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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1921)
. ) V mJT'jIi Jfc rV- r- li if THE clement outid were in perfect harmony with the condition which v prevailed within. The wares dashed whlte cappad over the a wall In mountains ef spray, the wind roared and lashed the heavy rain against the windows, while leaden-hued clouds gave so hope of stinnhlne for hours to come. Mignon Murdock pat at the breaK fast table swabbing her pretty eyes with a Terjr moist and futile apology of a handkerchief, while her husband ef a week stood with bis hands thrust deeply Into hit pooket, his good look ing boyish face as troubled as the sea he was giulng at out of the expensive apartment window, "What are you going to do, Byron?" came In quavering accents from the table. "Do? Blest It I know, unless It Is someone for few thousands. I aerer dreamed that the people would take our marriage like this, I thought they would be lopping mad for a few days and then turn round and say 'Bless you, my children.' Biggest surprise In my life; seems like a ghastly night mare to me. What doea your Uncle Tom say? Read It again, sweetheart.-' The boy came apd sat down by hli girl wife and gave her a protecting caress. Mignon dabbed away a fre? h gush of tears, and spreading out the fatal let ter read between gulping sobs: "My Dear Children Since you have SO you think you're tired of the East and ua Qsterners, and you're leaving nt tor the fogsy Pacific?" Molly flecked her blue-black carl away from her saucy little fact, patted Len't rough gray tleev and smiled op Into his eyes. "Tou think I'm funny, don't you, Len, to want to go? Why, it' the chance of a life time. I've always read about the palms and mllet of roses and " "And earthquakes and desert Sum mers," muttered Leonard Ray, uneasl- iy. "Now uncle' got me that candy tor place with the nice manager .there Isn't any reason why I shouldn't go. And he's even sent my fare both ways," Molly went on as if Len hand't thrown the cold water over her dream. "I'm a reason why," Len protested solemnly. "Nice managers aren't in It! The nifty brown bungalow In the apple orchard It waiting, Molly. Tour starting off Is going to mean we can't be married before fall and " "1 never promised, Len. I always wanted to see something of the world first, anyway. Ton said tbe bungalow waa a good Investment" "Tou know what kind of an invest ment I meant, Moll,' Leonard told her. "Wait and maybe we can go West to gether some time. You'll find things different out there. Youll get home- AS Harrison- Van D Veer, now Hal Jonet, Texas rancher and good fellow all around, tat la the dim light of hit den, he lift ed the heavy embossed stationery on which was scrawled a few lines and read the letter over apt over. Clara, bis wife, cam In. wiping her hands In her gingham apron, and with one arm around bit neck, she, too, (canned the sheet with a whimsical little smile playing around the corner of her mouth. Fate play funny tricks, eh, Clara?" Hal smiled up at her with a most telf-satlsfying glance. "It taught u how to live, dear," she answered, and then, drawing a little red cushion from a nearby chair, sbe threw It on the floor and took her seat right at the feet of her adorable Hal. It had been three yeart since tbe Honorable Harrison Van De Veer came to live way down In Texas on tbe openworse each ranch he now makes bis home. He bad swelled Into been exiled from hit home, family, friends and fortune all because he had married the girl of his choice. According to the rules of the ex clusive society set In which be had spent bis day since babyhood with his ALL ready for the Blelgh rtde. boye and girls," piped Jones, as be entered the school room "All here and ready, but Sally Hicks and sbe 1 always late," spoke a cborus of voices, that surrounded the little country schoolroom ttove. Bally was a bright-eyed little girl of If. with cheeks like roses and hair that fell on ber shoulders in golden curls. Her drive to school each morn ing was far from short, but Sally felt she wanted to go and must go home and put on ber new brown coat and knitted red cap that her aunt Johanna bad tent her for ber birthday the day before. Taul Rice, tbe youngest trus tee of the tcbonl was goiDg cod sne tuust look ber very best. "What I the matter and the hurry. tpy dear?" spoke Sally's mother, look ing over her spectacles, as flly rucb ed Into (he kitchen. "Ob, nothing