I
RANCH MYSTERY
A Story For Children
By Paula
Beth, a visitor from the East,
(earns there has been trouble
brewing on her Uncle Walter's
ranch for many months. Cattle
have been stolen, Uncle Walter
has been fired at by members oj
an unknown gang. Someone is de
termined to force the owner to
give up his land. Beth is inter
ested in finding out who these
people are and why they want
this particular property. She finds
the rowel of a silver spur in one
of the pastures and now is pretty
sure who its owner is. Uncle Wal
ter has started to drill for water,
and when one of his boys rides
into town for a new part for the
dril, he is questioned about ac
tivities on the ranch. The man
who is so curious is Mort Russell,
the very man Beth suspects. In
the midst of the drilling, Mort
calls and offers to buy the prop
erty, but before her Uncle can
close the deal Beth beys him to
wait until she tells her suspicions
Chapter 10.
MORT RUSSELL was a dia
gruntlcd man when he rode
out of the ranch and headed back
to .town. He told Uncle Walter at
the last that his offer to buy the
ranch would not hold for long.
With all the trouble and worry
the ranch had brought In the last
six months,' Uncle Walter could
not help but wonder If he was
doing the right thing in not sell
ing now, lock, stock, and barrel.
The harrassed man went out
to the pasture where the well
drillers were at work. Ron, Tim
and Beth watched him amble
slowly toward them.
"Maybe Dad would've done
well to sell the ranch, but, gee,
I'd hate to see him do it, at that,"
said Ron.
"Nothin' doin," Tim threw
back at his brother. "We're not
licked yet"
Beth waited until her uncle
came up to them. There was
question In his tired eyes.
"Well, honey," he said, "what
was on your mind that you was
so anxious for your old uncle not
to sell his ranch? Mort sure
made me a friendly offer. Did
you have somethin' special that
you thought woulda made any
difference?"
"Will you come Into the house
with me, Uncle Walter?" she
aaked, "and you two boys come
along. I've got something to
show you and something to tell
you."
Ron and Tim looked surprised
indeed, but without question
they followed. As they passed
through the kitchen, Aunt Mary
turned from the cookstove.
"Don't you think they're going
to find water, Pa?" she asked.
"Surely you haven't had 'em stop
drilling yet."
"Come on along into the
parlor, Aunt Mary," said Beth.
"I want you to hear what I've
got to tell, too."
"Spill it, Beth. A guy can't
wait forever." Ron could not hide
his impatience.
"Pipe down," was Tim's ready
retort.
"Well, first of all, Uncle
Walter, I didn't want you to sell
the ranch to Mort Russell just
yet because I don't trust him the
way you do."
Aunt Mary sat upright in the
old rocker. "Sell the ranch? What
on earth are you talking about,
child?"
"Yes, mama, Mort offered to
buy the place from me today. Said
he knew right well we was hav
ing a tough time makin' a go of
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it, and he was willing to take it
off our bands."
"But Mort Russell has more
land, now, than he needs for his
herds."
"Yes, Aunt Mary," said Beth,
'you're just right. Uncle Walter
trusts Mort and maybe he's right
to do so. You've all known him
a lot longer than I have, but I
don't trust him. . . . I'll tell you
why."
"We haven't known Mort a
great while, child. Just you say
what you've a mind to, here with
your own folks, and then we'll
think about it."
"Thank you, Aunt Mary." Now
everything was easier. Betb
reached into the pocket of her
jeans and drew forth the silver,
star-shaped wheel. She placed it
on the table where everyone
could see.
Both boya reached out for it,
and as they turned It over Uncle
Walter aaid, "It's a rowel, Beth.
Where did you get it?"
"Yes, it's a rowel and not an
irdinary one, either."
"I'll say it's not an ordinary
one . . . it's silver," said Ron.
"Yea, it's silver." And Beth
plunged Into her story. "I found
it in the pasture the day I had
my first riding lesson. It was up
in the near pasture1, just a few
feet from the place where the
men are drilling out there. 1
didn't think much about it at
first; so I didn't mention it. You
see, Uncle Waiter, I didn't even
know what it was until the da
I went to town with Claude."
