yet.
Come along in with me. Mother was say
lng this . morning that she needed some
pins and needles. Nobody here Is going
to bite you." i
Pete not only made a sale of BO cents'
worth on notions, but the farmer and his
wife were so kind and Jolly that he made
up his mind not to be afraid at the next
house.
He had been told to begin at once to
ask about the lOBt trunk, and he Inquired
In a careless way if any stranger had
ever left a hair trunk there with a brass
star on the cover. He was answered In
the negative.
The Way Bob and Billy
THI9 Summer, when it came time for
Father's vacation, he was pretty
tired, and he said he wanted to get
off somewhere with Just Mother, and not
be bothered with us boys. I suppose we
do make a little racket sometimes.
Well, there wasn't a handy place to
send us, so I said to Mother: "You and
Father Just go along up country, and
Billy and I'll keep house for ourselves.
I can make coffee, so we can get our own
breakfasts, and Gram Carpenter will get
us lunches and dinners, and we'll get on
fine."
"I don't know as I dare trust you,"
Mother said.
"Pooh!' We're trustable, all right. You'll
seel"
Well, she gave im . about one square
mile of Instructions how to lock the
doors at night and wind the clock and
fasten the windows and sweep and dust
in the three rooms we would use while
they were gone, and order cream and
eggs and butter from the bakery and
bread from the cream no, it was Just
the other way; and to cook only on the
gas stove and not to carry matches in
our pockets, and, well, there were a mil
lion more things. I'd have remembered
them better if there hadn't been bo
many.
Father and Mother got off all right,
and were to stay up country for two
weeks. We were to write them a postal
card every day, and Mother left 14 all
addressed. She looked sad when she said
goodby but Billy and I we didn't feel
sad. We were in for a good time.
There wasn't anything to do the first
day but sweep and dust andeat things
over to Gram Carpenter's. She cooks
bully, and she's a good fellow. We went
fishing soon's the work was done, and
the day wore off, all right.
We forgot to lock up that night, but
we slept all right and it didn't make any
difference. Something pounding and yell
ing at our door woke us up. It was
the bakery man with the bread. The
milkman had left us some things, and
they were pretty hot standing in the sun.
It turned out to be 10 o'clock, and we
had to tumble into our clothes in a
hurry.
Billy set the table and I made the cof
fee. I put in an egg to settle it, like
Mother does, and then poured In some
hot water and let her boil. It settled all
nice enough there wasn't a ground came
out of the snout when I poured It but
it didn't come out coffee. It was nothing
but yellowish water, and the coffee wa
all cooked up In a bunch imilde the egg.
It wasn't very good, but the bread and
butter was.
We boiled some eggs, but they all boiled
out of the shell, and we decided to give
OT DECIDED TO GET VP EARLY AND CLEA.V I.IKE5 FIRV.
tartinJuiie
At the next house his sales amounted to
30 cents; at the next to 20 cents: at the
next 15. Every one had spoken kindly to
him; and he was feeling very brave when
he came to a farmhouse where the owner
came down to the gate before the boy
could open it and shouted:
nVELl, HAXTVAH, WHAT
"What do you want around here, you,
young rascal?"
"I am a peddler " of Yankee notions,"
was the answer.
up eggs and eat more of Gram Car
penter's lunches and dinners to make up.
After breakfast we washed the dishes.
They're awfully slippery when you take
them out of the hot water. I dropped a
cup, and Billy broke two plates. So we
decided to give up washing dishes. There
were heaps of clean ones, and we could
have one big Job of it before the folks
got home.
Next morning I tried to make coffee
without any egg. It came out as black
as your hat and muddy to beat the band.
Billy thought -afterward that maybe we
1 tell yoo
I Think 'its vert-
The. Doctor sy I've
oot 1h$ Hive Si
ft oT 1 c-Mit Jtnd ltd
M
oney
ought to have emptied out the old
grounds, but I don't know. Anyway, we
decided to give up coffee.
