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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1914)
11 CONSCIENCE FUND How an Apparition Followed a Victim Into the Desert and "Delivered the Goods." By LYLE L. COLE. After walking 350 miles without find ing a town which pleased him, Oakley left the railroad track and turned into the tawny desert. He walked ten or a dozen miles far ther, straight across the shimmering sand, lashed by the thousand whips of the sun, and then stopped to think the matter over. Looking backward over the path he had -followed, he was pleased to see that even the faint, blush, perpendicu lar lines that had marked the location of the telegraph poles were no longer visible. There was nothing In sight to remind him of human beings. The eun was still high and the heat which had made the morning almost unendurable was yet oppressive. . After satisfying himself that he was, indeed, beyond the probable reach of human eyes, Oakley stood for a few minutes, meditating. "I don't really believe that they have any idea where I am, and I doubt if they are still trying to find me," he Bald. "But I can't stay In a town two days without getting nervous. Every policeman 1 see appears to have dif ficulty in keeping his hands off from me, and 1 just have to dig. I feel safer out in the open, where there isn't any thing but animals where everything skulks, the same as me." He sat down In a partially shaded niche in one of the rain-gashed buttes, and fanned himself with his frayed bat. "Somebody says a guilty conscience doeth us up like a patent medicine," he mused. "Wonder why consciences aren't more appropriately distributed. Some men, like me, who have out grown the need of one, have enough to bother four men, and some who need one badly are turned loose with out any. "One would suppose that when a fel low gets to the point where he can kill another man his conscience would give him little trouble. "What was that?" He sprang up suddenly. "Oh, I see. Go it, you long-eared collection of lege," he Bald, with relief, as a Jack-rabbit hastened toward a line of bushes across the valley. Oakley followed slowly along the path taken by the rabbit. He knew the bushes were greasewoods, and thought there must be a stream near. Upon approaching nearer he thought he saw a man standing motionless near a bush. Therefore he turned .quickly and slunk buck along the ragged edge of a dry run. There was something suspicious, he told himself, In the fact that-a man was doing nothing, or anything, In e'uch a wilderness, and he could not afford to take any chances. He crept to the top of the butte and cautiously took a position where, he could watch the row of greasewoods. Lying flat on his stomach under the hot sun was trying work. He thought of something he had learned at school something about earning bread by the sweat of his brow. "Seems to me I've pnld for about five good loaves already," he remarked, nfter hulf an hour had passed, "But whore are they? I never did believe half of those copy-book taU'S." He shifted to one side, and continued his reverie. "Now, I can't see why that fellow wants to stand there In the hot sun like an imitation of Lot's wife. 'Tain t natural, nor even sensible. Oh! You're coming over here, are you? All right, miBter. My latch-string's hanging out, and there's only one of you, so receiv ing callers Is not going to be at all tedious," Oukley lnld an old revolver In a de pression In the sand. "You aren't much like the gun the horse thief Btole from me," he said, addressing It meditatively. "It ain't at all likely you'd shoot If I was to hitch wild horses to your trigger, but 3 llll UB IUUKB gO yOU TB B. Blglll more ImpreBsive thun none." Several times the man straggling across the gleaming sand stopped and Bhaded his eyes with his hand, scan ning the horizon In all directions, but always completing the search with a glance at the butte where Oakley lay sweltering. Oakley watched him curiously, There was something familiar about him. Was It his manner of walking? Oakley could not determine. Suddenly the man vanished from sight. Oakley rubbed lits eyes and stared out across the vibrating heat waves. No one was In sight. Absolutely no living thing could be seen anywhere. And yet Oakley could have sworn that a moment before a man was coming slowly toward him. He stood up and peered eagerly Into the desert The look of wonder on his face changed 'quickly to one of alarm. Ah! Now he tad It. It had suddenly dawned upon him that the one he imagined he had seen was French. No one else walked like French. And If that was French there was but one conclusion, Oakley said to him self. He was going lnsano. French he knew to be dead, for he had killed him. Therefore, French could not be walking over the desert. Oakley knew now that he was beginning to see visions, to conjure up vengeful shapes, and to grope In mental darkness. Insanity horrid, gibbering lunacy had tracked htm, self-driven from the companionship of men, far out Into the wilderness, ft had left the railroad track and the5 telegraph poles, even as he had done, and followed him. It would always follow him. Oakley realized It all at once. There was no escape. No desolate region far from the haunts of men was secure from this