much, mother. onl)j Horace has Invit rd me to rid In that horrid looking alelgb. I just bate ol4-iahlon sleighs ad old-tashion people any ay," splut- seen (It to light your lamp at Hymen's altar without consulting your elders as to ways aid mean of providing the oil so necessary to replenish It, espe cially In these days of H. C. I. I have come to the conclusion, that In tha terms of your modern slang, 'It Is up to your husband to provide that oil.' Byron Murdock must play the man and keep the child he has taken from my care and try and compensate her for all the advantages he has deprived her of. I am willing re give you DuBoia Point as a home this Summer; you might take two paying guests there and so help to pay off some of your honey moon debts. At the end of the season Byron might enter business life." . . Mignon's voice became hopelessly tan gled up In tears as she flung the letter away from her. "I didn't think Uncle Tom could ever be so cruel," she wailed. "And Dad says If I am such an ass as to leave college, why I can go hang. I cant let you see his letter, darling, It Is too profane; but I can make i safe bet that your Uncle Tom and he have both chewed the, matter over and neither Is willing to put up the dough sick for tbe apple tree." , "I will not!" Molly laughed. "I want to find things different." Then she added without the least malice In the world, "I want to find folks differ ent, too." "They are I've heard," Len remarked briefly. "If you want the fun they'll give you, and that's all, I'm sorry, Moll. You needn't think you're going to find a man out there that likes you better than I do. It can't bo done, girl. Nice manager! Umph!" "You funny boy!" Molly laughed, but she was thinking right hard. The next week Molly Sauders start ed on the Journey of her life, waving" cheery good-bys to the family, but see ing longest under the clndery station roof the sober face of Leonard Ray as It still pleaded for her not to go. "He's a selfish old thing ' Molly told herself, as she watched thl dingy city roofs and then the soft green fields and white birches and apple trees sMp by. A tear stole down her pink cheeks and landed on her white cotton gloves. "I'd like to know what I'm crying for. Be cause be gave me the preserved ginger i stolid money magnet father, the illus trious Harrison Van de Veer, Sr., wiz ard of finance, be was expected 'a marry a girl from the moneyed set. So accordingly, when he brought back his little bride whom ' he had married abroad and introduced her to the Hon- orable H. V. Sr., the elder shook his white head In disapproval and early that evening asked young Hal bow much the divorce would cost. "Why, father, I don't mean to di vorce Clara, she Is my wife, and I love ber," Hal said, startled at the sugges tion. But the domestic storm grew a little day until one day it such fury It suddenly burst, and Hal left the enormous In dustry his father was engaged In, giv ing up his position as general manager to take refuge with hi little bride, "on, anywhere away from here," a he put It tered Sally, "but then I suppose I will have to go, as be has been so good to father since bl Illness." Two o'clock came and Horace drew up in front of Sally's door, well pro tected from the Winter' cold by hi red scarf securely w rapped around his head, and his fine looking sleigh, as he supposed. "Ready, Sally," shouted Horace In a hoarse voire, from the sleigh. Tbe drive to the little red school seemed long to Sally, as her thoughts were all on seeing ran I Rice, the sleigh ride, the lovely supper at Nancy Blake's and not on the question that Horace bad asked. Well and just then Sally, jumping 'aaflsssSst or LOVE The Sun oi Tomorrow to help us out!" The young husband wiped away the glistening tears and kissed his wife's mouth Into a more normal curve. "We'll show them we can make a living!" Mignon's eyes flashed determ ination. . "We'll go down and open up DuBols Point and take la boarders: you can help., Byron, it's a lovely place, lonely, perhaps, but then people like it there, and at least we can make enough to pay off our honeymoon eipenses. Of course, we'll have to work, dear, peel the potatoes and things. Anyway, wa can show those two old forgetters of youth and love that we can wriggle out of the lap of luxury 'they have nursed ua In." The girl set her red lips firmly, and Byron, feeling his backbone stiffen un der his silk shirt, was resolved to "peel potatoes and things" until the cows came home, or longer It neces iary. 