PAG E «
SEPT. 1. 1921
HALSEY E N T E R PR ISE
A Man for
the Ages
A Story o f the Builder»
o f Democracy
By Irving Bacheller
Coe»n«M. I r r i d i B * e b n n
(Continued)
The hoy returned to hie task point
Ing up the Inside walls but hie mind
and heart were out In the sunlight
talking with Rim. Once he looked out
of the door and «aw her leaning
against the neck of the pony, her face
hidden In h it mane. When the sun
was low she came to the door and
said :
“You had better atop now and go
home.”
Khe looked down at the ground and
added:
“Please, please, don’t tell on me."
"O f course not." he answered. “But
I hope you won’t he afraid of me any
more "
•h e looked up at him with a little
smile
“Do you think I ’m afraid of
you?" she asked as If It were too ab
surd to he thought of 8he unhitched
and mounted her pony but did not go
" I do wish you could raise a raua
tache." aha said, looking w istfully Into
hla face. “I can't hear to see you
look so terribly young; you get worse
and worse every time I see you. I
want you to he a regular man right
quick."
fie wondered what he ought to aay
and presently stammered; “I — I — In
tend to. I guess I'm more of a man
than anybody would think to look at
I
j
j
!
selves felt.
The house end hem were ffnlehed,
whereupon Samson and H a rry drove
to Springfield— a muddy, yru d e end
growing village w ith thick woods on
Ils north side— and bought furniture
T h e ir wagon was loaded and they
were reedy to atari fo r home. They
were w alking on the main atreet when
H a rry touched Samsons arm and
whispered i
J
“There's M cNoll and Callyhan."
The pair were w alking a few steps
ahead of Sameon and H arry.
In a
second Samson’s big hand was on Mc-
Noll’e shoulder
“This Is M r. McNoll, I believe." said
Samson.
The other turned with a scared
look.
“W hat do you want o’ me?" he de
manded.
Samson threw him to the ground
w ith a Jerk ao atroog and violent that
It rent the sleeve from hla shonlder
M cN nll’s companion, who had felt the
weight of Samson’s hand and had had
enough of It. turned and ran.
“W hat do ye want o’ m e t' McNoll
asked again as he struggled M free
himself.
"W hat do I want o’ you— you puny
little coward,” said Samson, as he
lifted the hully to his feet and g avi
him a toss and swung him In t h f air
and continued to address him. “I ’m
Just goln’ to muss you up proper. J f
me” •
"You're too young to ever fall In
lore, I rcel.on."
“No. I na not," he answered with de
cision
' Have yon got a raaorY' «he asked.
"No."
“I reckon It would be a powerful
help
You put soap on your lip and
tuow It off with a razor
My father
says It makes the grass grow."
There was a moment of silence dur
ing which ahe brushed the mane of
Iter potv. Then she asked tim idly:
"Do you like yellow hair?"
•*1» i, If It looks like yours."
“I f you d o n | mind I ’ll put a mus
tadie on you Jnat— Just to look at
every time I think of you.”
"When I think of you I put violets
In your hair," be said.
R e took a step toward her as he
spoke and as he did so she started
bar pony. A little way off ahe checked
h ’ n and said:
I'm sorry. There are no etolets
now."
She rode away slowly waving her
hand and singing with the Joy of a
bird In the springtime
That evening when H arry was help
ing Samson with the horses he saldr
"I'm going to tell you a secret. 1
wish you wouldn't say anything about
h."
H am ann stood pulling the hair out
of hla card and looking very stern as
he listened while H arry told of the
assnult upon him and hew Rim had
arrived and driven the rowdies away
with her gun hut he said not a word
of her demonstration of tender sym
pathy To him, that had clothed the
whole adventure with a kind of
sanctity ao that he could not hear to
have It talked about
Samson's eyes glowed with anger
They searched the face of the hoy
His voice was deep and solemn when
he seld :
“Thia Is a serious m atter
Why do
yon wish to keep It a secret?"
The boy blushed For a moment h<
knew not what to say. Then he
spoke:
" It ain’t me so much—It1»
h e r"
he managed to say. "Rhe
wouldn’t want It to he talked abont
and I don't either."