The third day we got a letter from
Mother, and then we remembered about
those old postal cards. So we sent them
three of themall at once. Bill wrote
one and - I wrote two, ai I we put the
same thing on all of them: "Everything
O. K.," so the folks wouldn't worry. .
That night we found that the beds
slept Just as well when they hadn't
been made up, so we gave up making
beds. We'd a great deal to attend to
anyway, with all the other housework.
Afgj j! it rr
''''' -
2
r .
"Well, you peddle right along, and don't
stop here. You may be a spy for a gang
of tramps or robbers' for all I know.
Hurry along with you or I'll whistle to
my dog." '
Blteer MIms had warned Pete that he
would meet with all sorts of people, and
that he was not to talk back to those
who were cranky and crusty. The boy
therefore pursued his Journey without a
word of reply, and at the next house,
after making quite a sale, he was Invited
to dinner. He was asked many ques
tions, and he had a frank and ready an
swer to all.
When night came he had made a dis
tance of 12 miles and had called at 15
houses.
This was the first time Pete ever had
trunk by the time he reached Janesville,
and upon reaching that city he had to go
DO YOU THINK!"
been outside his own village, and "aefore
a week had passed he had learned con-
slderable about human nature. He had
sold more than half the contents of his
Kept House
We found out, too, that it didn't do a
bit of good to dust. Things got dusty
right oft again', so we gave up dusting.
The same with the sweeping up it's all
foolishness. Women don't need to 6pend
half the time they do pottering round
and cleaning up. It takes a man to find
out what is really necessary.
Well, we had the housework simplified,
but the eating was getting the better of
us; . There was -a - lot of butter turned
bad and the milk and cream we left in
the bottles turned sour, and there was
a bunch of them, too, I can tell you.
So we decided to give up hutter and milk
and cream. The two weeks were most
gone when we decided to give up bread.
You see the breadbox. was piled full of
loaf-enda, and they were all getting
moldy.
We gave up winding the clock long
before this, because it reminded us how
late it was when we got up. We found
It was easiest to Just sleep till most time
for lunch, and by getting Gram Carpen
ter to give us a bite before we went to
bed we could give up breakfasts alto
gether and not feel It.
So, you see, we had our housekeeping
reduced down to locking up at night,
and we remembered to do that only twice.
It didn't make a particle of difference.
Billy and I crawled in one night near
the end of the fortnight and decided to
get up early and clean like fury before
the folks got home. Would you believe
it, when we woke up it was nearly noon
and Mother was shaking us. You may
bet we were glad to see her and Father,
but we had to apologize for the looks of
things. We explained hqv It was, and
she Just laughed and hugged us and
said:
"Never mind about the dirt. I'm ma
thankful to find you here at all. When
we came home the front door stood wide
open, and I thought you might have been
robbed and kidnaped."
. That's Just Mother's foolishness. Father
roared when he saw the way things
looked, and said . something about the
luck of the lucky.
It did seem good, though, to eat off a
clean tablecloth, and get into a clean
straight bed at night. Billy and I aren't
so sure but Mother knows more, after
all, than we do about housekeeping.
The Party.
Beth and Molly were neighbors, and
there was a high wall between their
fathers' gardens. Molly had her play
house' on one side of the wall and Beth
had her's on the other side. Molly's
house was full of pretty pink dishes,
and Beth had a little stove, with ket
tles and saucepans.
"I ll be Bridget, the cook," said Beth,
"and you be Mrs. Spreadeagle, and give
a party."
"Oh, yes," said Molly, arranging her
cups and saucers.
"And you must call through the dumb
waiter," went on Beth, "and say,
"Bridget, make some tooty-frooty cream
and a charlotte ruche immediately.' "
"I'll be the dumb waiter anH nam
Kover your things," said Jack, seating
nimsen on me waiL
"All right," said Molly. "Oh, Bridg
et." she shouted, "make some two-footed
cream."
"Yes, mum," answered Bridget, put
ting a cake In her little basket She
handed the basket to Jack, and Jack
handed it to Molly.
