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About Polk County itemizer. (Dallas, Or.) 1879-1927 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1908)
9 “ F la m e s fr o m A s h e s " s ( C tn tn m tJ fr» m page J . ) assistance the whole woods would he in flames. Just then she saw, sw iftly climb ing over the wall, the tall figure o f the man in whose despite she had set the fire. H e swung a shovel above his head and with each whack the fire had ceased and a blackened area marked the place where the implement was brought down. Grim and angry he worked away, breaking the line o f fire and paying no attention to Mary, who follow ed after, stamping out the little flames which ever and anon started trp where the fire had been checked. > A s the fire reached the wall thi, ob stacle checked the otherwise certain sweep, but there were hushes growing in and out which readily took fire and, burning in the crevices could not readily be smoth ered by impact o f the shovel. Dick dropped this implement and grab bing the pail rushed with all speed to a pond at a most uncomfortable distance and returning applied the water sparingly as possible to the wicked little flames he could not reach in any other way. Again and yet again he went for water. As he returned the third time, breathless and weary, he saw that the wind had changed and the flames were spreading in the other direction, toward Mary's house. Mary had taken up the shove! and was beating at the fire. U p to this time neither had uttered a sound, but had silently fought the flames as if each had been alone and as far apart in person as they were in spirit N o w silence was broken as M ary utter ed a scream o f terror and dismay. H er clothing was on fire. * Dick instantly flew to the rescue, catch ing the bla/ing skirts in hi3 bands and smothering the flames against his own stout woolen garments. Then he seized the precious pail o f water and bidding her lie down he sucreeded in putting out the fire but not until her clothing was much burned and his own hands and face had received many a painful blister. * " O h ! Dick, this is d readful!” were the words with which M ary broke her twen ty years’ vow. Dick made no answer, but picked up his shovel and began whacking at the fire. H e was angry at Mary, at Constance, at the Republican party, at Blaine, at the American electorate, at the whole world, including himself. H e felt, too, a kind o f unworthy satisfaction in being an injured innocent and in the certain knowledge that M ary could but recognize the fact. ¿ f a j -a—^ ' I M 8j L H » M lH W n B T T W l w r ia l K I/A b f I n rral n »e i u i j f n ' « t ' f b lack * 2 * 3 , fu r thro» tc arl. lydf?3 i H K ] \ Thesweilh.Wibwsis ' / TF m E l j fe e »** , ! f <• it i lir a q u a lify H't b l n k v»»ol t '- bet «eat c lo th V y ' * n o*?. *" 1 *S' *LAliS* jB B u a M w P w « j i f o r fu ll And » i m . t r In ri L i n * ! y mil-*. niB, Hopcrbly t> t***iy i -■ f l H K s V i f 'u S O e I u V S 'B «'»51 »III " witii *: r . ti: 11* nM>. I I ’ al m » ag > B p T k tcitoen SLEEVES nt<< I ft»-« fu ll 1 • i j . t ’ < < y « » » M l th r e e d n in ty t-u k * and lo v e ly t>irn o v e r r u ff*.w in c h n r « clwit iu in «Iy tr im m e d w ith e xtra g ra d e . h ig h lu s tr e fib e r s ilk b ra id : PfiCRETS nre effect lrtHy tritnriuM w ith r .d f re v e r e s an d soutache. O o m r ld ln if th is e le g a n t g n riu eu t is th e e x q u is it e v e lv e t h e r d ttround c a l le r . anti b e a u tifu l v e lv e t p an els d a in t ily a p p lie d on ehfMil- d eve and back w h ich n r* h a rm on iou sly edited w ith e x tra q u a lity h ig h lu s tre fiber « i l k braid and a ilk ssv*».b«. F astens w ith s ilk cord and b u tto n s i 6 0 in ch es Irnig; black c o lo r o a l/ : sixes 62 fa 42 inch es b a s t B en s u re ; »o itfiiq 4 *t lbs. THE FR EE FUR SCARF S r t & S r , ; p K in g ty tM exiul dainty it's m ade o f r ic h glossy F ren ch Coney r a r e « b lo c k fu r w h ich lssfcs Hitsfirest kincV l f » t I f '• Wl inches Io n «, w id e an d f u ll: e s q nisi f r l y lin e d w ith rich Mack aafia. s en d $t.oo d e p o s it , a w a s - « « '# » e s t r s q u a lity b lack w ool th ib e f c o s t, an d th e •»wpst Frssdt Csssy K a re n M a c k f a r th r o w s c a r f C .O.I>. by express^ su b je c t t o e x a m in a tio n , y o a t o pay t h o b alan ce , S I . 