Sameon began to understand "She'»
quite a girl, I gneea," he said thought
fully
"She must have the nerve of i
man— I declare she m tiet "
"Yeeatr-eet They’d ’»' got hurt I'
they hadn’t gone away, fh a t’a s u re '
said H arry
"W e’ll look out for them a fter thia
Sameon rejoined
The first tim e '
meet that man McNoll h e ll have t<
tattle a lth me and he’ll pay cash o
Ihe nail."
Blm having heard of H arry'a par
In Abe's light and of the feet that h.
was to be working alone all day at th
new house had ridden ou» throng
th e woods to the open p rairie an
hunted In eight o f the new cabin the
afternoon
Unw illing to confees hr
eatreme Internet In the boy she hat
•aid not a word of her brave act. I ‘
was not sbante: It was partly a k lr
of rebellion against the tyranny <
youthful ardor J It was partly the fea
o f ridicule.
Ro It happened that the adventure
of H a rry Needles made scarcely a rip
pie on the ser.Mtlve suvfaca of the vll
l a ^ Ufa
I t w ill he aeen. however,
that it had started strong undercur
r^Pie H>ely. In time, to make them
" I ’m
Just
Goln’
to
Musa
You
Up
Proper."
you don't say you're sorry and mean
It I ’ll put s tow string on your neck
and give you to some one that wants
a dog.”
" I ’m sorry.” said McNoll. "Hones
I a m ! I was drunk when I done It."
Samson released his prisoner
A
number In the crowd which had gath
cred around them clapped their hands
and
shouted,
"H u rrah
tor
the
•tranger I"
A constable took Samson's hand
and said:
“Yon deserve s vote of
thanks
That n an and his friends
have made me more trouble than all
the rest of the drinking men put to
gether."
"And I am making trouble for m y
self," said Samson. “I have made m y
self ashamed. 1 am no fighting man,
I was never In such a muss on a pub
lic street before and with God s help
It w ill never happen again "
"Where do you live?” the officer
asked
“ In New Salem."
" I wish It was here. We need men
like you."
Samson wrote In his dlarye
"On the way home my heart was
sore
I prayed Id silence that God
would forgive me for my had example
to the hoy. I p ru n ite d that I would
not again misuse the strength H e has
given ate
In my old home I would
have been disgraced by It. The m in
ister would have preached of the de
stnictlon that follow s’ the violent man
to put him d ow n ; the people would
have looked askance at- me. l>acon
'iornera would have culled me aside
to look Into my soul, and Judge
Grandy end hie w ife would not have
nvlted me to their parties
Here It's
llfferent
A chap who can take th *
aw In his hand« and bring the evil
tan to his senses even If he has to
ilt him over the head. Is loo’ .c-d up to
It s a ra c k lt's country
You feel It as
•non as yon get hero. l a time f fear
I shall he as headlong as the rest of
’hem
Rome w ay the news of my act
has got here from Springfield
Sarah
vaa kind of co’ up
Jack Kelso has
nicknamed me The man with the iron
i r i «,’ and Abo. who la a better man
•very way. laughs at my emharrasa
tnenf and says I ought to feel honored
For one thing Jack Armstrong has
•come s good clttsen
His w ife has
foxed a pair of breeches for Ahe
They say McNoll has le ft the country
there has been no d eviltry here since
hat day. 1 gneea the gang Is broken
up— too much Iron la tte way.“
Rarah enloyed fixing up the cabin
Jack Kelao had given her some deer
and buffalo skins to lay on the floor«
The upgvr r»Mgi. reached hy « »ttcl
I ladder, had Its two beds, one of which
H a rry occupied
The children slept
I below In a trundle bed that was
pushed under the larger one when It
was made up In the morning.
“Some time I'm going to pnt In a
win diet rap and get rid o' that atlck
' ladder." Samson had aald.
Sarah had all the arta of the New
England home maker
Under her
hand the cabin, in color, atmosphere
and general neatneaa. would have de
lighted a higher taste than was to be
found on the prairies, save In the
brain of Kelso, who really had tome
acquaintance with beauty. To be sure
th e had was In one corner spread
, with Its upper cover knit of gray yarn
Sermonizing In color with the bark
of the log walls. A handsome dark
hrown buffalo robe lay beside It. The
rifle and powder horn were hung
above the mantel. The fireplace had
Its crane of wrought iron.
