hHU Of BILLY
Concerning a Battlff of the
Strong on a Field of Glory
and Shame.
By VINGIE E. ROE.
He was an odd little acrap of hu
manity. In bis hazy childhood, somewhere
on a (arm, he had bee a an enigma to
those who knew htm.
He was slight and small, and had a
shock of soft, light hair that curled. It
was that hair that gave him such an
Ir of Innocence that and a pair of
eyes whose expression was one of
wUtful wonder.
Then, too, be had a sensitive, whim
sical mouth, and with this combination
be was destined to mislead certain of
those who were over-trustful. While he
was a little shaver be had sloughed
the environment of the farm and taken
up bis abode in the great city. It was
born in him, and those who had raised
him from the precarious start of an
orphan asylum, realizing It sadly, for
Billy's eyes had won their love, let
blm go.
He never went back, and be never
beard from the old folks, except once
when he was twenty, and the papers
advertised for him, with the Informa
tion that the old man's will bad left
him $500. Billy had read that, and bis
baby-soft eyes bad filled with Impul
sive tears. He wished for a moment
that he had stayed with them they
who had not forgotten him In all these
rears.
The Impulse was only momentary,
but somehow be had never wanted to
touch that money. It was something
outside of his life clean, standing for
something that he remembered, a long
way off. It was placed on Interest In
the bank of the little village, so the
papers said, awaiting the sometime
coming of the owner.
So he went about his life.
.He knew many tricks that were
worth money to a certain type; his
education had come to him through
many and varied channels, and the
ways of the world were good to blm.
He loft Chicago and went West.
He bad beard of the wonderfu op'
portunltles of the frontier, and be de
cided that there was the place for the
display of his talents, varied and se
lect. He drifted happily Into that
great region of strenuous living and
quick results and kept his health, for
be lacked neither defensive ability nor
very quiet courage.
He had proved that before long, one
night at Granger City. He was sitting
at a table alone, playing solitaire in
Black Pete's saloon, when a big man
In a blue shirt and chaps strode In.
He swung up to the bar and demanded
drinks for everybody, and everybody
In the house rose to him, except Hilly,
who always wished afterward that he,
too, had risen, for out of the very fact
of bis sitting still came that which
followed.
fiut Hilly, though he knew lots,
didn't know the etiquette of a frontier
town. So he went on with his game of
solitaire that Is. until a prolonged
and painful silence warned him to
look up.
The bully of the three counties In
vited him, as the scum 'of the earth,
to arise and partake, or be converted
Into a sieve. Whereat nilly's yellow
gray eyes flashed, and be made a quiet
remark.
He never knew bow It happened,
only after the rattle of shots he found
himself with his smoking gun In bis
hand, and the spectators were crawl
ing out to look at a huddled heap by
the bar.
Billy calmly took out bla knife and
made a little notch on the gun-butt
It was good for effect, but he went out
with the biggest ache In bis heart
that be had ever known,
i Then be drifted to Granite, and It
was ibere that be conceived his
scheme. It came to him suddenly,
but be was on tbe lookout for Inspira
tion. f It bad to do with the United States
mall-stage which rattled Into Gran
ite every day at five, or thereabouts,
from up at Eagle Pass. Billy noticed
the strong box beneath the seat of
the driver which was so carefully de
posited In tbe Granite Citizens' bank
the box that came from the mining
town above.
Inside of a month nilly was a full-
fledged stage-driver from Gulch City,
tip among the mountains, to Dead
Horse, down the plains, duly bonded
to the government, and carrying gold
enough each trip to tempt a saint
About the middle of the second
month cams the day when his dresms
were to end and begin in earnest
There was a good beginning, for In
the first plsre there were no passcn
gers on the down trip. Hilly thanked
fate for that. Then, as soon as he
swung Into White Cop cut out of
Gulch City, he reached down and
netted the box. Ills yellow eyes nar
rowed, for It was dend heavy.
