Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (May 22, 1908)
e-"-ee-e4 BY MISADVENTURE :BY FRANK BARRETT CHAPTER XIV. The young man bent his head and look ed on the ground. He couldn't stand chaff; but he had to make the best of it now perhaps consoling himself with the reflection that be would not stand it after their marriage. I can Imagine him promising himself to break her in and bring her to meek submission in the fu ture. Pity those poor souls who marry a bully they have teased beforehand ! "I think this is scarcely a time for badinage," said he, after a pause, still looking upon the ground and tracing the pattern of the carpet with the lash of his whip. "1 know I am not perfect; but you must admit that allowances should be made for a fellow under the influence of of emotion." "I am willing to admit that a man under that condition is not responsible for his actions is that enough?" "If you admit that, what am I to un derstand by your present attitude? You seem to forget what took place before I went away." "But I do not. Tou made me as offer of marriage ; but am I .wrong in thinking that you made that under the .influence of emotion? I absolve you from respon sibility for action under that condit.on. May I not suppose that you were beside yourself when you made that proposal, and overlook the mistake aa readily as that you have committed since?" "It was not a mistake, Gertrude 1 loved you then as I love you now ; I have oome here this afternoon to ask you again if you will have me, faulty as I am yet an honest fellow and be my wife." Nurse Gertrude was not greatly moved with this speech, which had very little appearance of depth and sincerity Is it, despite the quavering of that manly voice. "May I ask why you have thought it necessary to ask me a second timer' she asked, trying to fix his shifty eyes, and learn the truth from them. "Well, your manner seems to imply that you consider the engagement broken off." "I did think It broken off. Had I not reason to think so?" "Oh, yes ; the way I epoke to you and little La ure was unpardonable." He paused and looked down again to escape from her fathoming eyes. He had probably thought that there would be lit tle difficulty in bis way, and that he could just reconcile Gertrude,, if she should re sent his silence, with a few words or a kiss or two, and without going into any mora vexatious explanation than a mere avowal of manly weakness under trying circumstances. Dr. Awdrey had told him to confess the truth, and conceal nothing, adding that a woman would forgive the man she loves anything except duplicity. But Lynn, In his own conceited, pig headed way, had fully relied on his own cleverness ; his contempt for women In general disposed him to tell them no more than was necessary. He would rather have avoided an explanation which, though it presented a certain attraction in being untruthful, would require a good deal of bolstering up to support his as sumption of honesty and generosity. How ever, he had bungled so disastrously In his own attempt, that he saw no escape from his dilemma but by acting now on Awdrey's suggestion. "The fact is," said he, changing his tone with a slash at his leg, "I was pur posely brutal to little Laure and you. I wished you to take offense and relieve me from the engagement." "That is what I thought it was the only construction I could put upon your behavior," said she. "I dare say you wonder what my rea son was. I will tell you. I can't conceal the truth, and I know well enough that there's nothing a loving woman will not forgive, except duplicity." A new warmth glowed in Gertrude's heart. She liked those words; they were good and true it never struck her that they might be Dr. Awdrey's. "I knew that through Keene's delay I was ruined that I had nothing whatever to expect from my uncle's will. I knew that I must no longer cherish the thought of making you my wife, in debt and pen niless as I was, and but there, you can Imagine the rest." "You wanted to give me the opportu nity of breaking the engagement, before it might appear that pur separation was due to mercenary considerations on my part. Oh, that was generous !" exclaimed Nurse Gertrude, carried away by her own impul sive and generous recognition of an un selfish nay, a chivalrous motive on his part. All my warning was forgotten in an instant. "I did not want to tell you this," he aid, In a tone that seemed to disclaim any merit to gratitude. "But you wronged me, Lynn," she said gently "you wronged me, to think I might wish to break the engagement be cause you were less rich than you ex pected to be when you made me an offer." She held out her hand to him frankly, and he took it. If he had been wise enough to tell her all that had passed be tween him and Awdrey, she would have been his without doubt. In return for an open avowal, she would have swept aside my warning and all prudential con siderations, put the best