95 and (press c burgee, a f t e r yon e x a m in e th e c o u t and s c a rf and nd th em p e r fe c tly s a tis fa c to ry , a ssHsct tit. th e e q n n lo f ou r h o m e d ealers* $10 o r 612 c o s ts an d scarfs.and th e squj I n s ty le «n d b e n aty o f a n * c o a t end s c u rf at any p ric e ; o t h e rw is e th e g a rm e n t« w ill tie retu rn e d to ns i t o«r sisssss an d w e w ill p ro m p tly refu n d r o a r 81.00. O rd e r th e c o a t * f FREE SPECIAL FASHION BOOK w h ich show s o v e r a thousand e le g a n t p ictu res o f ra re and b e a u tifu l f a ll and w in te r s ty le * o f s h irt waists, ta ilo r- m ad e s u it«, ja c k e ts , rap es and sk irts, and im m en se assort m en ts o f d a in ty m uslin u n derw ear an d c h ild r e n 's and in fa n ts ' g a rm e n ts anti lad in ,' shoes at striVisjly lew srkas. Wt AM HCAOOUAtTERS f o r la d le s ', misses* and c h ild r e n 's F U R S O F A L L K / N D S lV ^ Y ^ i: writ* for it TODAY. U n i D U w U w i s ilk «, dom es! ics, I n a ne I#. lin e n s, h osiery, Indies un derw ear, tru n k s .v alis es .d ry goods and n o t lo n s o f n ll k ind s at o n e h a lf r e t a il d e a le rs ' ia-tees. Writs far s mr Fra« Dry Gesds Catalog and see fo r you rself. i a u m as e u u r u a a is o n i w t m l : ________ For an hour they retreated before the flames, battling their way inch by inch. But titer were steadily reducing the breadth o f the front they had to fight and getting nearer to the spring which would prove their ally. “ Oh ! Dick !" M ary suddenly exclaimed “ The fire is spreading over yo.tr field !" Dick, with his tcetli set, was whacking away at the fire and as before, he made no answer. "D ic k !” Mary cried again. “ Go ho:r.c and save your own house.’’ “ Bring out two pails,” Dick command ed. “ W e can carry water now." “ But D ick! your own house will catch in a few minutes.” “ Unless you want IsHh houses burned down you will fetch the two nails!" was the rejoinder, between whacks o f the shovel. “ Let my house g o ! It ’s all my fault!” M ary wailed. “ Go and save your own f* “ W ill you get the pails?" Dick demand ed, with a mighty emphasis on the first word. M srv departed on the run and soon re turned with the pails and with these the fire was soon checked. “ N o w run in the house before yon catch your death o f c o ld !" Dick commanded, turning to go. “ I'll go and help save your house!” M aty responded hopefully. “ Can't be don e!" Dick responded short ly. “ It will be on fire before I can get there. I will save what I can. Y tou go in the house. H e jumped the fence and ran panting down the road without looking behind, where Mary, a sorry figure in burned and wet rags, followed in breathless baste after him. A little brook ran between his house and the other buildings and here the fire was bound to stop. But it was clear that there was no chance o f saving the house and Dick devoted himself to securing some o f its contents. First he carried out the pet birds, clias- ing out the cat and dog as he did so. Tl.cn came his legal and commercial papers, wisely kept in a convenient place for just such an emergency. 1'hen came the family portraits and then the library. M ary had arrived and again they worked in silence, carrying out books and then odd pieces of furniture and the thousand and one little things whose loss would have been irreparable. A s fast as evety thing wtas carried out, ,it was carried across the bridge which spanned the little brook. “ Don’ t go again!” M ary exclaimed, as the flames swept over the roof, “ It's dan gerous !” “ I must g o !" Dick said. “ I haven't a third o f the things y e t!” “ Let them g o ! Your life is worth more than the things in there!" “ I don't know that my life is worth so much!" Dick said bitterly, thinking that his house and most o f his goods were burned without insurance, that he was a miserable old bachelor without i near rel ative, that Blaine was elected and the country going to ruin. “ I'm going back for a few more tilings,” he said, starting toward the bridge. “ Don't g o ! Please don't g o !" Mary said, follow ing after. Dick paid no attention, moving toward the back door, the lintel o f which already was ablaze. H e was destined, however, never again to enter the house in which he was bom. As he neared the door M ary threw both arms around his neck and tightly held him back. “ You shan’t go in ! You shan’t ! ” she said and clung with a grasp which nothing short o f extreme \ iolencc could have shaken loose. Dick tried to titter some word o f pro test, but his utterances did not amount to much. For one thing, M ary had him nearly strangled. For another, while he was brave enough to have gone into the burning house, like many another brave man. he was not altogether displeased at being prevented, against his will, from running into danger. Finally his veins were jumping in a most unaccustomed way at having Mary's arms around his neck and knowing ihat M ary was con cerned as to Ins safety. His show o f resistance did not last long There was a crash and a roar and a col umn o f sparks mounting to the sky mark ed the site where the Burton homestead had stood for a time exceeding the mem ory o f any living man. The pair retreated in time to escape the flying embers and then Dick, seizing a pail, set himself to the fnrther problem o f preventing the fire