insidious. Insatiable Nemesis. No spot, crowded to the utmost by other men, was Inaccessible to tula clammy monster of the brain. Yet Oakley shuddered at the thought of separation from his kind. Picking up his revolver, he turned to descend the butte. There before him stood French, grin ning amiably. The revolver fell to the ground, fill ing its muzzle with dirt. With a wild shriek Oakley dashed away. French put out a nimble foot and brought him to the ground, where he lay, stunned. When Oakley regained conscious ness French was sitting near by, cross legged, masticating tobacco. Oakley sat up, and the apparition handed him a piece of the weed. Oak ley took it and examined It carefully. It appeared to be genuine. Then he arose, and, walking up to the appari tion, felt cautiously about the head and shoulders. The genuine "feel" was there also. Oakley looked for a moment out over the sand toward the railroad track, shook his head doubtfully, and sat down. "Lord, what a place!" "Well, what's the matter with It?" asked French. "Everything Is bo sort of confusing, I can't quite see clearly," replied Oak ley. French took from his pocket a roll of bills, and separating several from the roll, handed them to Oakley. "See any better now?" he queried. Oakley thumbed them over doubtful ly, his mind still In a haze. After a pause he said slowly: "Well, yes, I think the dawn Is gradually illuminat ing my darkened vision, and yet I can't What 1b this money for?" "That's your pay for killing me," re sponded French glibly, "and a recom pense for the anguish of mind which must have been yours when consider ing your awful deed. You see, Oakley, old man, when you became so angry at me, back In our little home town, and attempted to put me where I could no longer arouse your Indignation, you failed utterly didn't even touch me with your bullet. When I fell, dazed by the bombardment, you evidently thought I was dead. Any way, you fled. Living, as I did, a bachelor on the outer edge of town, no one heard the shot and no one came to Investigate. 1 happened to be out of money." Oakley Interrupted: "As usual." "I saw a chance for a Bcheme," con tinued French. "My friend, the phy sician, came at an opportune time to see me, and with hie assistance as the certifier of my death I passed from the knowledge of men, was duly and mournfully burled, and by unimagin able toll, together with the kindly aid of my beneficiary, succeeded In realiz ing upon some fraternal Insurance that happened to be fully paid up." "Then you you aren't dead?" said Oakley meekly, "No, but pretty near It. What with following you through the lufernalest country that was ever left out doors for the wolves to howl In, In order to reimburse you for being the founder of my success In life, or death, as you might say, and also considering the hard labor I endured tryln' to estab lish my Identity as a dead man, I am about dead. "Oakley," he, concluded wearily, "don't you ever try to accumulate wealth by the life insurance plan. Saw wood or tend sheep, but dun't try to get It by dyln' falsely." Oakley passed his hand over his forehead. When he drew It away It was covered with cold sweat, and thinking still of the apparition out on the hot sand, he declared solemnly that he never would. After a few minutes of silence, he said, holding out his hand awkwardly, "I don't feel so angry at you as I did, partly because I've had a lesson that ain't down In the copy-books, and part ly because It Is an unusual experience for a man to have his victim pay him for tryln' to kill him. Let's shake." "Perfectly agreeable," said French amicably. "It was a good thing for me, finan cially, that you once took to murderln'. Let's go back to town and spend some of our money." (Copyright.) Story of Families Much Alike. The romantlo lives of the Roths chllds and the Guggenhelms, the two richest families In the world, are strangely similar. In each In stance the first representative of the family to start the fortune called to gether his sons. Five there were ol the Rothschilds, seven of the Guggen helms. In each case the fable spun by Aesop concerning the bundle ol sticks which cannot be broken If held together, but so easily destroyed each by Itself, was told In the fashion ol the man who told It. Both urged loyalty to the faith ol Moses and commanded their boys to obey their mother In all things and remain united In the family by Inter marriage "and you will be rich among the richest the world will be long to you." There have been no de fections from the house of Rothschild; but one from the house of Guggen heim. And large portions of the world do belong to them. Literal. "It mUBt be a bitter experience to have to eat the bread of a stranger." "I should say so, with all the ex posures they are making nowadays ol us paaenes. JUST at sunset It was that our boat sailed Into Bremer-Haven. The sky was tinted all the shades of pink and violet with a tiny bit of yellow at the horl ion. The water was white and imooth, only here and there reflect ing the colors of the sky. Everywhere overhead, In front and back of the boat sea-gulls were flying. They cut ;reat, graceful circles In the sky with '.heir wings tilted Bldewlse. Some were resting on the water, moving anguldly up and down with the