Image provided by: Hood River County Library District; Hood River, OR
About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1915)
HLU5TDATIOK3 CHAPTER I. A Serious Event. Le Comte de Sabron, In the undress Uniform of captain In the Cavalry, at smoking and thinking. , . . What is the ubb of being thirty years old with the brevet of captain and much distinction of family If you are a poor man In short, what is the good of anything if you are alone In the world and no one cares what becomes of you? He rang his bell, and when his ordonnance appeared, said sharply: "Que diable is the noise In the sta ble, Brunet? Don't you know that when I Bmoke at this hour all Taras con must be kept utterly silent?" Tarascon is never silent. No French meridional town is, especially In the warm sunlight of a glorious May day. "The noise, mon Capitalne," said Brunet, "Is rather melancholy." "Melancholy!" exclaimed the young officer. "It's infernal. Stop it at once." The ordonnance held his kepi in his hand. He had a round good-natured face and kind gray eyes that were used to twinkle at his master's humor and caprices. "I beg pardon, mon Capitalne, but a very serious event is taking place." "It will be more serious yet, Brunet, if you don't keep things quiet." "I am sorry to tell, mon Capitalne, that Michette has just died." "Mlchette!" exclaimed the master. "What relation Is she of yours, Bru net?' "Ah, mon Capitalne," grinned the or donnance, "relation! None! It Is the little terrier that Monsieur le Capi talne may have remarked now and then in the garden." Sabron nodded and took his cigarette out of his moUth as though in respect for the deceased. "Ah, yes," he said, "that melancholy little dog! Well, Brunet!" "She has Just breathed her last, mon Capitalne, and she Is leaving be hind her rather a large family." "I am not surprised," said the officer. "There are six," vouchsafed Bru net, "of which, If mon Captaine is willing, I should like to keep one." "Nonsense," said Sabron, "on no ac count. You know perfectly well, Bru net, that I don't surround myself with things that can make me suffer. I have not kept a dog in ten years. I try not to care about my horses even. Everything to which I attach myself dies or causes me regret and pain. And I won't have any miserable little puppy to complicate existence." "Bien, mon Capitalne," accepted the ordonnance tranquilly. "I have given away five. The sixth is in the stable; if Monsieur le Capitalne would come down and look at it . . ." Sabron rose, threw his cigarette away and, following across the garden In the bland May light, went into the (table where Madame Mlchette, a 6abron Looked at the Letter. small wire-haired Irish terrier had given birth to a fine family and her self gone the way of those who do ihelr duty to a race. In the straw at hla fnt Sabron saw a ratlike, unpre possessing little object, crawling about feebly in search of warmth and nour ishment, uttering pitiful little cries. Its extreme loneliness and helpless ness touched the big soldier, who said curtly to his man: "Wrap It up, and If you don't know how to feed It I should not be sur prised if I could induce it to take a little warm milk from a quill. At all events we shall have a try with it Fetch it along to my rooms." And as he retraced his steps, leav ing his order to be executed, he thought to himself: The little beggar is not much more alone in the world than I am! As he said that he re called a word in the meridional patois: Pitchoune, which means "poor little thing." "I shall call it Pitchoune," he thought, "and we shall see If it can't do better than lti name suggests." He went slowly back to his rooms RAYLTERS and busied himself at his table with his correspondence. Among the let ters was an invitation from the Mar quise d'Escllgnac, an American mar ried to a Frenchman, and the great lady of the country thereabouts. "Will you not," she wrote, "come to dine with us on Sunday? I have my niece with me. She would be glad to see a French soldier. She has ex pressed such a wish. She comes from a country where soldiers are rare. We dine at eight." Sabron looked at the letter and Its fine clear handwriting. Its wording was less formal than a French invita tion Is likely to be, and it gave him a sense of cordiality. He bad seen, during his rides, the beautiful lines of the Chateau d'Escllgnac. Its tur rets surely looked upon the Rhone. There would be a divine view from the terraces. It would be a pleasure to go there. He thought more of what the place would be than of the people In it, for he was something of a her mit, rather a recluse, and very re served. He was writing a line of acceptance when Brunet came In, a tiny bundle In his hand. "Put Pitchoune over there in the sunlight," ordered the officer, "and we shall see if we can bring him up by hand." CHAPTER II. Julia Redmond. He remembered