But alas! When Mrs. Spreadeagle
looked into the baskec it was empty,
and on top of the wall sat the dumb
waiter, munching the cake.
Naughty Jack was a little ashamed.
"Your cream must have melted, mum,"
he suggested. "Better try again."
So they sent Up the basket again,
and this time it brought down three
enormous red and yellow apples from
Jack's big pockets.
So Mrs. Spreadeagle, Bridget and the
dumb waiter Bat down together, and a
Jollier party never was seen.
Mending- Day.
Everybody's Magazine.
How quickly children's clothes win rip and
tear!
Each time I put off mending till so late,
I re'llze that a family of eight
Can give & loving mother lota of care.
If more get born I really do declare
I'll put 'em Into bed and make 'em wait.
Darning, aewlng from early morn till la.te
But there la not a child that I would spare.
Brothere borrowed three that he pretends
are dead.
But I won't even think of auch a thin'!
And yet-at mending time I've often said
I almost wlahed though p'rapa it is a sin
That God had sent some paper-dolls lnstoa.
Whose dotnea are only painted on their akin.
to a store to replenish his stock. He had
met good and had people as he traveled
along. Some had been kind, some indif
ferent and some had told him to take
himself along.
The boy had had a pretty good time
of it, taken altogether, and when he set
his face toward Johnsonville he was feel
ing in good spirits. He was no longer
afraid to talk to people about his goods,
and he saw that he was making a fair
profit as a peddler.
Many women told him that if he would
come along once a month they would
make some purchase, and only a few men
had spoken to him harshly.
Day by day Pete made his way back
by the other road. There were two half
days when it rained so hard- that he
could not travel, and he therefore
reached Johnsonville one day behind
Miser Mims. The old man was there
to give him welcome, and after they had
shaken hands he said:
"I suppose you have learned nothing of
the trunk? It may be a year before you
do so. In fact, I shan't blame you if
you never hear of it. Think how long
I have been searching and not the least
bit of information yet. I want you to
keep on peddling, however;- and keep on
making Inquiries. You have been some
16 days, and you are J15 ahead. That
is fair wages for a hoy of your age. I
don't know any other way you could do
as well. We will get some more goods
and then I shall send you out by another
road.
Pete was allowed one day to rest and
buy his goods, and then he was off
again. The money he had made was left
In the hands of Mr. Mlms. The boy
had come ' to have great confidence in
the man. His route led him through
farming country, same as before. He
was to tramp to a point named and then
come back on another road. It was fig
ured that it would take him 20 days to
do this.
His first five days out were without ad
venture. Then he heard something that
gave him a start. As he was selling a
farmer's wife some notions another wom
an called at the house and was ad
dressed as Aunt Mary. She paid little
attention ,to Pete, but said to the other
woman:
"Well, Hannah, what do you think?
Don't you remember that Jim Cumerford
bought an old hair trunk at an express
sale in' Milwaukee several years ago?"
"Why, yes, I think I do,' was the reply.
"It was full of clothes, but when he
got it homo they were found to be moth
eaten. He put the old trunk out in the
barn, and I guess the hens used It to
nest in for a long time."
VBut what about it,. Aunt Hannah?"
"Only this, that a feller came along
yesterday looking for such a trunk and
saying he would give ten dollars to
find it."
(To he continued.)
pTHB STORY OF,
CHAPTER 23
U (dGOf!
f I RAISE"
5a
(M0R
...
(wtth sournw cy cmpzbJ
'60XOTI03 037 CHAPTER XIV. j
"Shut Ok door, dear. I sn
Afraid of -catc&lxtc cold. sfclxa
pert-J ttts woif-
"Yea appear to be a bit hoarse .
- said Red Riding Hood.
"Tat oft your cloak and hood
and ret Into bed. that I may talk
to yo." commanded th'e wolf. And
littlsV Ending. Hood ohejnsl.