slight motion of the wavelets, and still others were crying and fighting for Lhe waste food that was being thrown from the back of the ship. Their mow-white wings reflected the pale jun-set colors, writes a correspondent 3f the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Slowly the boat was steered In be tween long, narrow points of dark green land. Silhouetted against the jky were wind-mills and tall straight trees. Nothing seemed real for we glided so slowly that we seemed to be on a plantom ship In a dream. The bustling stewards and cabin-boys broke our reverie with the exciting lews that the customhouse officials were waiting to inspect our baggage that night and If anything can bring i dreamer back to earth It is a prac- :lcal German customhouse officer with his formal uniform, his great mustache and his gutteral withering juery, "Clgarren oder llquer?" Bremer-Haven Is the home of the North German Lloyd steamer officers. These men love the sea and they live as near to It as possible, even after they have retired from active service. They spend their vacations In the Hartz mountains taking walking trips. Sea Captain's History. Last June there was an ex-captain on board and he had a curious history. At first he Impressed one as being very old, but when he took his cap off we saw his hair was not the least bit gray. He was dressed as much like a real captain as was possible for a man to be. He always wore dark blue with a cap on his head. He was silent and melancholy except when the Titanic disaster was mentioned, and then he defended Captain Smith yaw w 11 , nA, fliajtliit.aililliyj Bremen to Bartield with a vim that seemed almost unwar ranted. One day the deck steward told us his history. Three years before he had been a real captain, and no prouder man ever rode the seas. He was taking a freighter through the Mediterranean when suddenly In broad daylight he ran his ship upon a sandbar, and the boat went down. No lives were lost but the cargo was very valuable and his stripes were taken from him, and he was made steerage inspector. It was easy to see why he had so cham pioned Captain Smith and Bald that dis asters can happen to the best of cap tains. But It is one of tho traditions of the sea that a man who has once lost a ship must never be captain again. Bremen Is a very attractive city. Running through the . center of the town Is a long narrow lake, along whose banks all the fine residences of the city are situated. They are very charming villas, ornamented with many flowers and trailing vines. The lake is full of ducks, little ducks, big ducks, white ducks and black duckg. Their homes are -little houses an chored In the center of the lake. They are high and dry and filled with straw for the little ducklings, and far away from the bad boys that grow even In well-regulated, military Ger many. One of the most Important things n Bremen Is the Rolando, a colossal fig ure In stone that stands In the Rathaus square, and Is the symbol of civic lib erty. Roland Is as primitive as Cubist art and looks like he might have been a production of that school He stands very straight and stiff, hold ing a sword In one hand and a shield la the otver. Roland Is the mascot of the city and If anything should happen to him the people would be very much alarmed about their safety. Nearly all the Important buildings In Bremen are gathered around the Roland and the Rathaus "square. The old Rathaus is one of the most Inter esting in all Germany. The upper floor of the Rathaus Is occupied by the Great Hall, which Is always left open to the public. The celling of this old hall is very unique, for it Is set with the portraits of all the emperors from Charlemagne to Riglsmund. In between the portraits are hung models of famous old ships. The lower floor or cellar of the Rathaus is occupied by a famous rathskeller, where only two kinds of drinks are served Rhine and MoBelle wine. No food can be had unless the wine Is first ordered. The rathskeller is a great favorite with the men of Bremen and many have their favorite table, and here they sit 'and smoke iasHAWMfiU Unloading Train at Bremer-Haven. and talk and let the outBlde world wag as It will. Bismarck Most Popular Hero. The end of the Rathaus square is oc cupied by the cathedral, a tall, unin teresting looking building, with two big towers. Standing at the front door is Bismarck on a horse. It is one of the nicest statues of Bismarck yet erected. In timo every city in Ger many will have Its Bismarck statue, for he is today the most popular Ger man hero. Next to the cathedral Is the ex change. This exchange Is neither as large nor as important as the one In Hamburg, but nevertheless a vast Elevated Railway amount of business is done here with out much apparent effort except noise. The men congregate between one and two o'clock, and seem merely to Btand around In grou: i. Back of the exchange Is a large square where stands the statue of Gus tavus Adolphus, the Swedish emperor. He is dressed In the costume of the days of Charles I, but in spite of his courtly robes he has the Are of a great fighter In his eye. The statue was originally Intended for the city of Gottenburg, in Sweden, but as It was being transported from Germany a great storm arose and the vessel