all his life the Srst dinner at the Chateau d'Escllgnac, where from the terrace he saw the Rhone lying under the early moon light and the shadows falling around the castle of good King Rene. As he passed in, his sword clanking for he went In full dress uniform to dine with the Marquise d'Escllgnac he saw the picture the two ladles made In their drawing-room: the marquise In a very splendid dress (which he never could remember) and her niece, a young lady from a country whose name It took him long to learn to pro nounce, in a dress so simple that of course he never could forget it! He remembered for a great many years the fall of the ribbon at her pretty waist, the bunch of sweet peas at her girdle, and he always remembered the face that made the charm of the pic ture. Their welcome to him was gracious. The American girl spoke French with an accent that Sabron thought be wilderingly charming, and he put aside some of his reserve and laughed and talked at his ease. After dinner (this he remembered with peculiar distinct ness) Miss Redmond sang for him, and although be understood none of the words of the English ballad, he learned the melody by heart and It followed with him when he left. It went with him as he crossed the terrace into the moonlight to mount his horse; it went home with him; he hummed it, and when he got up to his room he hummed It again as he bent over the little roll of flannel in the corner and fed the puppy hot milk from a quill. This was a painstaking operation and required patience and delicacy, both of which the big man had at his finger-tips. The tune of Miss Red mond's song did for a lullaby and the puppy fell comfortably to sleep while Sabron kept the picture of his eve ning's outing contentedly In his mind. But later he discovered that he was not so contented, and counted the hours when he might return. He shortly made a call at the Cha teau d'Escllgnac with the result that he had a new picture to add to his col lection. This time It was the picture of a lady alone; the Marquise d'Es cllgnac doing tapestry. While Sabron found that h had grown reticent again, he listened for another step and another voice and heard nothing; but before he took leave there was a hint of a second Invitation to dinner. The marquise was very handsome that afternoon and wore yet another bewildering dress. Sabro's simple taste was dazzled. Nevertheless, she made a graceful picture, one of beau ty and refinement, and the young sol dier took it away with him. As his horse began to trot, at the end of the alley, near the poplars at the lower end of the rose terrace he caught a glimpse of a white dress (undoubtedly a simpler dress than that w; by Madame d'Escllgnac). CHAPTER III. A Second Invitation. "I don't think, mon Capitalne, that It la any use," Brunet told his master. Sabron, in his shirt-sleeves, sat be fore a table on which, in a basket, lay Michette's only surviving puppy. It was a month old. Sabron already knew how bright lti eyes were and how al luring its young ways. "Be still, Brunet," commanded the officer. "You do not come from the south or you would be more sanguine. Pitchoune has got to live." The puppy's clumsy adventuresome feet had taken him as far as the high road, and on this day, as it were in order that he should understand the straggle for existence, a bicycle bad cut him down in the prime of hti youth, and now, acoordlng to Brunet, "there wasn't much use!" Pitchoune was bandaged around hli hind quarters and his adorable little bead and forepaws came out of the handkerchief bandage. "He won't eat anything from me, mon Capitalne," said Brunet, and Sabron ceremoniously opened the pup py's mouth and thrust down a dose Pitchoune swallowed obediently. Sabron had Just returned from s long hard day with his troops, and tired out as he was, he forced hlmsell to give bis attention to Pitchoune. A second Invitation to dinner lay on hla table; he bad counted the days until this night. It seemed too good to bs true, he thought, that another picture was to add Itself to his collection! He had mentally enjoyed the others often, giving preference to the first, when he dined at the chateau; but there had been a thrill in the second caused by the fluttering of the white dress down by the poplar walk. To-night he would have the pleasure Of taking In Miss Redmond to dinner "See, mon Capitalne," said Brunet, "the poor little fellow can't swallow It." The water trickled out from either side of Pitchoune's mouth. The sturdy terrier refused milk in all forms, had done so since Sabron weaned him; but Sabron now returned to his nursery days, made Brunet fetch him warm milk and, taking the quill, dropped a few drops of the soothing liquid, into which he put a dash of brandy, down Pltchouue's throat Pitchoune swal lowed, got the drink down, gave a feeble yelp, and closed his eyes. When ho