construction on his motives, and scorned to, entertain any suspicion of mercenary motives which might be suggested by his conduct. Now was the time for him to spring up and xut his aims around her; but he hung back, the dolt. With that perverse idea of a girl's mental inferiority, he thought he had told her enough. Possibly he was annoyed in being forced to abandon his own way of winning her, and act upon Awdrey's more generous and manly ad vice. Perhaps, believing that she was anxious to get him, he thought he might treat her with a little indifference as a kind of punishment for her previous cool ness. There is no knowing the extent of pitiful meanness a heartless man is not capable of. Anyhow, he sat there In, al ienee, waiting for her to make a further advance. And that, giving her time for reflection, saved her. "Are you greatly in debt, Lynn?" she asked after a little consideration. "Oh, not a great deal," he replied care lessly; "a few hundreds." "And how do you propose to pay your debts?" she asked. . "That will be all right. The fellows won't press for payment. They know their only chance is to wait till I get a bit straight" "How do you mean to get straight, as you call it?" she asked, smiling. "Rang it all, Gertie !" he exclaimed pet ulantly, "let's drop this subject. I came to make love to you, not to talk about money." "Yes; but the two subjects seem to have become so Involved that we can hardly mention one without talking about the o'-'T. The best way is to detach the plensr from the unpleasant subject, and that would be most readily done by set tling the money question at once, don't you think so?" "Oh, well, if we must talk about that sort if thing, I should ask you to let me have a little money to square my ac counts, while I look about for something that would enable me, in time, to pay you back though I don't think there ought to be any debt and credit account between man and wife." "Nor I," replied she gravely. "If I marry you, all that I have will be yours, and I should be very unhappy If I thought it necessary to question how you disposed of it." "That's all right. Of course, whatever I do with the money will be for our com mon good. So that settles the thing," he said, rising from his chair. "Eight, ten months will be soon enough to settle my creditors' little bills. I'll manage them !" "But In ten months I may be as far as ever from being able to let you have the sum you need; in the meantime, you must be incurring fresh debts unless you have some definite means of earning money." "But Awdrey told me that he Intended settling the whole of the Interest on the money left by Flexmore on you for tak ing the care of the child off his hands, and quite right that he should." "I know nothing at all about that. Mr. Keene proposed a salary that I thought reasonable; rf he had proposed more, I think I should have declined to accept it" "I must have an explanation with Aw drey at once. There seems to be a little shuffling here. I must know th facts of the case. "Mr. Keene Is in the next room," sug gested Miss Dalrymple. Lynn replied with an expression In re gard to me which it Is unnecessary ot repeat for I think I have shown enough to prove that he was a blackguard, and quitted the room to "go and have It out with Awdrey," in a manner so devoid of feeling, or even comomn courtesy, that it must at once have destroyed any faith in his sincerity that poor Gertrude eherlnhed. Poor Gertrude! it was some time after the door closed upon Mr. Lynn Teamed before she came from the room where he left her. and then, despite the cheerful air she assumed, I perceived that she had been crying. Here, again, I have wondered what she cried for. Had she not every reason to be pleased that she had found out the man's real character before marriage rath er than after it? Was not scorn of such a base fellow enough to dry in its source the regretful tears that would have sprung in losing a lover? I should have thought so. But nothing puts on so many unlooked for aspects as human nature. One cannot reason upon the movement of human hearts as If they were made of wheels, mathematically arranged, to pro duce from a given impulse a certain and undeviating result. So I say again, poor Gertrude! for she was weak as well a strong. Had she really loved Lynn? or was she ouly interested in him from a belief that her influence had ennobled him? I cannot say ; all I know is that she wept in realizing that he was neither noble not lovable. CHAPTER XV. Ths morning after my last visit to Flexmore House I heard the crunching of wheels In the Ice of the gutter, and, glancing through the blind, I caught sight of Dr. Awdrey. The old gig had been mended, and he had bought a new nag of the same sober sort as the last "Ha, ha I" thought I; "he's come to set tie about the two thousand a year that Nurse Gertrude is to receive." It must be remembered that the par ticulars of .the Interview