was wrecked. The statue was rescued and brought back to Bremen. The German seamen raised a fund, pur chased the statue and stood it in their city. Not far from the Rathaus Is another square, which Is occupied by a unique fountain. It Is a boat containing a beautiful fisher boy, which three mer maids have captured, and they are dragging him Into the water. It Is very original In composition tnd de sign and reminds one of the pictures, of Arnold Bochlln. The stores In Bremen are very at tractive, especially If you are an ad mirer of hand embroidery and beauti ful hand sewing. The store windows are full of dainty waists and exquisite things for babies, but a snare, how ever, for while they are beautifully sewn, the fit la German to the ex treme, with no style whatever. Numerous Ties. "I don't care much for Lonelyvllle." "Why don't you move then?" "Too many ties. Our neighbor hes my card table, another my wheelitaj row and a third my lawn mower." HAVE NOT SAME VIEWPOINT Logic and Argument Mean One Thing to a Man and Another to a Woman. "Logic" is the rock on which the views of man and woman Bpllt. He "knows" that she is Inconsistent, she that he argues only for the joy of hear ing his own wisdom. Each knows that convincing the other Is a gift not granted by the high gods unto mortals. But the knowing fails to keep them from debating until debate threatens to degenerate into wrangling and feminine tears and masculine vehemence of expression bid them cease. Each Is right and both are wrong. Man refuses to be convinced, woman Is Incapable of being convinced. The source of the difficulty lies In the fact that logic and argument, like truth, mean one thing to him and another to her. Man enjoys argument, the pit ting of wits against wits and power versus strength, even If he be worsted. but woman dislikes It Instinctively, even if she prove a winner. The rea son la that he is born for battle and self-assertion, she for peace, whoBe essence is self-denial, if not self-efface ment. To man argument Is a good deal of a mental game of chess, to woman it is an earnest clash of two personali ties. Man will wage wordy warfare with man over the merits of a point of honor or those of a security, and put the best of him Into the intellectual and verbal duel, and not seldom lose his temper for the moment or the hour; but when the war of words Is over he thrusts the affair behind him, has no personal feeling as regards his opponent and many even acknowledge that there was foundation for opinions h withstood. But woman argues about the deeper feelings or thought In regard to such problems as poll- tics, religion or virtue and takes the matter with terrible seriousness as an affair of life and death. Her re gard for sincerity and truth, as she understands these qualities, makes the debate one to be expressed In terms of personality. When two such standards and meth ods of argument as man's and wom an's come together we have the spirit ual .analogy to the physical phenome non of an Irresistible force encounter lng an immovable obstacle Too of ten the outcome Is an everlasting smash. But the issue is inevitable. It was forecasted in the first recorded conversation between man and wom an that of Adam and Eve In Eden af ter eating of the tree Of knowledge of good and fvil. It will continue thus to the end of days. Spokesman Re view. Seven Varieties of Flics. Seven different varieties of flies are found In our houses, 98 per cent of which are represented by the com mon housefly. Flies lay their eggs only in fermenting or decaying Bub stances by preference In manure. Hence every stable Is a center of In fection unless periodically disinfected. The fly maggot Is also hatched out In latrines and ashpit refuse, such as bedding, straw, rags, paper, scraps of meat, fruit, etc., on which substances the larvae subsist after they hatch, which occurs In about twelve days after the egg has been laid. It 13 estimated that a single fly, laying 120 eggs at a time, will produce a progeny amounting to sextllllons by the end of the season. The numbers of bacteria upon a single fly have Ijeen proved to range ail the way from 650 to' 6,600,000. The average for 414 flies which were ex amined at the agricultural experiment station at Storrs, Conn., was 1,250,000 bacteria apiece. This represents about the number of bacteria that enter tho human system when someone swal lows a glass of liquid into which some fly has fallen, to be removed by a slovenly waiter without the liquid be ing thrown away. Radium as Egg Producer. Great and manifold as are the won ders of radium. It mitrht h n-oii receive the following Information with some reserve. It is reported that an American farmer named Cyrus Whiffle, who has been prospecting In Paradox valley, Colorado came home recently bring ing with him a Bmall sack of radium bearing ore, and dumped some of the pieces in the drinking fountain used by the Whiffle hens. As a result, according to Whiffle, the water became strongly radioactive, the hens drank It. and their oa r.