opened them the glazed look had gone. The officer hurried into his eve ning clothes and ordered Brunet, as he tied his cravat, to feed the puppy a lit tie of the stimulant every hour until "He Won't Eat Anything From Me." he should return. Pitchoune's eyes, now open, followed his handsome mas ter to the door. As Sabron opened it he gave a pathetic yelp which made the capitalne turn about. "Believe me, mon Capitalne," said the ordonnance with melancholy fa tality, "it is no use. If I am left with Pitchoune it will be to see him die. know his spirit, mon Capitalne. He lives for you alone." "Nonsense," said the young officer Impatiently, drawing on his gloves. Pitchoune gave a plaintive wail from the bandages and tried to stir. "As for feeding him, mon Capitalne," the ordonnance threw up his hands. "he will be stiff by the time I. . .' But Sabron was half-way down the stairs. The door was open, and on the porch he heard distinctly a third ten derly pathetic wail. (TO BE CONTINUED.) FACTOR IN MODERN WARFARE Commanding Generals Ootid Not Handle Present Enormous Armies Without the Motor. With millions of men drawt up in battle array at one and the same time, to handle them effectively by old-time methods would have been impossible, Even before e opposing fronts were extended to their fullest degree in France alone, they were officially de clared to have attained a length of 300 mile", and one of 270 miles In the east flp'i-es which not only convey some inu, cation of the stupendous size of the engaging forces, but even more emphatically suggest the tre mendous responsibilities of the com manders in chief. Nevertheless, although they have to deal with millions Instead of tens of thousands, the commanders concerned have never had their forces so com pletely under control; in every phase of the warfare, whether of transport, attack, defense or supply, the keynote of the operation has been effectiveness of the completest kind. The motor, in short, has "speeded up" the war in a way that could never have been dreamed of by former gen eratlons. Never have the movements of troops been so rapid; for, Instead of men having to wait for ammunition and food supplies, these have been conveyed by motor wagons which can travel, if need be, much faster than the armies themselves. Charles Freeston In Scribner's Magazine. Will Not 8tlek. To prevent postage stamps from sticking together, rub them over toe hair before putting them away. Homeqftjie -pony THE; best and most arlstocratto families In London and New York have suddenly revived the old fashion of training their children on Shetland po nies, writes A, Elmslle Crabbe, In the Philadelphia Record. The shipment of these sturdy little animals for America is going up by leaps and bounds, and wherever you go amongst the smart set in England you will now so these handsome little beasts carrying the children of the househol. . In fact, if you really want to be .n tho newest fashion and to give children the time of their lives yc must have a string of Shetland ponies in your stables. Experts say Shetlands teach children self-reliance and domination and set off the natural beauties of tie girls as they canter through the parks like no other ponies on earth. Shetland ponies, of course, are to some people merely a general name for a small type of pony, but this Is a mistake. These small animals are bred with as much care in the Shetland islands as pheasants are bred and reared in cover j iu England and other sporting countrie:, The Shetland islands themselves are composed of some thirty or forty small islands and three or four larger ones. The largest, called the "Main land," 1b a bleak, hilly Uland starting at the peninsula vith Sumburgh Head as itu commencement and ending at Unst, a whale fishers' port, the first they toucli on British soil. Opposit Lerwick, the capital ot the island- lies Bressay, one ot the larger island., and the center of the pony breeding Industry. Here they are reared and eventually exported to the United States ..nd to Scotland, Eng land and other countries as required. A small, pure-br. 1 specimen is some what valuable, fetching at the farm $200 tr $250. Larger ones are less coBtly and only make about $25. Ponies Dislike Strangers. These animals are usually dark brown, shaggy little beasts with long 1 , ' vr 1 . - f SHETLAND PONES Or BRESSAY black manes. Their temper is by some called playful, but vindictive would be more applicable. While walking along one o: the roads near Lerwick I had to run to shelter, as one of these charming animals made a dead set at me with ears back and teeth showing. I was Informed that that Is their usual reception of a stranger. They are owned by nearly everyone on the main land, and act as draft horses, being particularly strong. As a rule they are unshod. To get to this Interesting aeries of islands - took a