from spreading into other fields. F o r tunately it had been hemmed in by stone walls and the winding brook and only here and there was his attention required. M ary still worked by his side in spite o f his repeated injunctions to go home lest she take her death o f cold. They bad not worked long when further effort was rendered unnecessary by a sudden passing shower which effectively dampened the dead leaves; and the fire which Mary had kindled was a thing o f the past, save for the smoldering ruins which marked the spot where late the Burton home had stood. The shower brought another necessity— that o f hastily carrying into the barn the .rescued goods which had been dumped helter-skelter upon the ground The work was soon accomplished, for the amount saved was not large. Then, in utter wear iness, they sat down within the shelter o f the barn and gazed at the smoking ruin before them. Mary, who had been too full o f excite ment and occupation before, now found time to begin to cry. Covering ber face with her h.Thds she bent her head and sobhed aloud. “ Never mind, Mary,” said Dick, speak ing kindly for the first time. “ It was- all an accident and can't be helped now.” “ O h ! D ic k !" Mary sobbed, "you are too good, too kind. I have acted dreadfully, and o h ! it's too bad, too bad !” Dick looked steadily at the ruins o f the house in which were bound tip the recol lection-; o f a lifetime and could not trust himself to speak. “ I will pay you for all this.” M ary said. “ O f course, I can't restore the old home, but I can pay all the money cost, whatever it is. I have more than twenty thousand in notes and bonds and 1 will agree to pay you anything you say. I will sign an agreement right now,” she concluded piti fully. “ I won’t take a cent,” Dick responded energetically, “ f will sell the farm for whatever it wilt bring and go out W est and start life anew.” “ You can’t do it,” M ary said. “ You are too old.” “ W h a t!” exclaimed Dick with a jump. “ I'm not forty years old yet.” “ I know that,” said Mary. “ You are only two years older than I am, hut you are old and I am old and everybody is old who ever had any part in the only days o f my life I ever cared for. Every thing is gone tike that home which now lies in ashes." “ A sh es!" exclaimed Dick. “ Ashes! W hat has my life but ashes? Every near relative I have had has been dust and ashes these many years. M y friends have died, gone away, grown into new interests — what remains o f those friendships but ashes? The home o f my childhood is ashes. Once, early in life I felt about my heart the flames o f as pure and ardent a love as ever man or youth has felt. That was long ago. For many years I have had— a-hes. As you have said, I am now old." “ It was I who laid jo u r home in ashes,” said Mary, crying. “ I will give you a deed to my house and the farm with it and go away myself. I was foolish and wrong, but you know I did not mean any real harm." “ I know it, Mary.” said Dick, with a tittle husky catch in his voice. “ Don't say anything more about it. It hurts me more to see you feel bad than it did to lose the house." “ H ow can you ever say that,” M ary said, sobbing afresh, “ after the way I have treated j-ou for so many years?" “ Those years are past now, Mary,” said Dick, with on unsteady voice, “ and if we can be friends once more. I w ill think it has cost me little enough W hy,” lie suddenly and irrelevantly added, “ there is a red lantern burning where the green one was. W hat does that mean?” “ ft means,” said Mary, rising and look ing, “ that Abner was mistaken when he hung out the green light and thit those awful Democrats have won, after all." Then, her face still wet with tears, she gave a little laugh .so like that lie had heard twenty years before in their thou sand bantering argument- that Dick stood still, trembling with emotion. “ I had invited the marching club to come out and have »upper Thursday night,” he said, after a moment's pause. “ But f guess I'll have to cancel the invi tation." “ Don’t.” said Marv. “ Let them come to my house and I'll see that they are taken care o f." Dick nearly fell over in his astonish ment. " W h y !” he exclaimed. "Constance said that you were furiously angry because I purposed inviting them to my own house.” “ I was,” M ary admitted. “ But I am going to try never to be foolish and nar row again. Haven't I a dozen cousins and lots o f friends among them* W h y shouldn't I entertain them? Besides, it will be your house then I am going tq make out a deed and have it recorded, whether you will or not and I will an nounce the fact when they come, together with an unsparing account o f my foolish- ne-s and spite in setting that fire They will come, if not on your invitation, then on mine.” - M ary’s face had brightened a ; she spoke, for she felt that she had found a way out o f the difficulty. H er house was far finer than Dick's had been and she was giving up her childhood’s home as he had lost his. Surely he would now know that she was doing what she could to atone. “ 1 don't want your deed," Dick cried “ I won't take it. I want more than that." “ I will do any thing I can." said Mary, hurt and trembling once more. “ I don’t Want your house, your land r your money,” Dick said very deliberate!