"I'll bet Claude told you,'
grinned Ron. "Claude loves to
explain anything. Did he tell you
.how they were made and how
much they cost?"
"Will you keep your ever-ready
mouth closed, Ron, and let Beth
do the talking just this once?"
said Tim with obvious disgust.
"After we' got to town we
went to the station. Claude
wanted to see the train come in."
Ron was about to comment on
this idea, too, but Tim anticipated
him and clapped his hand, none
too gently, across his brother's
wide smile.
"At the depot there were two
men. One of them was Mort Rus
sell, and Qie other one a stranger.
While Claude talked to them I
noticed that Russell was wearing
spurs, and one of them had a
rowel missing. I even said some
thing about it to him, and then
Claude introduced me."
The family leaned forward, all
eyes and Interest. .
"Mort said, yes, he had lost a
rowel off his spur, and he had
sent to San Francisco for a new
one. Then he asked me how I
liked the West, and all that. I
-said, 'Have you been out to see
my uncle lately?' And since I
-was pretty sure the rowel I'd
found was his, I was surely sur
prised when he said he hadn't
been on the ranch in many
months."
"Well, now, that's strange,
ain't It?" said TJncle Walter.
"Funny he'd lie like that if he
wasn't with the gang that's been
raiding us right along." said
Aunt Mary.
Beth nodded and went on.
"Then I decided I'd not say any
thing about the rowel I'd found
on our ranch. I figured that if he
was as rich a man as Claude said
he was, he wasn't stealing cattle
for any reason except to frighten
you off the land." ,
"But what could he want to
run me out for?"
"That's the part I don't know.
Uncle. And here's the rest!"
By now everyone was leaning
forward with eagerness and ad
miration in their faces.
There is some reason why
Mort wants this land. And who
was the man he put aboard the
train that day? Claude hadn't
ever seen him before. But this
much I noticed; on his suitcase
there were three letters after his
name. They were F. O. S. Now
that must be some kind of a busi
ness or profession. If we knew
what those letters meant, we
might be able to figure out why
Mort Russell had that man out
here, and ..."
Beth did not finish for Ron had
Jumped to his feet, yelling,
"Where's my school dictionary?"
(Continued next week)
Polishing Off A Steak!
LEVEL oft there, fellows, and
hold that glide for a minute
while we sit her down for a lot of
the old chatter.
We were gassing with the edi
tor the other day about Western
ers who pioneered in aviation.
Naturally the name of Professor
John J. Montgomery came up.
You see, Professor Montgom
ery, who was a member of the
faculty at Santa Clara College
California, actually built the first
glider that ever looped. . i
It was In 1884 that Professor
Montgomery began building glid
ers the forerunners of the Wright
Brothers' powered plane. .
Over in Germany, Otto Lllien
thal had spent something like five
hours in the air; In England,
Percy Pitcher had constructed a
number of successful gliders, and
In this country, Octave Chanute
was gliding, also.
WELL, Professor Montgom
ery's models got better and
better until he had pretty thor
oughly licked the stability prob
lem. Finally he ran Into a circus
balloonist and parachute jumper
. named Maloney.
This Maloney seemd to have a
lot. of what It takes he hoisted a
glider up on a balloon and cut
loose at 3500 feet And he didn't
know any too much about flying
it, either!
Needless to say, he got down
all right, but not before he cut
a few fancy figures in the atmos
phere to give the audience a thrill
r-regular circus stuff.
After a while, Professor Mont
gomery hired some more circus
stunters and made a tour of the
west coast with his balloon-glider
show, which caused a tremendous
amount of interest.
The professor had his troubles,
though. His dare-devil glider pi
lots were always trying to steal
the show from each other. One
day one of them, dead set on cop
ping all the glory, cut loose from
a balloon as usual and started to
do some exceptionally sharp turns
on his way down. Just what hap
pened Isn't any too clear to any
one, but he turned so fast he did
what amounted to a loop, or so
they oalled it
THAT brings to mind these par
achute jumpers who rig them
selves out in a flock of fabric and
go gliding all over the place on
the way down. It's simple to ex
plain but not so simple If the
jumper happens to get tangled up
in all that paraphernalia.
They stretch a webbing between
their legs, you see, and have an
other webbing on both arms.