between Lynn Yeames and Miss Dalrymple which I have set down in the last chapter, had not then come to my knowledge. Dr. Awdrey camo In clapnlnc hi. hsad. for, I remember, it was bitterly cold; and, pulling off one of his knitted gloves, be gave me his hand. 11 ii nose was red, but his fine, kindly eyes sparkled bright ly ; and he bad In his face that expres sion of virile energy, and vigor, and tri umph, which one may see on a man when be has broken the ice to take his morning plunge. But there are difficulties to over come in carrying out a healthy moral principle, that call for just as much nerve and courage as diving through half an inch of Ice; and it has often struck me that if one braved aa much personal In convenience and discomfort In the ser vice of humanity as he will endure for the mere sake of self-gloriflcatlon, it would be infinitely better for oneself and one's fellow creatures. It was a moral plunge of this kind that animated and beautified the doctor's face that morn ing, I felt sure. He sat down before the fire warming his hands and talking about the weather for some minutes ; then, after a pause, he said : "Are there any farms to let about here, Keene, do you know?" "Yes," said I; "you may take your pick of them for ten miles round. Land was never so cheap before. Rents have gone down fifty per cent." "Then why don't farming pay?" "I'll tell you," said I; "it's because your farmer is too genteel to work, and has to pay another for doing what he ought to do himself that's one reason." "If a man were not too genteel to work, if he put his heart and soul Into it, if he went into jt as a man goes into bat tle, setting his heart and soul on win ning, how Chen?" "He would make It pay I'd stake mj reputation on it," I exclaimed. "You know nothing about farming, doctor; but with your dogged perseverance and a cer tain amount of intelligence that you would bring to bear on it, even you might make It pay ; and I'll guarantee that you would make more by it than by your med ical practice." "I am very glad to hear you think so," said he, cheerfully. "Why? Do you think of taking a farm?" I asked hopefully. He nodded. I was never better pleased In my life, and I told him so. "Now, there's Thlbald's farm." said I. "You could get that at fifteen shillings an acre, I know." "Too far off. How about Captain Ran ger's farm do you think he wants to give up?1 "I know he does. He must. Can't go on losing eight hundred a year.' "Eight hundred a year? That's a good deal to lose," . he saidr. drawing a long faoe "Why does he lose it? Because he never goes out of the house except to bunt or shoot ; because he's lounging about his billiard room instead of look' Ing after his accounts when he's at home ; because his wife keeps four servants; because he pays Evans three hundred a year for robbing him ; and- because he's no more a farmer than you are a lawyer, It's famous land the best in the county, I'll get the place, house and all, for a pound an acre. You're bound to make it pay ; It's the very thing for you." "Well," said he, rising, "I shall go over and look at the farm this afternoon. perhaps. Do you know if Captain Rangef Is at home?" "He is, and he will be only too glad to see you. I'll send a note up to him this morning. Leave all the negotiations to me. I shall manage that better than you could." W shook hands and parted, but aa soon as he was gone a misgiving seized me. That misgiving was verified when I caught sight of him in the afternoon jogging along in the gig towards Captain Ranger's, with Lynn Yeames on the seat beside him. (To be continued.) The Huntsman Kalirr. Among the many trials that Presl dent Roosevelt has bad to bear Is the accusation that he resembles the Em peror of Germany. The fondness of both for hunting lias been pointed out as nn example of the likemindediiess of the President and the Kaiser. Statis tics have recently been published which east light upon the hunting achievements of Wllllnm II. They make Theodore Roosevelt's occasional excursions In search of well-deserved rest and a few grizzly bears seem Sun day school picnics in comparison. They put the strenuous occupant of the White House forever In the class of -milksops and mollycoddles. The official statistician to the hunts man Kaiser reports that bis majesty has bagged a total of 47.514 pieces of game In a period of thirty yenrs. Over eighteen thousand pheasants were as saslnated. and seventeen thousand bares were cut off In their prime. One can go on down the list of boars, rab bits, stags, etc., until there seems to be scarcely a variety of bird or beast that has escaped the' imperial bullet. The emperor even Invaded the realms of Neptune, for we are told that one lone, solitary whale perished In su preme honor and agony. On one short winter's dny the Kaiser, unaided, shot 1,058 pheasants. This Is not the annual report of a Chicago meat-packing establishment, but a