-,J ductlon almost doubled. Many of the nens Degan laying two eggs daily. Whiffle says that his entire fntniu. since beginning to eat the radioactive eggs nave gamed steadily In strength and that all their ailments have ition. peared. Repairing Fractured Hearts. Thirty-one patients in a Russian hospital have recovered from i,.h wounds of the heart! Doctor Zlidler says the patients were put under the Influence of ethoi. Q soon after the Injury, part of the chest wall was removed, the heart lifted from its bed and tho hm,. quickly introduced between pulsa tions, ine oony chest wall over the heart was not put back In place, that organ being left covered onlv hv irin and muscle. This was done to give we neart room to expand and to pre vent adhesions from embarrassing tho heart's action. Several of the patients nave resumed tneir usual employment The probable reason for th of the experiment was prompt and rapm operation. SURPRISED MR. BALL DESERVED SCOLDING THAT WAS INDEFINITELY POSTPONED. Father Knew He Was Late, But He Did Not Know of Happening That Made Family So Glad to Welcome Him. T never had chicken pie for supptr yet," sighed Mr3. Ball, "but your fa ther took that time to be late." Tom glanced at his watch. "And I have an engagement dftwn town at eight o'clock. If I wasn't going any where he'd have been home half an hour ago." "And It makes supper dishes so late!" murmured thirteen-year-old Marion. The telephone bell rang and Tom took down the receiver. "Yes, this is Tom. No, he hasn't come home yet. Is that so? Well! Yes, I'll call you as soon as he comes. Good-by." He tried to speak unconcernedly as he faced his mother and sister. "It waB Angle, and she wanted to speak with father " "What was she telling you about?" broke In Mr9. Ball. The boy hesitated; then he met his mother's anxious eyes Bteadlly. "She heard that a Myrtle avenue car bumped Into a Blossom street car. Nothing very serious, I Imagine. Be sides, you know father doesn't take that car once a year." "Yes, he Just hates the suburban line," agreed Marion quickly. Mrs. Ball did not speak. She walked to the bay window and pushed aside the lace draperies with trembling fin gers. The children came to her Bide, and all three peered anxiously Into the twilight. "Here he is!" cried Marion. Tom shook his head. "Too tall for father. It's Mr. Stevenson? But who Is this coming now?" "Judge Daniels," whispered Mrs. Ball, faintly. During the next 15 minutes several other late comers in turn roused and disappointed the hopes of the Balls. Then, quite unexpectedly, a familiar little figure came walking briskly up the avenue. Mrs. Ball sighed with re lief, and bustled oft to the kitchen while the children threw open the front door. "I guees I'm pretty late," began Mr. Ball, meekly. He stopped in surprise as Tom politely helped him with his coat and Marion solicitously hung up his hat. "Hurry up, Henry!" called Mrs. Ball, good-naturedly. "I've your favor ite chicken pie for supper. It may be a little cold, but I thought it might taste good after a hard day's work." "I tried to get that Myrtle avenue car," began Mr. Ball a second time, "but I Just missed it." Marlon's cool, red lips bmshed his. "Now, father, don't stop to talk," she urged; "come and eat." And the Ball family sat down Jubi lantly to partake of sogsy, lukewarm chicken pie. Youth's Companion. American Corn et a French Palace. Apropos of the visions of the second empire evoked by the visit of the for mer Empress Eugenie to Fontaine bleau, Madame de Hegermann-Llnden-crone, author of "In tho Courts of Memory," relates an interesting ac count of her own gala visit to that palace. As the empress hsd expressed a wish to taste American corn. Madame da Hegermann brought soma wun ner and tried to explain to the palace'chcf how to cook It "en roba de chambre." But when it appeared It was still in husk and silk. "I tried," she says, "to make it less oblection- able by unwrapping the cobs and cut ting off the corn. Then I added butter and salt, and it was passed about; first, of course, to the emperor, who liked it very much; but tho emnress pushed her plate aside with a grimace, saying, 'I don't llko It; it Etnells like- a baby's flannels.' The emDeror. see ing the crushed look on my face. raised his glass and said, with a kind glance at me, "Here's to tho Ameri can corn ! " One of Wisest Russian Rulers. One hundred years asm tho Rmnprni- Alexander I of Russia returner! tn rk Petersburg after an absence of many months, during which time he had ta ken an active part In the war against iapoieon. Alexander was one of the wisest and moBt magnanimous rulers of his time. It was to a great extent Mb firmness and wisdom thnt w tn the overthrow of Napoleon, and, after that event, his magnanimity preserved the city of Paris from the fury of the Russian soldiers, liberated 150,000 French prisoners of war confined In nus!s ana sought to obtain for his fallen foe the most liberal terms com patible with what he deemed the safe ty of Europe. Ono of the first acts of the emperor after his return to Russia was to grant an absnlntn tinrjnn tn all his subjects who had taken part against mm in the late war. Showing Good Work. Patience I see In Tasmania den tists are forbidden by law from any form of advertising. Patrice But can the authorities make their patients shut their mouths? Lingering Sweetness. Pat!ace Some one has discovered tr-at the Mexican, word for kiss is tetennamtquiiirtii. Patrice That's iua called lingering sweetness long drawn WUVl