Naturally the speed they're fall
ing creates a certain lift on the
"wings." just as speed creates lift
on a plane's wings. And so they
get some support. Thus far we
haven't read of any jumper glid
ing In to a safe landing on his
nose. They dump off the "wings"
AnOfficer's Boots
By Paula tdorto'n
ONCE there was a VERY im
portant officer in the Ger
man army, and he had two beau
tiful, shining black boots which
he wore ONLY on special occa
sions. The officer had a small son,
too, and the son had two little
dachshunds.
Now dachshunds are clever
little fellows and VERY fond of
mischief any mischief.
The officer's little boy used to
play in his father's room, while
that dignified gentleman was
away at a big garrison all day.
The boy liked that room best of
all the rooms In his home, be
cause It was dark and filled with
books and mysterious weapons
and many curious souvenirs.
In the officer's room there was
a great dark clothes cupboard,
too, -and there In the shadows
hung many beautiful uniforms.
The Dachsles went to this In
teresting, mysterious room, too,
whenever the boy went there.
They never made much noise,
however, because they knew if
they did someone would notice
them and put them out at once.
The boy paid little attention to
them, for he was always busy ex
ploring among the many strange
things he found there. He spent
every afternoon for a week In
that room looking at pictures of
and open the 'chute while still
several hundred feet up.
YOU know there are lots of
things not to do when you're
flying, but lots of fellows are apt
to forget this: "Don't make a
down-wind turn on the takeoff!"
Why? Well, most of you know,
probably, but here's a simple ex
planation. Let's say the landing speed
which Is also your takeoff speed
of the ship Is 39 miles an hour.
You're taking off Into a 15-mile-an-hour
wind. That means that
when you're going 20 miles an
hour the wind supplying the
other 18 m.p.h.'s you take off.
BUT, If you turn down wind at
that time, you're still moving 20
per slower than the minimum
flying speed. And smacko, off she
falls!
That's why pilots keep straight
ahead If the motor conks on a
takeoff ditches and fences to the
contrary notwithstanding.
battle scenes ot long ago. He'd
'drag the big book over to the
window to see the details of the
fierce battle scenes.
NO one came to disturb the
boy, and the Dachsles left
him alone, too they had business
of their own to handle.
Then one day the world fell
with a crash around the ears of
the boy, and it nearly landed on
the Dachsles.
There was to be a special, extra
fancy dress parade of the soldiers
in honor of the Emperor. The
officer hurried to his home to
dress in his special parade uni
form. It so happened the boy and the
- Jogs were out fishing that after
noon, so the officer found his room
. quite as it should have been.
Then suddenly he bellowed In
a voice like thunder.
The boy and dogs, returning
from their fishing trip, were just
passing under the window. THEY
heard and all three shivered and
shook and listened!
Then the thunder slowed down,
and they heard shouts of com
mand to servants and any one
who would listen.
The nice, dignified, Important
officer said, "Someone, someone
has chewed a great round hole
In the heel of each of my special
parade boots. I am furious!"
The boy grabbed a dog under
each arm and flew Into the woods,
back where he'd been fishing.
There he tied them to a tree and
sat beside them. He was fright
ened and a little angry at his
Dachsles, too.
HE said: "Now you've done It!
Stop , wagging and listen!
What did you have to be so
smarty for anyway? How can
Father wear thoBe boots to the
parade for the Emperor with his
white sox showing through the
heels?"
Then tu! got up and walked
around and around the tree. Now
the Dachsles felt badly, and they
lay down on the ground and lifted
their little brown eyebrows with
ashamed, sad eyes, watching the
boy.
After a long time of great si
lence, the boy untied the two vll
lains and went slowly back to the
house. He listened carefully when
he went through the halls to his
room. All was quiet . . . the band
music of the parade could be
heard in the distance.
That night the dogs slept in the
boy's room (he built a tent house
for them out of a plaid shawl
draped over two chairs). They
were VERY quiet and VERY
good.
When the boy's father came in
to tell him "good night," two pairs
of soft brown eyes peeked from
under the tent fringe. They were
watching two dusty military boots
and wondering how THEY'D
taste!