record of Imperial achievement In support of It, the London Magazine reproduces photographs of the royal nlmrod picturesquely surrounded by deceased animals. We are shown boars about to dep-irt this life, and stas which are prostrate In the Imperial presence. "A cat may look at a l:lng," but the wise German feline will stay tinder thu lloheuzoilem b;i"n. .ueoesn Magazine, . LANDSCAPE QA.RDEN1NQ. Stbject Ever Hm Lover Should Give Attention. Br J. R. Phlnn. Profewor of HortJenltnra, Uah experiment station. Moscow. Moat of the West is new oonntnr. therefore It is not surprising that com paratively few dwellings and farmsteads within ber boundaries are surrounded by attractively arranged plantings of trees, flowers and shrubs. Naturally, the attention of most cititena of this great commonwealth has been oon fined to the one Idea of money-making; per haps the place has been mortgaged and every effort has been bent to relieve this condition; or, some may have set a certain standard of money accumula tion and have devoted their energies to wording toward this goal. The result of these conditions has been that of set ting aside the real beautifying of home grounds as a secondary consideration. Anotner very prevalent reason why peo ple neglect this all-Important matter, is found in the fact that scarcely one person in a thousand steps aside and givei the matter adequate thought. Although one may appreciate the at tractive places of others, still' the idea of making his own place equally attractive- is far from the imagination. A third class of people are those who really love the touch which nature gives the home surroundings, but from lack of forethought and systematic planning their efforts fall far short of success. All of these classes of home makers can profitably devote some at tention to this subject, commonly known as "landscape gardening," and its application to homes of out oonntry. The ultimate aim of all landscape gardening, whether conducted on a small or on a large scale, should be to present a pleasing picture. In other words, landscape gardening may be de fined as the art of arranging and group ing trees, shrubs and flowers in such a manner that a picture of undeniable beauty prevails from season to season. It is not enough that the material chosen for the plantings should give an attiactive display for a single season, such aa the painter places upon his canvas, but the selection should go farther, presenting material tbst will give increasing variety and alluring beauty for each day, each week and each month. From this statement of tha subject it is quite evident that the landscape gardener who wields the tools which nature places at his disposal occupies a position on equal footing with the artist who wields the brush in transferring these pictures to the canvas. Yet it is quite possible for most of us to play the part ot the former, even though it be in a very limited manner. As many painters are imitators to a great degree, if one should imitate the works of others in the arranging of plants, he would be committing no unpardonable sin. In fact, this latter method of procedure is likely to prove the most fruitful means for the average person to employ ; at any rate, it will serve ad mirably for the purpose of giving an idea of the kinds of plants to select and the grouping methods most pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, it is necessary that the person who is to become the amateur landscape gardener should un derstand some of the prime essentials and common sense rules of this art. Where shall the flowers be placed? Shall the trees and shrubs come In the middle of the lawn or shall they find a more appropriate location in some other point? Is it good taste to make walks and roads in curves? These and many other questions naturally arise in the minds of those who axe carefully prospecting in this subject. It there fore behooves us to get some working idea of these various topics. Every home-lover should give ample attention to this subject. Of Interest to Farmers, The following publications of interest to farmers and others have been issued by the Agricultural department of the Federal government and will be furn ished free, so long as they are availa ble, except where otherwise noted, up on application to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C: Bulletin No. 145. Preparing Land for Irrigation and Methods of Applying Water. Prepared by the agents of irri gation investigation. Pp. 84, pis. 7, figs. 33. Price 15 cents. This bulletin gives descriptions of methods of remov ing sagebrush, of smoothng land, of laying out fields for different systems of applying water, and of the different systems of applying water. The vari ous methods are compared as to cost ajd efficiency. Bulleltn No. 146. Current Wheels: Their Use in Lifting Water for Irriga tion. Prepared in the office of experi ment stations, irrigation investigations. Pp. 