'His conscience bothered blm as he looked at his dainty wife and, thought of the mansion he had stolen from her and the staff of servants that bad been at her bidding; and Mignon, as she looked at her handsome boy husband, realized that he would miss his carefree college life and the sup The East Is and the silk stockings maybe." she pondered. Then, "It's Just like a mov ing picture out the window. Only I'm moving Instead of It Isn't It grand!" By the third d? the grandncsa bad begun to pall. The monotony of the wide prairie country, the hot stuffiness of the cars, and the loneliness pelted at Molly's staunch little heart Mil she almost wished she hadn't come. The folks who spoke to her talked too much about cltres and lobster salads, and the folks she'd like to talk to looked mil-llon-alry. The dining car was the Joll est, reel Ingest place ever, and the lit tle silver plates swallowed so many ot Molly's shabby bills that she finally stayed away and munched nuts squir rel fashion and sobfully. Tbe nights were pretty bad, too. A moving pic ture for a bed was not so thrilling, after all. As she seared her Journey's end Molly began to grow actually fright ened, but she didn't know why. She could see to far and It seemed as If the good old Atlantic must be over yonder, and it never was only more wide sweeps of land sun parched, brown, Where Roads End So it was Harrison Van De Veer, Jr., stepped from the train at a little by station down In Texas and took tbe name of Hal Jonee, Clara was with him hand In hand. Within a week sbe bad made little draw curtains for tbe windows of their little hut and Hal had gone to town 'regularly each day to fetch back some varnish for the floor or some tacks to. hang the pic tures on or some oilcloth for the lit tle table which served as kitchen, din ing and library table all In one. ( Hal had gone repeatedly to look for a Job, for the one hundred dollars cap ital which he had taken along with him was slowly but surely dwindling doWn into cents. Whan tbey had got down to their last twenty-dollar note Clara concocted a scheme In ber mind while she was ly ing awake one night late staring Into tbe dark but seeing only poverty clos ing upon them by degrees. Sbe would Hero of from the sleigh, forgot to even thank Horace, but he wa soon tucked in and on bit way home. "Where have you, been the last hour, Sally Hisks?" shouted a voice from'tlie corner, "we want to get started.". Sally was cold after ber long drive and syod by tbe stove warming her little wbite hands, first looking at Paul, who stood nearby polishing his finger nails, and thinking of the boy who had brought ber safely there and gone. "Well, I don't care anyway." she thought to berself, "I never did like old fashion people or never will." Safe to say Horace was tbe object of ber thoughts, and offender In com JWB ADVENTURE' port of an adoring and wealthy fa ther. Both realized , too, 'that evou though they had ."married In haste," their repentance would be hard work for them. '. . DuBols Point was 10 miles from no where In; particular. An up-to-date Summer cottage on the lake, when one bad servants to do the work; a good car to drive a few miles to the near est farm-house for milk and other necessary things, and another 10 or more for fresh meat. An ideal place to" stay for a week end with a pcVty of friends, and an up-to-the-minute motor boat to take you to the surrounding beauty spots. Such things Mignon re membered made DuBols Point livable. But DuBols Point bad an entirely different aspect when Byron and shp opened It with two boarders. After their hotel expenses were paid they had no money to hire help. Byrou supposed be would be expected lo clean shoes, wait on table and help Mignon around the house. Neither of them, however, dreamed, In their Im aginings, the amount of work that two boarders, themselves and one small East flat, so different from the bard, scary mountain that bad been threatening to tumble down on tbe train, and so horribly different from tbe snugly lit tle hills and apple trees at home. "I wanted It to be different," Molly told herself bravely. "But I didn't know It was going to be lonely differ ent" 7 Uncle and Aunt met her at the sta tion and hardly gave her a chance to get the awful sticky black washed olf and a fresh blouse on before they took her to the candy store. "They're hort of help, and the