Every one In the little village came
to the house warming.
The people
were In their best clothes The women
wore dresses of new calico— save Mrs.
Doctor Allen, who wore a black silk
dress which had come w ith her from
her late home In Lexington.
Blm
Kelso came In a drees of red mnslln
trimmed with white lace. Ann R ut
ledge also wore a red dress and came
w ith Abe.
T he la tte r was fath er
grotesque In his new ltnsey trousers,
of a better length than the former
pair, but still too short.
" It Isn’t fa ir to blame the trousers
or the tailo r," he had said when he
had tried them on. “M y legs are sc
long that the Imagination of the tallot
Is sure to fa ll short If the cloth don't
- Next time T il have 'em made to meas
ure with a ten-foot pole Instead of a
yardstick. I f they're too long I can
roll 'em up and let out a link or two
when they shrink. E ver since I was a
boy I have been troubled w ith shrink
ing pants.”
Abe wore a blue swallow-tail coaj
with hrsss buttons, the tails of which
were so short as to he well above the
danger of pressure when he sat down
His cowhide shoes had been well
blackened; the blue yarn o f his socks
showed above th jm
"These darned
socks of mine a t i rather proud and
conceited," he used to say.
“They
•Ike to show off."
H e wore a shirt of white, un
bleached cotton, a starched collar and
black tie.
In speaking of his collar to Samson,
lie aald that he felt like a w ild horse
'n a box stall.
Mentor Gruham, the schoolmaster,
»■a» there— a smooth-faced man with
a large head, sandy h air and a small
mustache, who spoke by note, as It
were.
Kelso called him the great
articulator and said that he walked
In the valley of the shadow o f Lindley
M urray. He seemed to keep a watch
ful eye on his words, as If they were
a lot of grltoolboys not to be trusted
They came out with a kind of self
conscious rectitude.
T iio children's games had begun
and the little house rang w ith their
songs and laughter, while their elders
sat by the Ore and along the walls
talking. Ann Rutledge and Blm Kelso
and H a rry Needles and John McNeil
played w ith them. In one of the
dances all Joined In singing the
versea:
I w o n 't have none o’ y er w a e v lly wheat.
I w o n't have ro n e o' y er b a rle y
1 w o n 't have none o' yer w eevtly wheat
To m ak e a cake fo r C h e rle y
'barley te a fine young man.
C h a rle y is a dandy
'barley likes to kits the girl».
Whenever It come» handy
When a victim was caught In th
flying scrimmage at the end of a pc-
sage In the giime of Prisoners, he c
»he wns h ro njb: before the blind
folded Judge: '
"Heavy, heavy hangs over your
head." said the constable.
"Fine or superfine?" the Jndge In
•a ire d .
"Fine." said the constable which
meant that the victim was a hoy
Then the sentence was pronounced
and generally It was th is :
“Go bow to the w ittiest, kneel to
the prettiest and kiss the one that yon
love best.”
H a rry was the first prisoner. He
went straight to Blm Kelse and bowe l
and knelt, and when he had risen she
turned and ran like a scared deet
around the chairs and the crowd of
onlookers, some assisting and some
checking her flight, before the nimble
youth
H ard pressed, »he ran out of
the open door, w ith a merry laugh
end Just beyond the steps Harry
caught and kissed her. and her cheeks
had the color of rosea when he led
her hack.
John McNeil kissed Ann Rutledge
that evening and was moat attentive
to het', and the women were saying
that the two had fallen In love with
each other
"See how she looks at him ." one of
them whispered
"W ell, It's Just the way he looks at
her," the other answered.
At the first pause lb the m errim ent
Kelao stood on a chair, end then al
ienee fell upon Ihe little company.