1
eS
ft
2f$U
(UrT5TK?l'
? v V
Dog's Story of the Great Earthquake
(THOUGHT I knew all about earth
quakes, for I'm a native son born a
puppy of an illustrious San Francisco
kennel and every California dog has had
his day of little shakes, when it seemed
that the earth involuntarily shivered in
its sleep as if dreaming of a flea tickling
its spinal cord.
But the April 18th quake was different.
The earth suddenly awoke. It sprang
up, leaped on its hind legs, pawed air.
TWO HAJiDS OUTSTRETCHED THROUGH THE OPEXISTO GRABBED
THE NAPE OF MY KECK.
lashed its tall, and rolled over and over.
The fit ended. I crawled out from a
heap of broken glass, brushes and combs
that had drifted Into a corner where I
had been flung from Miss Alice's bed.
At first everything blurred before my
blinking eyes, but litle by little details
took shape. Misa Alice's book shelves,
having tossed off bric-a-brac as your ear
does a fly, were leaning upon the shoulder
of a mahogany davenport; the bureau had
run' Into the middle of the room for. safe
ty. A longing for the back yard steadied my
trembling paws to action and I made for
the door. It had banged to. Where was
Miss Alice, who always anticipated her
little Skye's every need?
Suddenly I remembered; the quake had
stupefied eVen the brains of a thorough
bred. Miss Alice had not slept with
me, having gone to spend the night with
the Stafford pug's mistress. In their
fright Billy and the rest of the family
had forgotten me. I was helpless, desert
ed, trapped I, Victor Fauntleroy Smith,
whose slightest wish used to be law!
I tried to scratch down "the door,- but
I was as weak as a cat. I attempted to
call for help, but my yelp wouldn't work.
Hours dragged by before I heard steps
and voices in the hall.
"Oh, Billy." wailed Miss Alice, "I don't
hear any howls! He's been crushed to
death, my dear little Vlcl"
Not even fright could keep down & bark
The Story of
DOROTHY had come that very day to
spend part of her vacation with her
grandmother, and when, after lunch
eon, in her fresh white dress, she came
down the long: staircase, the minister
and his wife were Just being shown
into the beautiful drawing-room.
Grandmother took Dorothy in and
introduced her to the visitors. Dor
othy shook hands shyly, for the great
roorri, with its stately furnishings, and
the portraits of her ancestors looking
down at her from the white and gold
walls, always rather overpowered her.
Presently Phoebe, the maid, brought
in the tea things and some of grand
mother's famous fruit cake.
Dorothy v had equally famous seed
cakes, which Phoebe brought her on a
pink-luster plate, that had one of
Poor Richard's proverbs around the
edge.
"Silks and Satins Put Out the Kitch
en Fire," read Dorothy.
It sounded verytjueer; she longed to
experiment with it, and she touched
grandmother's black satin gown with
her hand. Grandmother looked down
at the little girl, who sat on a low
Btool near'her chair, and smiled. Dor
othy smiled back again, but grand
mother, thinking she looked tired,
said:
"You can go out in the kitchen, if
you like, dear, and ask Phoebe or cook
to show you the kittens."
So Dorothy excused herself and ran
down the hall. There was no one in
the kltohen, however, for cook and
Phoebe were down in the laundry.
There was a bright fire in the range,
and Dorothy was reminded of the
proverb.
"I don't think grandmother would
care if I brought down a few gowns
out of the closet upstairs to try with,"
she thought.
So she slipped up the back stairs, and
presently came back with her arms full
of silk and satin gowns, which she
hung around the fire.
When the callers had gone, grand
mother found a very sober and tear
stained Dorothy curled up in the win
dow seat in the library.
"What Is the - matter, deary?" she
asked anxiously, scenting home-sickness
in the air.
"I have been a very bad girl, grand
mother," sobbed Dorothy. "You know
the Franklin plates? well, mine said
that 'bout silks and satins, you know.
I tried it; I hung some of yours around
to see, and it didn't go out at all no
indeed it scorched the sleeve a little,
and I know now I ought not to have
done it without asking you. You
prob'ly won't want me to stay here any
longer, and I shouldn't think you
would."