CURFEW
THE ringing of a curfew was
first an English custom, orig
inating with William the Con.
queror. The word comes from
"couvrefeu," a French word
meaning "cover fire." The curfew
In England meant ' that at 8
o'clock all fires and lights had to
be "covered."
Tell Time By The Flowers
No Watch Needed in Garden
Where Western Flowers Bloom
EVEN if your watch has stop
ped It la usually quite easy
to tell what time it is in a gar
den. A large number of plants
open their flowers at certain times
of the day and this they do with
amazing regularity. Other plants
close their flowers with the same
consistency Just as though they
had an eye on the clock.
Probably the earliest garden
plant to open its blooms is the well
known climber, Ipomaea, the
buds of which expand at 5
o'clock. Single roses of all kinds
open about an hour later, at 6.
Practically all kinds of Linum
and the Day Lilies (Hemerocallis)
open at 7. lust about the same
time the Shirley Popples burst
their green cases and Irises ex
pand. At 8 many kinds of Con
volvulus expand their blooms. At
9 one will see the opening of many
sorts of Veronica, Gentians, Ox
alls, to mention only a few kinds.
Arenarias, Portulacas, Esch
scholtzlas and Marigolds display
their flowers at 10 o'clock. At
mid-day those great sun lovers,
the Mesembryanthemums, open
their blooms to the warm rays.
From about noon, until the late
Over the Captain's Coffee Cup
Travel Tales from Everywhere
-By
Whit
MEN YOU Tiear about have
wanted to accomplish cer
tain, things so much that the
price didn't matter
Fame often comes Unsought.
Paul Gaugln deserted Paris to live
on an island. He painted what he
saw and felt, and went mad.
Recognition followed long after.
Yet before the end, for several
years of freedom his life was
satisfying. More contented, prob
ably, than the days of his Euro
pean friends, who lived in the
"world that Is " He did what he
wanted.
Not everyone can live accord
ing to their heart's desire. Re
sponsibilities, conventions stifle
all but one in a thousand or so.
It takes strength not to care
what people think. Stout belief in
your own talent or simply know
ing that the customary routine is
not for you. Of such are the beach
combers, "tlcket-of-leave" men,
planters on some forgotten islet
who'd rather swim In a warm
coral lagoon than own a business.
A man will drop a good Job to
build a boat and put out for the
Pacific islands. Any Island, so it's
far enough. Gold Is found up a
waterway in Guinea, where canni
bals have their own convention of
"long-pig." Few have grown
wealthy on corpa or sago plan
tations. Not many have brought
out enough yellow metal from un
explored Papua to make up for
malaria and blackwater fever
for native sorceries they've seen
and cannot talk about or forget.
SEEKING NEW
frontiers some few will disregard
three meals a day, a place to
sleep. In San Francisco a young
portrait artist fishes much of the
daylight hours near Fort Mason.
Evening sees him sketching pa
trons of a Bohemian resort on the
edge of Telegraph Hill. At a dol
lar a head, he gets little but ex
perience which an artist needs
more than anything he could buy.
Independent, he says "No" to
more faces than he sketches, and
depends upon an Intuitive sense
of selection when he "accepts" a
model. In the dim candle light his
drawings line the walls, some ex
cellent, others experiments In
technique. His last name Is some
thing Swedish, his first Is Rich a
blond lad, who steadily sees more
behind a smile than the surface
pose. A philosophy of his own
poking around from city to city
concerned more In developing his
work than In wealth or comfort.
He's doing what he wants to do.
Sacrifice now some day, fame.
SPEAKING OF SAGO
and copra, coffee, rubber, and
cacao planting there exist even
today opportunities in British
Guinea for men with a few thou
sands of dollars. Between two and
five. You can lease land for DO
years at a nominal figure, so low
It's almost free. Native labor Is
higher than in Malaya or Africa,
but this is amply balanced by the
low living cost. You live as you
please, cheaply or expensively
plant a crop of whatever strikes
your fancy, and reap the harvest
within a few years. Everything
grows quickly In the rich soil and
tropical climate. No great for
tunes are made you don't go
down to become a millionaire
but your plantation and bush
made house can be beautiful,
. your boat is manned by loyal
natives, the forests and rivers are
virtually your private hunting
preserves. A decent living, privacy
freedom.