"My good neighbors." he began, “we
• r e here Io rejoice that new friends
have come to ue and that a new home
(a born In our midst
W e bid thenf
welcome
They etV big-boned big
hearted folks
No man has grown
large who has not at ooe tim e or an
other had hla feet la the soli and felt
It» magic power goiag up Into h !t
blood and bone and ainew
Here te a
wonderful sou and the Inspiration of
wide horizons. here are broad aad far
Ule fieida
Where the vora grow«
,
I
i
;
high you can grow statesmen
It may
be that out of one of these little cab
Ins a man will come to carry the torch
ot Liberty and Justice so high that
Its light will shine Into every dark
place So let no one despise the cabin
— humble ss It la. Samson and Sarah
Traylor, I welcome and congratulate
you. Whatever may come, yon can
find no better friends than these, and
of this you may be sure, no child of
the prairies w ill ever go about w ith a
hand organ and a monkey. O ur friend.
Honest Ahe, Is one of the few rich
men In this neighborhood. Among hie
assets are 'Klrkham's Grammar.' ’The
P ilgrim ’s Progress,’ the ‘Lives of
Washington and Henry Clay.' ‘Ham
let's Soliloquy.’ ‘Othello’s Speech to
the Senate,’ ‘Marc Anthony’s Address'
and a part of 'W ebster’s Reply to
Hayne ' A man came along the other
day and sold him a barrel of rubbish
for two bits. In It he found a volume
of Blackstone's Commentaries ' Old
Blackstone challenged him to a wrestle
and Abe has grappled with him
I
reckon he'll take his measure as easily
as he took Jack Armstrong's. Lately
he has got possession of a noble asset.
It Is ‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night,' by
Robert Burns. I propose to ask him
to let us share his enjoyment of this
treasure.”
Abe, who had been sitting with his
legs doubled beneath him on a buffalo
skin, between Joe and Betsey T raylor,
rose and s a id :
“Mr. Kelso's remarks, especially the
part which applied to me, remind me
of the story of the prosperous grocer
of Joliet. One Saturday night he and
his boys were busy selling sausage.
Suddenly In came a map w ith whom
beautiful country anil uie sou is
rich, but there te some sickness. Sam
son and I were both sick at the same
time. I never knew Samson to give
up before. He couldn't go on. hla head
ached so. L ittle Joe helped me get
the fire started and brought some wa
ter and waited on ua. H arry Needles
had gone away to Springfield for M r
O ffut w ith a drove of hogs. Tw o oth
er boys are w ith him. He Is going to
buy a new suit. H e Is a very proud
boy. Joe and Betsey got back with
the doctor at nine. T h a t night Abe
Lincoln came and sat up w ith us and
gave us our medicine and kept the
fire going. It was comical to see him
lying beside Joe In his trundle bed,
w ith his long legs sticking over the
end of it and his feet standing on the
floor about a yard from the bed. He
was spread all over the place. He
talked about religion and his views
would shock most of our frleflds In the
East. H e doesn’t believe In the kind
of Heaven that the ministers talk
about or any eternal hell. H e says
that nobody knows anything about the
hereafter, except that God Is a kind
and forgiving fath er and that all men
are H is children.
He says that we
can only serve God by serving each
other. H e seems to think that every
man, good or bad, black or white, rich
J or poor, Is his broltier. He thinks
that Henry Clay, next to Daniel Web
ster, is the greatest man In the coun
try
H e Is studying hard. Expects to
go out add make speeches fo r Clay
| next summer. H e Is quite seveie In
hit talk against General Jackson. _He
and Samson agree in politics and . re
ligion. They are a good deal alike
H e Is very fond of Samson and-Qav-
ry— calls them his partners. W e love
tills big aw kw ard giunt. H is feet are
set in the straight way and we think
that he Is going to make his m ark In
the world.
“You said you would come out next
spring to look about.
Please don’t
disappoint us. 1 think It would almost
break my heart. 1 am counting the
days.
Don’t be a fra id of fever and
ague. Saplngton's pills cure It In three
or four days. I would lake the steum-
hoat at Pittsburg, the roads In Ohio
and Indiana are so bad. You can get
a steamer up the Illino is riv e r ut A l
ton and get off at Beardstown and
drive across country.
I f we knew
when you were coming Suuison or Abe
would meet you. Give our love to all
the folks and friends.
"Yours affectionately,
“Sarah and Samson."