manager, Norton Frost, Is keeping the place open for you. You've got to pitch right In," sbM Uncle. And Molly pitched In bravely, learn ing candy, candy prices, candy smiles and sweltering In the new kind of heat that seemed to be wlltlnber to a fraz zle. What a stuffy place the city was! And foggy; and then it never talnsd. Umbrellas- were only needed for Mol ly's tears nights after she went to bed funny tears; almost as If their own er were homesick. And wasn't the city packed! No extra room, like Len'l go to town and hire out as child's nurse. They bad both made a solemn promise to each other that they would never jgo back to Harrison Van De Veer, Sr., seeking help until they knew they were welcome, and It waa months now since they had left, and not even a note from him. Now. Clara had been a nurse and that profession she knew well. In fact that was how she met Harrison Van i De Veer, Jr., or she hail touu nursing In a French relief hospital to which Harrison Van De Veer was brought in an emergency while on a business trip abroad. As Clara dismounted When they reached tbe town sbe was startled from her reverie by the sound of wild tries and everyone In the towa teemed to have gone mad. Hal jumped from the horse and having installed Clara safely behind tbe sugar barrels In the-. Dreams parison with Paul, the highly polished gentleman, who stood by the stove. "We must get started now, boys and girls." Paul helped Sally on with her coat and assisted her to tbe sleigh and tbey were soon cuddled together in the cor ner of tbe hay bottom sleigh' talking and chatting. After the toasts at Nancy' class supper the boys one by one told of some great adventure in tbeir lives and Paul's tales of hit life of adven tures held little Sally awestrucK, while the others were amused. "The storm Is growing worse, we must get started." ' .Paul calling Sally to one side whis cottage cpuld make In every 24 hours. TJjp creation of the world seemed a simple feat compared wltU their day labor at DuBols Point. Then there wafthe fear that the boarders mlgbt leave, they ttere paying so well, and the honeymoon bills looked as though they might be paid off If all'went well. It was astonishing that, they did not leave; their beds were seldom ever made until sunset; the meals were never on time, and provided out of tin cans most of the time, and the cottage was In a general state, of chaos. ) The young husband and wife honest ly tried to make the beat of a bad situ ation, not only for their boarders, but In trying to help themselves. The boarders certainly must have had the patience of Job and" the digestion of an ostrich, though they never com plained and were always delightful company. Mr. Russell Radford was a vfry quiet, very neatly dressed man in the late 30s, and Mrs. Keel, a widow, was about the same age. Neither gave any Information about himself. It was hard to tell what station of life they belonged to. Apparently they were in terested In each oJ.her, or the life at DuBols Point would not have satisfied field and meadows. " But Norton Frost, manager, was nice and jolly and West ern. There waa that to be thankful for. ' ' The second week he asked Molly to go to the show with him. 'She went, and cried softly all through the big picture because It had soft pretty hills and farmer In It that reminded her well, hills and all of Innard Ray, whose letter had Just about broken her heart that morning. It had been so lonesome sounding. . . After that first evening. In spite of the tears, Norton took Molly about rather often to quaint restaurants and theaters and parks, with the palms and mile of roses, and to museums that had alTthe wondrous things Molly bad ever dreamed about. So Molly Saunders ought to have been happy, especially sjnee the handsome Norton told her occasionally that he liked her more and more; and It had always been the secret wish of Molly' roman tic little heart to marry a real live Westerner. But, with all this, Molly missed something . Sbe had the desert heat Len had grocery itor he too ran out and fol lowed the crowd. It was the outbreak. The famous Mexican outbreak as the paper said, it pne outbreak Is any more famous than another. But here It was in full swing and help was needed on the American border, ' " ... There wa a skirmish, a battle and then Clara used ber skill. Sbe had always been an adept at making the best of thing and sbe prbved her skill here. A hospital was erected In no time