"Oh, dear child!" said grandmother,
trying not to laugh, "did you think it
meant that? No, it means, I think, that
if you Wear better things than you can
afford, you must go without things you
really need."
"But tne scorched placet said Dor
othy. "What oloset did you g-et them
from V
"The East-room closet."
"Well, those are old ones, hunr away
there to use for patchwork, said
grandmother, "bo there is no great harm
done.'"
- But Dorothy knew better.
"It might have been, and it isn't my
fault that it isn't," she said, in a peni
at that! As for the bang I made dash
ing against the door well, it would have
given pointers to a mastiff.
But the earthquake had Jammed the
door 60 that neither Miss Alice nor Billy
could open it. Would they leave me
alone again a little dog shut in with a
big fear?
There was a whispered discussion, then
a scornful ejaculation from Billy.
"Afraid of nothing! Only give a fellow
a boost."
At that the transom over the door had
an earthquake of Its own, and the next
moment Billy's long little legs wriggled
through the opening into my room.
"Do hurry!" called Miss Alice. "You
know the house Is condemned, and may
fall 1n at any moment."
Billy pushed a table under the tran
som, and with me tucked under one arm
Jumped upon it. Two hands outstretched
through the opening grabbed me by the
nape or my neck; a tug, a choking sensa
tion, and I was on the other side of the
door in Miss Alice's dear arms.
We groped our way downstairs torn
loose from the wall and plunging toward
the front door. Out in the street the
earthquake had come through a deep
crack and twisted the side of the house,
the curb and ttxe corner lamp post.
We walked several blocks to a vacant
lot where, huddled about a couple of
mattresses and a heap of blankets, we
found the rest of the family. They all
hugged me, as on the day I came home
from the dog show.
I had recovered my nerve sufficiently
to be hungry. My imagination sniffed
the savor of Uver, a chicken wing,
mashed potatoes in gravy. Miss Alice
offered me 'a. bit of salt leather called
bacon.
Soon they said It was night, but it
wasn't, for the sky was a blaze of light.
Miss Alice explained that It was a great
fire not a library fire to stretch out in
front of on the (bear rug, but a con-fla-
Dorothy and the
tent voice, "it might have been your
bestest one."
"Yes, you can always ask, you know,"
suggested grandmother, in her gentle
voice.
"Yes, I always will after this." said
YSTANDJ
"ASKIT-
AND JJ7TEN
IT MTA5 PR fi
A LT P-
TWIT -GRPl
PLK3 THINK"
ARt 2IILY;
Dorothy, "and I will get a plate to eat
on that says something that I can un
derstand, so I won't want to try things,
for I do love to do that, grandmother."
uranamouier always iiKea co minK
ftL
THE HAPFY TRAMPS.
"We're tacky blrdav" the sparrow trams
Said to his ragged neighbor;
"Just think. If we were watbaraxav
How v would hsv to labor!"
gra-shun where flames' leaped from build
ing to building, burning up the city like
kindling wood.
The rest of the family slept on one
mattress; Miss Alice, Billy and I lay
down on the other. For a long time I
watched the sky. Would the hre reach
the Burton's Angora? Would the- Staf
ford pug make his escape? I dozed at
last -to have awful dreams of docaich
ers in red automulaavs chafing ma across
the redhot sky.
In the morning, muffled clouds of
smoko curtained the horizon, and
through them were flashes cf ligut
called spurks. We decided to move on
to the Fort Mason military reservation,
where some cf the soldiers live, at
whose heels I used to majk so gaily
when troops marched on Van Ness ave
nue. The rest of the family had a trunk.
They strapped bedding on its top, and
Billy and nis father hauled it with a
clothes line, while Miss Alice and
Billy's mother pushed. I walked be
hind. A crowd swept down the street with,
us, all carrying things. Once 1 barked
at any one witn a bundle, but I knew I
hand't enough barks to go around, so
I did not begin. Besides the trunks,
chairs, pictures and beds that people
were trundling, there were buckets
with cats, cages with canaries and par
rots. One shrieked so jftud rib' in iu my
ear that I turned tail and ran.