Up the Road to the North in the Night.
p ben Samson had driven into the
bam Its doors w ere closed and the ne
groes were called front their place of
hiding. Samson w rite s :
" I never realized what a blessing It
Is to be free until I saw- that scared
tntin and woman craw ling out from un
der the dusty hay and shaking them
selves like a p air of dogs. The weath-
er was not cold or I guess they would
have been frozen. They knelt togeth
er on the bam floor and the woman
prayed fo r God's protection through
the day.
Peasley brought food for
them and stowed them away on the
top of his haymow w ith a pair of buf-
ralo skins. I suppose they got some
sleep there. I went Into the house to
breakfast and while I ate Brlmstead
told me about his trip. H is children
were there.
They looked clean and
decent. H e lived In a log cabin a little
furth er up the road. Mrs. Peasley’s
sister w aited on me. She is a fat and
heerful looking lady, very light com
plented. H e r h a ir Is red— like tomato
ketchup. Looks to me a likely, stout
armed, good-hearted woman who can
do a lot of hard work. She can see a
'oke anti has an answer handy every
me."
For details of the rem ainder of th.
listorlc visit of Samson T ra y lo r to thi
ome of John Peasley we are indebtcc
o a le tte r from John to his b ro th « .
I t had been a cold w inter and not
easy Io keep com fortable In the little
house.
In Ihe worst w eather Sam
son had used to get up at ulght to
keep the fire going. Late In January
a wind from the southeast melted the
snow and warmed the a ir of the mid
(To be continued)
lands so that, fo r a week or so, It
seemed as If spring were come. One
night of this week Sambo awoke the
fam ily w ith Ills barking.
A strong
FINDS SNAKE .IN BATHROOF.
wind was rushing across the plains
and roaring over the cabin and w ail
Reptile Discovered by Seven-year-old
"He and Hla Boye AVer» Busy 8elllng ing In its chimney.
Suddenly there
Child Had Climfced Tree and
was a rap on Its door. When Samson
Sausages."
Crawled Through Window.
opened It he saw In the moonlight a
he had quarreled a n d .la id two dead young colored man ah'd woman stand
Reading, Pa.— V irgin ia Funk, seven
rata on the counter.
ing near the doorstep
years old. daughter of Oscar A. Funk,
“ ‘There,' said he, th is makes seven
"Is dis Mlstah T raylor?" the young
discovered a black snake five feet nine
today. I'll call Monday and get my man asked.
Inches long In the bathroom of her
f
money.'
“I t Is," said Samson. “W hat can 1 home at Esterly. T he snake-cllmbed-a
“ We were doing a good business here do for yon?”
tree near the house, dropped on a
•
making fun. It seems a p ity to ruin
"Mas'r. de good Lord done fetched
rear portico and then crawled In the
It and throw suspicion on the quality us here to ask you (o' help," said the
bathroom window.
of the goods by throwing a cat on negro. "W e he nigh wone out w ith cold
The child closed the bathroom and
the counter.”
an hnngah suh deed we be."
called her falh er, Oscar A . Funk,, a
This raised a storm of m errim ent,
hip game hunter In Canada for «ev-
Samson asked them In and put wood
a fter which he recited the poem of on the fire, and Sarah got up and made I eral years. H e opened the bathroom
Burns, w ith keen appreciation of Its some hoi iea and brought food from
door, threw a towel over the reptile
quality. Samson repeatedly w rites of the cupboard and gave It to the stran-
and carried It to the yard, where
Ills gift for Interpretation, especially. gers who sat shivering in the firelight
his guest. Wesley E
Conklin of
of the comic, and now and then lay« They were a good-looking pair, the
Philadelphia shot the snake.
particular stress on his power o f m im young woman being almost while
Mrs. Conklin, w ife of the PhllA-
icry.
I They were man and w ife
The lattei
delphinn was w ith the child when she
John Cameron sang “The Sword of stopped eating and moaned and shook
entered the bathroom.
Bunker H ill” and “F o rty Years Ago. w ith emotion as her husband told
Tom." Samson played while the older their story.
T heir master had died 1 “ Stolen” Gems Found Under Mattreas.
people danced until midnight. Then. Ihe year before and they had been
^Vllkee-Rnrre.
Pa.— Mrs.