on the screened porch of the gro cery store and sheets and' bandages made and rolled from old muslin bor rowed from tbe community. Clara bad won her battle, the battle for a living. Tbe little skirmish had qpened the way for a real future Mr both Hal and Clara or better Known In the Northern gossip centers as Mr and Mri. Harri son Van De Veer, Jr. ' Clara had all thetlttle things trans By Abhcr Anthony; pered In ber ear In a gentle voice, "we will go bark In Mr. Blake's new red tlelgb It will be much safer and be sides.' Sally, It look a lo't nicer." They bad only gone a short distanre and they came to the turn ,ln the road when the horse jumped, and Paul bc-came-wngry and lashed the horse; the blinding drift of tbe new fallen snow and the angry lashe of Paul fright ened tbe horse, the sleigh overturned, and poor Sally lay helpless by tbe aldo of the road. "Hasn't Sally come yet," Horace Ex claimed as he walked into tbe cozy sit ting room of Mrs. Hicks' home, "Jack and all the rest hare arrived." "It Is a bad night and I think It right 3 By Elsie EncGcott? them fpr three' weeks at tbe high rate of board tbey were paying. Byron said it was robbery,' ana once nervously suggested to Mrs. Keel that tbey were not receiving their money's worth, but she gently but with dignity said every thing wa as they expected. Doing the unusual always comes to a climax." It was a cool morning, when the locusta sizzled around and the lake looked like a calm before a storm. Mignon, very white and tired, was frying steak over the gas stove and- Byron, with hair as long as' his poet namesake, and two days' growth Oft his chin, was scraping new pota toes, when In walked tbe two board er, looking very cool in white gar ments, and also out of place In the general muddle of unwashed dishes of the tiny kitchen, which In the old days Nakito, the little Japanese cook, kept Immaculate. Mrs. Keel coughed gently,. "Mr. and Mrs. Murdock, we wish to Inform you that we are leaving you at boarder today; but your people wish us to stay on and take care of the cottage, so that you can both have a rest. To explain, Mrs. Murdock't uncle will arrive to- By Parke Whitney ri i'iffTBf warned ber about; she had all the can dy she could eat; the homey life at hn aunt's, besides the attention of Norton Frost But with aH thl Molly throut got lumpier and lumpier, and slie couldn't tell for the life of her why. Then one evening out in City Park, like a story book exactly, the great Norton Frost asked little Molly to marry him, and he told her abont the white bungle low In the suburbs where they would live, with the oranges and figs and nec ' tarlhea and tree-blgh rose bushes la their back yard, and no earthquakes or thunder fhowert ever, and delicious, coot evenings, and "It's what I've always dreamed about." sighed Molly. All those things and a real ton of the TJolden. West for" a husband." ' Norton laughed. "Then lt' settled, little Molly, and w can be married in the fall?" Thfn suddenly Molly dashed twav so fast that she stepped on the prtc Rest cactus in the park. "You mustn't kiss me, ever, Mr. Frost," she stammered. "You see--, I" Molly got on the other id of the By Joella Johnson 23 ported to her hut, and there she estab lished a permanent little shelter for the sick. She had investigated and found that the nearest hospital was miles away and many folks had died while waiting to be taken there. There was plenty of Illness down-in this hot country, especially when the element .was foreign. When they received their 'first check for services rendered the government, Hal et about fixing up the little shelter house and It really looked like an up-to-date city sanitari um when he was through touching It up. Clara did tbe nursing. Hal did the washing, baking and cooking, while Dr. Morrison from town attended. With the money they took in as their share Hal Invested In a little piece of land. Then he doubled It and tripled It, and with the proceeds derived from that they invested In machinery to draw oil from the ground where Hal bad discovered It one day. for me to follow th4broken road to Nancy Blake's," Horace said in a deep voice. In a short time Mrs. Hicks had Hor ace well supplied with coats and shawlk, and started over the 'road to Nancy Blake's. "Oil up Dobbin, we must meet Sal ly," "Horace exclaimed to his faithful old white Horse. The sleigh glided over the fleece-lfke enow and had only gone six miles when My, what a ter