LETTERS DRIFT IN
not only from foreign porta, but
afternoon, one must tell the time
not by the opening of flowers but
by their closing. Mallows of vary
ing kinds close from 1 to 2, as
also do the garden forms of
Hawkweed (Hieractum). Potato
and Tomato flowers shut up about
3, whilst an hour later, the Esch
scholtzias and Marigolds close. At
6 you will see the glorious flowers
of the Water Lilies draw their pet
als together and begin to sink be
low the surface.
At 6 quite a remarkable open
ing of flowers begins again. Then
the Honeysuckle opens in addi
tion to the Evening Primrose and
many kinds of Lychnis. At 8
comes the Night-scented Stock
and Mlrabtlls Jalapa. At 9 many
of the Catchfiies (Stlene) ex
pand for the- first time and the
Woodruff and White Tobaccoes do
the same.
Those who have greenhouses,
and grow the Night-flowering
Cacti, will notice that the marvel
ous flowers of this plant open al
most on the stroke of 10, only to
be a mass of faded and crumpled
petals a few hours later.
Wellman
from the Pacific Coast as well.
Brigadier General J. A. Woodruff
replies to an inquiry about the
disappearance of Captain Mc-
Lellan of the transport Republic
" . . . It seems doubtful If further
ever be thrown on the
matter."
..epublic brought the body
ol Father Damlen "leper priest of
Molokal" to San Francisco for
high mass at Old St Mary's . . .
then sailed with the remains for
Belgium. Hawallans Intimated
that a curse would strike anyone
removing a body burled In sacred
ground. At 5:15 in the morning
between the Farallon islands and
the lightship Captain McLellan
vanlshed. More of this later. In
vestigations are still under way.
Mrs. Jay Harvey, of Yelm,
Washington Dallas Alsman, of
Astoria, Oregon have collections'
of those Interesting glass balls
that sweep In with the Japanese
current, rolling up on northwest
ern beaches. This is not a trading
column but if you'd like to
possess rather lovely and unusual
globes In rainbow colors, drop
them a line.
BURIED TREASURE
is not always a myth. If you feel
the urge to dig for dead men's
gold and Jewels, there are places
today supposed to hold fabulous
wealth.
Millions in plate and bar gold
treasure of Lima still evade
seekers on Cocos Island. Some
where on Trinidad is burled a
fairly well-authenticated treasure.
We understand that even charts
are obtainable. South of Madeira
He the Salvages, where a chest of
two million silver dollars was
sunk In the sand by a mutinous
crew, which did away with their
Captain and laid his body atop
the treasure. In '68 the sailing
ship General Grant was lost off
the Auckland Islands bearing
50,000 ounces of gold. The vessel
drove into a cliff cave and broke
up. The hull is still visible, but
the huge combers and swift un
dertow have prevented divers
from rescuing the booty.
ONE OF DEWEY'S SHIPS
lies In San Francisco Bay the
V. B. 8. Boston, which is tied up
at the south end of Yerba Buena
Island. The Navy has used it far
years as a Receiving Ship, doing
dull routine duty aftor the excit
ing Battle of Manila Bay. She Is
one of the few vessels left that
served the Admiral when he hum
bled the 8panlsh fleet. Thousands
of commuters pass within sight of
her every day, completely un
aware that close at hand Is one
of the romantic relics of the cen
tury. Time moves so swiftly, no one
has time these days for memories.
But anyone with a good reason,
or a bump of curloRlty, can ask
for a pass to board her at 1
Harrison Street, Headquarters of
tho 12th Naval District.
IF YOU'VE LIVED
through adventures In any part of
the world .... and want to see
them published in this column
. . . write them down and send
them to The Captain, Five Star
Weekly, 450 Mills Tower, 8an
Francisco, California.
a Dfnttt BoiiihiH
rleafmeeder lavi 10.-
000 ti-aji yearly. Frojtl
aril un to it alien.
Any climate tu li
able. Cotta little in bruin. Market waiting
(or all you raie. Write fir fRf.f. frog bonk
today. AMERICAN FROG CANNING CO.
RAIKfROGS
"wr n
w .t- v. try
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PAGE SEVEN