Thomas
arter noisy farewells, men. women and brought to St Louis to be sold in the Lew's has found the Jewels upon the
There they "had es
qu»st of which she had set nffl. era of
children started In the moonlit road slave m arket
raped hy night and gone to the hous«
three -cities
Mrs. Lewis left the
toward the village. Ann Rutledge had
of an old friend of their form er ownet
gems tinder a mattress in a Philadel
Abe on one arm and John M cN eil on
who lived north of the city on th<
phia hotel and fnrgot all nhout them
Ihe other.
„
--•’-er shore.
He ' "• ‘nken oltv on until she had returned home Then
them snd brought them across the she didn't remember having le ft them
C H A P T E R V I.
Mississippi and started thetfl on the at »he hotel, and decided she had been
north road w ith a letter to E lijah
robbed.
Which Describes the Lonely L ife In
Lovejoy of Alton and a supply of food.
a P ra irie Cabin and a Stirring Ad
Since then they had been hiding days
Surgeons Close Safety Pin In Stomach.
venture on the Underground R ail
In the swamps and thickets and had
road About the T im a It Began Op
Vncas, O kla.— An open safetv pin
traveled by night. M r. Lovejoy had
eration»
sent them to Erastus W right of swallowed by the elght-montli-ntd son
of M r and Mrs George Jacqulres, was
When Samson paid M r. Oollaher, a Springfield, and M r. W right had given
them the name of Samson T ra y lo r and removed from the baby's stomach
"detector" came with the la tte r te look
sn
operation.
Physicians
the location of his cabin
From there without
at the money before It was accepted.
they were hound for the house of John closed fhe pin hy the use of Insfru-
T here were many counterfeits and hills
m e n tr and then lifte d If out through
good only at a certain discount of Peasley. In Hopedale. Tazew ell county.
the child's mouth.
Lovejoy
had
asked
them
Io
keep
the
face value going about those days and
the detector was In great requeat. D i le tte r vjlth which they had begun
their travel«. T he letter stated that
rectly a fte r moving In, Samson dug a
their late master had often expressed
well and lined It w ith a hollow log.
Farmer Showered With
his purpose of . le a 'In g them their free
H e bought tool» and another team and
Burning Whisky Dies
dom
when
he
^houlrt
pass
away.
He
then he and H a rry began their fall
had left no w ill and since his death the
plowing
Day a fte r day fo r week»
W ilkes-Barre.
P a — The
ex
two had fallen into the hands of his
they paced w ith their turning furrow »
plosion o f a private still In hla
nepfew
a despotic, violent young
a a tll a hundred acre«, stretching h alf
cellar resulted In the death of
drunkard of the name of Biggs.
a mile to the nest and well to the
Joseph A. F ry e r o f Parsons,
Samson
wag
so
moved
by
their
story
north of the house, wera black w ith
near here, who was showered
that
he
hitched
up
his
horses
and
put
them. Fever and ague descended up
with the burning whisky. It be
aonte
hay
In
the
wagon
box
and
made
on the little home In the early winter.
came known here today through
off with the fugitive» up the road to
In a lettea. to her brother, dated
a physician'» report.
ihe north in the night
W ie n daylight
January 4th. I4S2, Sarah w rites:
"W e have been longing fo r new«
■ ame he co\ere<i them with hay. About
from home but not a word has come eight o clock he came to a fram e house
Moth or Butterfly?
from you It don't seem as If we could
and barn, the la tte r being of unusual
ataúd It unless we hear from you or
size for that time and country. Above
T here are certain simple Indications
seme of the folks once la a while.
the door of the barn was a hoard by which one can tell a moth from a
W e are not dead Just because we are
which bore the stenciled legend: butterfly. The antennae (feelers) of
a thousand asiles away. W e w ant to
"John Peasley, O rw ell F arm .”
the butterfly usually term inate In a
bear from you
Please w rite and let
As Baraaon draw near the house be knot, w hile the antennae of a moth
ns know how fath er aad mother a r t
oheerved a man working op the roof . taper to a point. When a moth rests
and all tha news. W a bavo a ll been of a woodshed Something fam ilia r In it keep« ita wtnga In a horizontal t»«sl-
filch wjth
(qvag gag »gu». i t is a h i, Joo|
fhe •y e of the New Salem I dun. while a butterfly places Its wings
«vfaUaf 1A • » v pe&mcuUf pogltlotti