88. pis. 4, figs. 21. .Price 10 cents. Drawings and photographs ol a large number of wheels used for rasing water from streams are given, accompanied bv descriptions, statements of cost, and discussions of efficiency. A general dis cussion of the theory of current wheels is also given. Had One of Hf Own. Mrs. Lottakids, who had been invitid to attend ths opening seision of ths moth ers' congress, was sending her regrets over the telephone. "It's awfully kind of you te ask me, Mrs. Ondego," shs said, "but I can't come. I'm toe busy looking aftsr the children." SLAVES DT MASSACHUSETTS. noose In Which They Wera, Sold Hello of Town of Ilanovrr. A relic of slavery days In New Kng land iu the middle of the eighteenth century, the old Tllden house on Win ter street, West Hanover, the only house In that town where slaves were kept for market, is now being demol ished, says the Boston Herald. The house Is one of the best-known landmnrks In riymouth County and has stood for nearly 200 years. It was used as a tavern In Its early days and later for a residence. Of recent yearn It has been abandoned to the elements and has rapidly fallen Into decay. No one knows the exact date of the building of the house, but historians agree that It was long before the in corporation of the town of Hanover In 1727. Jedediah Dwelley, of North nanover, who has spent much time in gathering facta concerning the early history of the town, says : "While there was more or lees buying and selling of slaves (as In the middle of the eighteenth century nearly all the wealthy families owned one or more) this probably was the only . place where the traffic was carried on for revenue. I have seen two bills of slaves sold from this house. One was from Job Tllden to a Mr. Bailey, of Sclruate, a negro child named Morrow, ft years of age, of good bodily health and a kind disposition." . One of Mr. Tllden's slaves named Cuffee served as a soldier In the Revo lutionary Wnr; nd according to n old pay roll he was stationed at Hull, March 1, 1777. He was with Col. Bailey and died at Valley Forge. He was known as Cuffee Tllden and was so Inscribed on the printed rolls. The books of the First Congregation al Church of Hanover record the mar riage by the Rev. Benjamin Bass on Feb. 8, 1751, of Jack and Blllah, ser vants owned by Job Tllden, and also the death of a negro boy owned by Job Tllden, Feb. 12, 1760. There are many other brief records of slaves kept In different families In Hanover. Blood Poisoning;. By the term blood-poisoning Is meant the presence In the blood of the germs of putrefaction or suppuration, or of the poisonous products of these germs. It Is necessary to define the expression at the beginning, for strictly speaking every form of poisoning, Including alco holic Intoxication, Is blood-poisoning. There are three distinct forms of blood-poisoning. In one the germs of putrefaction are circulating In the blood and manufacturing their poison, upon which the symptoms of the disease de pend ; In the second the blood-contained germs are those which cnui.a pus-formation, and they also manufacture a poi son which produces the disease ; In tho third form the bacteria, either of pu: trefaetlon or of suppuration, are not iu the blood but on the surface of the body, and the symptoms are due to the absorption of the poison elaborated by them. Tho toxin, as this bacteria-produced poison is called, Is In this last Instance Imported, while In the first two cases mentioned It Is, as It were, of domestic manufacture therefore obtained more easily and In greater quantity. Those three forms are called In med ical language, septemla, pyemia and sa- premla, respectively, meaning septic germs In the blood, pus In the blood, and the products of putrefaction In the blood. The pyemic form Is characterized by Irregular chills, fever and sweating, and the formation of abscesses In vari ous parts of the body. It la very com monly fatal. Septemla resembles pye mia In Its symptoms, except that the fever Is more continuous, not being In terrupted by chills as It Is In pyemia, and there Is no formation of abscesses. The severer forms of septemla are al most always fatal, but the disease oc curs ofte In milder type, In which the chief symptoms are high fever, head ache, and depression of the Vital forces. Sapromla resembles septemla In Its symptoms, as It naturally should, since both these forms of blood-poisoning are caused by the same poison, In one case formed outside of the body and absorb ed by the tissues, In the other produced hy the bacteria In the blood and tissues. Sapromla may terminate fatally, but It yields more readily to treatment. This consists In management of the wound, opening It up to the air, cutting away the festering parts, cleansing the mir--fnce thoroughly, and treating It with antiseptics. Here is a stefeoytped remark you hear frequently from cronkers; "Did you ever see so much sickness?"