Then a dreadful thing happened.
When I had screwed up my courage to
pause, I could not Bee Miss Alice any
where, nor Billy, nor the rest of the
family.
I called at the top of my bark. I
pattered to the right, to the left. My
feet were four blisters my body ail
ache. My swallow wouldn't swallow.
I could only pant.
"Why doggie, are you lost?"
A strange, boy patted me, and 'al
though I generally snarled at such an
Impertinence, I gratefully licked his
hand.
"You look played out. Guess you're
one of them lapdog swells that ain't
accustomed to trotting it," he grinned.
"Hike up on the wagon; I'll give you a,
lift."
He tossed me on top of a pile of
clothes and bonnet boxes heaped on a
top wagon, and in this undignified
manner I thumped down the boulevard
I, Victor Faultleroy Smith.
When the wagon stopped and I wrig
gled off, I overheard a woman say wo
had reached Fort Mason.
For vain hours I searched for Miss
Alice. Again and again I thought I
had a clew, dashing wildly after some
man, woman or child, only to catch up
with a heartrending disappointment.
At last I dropped down exhausted.
No one noticed me at first. Then a yel
low scrubby mongrel came up, wagging
his tall. I, Victor Fauntleroy Sinitn,
the thoroughbred, wagged mine, and
in five minutes we were chums.
He had lived south of Market street,
and told thrilling tales of the fire and
his escape.
By and by his master came with a
crust of bread in his outstretched hand.
"Hello, Fido, got company for sup
per?" he said, cheerily. "We must all
be willing to divvy now, old boy." And
breaking the crust In halt, he threw
us each a piece.
It was the most delicious morsel that
I ever had eaten. Afterward, Fldo and
I were fortunate enough to get a drink
of dirty water out of an empty salmon
can. Then we snuggled up close to
gether and slept.
But the dog-catcher in the red auto
mobile again chased after me across
the sky, and I sprang up with a yelp.
Panic-stricken, I ran to the outskirts
of the campiner ground. Suddenly a
dark figure silhouetted against the
flame-swert Bky arrested my attention.
It was that of a boy with very long,
little legs, standing guard over a pot
of coffee cooking in an emergency oven.
I bounded to him; sniffed his heels:
pawed at his ankles, my heart beating1
time to my uproarious barks.
He turned with a start and a shout.
"Aunt Alice, It's Vic little Victor
Fauntleroy Smith!" '
Franklin Plates
Dorothy was like herself when she was
a little girl; so now she laughed.
"Ah.'so did I, Dorothy, w lien I was
your age," she said.
"Oh, tell me, please?" said Dorothy.
And giandmother told stories until
the bell called them into the dining
room. Dorothy ran ahead and chose a
plate, this time, which instructed her
not to pay too dear for her whistle,
which was comparatively safe.
How Kuth Filled ller Cup.
"Can I help, too, gTandma?" asked
Ruth, as she sat down in the old-fashioned
kitchen.
Grandma was making pudding 'for
company, and Hannah was stuffing a
big fat goose. Aunt Katie and mamma
were setting the long table, and every
body was busy.
"Yes, my dear, you can pick me a
cup of raisins," said grandma.
Ruth went to work with a will and
picked the raisins very fast, but some
how the cup didn't seem to get full.
Grandma looked up Just as Ruth was
putting a great Juicy raisin into her
mouth, and then she discovered the
reason.
"When you pick raisins, Ruth, you
must always whistle," said grandma,
solemnly.
"Why, grandma!" exclaimed Ruth,
"mamma says It's not well bred for
girls to whistle."
"If you whistle you can't eat, my
dear, and the cup will get full quicker;
but singing is every bit as good, and
I would like to hear you sing about
Little Jack Horner."
And wasn't it queer? When Ruth
began to sing that cup was full la a
Jiffy.