Down at a point be knew about the
(rood bone waited, and Ills life In the
West would soon bo a thing of the
past. Through the San Jacinto vnlloy,
across the border of Mexico, down
through tbe republic to some city on
the coast where one might got ship
ring, and then out Into the mysterious
chances of the world. Perhaps Spain
first he had always boen thrilled with
tbe old tales of Bpaln, of hot-blooded,
courageous men and dark-eyed women
witn lips use ripe iruit Billy was
dreaming, Indeed, the Hues lying Isx
between bis lingers, the four horses
winging along In regular rhythm.
"Halt!"
A V
Nt wss tue word spoken upon ever
stage line every few weeks among th
mountains.
Billy jerked up his reins, and caught
his rifle with the other band.
Ahead in the road stood a man, cov
ering him with a gun. He bad not evet
taken the trouble to mask bis face
At the right, a little higher up, anothei
man waited, and on ahead In the road
a third sat on horseback. It was s
formidable layout Billy saw that in
stantly. If one didn't get him thi
others would.
For a breathless second his quid
brain turned the aituatlon on every
side. His dreams scattered like wind
blown tnow. There was not a ghost
of a chance. He was as good as gon
If he resisted. He started to lay down
the ribbons and lift his bands. And
Just then a very strange thing bap
pened. -
Across his mind came tbe terms ol
his pledge to tbe government
According to the lines of bis mouth
Billy was a creature of. whim. Now,
he hesitated, and a flood of unaccus
tomed sensations passed over him,
He was responsible for that box. Ha
suddenly remembered what bad not
bothered blm before, that he was In
vested with the majesty of the law.
A reeling of responsibility fell upon
him, novel In Its strangeness, and
quick as a thought he had taken bis
course. .Dropping forward on the box,
he caught the lines between his knees,
yelled to the horses, and Jerked hie
rifle to his shoulder. The leaders
sprang forward.
At the second jump the off leader
went down. With the lurch of the
sudden stop, Billy landed In a heap
between the wheelers. He was on bis
knees Instantly and firing under Black
Tom's quivering flank.
The man In the road located him In
a second, and dropping to one knee,
began searching for him with hot
lead. The two others withheld their
Are. They bad plenty of time, and
evidently expected the leader to do for
Billy easily.
But a ramping devil danced In the
yellow-gray eyes, and all the blood In
tbe slight body was up. Billy leaned
a little lower, bringing his face full In
view of the man In the road, aimed
coolly among the dancing horses and
got his man. The fellow shot to hit
feet, fired a wild ball, and dropped like
lead.
The near wheeler was down, bleed
Ing from a dozen holes and crying
plteously. That sound rent Billy's
soul, for he loved a horse. He sprang
to bis, feet as tbe two other des
peradoes closed In.
"Come on, you dirty devils!" he
cried, standing In the open between
tbe horses.
As he spoke, a thrill of fire ran up
his arm and a red ribbon waved sud
denly down his shoulder. But nothing
short of death ' Itself could have
stopped blm now. Give and take, give
and take, It was an uneven game ol
two to one. The man on the horse dls
mounted and used the horse as
shield, working closer, firing around
It
Billy threw down his repeating rifle
and fell back on the two guns at his
hips. The range was grimly near,
He felt no fear, neither pity for the
heap In the road ahead, only a fury
that steadied his hand.
This was a fine ending to his
dreams, but somehow be would not
have It otherwise. He was conscious
of a weird, fierce joy, as of something
he had read about, the Joy of men on
fields of honor, of heroes dying for
their country. The whimsical mouth
quivered even as be fired.
But the Fates stood near, as they
always do when strange Issue Is at
stake. The fellow on the hillside,
reaching for a revolver In bla belt,
never drew It. Instead, be threw up
his empty hand, and whirled rolling
down the rocks.
Billy whooped and turned full to
ward the last.
Now!" ne cried, "nowl An even
break!" T' J" zru. is-
With one hand he loosened the
traces of Black Tom, shooting with
the other. It waa a feat to get the
horse unhooked In front, but a very
spirit of daring aeemed to dominate
blm. He was hit again In the process,
but managed to mount Tbe big
wheeler, thoroughly terrified, leaped
ahead.