rible sight confronted Horace as he came to the turn In the road, there lay tbe girl ot lilt dreams unconscious In tbo snow. "Sally, Sally, can'tyou speak?" And picking her up in his arms, he placed - J,!,,.,,,,;;., morrow with Mr. Murdock, and they wish ut to get the house- In order.. "Who In the thunder are you . . . and what are you getting at?" Byron .reared hit slim form up to Its full six. feet. ' . "We are 'sorry, but we wer paid by your people to com here as boarder ... . to see bow you would make out. Will you forgive us? We bav reported that ' you, wore the 'gamest' pair we have vcf teen, and we art i proud to work for both of you.? "And it was Just a bluff, our people, being mad at us for getting married?" exclaimed Byron, "Just a bluff,' to see what you were really mad of, Ir,"'samwMr. Radford,' with a slight bow. ) , "And they are coining td ace us to- morrow, Mignon, darling. ,1 think thoy bav'e realised we are not a comle of tame kittens . . . but I'm awfully sorry that our boarders had to suffer , on our account. Will you forgive us and believe us that we will be the most considerate people you ever have got a meal for , . . w-e have learned from experience, and your gieut pa tience.1, Byron Murdock gripped the man- ' servant's, rfap. white Mignon wounj her arms around Mrs. Keel's plump neck and kissed her. "TLnter they were turned laughingly out of the disor dered kitchen to rest up for the great reunion of the morrow. cactus. "I've dreamed shout all the things, but they were sort of a night mare, I guess. I'm homesick. I want Leonard Ray and the apple trees. Wt want to come here some time togeth er, you see. I shouldn't have let you lake me places, because all, tbe time I've been Imagining you were Len and " , "I'm from Boston, anyway. Molly," laughed Norton Frost easily. "You're not losing much of a Westerner. Might call on you some tlmo when I'm East. Len Ray Is an old friend of mine. He told me to keep an eye on you tnd give you a goot time; hut he's been missing you lately pretty hull, so I thought I d bettor make you - see how you reall.it felt about thligH." Molly recovered from the amazing deluxe with remarkable calm, and In a ridiculously short time took the fast est crosf-continent .train to LeonarJ Ray and that brown bungalow In the apple orchard and the 1est little' town in tbo world. ' a . . " TedHe a queer chap. He say he likes to write verse. Ned There's no accounting for tastes. I know fellows who claim they like to read It. " ; Bobbles What does Wills author mean by saying that the hero had well carved feature? Dobblea-il'erhapa he shaved himself. , It had been a hard fight for both, but then tbey were wonderfully rontcnt In their accomplishment, and it was only now tbey realized It in Its full value. As Harrison Van De Veer, Jr.. picked up tbe note once main and held it closer to tbe shaded lamp on his rough twig-made table, h? looked down at Clara with a twinkle in his eye and said: "Shall we go'back, little girl, as father asks?" and Clnra answcrwl In a proud hut gentle little voice, "Yes, dear, If you will promise it will be only for a visit." ' , . There Is a fresbtfess about the Ori ental viewpoint ot "English as she is spoke" thajt j positively refreshing. Here Is a little sample from an Orl- . ental paper with an English section: "The news of English we tell Uie latest. Writ In perfectly style and most earliest. .Do a murder commit, we hear of and tefl of. Do mighty chief die, we publish If and "in borders , somber. Stall has each one been col lege and write liko the Kipling and the Dickens. We circle .every town and extortionate not ' for advertise ments." ' . her gently beside blm ln the old-fashion sJclgh. - The cold sharp wind of the Winter' night brought Sajly to consciousness and as sbo ' lookcd,.Hfl'intoi Horace's honest blue eyes she placed her tiny white arms around bis neck and ex claimed. "You are the true hero of my dreams." T The Exaet Terminology. . The proprietor of a grocery stqre chanced to glance but the plate-Alas window and saw a mall boy Ilngoying around a barrel ot apple exhibited on the sidewalk. ' "Hey; there, boy!" exclaimed xhe grocerymah, going to the door, "What are you doing?" "Nothing." laconically answered the boy, with hi, eyes still fixed on the barrel. ' . "Nothing, eh?" doubtfully returned the ma,n. -"Aren't you trying to steal some ot those apples?" "No, sir," responded the younpteft. "I'm trying not to." .