/. “ I want you.” N o true woman ever take» a chance o f making a mistake. “ You mean----- ” she said falteringly. “ I mean to ask you the question which for years I longed to ask. Then for other years there were ashes where once were flames. N o w from the ashes the flames have sprung anew. I ask you. will yott be my w ife?” “ I will." “ And you will marry me u-hen I say?" he asked. “ I suppose so.” “ Then I will say to-day. \Ve have let too many years go by as it is.” They went to M ary’s house for break fast just as the alarmed and mystified servants were preparing to search for their mistress. Later in tile day the minister and a very few friends were called, including the overjo>-ed and hilarious Constance, and the next evening the marching club re ceived the surprise of their lives. Dick and Mary still live merrily and content edly on their now united farms and one voter additional is relied upon to carry the traditional Burton polities. But his father and mother never weary o f telling him never to be bigoted and always to remain good-natured in matters political, as well as in all other matters. A A YEAR H TO PAY WANT to M l you all aboat our liberal plan o f tarnish- inf homo« for tbs psopls all over thn coantry on credit Wt »rant to explain to you how wonder'ully convenient our credit service is, sad how it gives you from ton t o th irty month« in which to par for your purchases—how it eaablee yon to bay a sin «!« articls, or to furnish your hoot* com plete and to enjoy ths full u n of tba furnith in«« while pay ing for them in «mail amounts from mouth to month as yon •am tho money. We charge absolotaly nothing for *h»# credit accommodation—no Interest- no extras o f any kind. Ersry salaried man, every wa«e earner, every farmer and ovary family o f small income in the country should have this helpfol Credit serrlce. YOtr should have it. We M l alt about the plan in our Big Fall fa ta l««. W rits for it today. r CATALOG NO. 120 FREE Do no« •pent fpend a cent for anythin« in th# lin s o f honta fur- nishii _________ f _ n util t i l you have received thie caU lo«—yo.t caa'k __________________ afford to. It offers the the most most artistic artistii furnishings designed fbr the modern home at prices you cannot possibly equal 1« vonr home town or of any other mall order home furnish ing Institution to Am snca. It is a large and beautifully illustrated volume, picturing a wonderfully extensive line of Furniture, Ca-yet«. Russ, Draperies. Stoves, Refrigera tors, Go-carte. Crockery, Sewing Machines, Clocks, Silver- illustrated very elaborate! y In colon. Thh Elegant « ROCKER U r Sawad Ot Massive frame beautifully carvi high book, broad ears on each side, very com forta ble; seat has full set tem pered steel spriage. Up holstered in guaranteed Nantucket Leather, which has the weerie* quality ot genuine Leather. A mar velous veins. Shipped • « 80 DAYS' n ic e rttA L . Tt positively handle mors goods We nation of furniture stores In A m eric»— enjoy buying advantages whica enables n* to sell at price« titan any other concern in the business. Writ« for mu h ( Catalog today SATlSf A C T If* 98 V8UR * 9 *11 » A P I H A D T M A i l FU R N IT U R E AhO llAn I D A n C A R P E T CO 223 225 2 2 7 & 2 2 9 WABASH AVE, C H I C A G O mjresses anyman ' LV r e e t T r R i a I A l L o O f P f F e C r R W IL L fiv e / o n m y I •p lend M o u tfit on at DO day fr^ o tr U In n t lr e ly a t B y o w e ris k , p ro v id in g y o i a r e to e first f r o m y o u r lo c a lity t o a ; cr— — ------------ offer. 1 h a v e a lw a ys «o ld th »v e sp!< era. b a t th is season, coaiin ei.i-iiig w ith th is v e ry d a y , 1 h a ve m ade up ray m lud to s e 'l d ire c t to th e w e a re r am i save e v e r y m ao tho enorm ous p ro fit th a t has a lw a y s w o n « In to th e pockut o f the d e ale r. T o m ak e m y n ew p lan a success r ig h t fro m th e s ta r t I d ecid ed to plaop with one relfn blo person t> p lc te o u tfit f o r RA.OO and n<........- ......- .......— . T h i s 1* nsy s ty lU ls t c s - p le o e O u t fit — I f i t y l l A l y Jallored suit, 1 PresWsmt oresa s h irt, 1 K i n « K d w ard eap I B air E m p ire suspenders, l p air m end p ro o f h ose, I OhesterlU-hl U r, 3 Hoe ha nd k erchiefs, 1 set g o ld b u tto n * T o be sa fe fo secnrlntr th is o ffe r s eed a t oace fo r taps. • blank, e «c .t f o r I can g i v e to im t oae la a locality r . 0. LUTDQUIfiT, CANADA MILLS CO- Oeot « Ä GftCENVILLC. M<CM