Billy guided him straight at tbe
horse In the road and they cannoned
Into It with mighty force. It stumbled
aside, broke away, and left Its rider
under Black Tom's feet The latter
threw his empty gun at Billy's head.
Tbe fight was over.
There was sudden silence, and no
movement. Tben Billy turned to tbe
last of the stage robbers, who stood
defiantly.
Get out," he said abruptly, "two's
enough. Catch your horse and go."
ii Fire Place Fairy Tales
llll - By J. WILLARD BOLTE .
PICTURE SURE TO MAKE HIT PERQUISITES OF KINGS
THE ANT VILLAGE.
Johnnie and Jessie bad Just finished
their supper and they felt all nice and
comfy and Just a little teenle bit
sleepy. Johnnie and Jessie were
twins, almost five years old, and they
loved each other very much.
Tbey got down from their chairs
at tbe little White dining-room table
that was all their very own, and went
Into the big living room. Daddy had
Just built a wood fire In the big fire
place, and the pretty yellpw and red
and blue flames were leaping and
jumping as It they meant to jump
right up the chimney.
Mother Dearest was sitting In the
big leather chair In front of the fire
and she bad her prettiest white dress
on. The twins climbed up in her
chair, one on each side, and snuggled
up as close as could be, while she
.rocked them and sang a sweet, low
song about the sandman wno was
coming soon.
A spark caught upon the black
bricks at the back of. the fireplace
and the twins watched the fire sol
diers spread out and march In long,
bright lines, when suddenly they saw
the ashes under the blazing logs be
gin to move about, and out of them
Jumped the funniest, tiniest little man
In all the world.
The little man Jumped clear out of
the ashes onto the bricks and began
to dance and snap his fingers In the
firelight.
I'm the Sandman," he said, "and
Written and Produced by Tom Mix,
Popular Actor, Has Part Which
Just Suits Him.
Tom Mix has fairly outdone hlmBelf
In the picture. "The Way of the
Red Man," which was written and pro
duced by him. It is full of life and ac
tion such as only Tom Mix can In
troduce. There is wrestling, shoot-
.-a t.ii . v. lanimii Ins. riding, canoeing, etc., in Tom
aim nam mat ... muaou ju.v . .
Illra t V. a ,n tatt In tYt . tta nt til". Thav 1 1,114 a VVfU WMk "V10" '
were very tired and hot so they sat
BUSINESS NOT ALLURING TO THE
ORDINARY MORTAL.
down w rest in tne snaae or a large ----- tD9 Bherlff, ln the street recently. Being shot at
clover leaf. Soon they heard a funny " he . herlff. ,eem to ,
a red man. a civil zed Indian, wno
takes Into his home a wounded gam-
Being Shot At and Occasionally
Killed la One of ths Prices of
High Position 8om Others
Worth Mentioning.
The belr apparent to the Austrian
throne and bla wife were shot dead
noise and around the corner of the
path there came two big black Ants,
walking backward and pulling after
them a dead caterpillar. The Ants
looked as big as horses and the Twins
were very much frightened but the
Sandman followed them until they
came to a large bare hill with lots of
other Ants running about on top of It
The Sandman ran up the bill and
popped down a black hole, and the
Twins ran right after him as fast as
they could. It was nice and cool ln
there and the hole was a regular tun
nel, running deep Into the ground,
After a while they came to a big
round room with white eggs all over
the floor, and ln one cornes of this
room they saw the largest Ant they
had ever seen ln their lives. She had
beautiful wings like a bee, and there
were several other - Ants gathered
about ber, feeding her with choice
foods and stroking her with their long
feelers.
"That's the Queen Ant," whispered
the Sandman. "She lays all tbe eggs
tor the whole tribe and It keeps her
so very busy that she hardly ever
leaves the house. She Is tbe mother
of all these other Ants and they love
her very mucb,
Just then a little Ant began to poke
Its head out of the end of one of the
white eggs nearest to where tbey
Thn cnmhinr tma no honor and wins and occasionally
I ... a . . . t 1 I Wt.
perquisite Ol we mug Business. 1111
price of place la enormous. The king
place being one of the choicest plums.