boat from Limehouse dock, London, and in 36 hours arrived in Aberdeen. From thence I went by another steamer for 18 hours to Ler wick, the capital of the Shetlands. Be fore actually arriving at Lerwick, early travelers who wish to enjoy magnifi cent rock scenery have enough and to spare, for on sighting Sumburgh head, the most southerly point of the main land, the eyes are literally fascinated by that headland surmounted by a magnificent lighthouse. The steamer followB this peninsula the whole way up a distance of some thirty miles. Each mile presents new and delight ful rock scenes unsurpassed on that southern coast. In Lerwick Harbor. Eventually I arrived In Lerwick har bor, which, by the way, is one of the best natural harbors in the United Kingdom. It is protected at its outlet by the Island Bressay, six miles in length, which Is the one already men ioned 'i the center of the pony in dustry. This harbor Is capable of sheltering the entire British fleet, and is used :y the admiralty as a base dur ing the -ianeuvers. Lerwick is a quaint town, nestling as it does round the harbor, with a background of heather-covered hills. 7he town '.s some three hundred years old, but contains few of the old horses, although the principal street Com mercial treet la a remnant of the old order of things, Inasmuch ai it is merely an Irregularly winding alley, about thirty feet wide, paved through out with slabs ot stone, there beini no distinction between roadway and sidewalk. A store here and there en croaches on the street, which glvoi one the impression, when walking along it for the first time, that thli must be a blind alley. On coming tc the supposed terminus, however, on finds there Is a way round and thai the street meanders on. The peasant population of the is lands is extremely interesting. The male portion is mostly devoted to fish ing and pony .rearing. The female ele ment stays at home, cures the fish, and, when that is done, carries peat, which Is the only fuel used, In "creels," slung on the back. While walking outside the town you see a regular pro cession of women coming and going, somewhat like ants moving their eggs They are all knitting as hard as they can, never looking at their work. The finished portion of the shawl is wound round their waist, leaving just enough free to work with. These are eventu ally taken to the stores and exchanged for the necessities of lifo. . Barter is the usual mode of business among the poorer class. These people wear an extraordinary kind of shoe which a piece of untanned cowhide, the hairy side being outermost. I believe these rlvelins are quite peculiar to the Shet lands. The ponies are seen roaming about the hillsides quite uncared for, and seemingly wild, although they belong to the peasantry; these ponies, ol course, are the larger and less expen sive variety. Island Without Trees. There is one distinctive peculiarity of all these islands and that is, thai there are absolutely no trees of any description growing. The inhabitants aver that they would spoil the view. I took a small boat which plies ae often as required across the harboi to Bressay, and by the courtesy of the proprietor looked over the pony farm (There were ponies of all ages and I sizes, the smallest being the size of a large St. Bernard dog, and the foals were reminiscent ot chamois. While on Bressay I also walked to the Ork neyman's cave, which Is situated al the extreme end of the island, with the Giant's leg to guard the entrance a small yacht can easily sail be tween rocks. Besides Lerwick, the capital, there is only one other town of any size, thai being Scalloway. It is seven miles from Lerwick across the peninsula and was the harbor town of Tingwall, the old capital of the islands. It boasts a castle which wos built in 1640 and in- habltated by Patrick Stewart, then governor of the islands. He was i particularly brutal and inhuman man, for there still remains a ring on one of the walls, through which a rope waj run, to which he hanged a great num ber of the inhabitants for very trivial offenses, or none at all sometimes, so the legend goes, other than refusing to pay him unlawful tribute. TheBe executions were of daily occurrence, and matters came to such a pitch that petitions were sent to parliament, which caused him to be called to Edinburgh, where an inquiry was held Ultimately he was hanged. His memory was so odious that the people destroyed the castle, and now all that remains are the four walls and the keep. A Rest. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge was condemning, at a dinner in Boston, the light, vacuous quality of the mag azine of the day. "I know a doctor," said Senator Lodge, "who was consulted by a fa mous novelist. The novelist, it turned out, had brain fag. So the doctor said to him: "'I prescribe for you complete, ab solute repose, both mental and physi cal. Go off somewhere by the sea, loaf on the sand, and, to rest your mind, write a series of ten or twelve magazine stories.' " INFLUENCED BY MUSIC EFFECT OF SWEET 8TRAIN8 ON DOME8TIC ANIMALS. Lecturer Urges Farmers to Place Phonographs Near Their Bee Hives and Stables Tells of Her Own Exporlencei. Farmers who want better honey, richer milk, and more of both, should put phonographs near the hives and In the pasture or stable. Dr. Alma Webster Powell, LL. B., M. B., A. M-, Ph. D., of New York and Columbia university Is authority for the asser tion. She declared to an audience at the University of Washington recent ly, while lecturing on "MubIc Is a Human Need," that she herself had tried the experiment on her farm, and that it had proved absolutely success ful. Nor are bees and cows the only creatures Influenced by music. Doc tor Powell and her daughter keep four or five crickets In their hearth, and evenings they attract them forth to a dance In the middle of the living room In their farm home by singing to them. Madam Powell says she has had many scientists as her guests to witness the phenomenon. Six little crippled girls, of particu larly unlovely natures, whom she found in the slums ot New York, were other objects of Madam Pow ell's study. She gave musical train ing to these children, putting phono graphs In their homes, and not only succeeded in entirely reforming their dispositions, but In effecting marked changes In ail of those with whom they associated. At Coney Island, she said she ran a tent where mobs were incited to rloi every evening by radical speeches. After a few months of ex periment In this direction she intro duced music at the meetings, and though the speeches became more fiery than ever the crowds were in variably peaceful. She contended, as a result of these experiments, that music stirred the sluggish and tranquilized the nervous person, animal or insect. Madam Powell believes In ragtime for all who like it, and she is one, though a highly educated and suc cessful prima donna soprano and pi anist. "A good ragtime piece sets me beating time, and if I don't do It on the outside I feel it on the in side," Bhe said. Gamblln' Man Led to Repentance. During the recent revival In Ebenezer chapel Goat Simmons, the gambling man, "came through" amid a thunder ous concomitant of triumphant hosan- nas. He sprang to his feet with a loud shout and Immediately tumbled down in a fit on the floor, where he postured and gyrated like an unfortunate toad In the embrace of a hot cornpopper. An especially animated squirm sent a couple of dice flying from the pocket of the groveling wretch, to be followed a moment later by another which caused a deck of cards to be widely scattered. "Hallelooyer!" shouted good old Parson Bagster. "It's de sin dat's bein' shuck out'n our sufferin' brudder! Shake him ag'ln, Lawd! shake him twell all de sin am purged fum him!" "Dat's right, Lawd!" yelled Brother Bogus. "Keep on uh-shaktn' de scamp twell he rattles out dem two dollahs he won off'n me at de lodge last night!" Kansas City Star. British Army's Black Bands. At one time much of the music played to enliven British troops was furnished by black bandsmen. These were first attached to the army In the seventeenth century, owing to one of the guards' bands having refused, in a body, to play at an entertainment organized by the officers. As none of the men were attested, they could not be punlBhed for insubordination, so the officers petitioned the duke of York, then commander-in-chief, that bandsmen Bhould in future be made subject to military law. To this the duke would not agree, but he brought over from Hanover for the guards a complete German military band, which Included negro players of the bass drum, cymbals and triangles. Nearly every regiment in the service has tened to reorganize Its band, engaging colored performers for all percussion Instruments. Down to 1841 the band of the Scots Guards included a negro musician. Fear Eskimos Slew Priests. Advices received from Mackenzie river valley in the Arctic circle by the Catholic authorities here caused serious alarm among friends for the welfare of Rev. Father Jean Baptists Rouviere and Rev. Father Guillaume Leroux, Catholic missionaries. It is reporter they have been mur-. dered by Eskimos In the vicinity ot Bear lake, 100 miles east of Port Nor-j man. They have been engaged In that field for several years. News comes to Rev. Father Allard, the Archbishop's secretary, In a letter brought from the Arctic Red river and written by Rev. Father Jules M. Le cuyer, Catholic missionary at that point. The letter was written on Jan uary IB. She Makes Him. "Mr. Blobblns goes to church every Sunday morning." "I've no'.iced that." "Do you suppose he will keep it up as long as he lives?" "That depends on whether or not he survives Mrs. Blobblns." I