Its price Is very high. These are
some of the Items:
To have no wholesome, natural boy
hood; always to be watched by lack
eys and nurses, and never to be able
to go out and play pirate with huck
Finn, to splash ln the old awlmmln'
hole, nor steal strawberries from
Jones' patch at midnight ,
To grow up ln an atmosphere suno-
oated with convention, to have hun
dreds of things you don't want, and
to be rapped over the knuckles when
ever you reach for a thing you do
want
To be surrounded with alleged
friends who you know do not care a
hang for you, and who would push
you off the roof In a minute If it was
not for your father.
Not to have one friend who will slop
your face and tell you tbe truth, but
to be surrounded by enemies who
emlle upon you and are only waiting
for an opportunity to slip a knife un
der your fifth rib.
To have your wife picked out fcr
you by a lot of wizened old diplomats.
To be allowed as many Ught-o -loves
as you please, to bo as drunken, cruel,
selfish, violent and mean as you will,
but to have every honest and generous
human feeling vetoed by court and
fashion.
To have your pride constantly fed,
which renders any man unhappy.
To miss all of life's true values, and
to become a past master In all that
Tom Mix.
the affections of Bounding Fawn, the
ed man'a nrettv sauaw. The Indian
discovers the gambler's treachery, and makes life sordid and cheap.
throws him, together with Bounding To cease to be a normal, cheerful
Fawn, out of the cabin. human being and to become a wooden
The years pass. Bounding Fawn Is ladder for men s ambitions.
cruelly slain by her drunken lover. To have people blame you for their
The red man goes to the rescue, but own mistakes, to be the political and
arrives too late. He makes a prisoner economic scapegoat or tne nation,
of the drunken gambler, and ties blm end to be cursed and hated by a large
to a stake for torture. The closing section of the population, no matter
acene shows vividly the typical Indian "hat ou do.
revenge, which the red man exacted, To have every man ln the ma-
tbe forfeit being tbe life of the treach- cblnery of government, every place
erous gambler. bolder and privilege Inheritor, turn
against you when you try really to
I. .. 1 IV.-
I Tn lrnntv ttmt wm hnim n IhA
i-um . t. j . ... , I
nuim u is me areum 01 tnousanus iv in' nlirht th th. hnmh
it girls to appear ln motion-picture thrower, and the plotter are seeking
'Muiag, near gulgtJUUB guwuB auu I youp fg
play society dames In general, there
Is one photoplay star who would rath
er Jump into a pair of tattered over
ins and climb into the oily cab of a
locomotive than take part ln tbe most
Intense society drama ever written.
And tn return for this all you get
Is money, fine clothes, food and drink,
and ' Incense burned before your
wretched vanity.
Few families In the world have bad
rbls unusual person Is Helen Holmes. more ,mPer,' P'a than the Haps
the artreaa whom tha roll mart mon Duri nl 'e families have had a
3Ut West have dubbed "The Daughter more tralc history. Chicago News.
of the Railroad." Miss Holmes doesn't
are what role she portrays telegraph What Causes Grub Worms.
sperator, fireman (or should It be fire- Entomologists .or bug hunters of
girl?), or substitute engineer, so long northern Ohio and Indiana bave
is It enablea her to live In tbe atmos- earned farmers against grub worms,
phere of the railroad. The most re- ylng that a certain species of a bug
cent drama in which she appears Is tDat Hel In the air Is distributing It
Grouch, the Engineer, In which she K on the ground that are trans-
enacts the role of a railroad man's formed Into the grub before coming
widow. A railroad serial story Is being oac to Us original form and during .
written around Miss Holmes, which mat period as a grub worm Is when
will be called "Tbe Hazards of Helen." ravage are the greatest on arrow-
ind will consist of episodes, esch com- ,D crops, mora especially growing
plete In Itself, showing the hazards corn. which the worm eats wben It
sncountered by Helen, who Is a rail- Brt starts growing. It Is suggested
road telegrapher.
They 8aw Two Big Black Ants Walking Backward and Pulling a Dead Cater
pillar Aftsr Them for Their Wlntsr Storehouse.
Mother Dearest says that you can go
At half past five that day, the driver
of the Dead Horse stage rode Into
town with the box of gold from the
Conger mine across Black Tom's
withers, and with blood on his shirt
A hurried party went out to the ledge
f the mountain road where It hap
pened, and when they came back
there were some strong, quiet words
that uplifted Billy's soul.
It was dusk before ha wended his
way to the shack he called home, and
he was stilt with Doc Morgan's band
ages, but the western twilight seomod
to cover the world with peace.
He stopped at the door.
In his eyes was the smart of sud
don tears.
"I'll send for the old man'a money,"
be said softly to himself In the dusk,
'and start anew.
"Anew and clean.
"By Jingo! I'm an honest naa."
(CoprrlsM.)
for a little Journey with me tonight
Do you want to?"
"Of course we do," said tbe twins.
"Where are we golngT
"I guess I will take you over to
see the Ant Village," said the Sand
man. '"Just put these two caps on
your heads and then we will be all
ready."
The children put the caps on and
suddenly they were no bigger then the
tsanaman. to nrepiaces looked as
large as a church door and the Twins
were a little bit frightened, but the
Sandman looked so nice and friendly
that they felt safo. Turning toward
the fireplace the Sandman grasped
their hands tightly and said, "Now
Jump high."
They all gave a great Jump right
up Into the smoke of the fire, and it
could not burn them at all because of
those wonderful caps that they were
wearing. The smoke lifted them like
feathers In the wind and it whisked
mem ciear up mo emmncy quick as a
wink. When they came to the top
they flew down to the ground Just like
birds and they lighted In a patch of
grass.
"My goodness," said Jesslo. "This
Is the biggest grass I ever saw. It Is
taller than trees."
"Thats because you are so little
now," said the Sandman. "The grass
looks as big to you as It does to the
Aula and all the other little bugs. But
now we must hurry along to the Ant
Village If we are to get back ln time
for bed.
So they started along through the
grass and protty hard walking they
found It because the little grains of
earth seemed as large as barrels and
tbey bad' to climb over or around
them and go very slowly. After
while tbey came to a sort of toot path
Has Played Many Part.
In Lee Wlllard, a handsome chap 01
line Physique. O. M. Anderson has a
stood, and tbe Twins were much In- valuable and versatile assistant for
that fall plowing for corn is best and
If grubs are noticeable In wheat ground
that a greater amount of seed should
be sown to that the worms can bave
a wider rang and not destroy the
whole crop. It Is a fixed fact, as every
nniiiBUL i or i .
terested In seeing It hatch out when I the western productions. Wlllard has . Dy MDerienc.
suddenly there was a terrible crash hu. .. .t atnarm, ,,,. . v ... Ing certain years there la an eices-
and the ceiling fell In on top of them, breed and has played "heavy" and 'T nuniber of thl "Pecles of grub
oome careiess man musi nave character parts In drama and come- ,1 , ' u
steppeo on top or tne nouse," saia tne dies. He Is a lover of animals and wages on crops u win d
ttanaman, as soon as tney naa pusnea outdoor sports and seldom misses a w me tanning com-
in ration earin on irom ineir neaas. Mav In takina- a Ions horanhaok rM muu"'- "nen jews-umes.
. . . . . ... .. i - - - i
ine adu came running irom au ai- 3n his favorite bar mare, alw.v.
rectlons and some of them began dig- companled by a pet collie. Wlllarii Return Th Girl In the Cass."
glng a new tunnel to the surface of I enjoys his evenings and Sundays wltfi Illustrating th fact that ther I
tne ground, oecause an or tn old ones , pretty wife and baby, surrounded by no only honor In a thief but also
uau u aim u, mum u Bv roiumes or gooa books in one of the "ynipathy for tbe despairing suitor.
out. as soon as h wss nnisnea every bungalows at Nlles. the "woman In tbe case" baa com
AU. JJiVaaUU Uy IU Cgg f M JVUU AUV I I bftCIL
"ZirZ Act Glutton frWrfc, It was th. photograph of Ann
a 1 T (aViBPrnnM f f. r i iiit
. . .nr. tin .-a 1 uieo AiaaiHon nai recovered f mm Vi iur, Kiruia
.. i -j .v her tired melt And never lonked hot. iweetheart of 8. 8. Hahn. of Loa An
iuo oHiiuuiau uuirivu uui uiiur in em i ....... ,
and watched them marching away hlch ondcr hp " consld- ?.e,.e, n "e back of the gold watch
lib. ni,lnln nr ki.k .oMi.r. Itrs thst she has boen rescued from Bra ,w"en rrom nim.
waMaaaae we, vaaavaw avwiuauaa. I I T m ....... ...
"Too bad," said the Sandman. "Now n0 walcr' Dfien ,wun Tom a big I,ann aavertisea that ir the thler
they will have to dig a new house and sr8ne- Mi Roodncss knows what else, turned th plctur he could keep
It Is so nearly winter that I am afraid Tna mount ' ork this energetic th' tcn. Four hours later, accord
they will not have time to get the '"d tPt lnto 11 hour Quite re- ,n i0 h postmark on the letter, th
house finished and bring in enough narxaDi, DUl "ill refuses to " manea tne plctur with tb clip
food to last They may all starve to ",,r elln"r 1,10 'uo' or any of th w uann.
death before snrlnar comes aialn." risk. "I am satisfied." asserted Hahn.
I'm never, never going to step on I i ne thief can keep the watch. I'v
another Ant hill as long as I live." Csrtyls Blackwsll Well Sunoartail. " the picture back. It was th only
said Jessie with tears ln her eyes. Carlyle.Blackwell has turned out a 01,9 1 P0"ed. and I wouldn't lose
The Sundmnn pulled a funny llttlo tod picture In "The Kcr to y . 11 Ior more than th value of th
watch from his pocket and shook It. liny." and his acting throughout tlwalch- We're going to be married ln
Then he hold it to his ear and finally ipiennid. no has boen well serrcd ljaQua'
Ii said: loy nis support, too, and Edna Mnvo
I cannot toll much about the tlmoiumo Klrby, (lypny Abbott J. Fran. Tha Corract Tim..
wun mis oia tning out i guess u is umn, nnam nrunion, and Wll. ' Ilav you no clock ln vour bed.
a a a. lis rii 1 i -a. I
time to go oaca anyway. nam ouecuan obto an aon .excellont room!" Inquired Mrs. Lexlnrton.
So he took them each by the band work.
and In a Jiffy they were back In the
Dig learner cnair witn Mother Dear- Gives Actress Rare Ch.nr.
"ISO,- replied Mrs. Amsterdam, "I
do not need one. I always know how
tale It la. If my husband comes In
nolnlly from his club I know It Is
nesrly hnlf paat 10 or II. if he Is
CSl- Ml.. Rlella ttaleln I..HIn. t.A-
But when they turned around to Director IS. J. IxHnlnt'a itr.m.n.
thank tbe Sandman for th lovely ,ay, studio, Is at work In a special Tcry niable and says 'Oood night
time, be was nowhere to be seen, and n-oductlon callod "Reparation." The dar".' U Is between 12 and 1. If
they could not find tbe mngle caps ml demands much artlstlo work of 08 take, 0 nla "hoes downstairs and
anywher. The fire was noarly out ixsctlng character from Miss Razeto, croeP nto bed without turning on
to they skipped up stairs to bed. vhois successes In such -. .r. . th llnht 1 la at l.t h. nwk
f-....h 1011 I.. .,..!, T n , . I . .... - ww "
....... . uuwm i iraii-inown to dwell unon.