Below are a few ¿ample
sentences from the story of
The Brown Mouse
Every teacher, every pupil, every par-
tu t of a pupil in the rural schools, cuglit
to read this story. Subscribers will find
it in the Enterprise soon. Those who
not subscribers, instead of paying |2 for
the book, can get tbe complete story in
he Enterprise by paying only 50
ceats for a four-months' subscription
aud the publisher agrees to discontinue
the paper at the end ot the four mouths
unless the subscriber sends in a renewal,
•It seem« as if It ought to be pos­
sible," said Jim, “for a man to do
work on the farm, or In the rural
schools, that would make him a liveli­
hood. If he la only a field-band, it
ought to be possible for him to save
money and buy a farm."
‘‘Pa’s land Is worth two hundred
dollars an acre,“ said Jennie. "Six
months of your wages for an acre—
even If yon lived on nothing.”
"No,“ be assented, "It can't be done,
and the other thing can't, eltber.
There ought to be such conditions that
a teacher could make a living.”
“They do,“ said Jennie, "if they
can live at borne during vacations. I
do."
his fellow-workers of
the field
the
T m 1° " ’‘Kory wn*
*>U ro-
.I®“ , °ri|h ’ “ *■ ,eDDle'* “Humph I"
retired this romance from circulation.
I d ^ o r a / 1 *b° W*d * ”H«npt for the
idea of his marrying. It relegated him
category with other de­
fectives, and badged him with the cell-
b«cy of « «on of Twentieth-century
monk, without the honor of the priest-
f vocation. From another girl it
h we b#en b,u enou<h. but from
Jeiwle Woodruff—end especially on
that quiet summer night under the
linden—it w ss Insupportable.
“Ooed Hight.- said Jim -sim ply be­
cause be could not trust himself to
say more.
HALSSY ENTERPRISE.
X brown
? MOUSE
tyJfferbert~Quick
The grading gang laughed. Newton
grinned even while In the fell clutch
of circumstance. Ponto tried to smell
the chauffeur'» trousers, und what had
been a laugh became a roar. Cau­
tion and mercy departed from the
Chauffeur’» mood; he drew back his
fist to »trike the boy—and found It
caught by the hard hand of Jim
Irwin.
"You're too angry to punish this
hoy," »aid Jim gently, “even If you
had the right to punish him at a ll!’’
The chauffeur, however, unhesitat­
ingly released Newton, and furiously
delivered a blow meant for Jim’s Jaw,
which miscarried by a foot. In reply^
Jim countered with nn awkward
“But a man teaching In the country
ought to be able to marry.”
“Marry!" said Jennie, rather unfeel­
ingly, I think. “You marry!” Then
after remaining silent for nearly a
*11 " ) H E N H e rb e rt Q uick writes a story it is the time fo r every-
1 1 7 one to sit up and take notice; fo r he is one o f the most ver­
Jim
“You Marry! Humphl"
minute, she uttered the syllable—with­
out the utterance of which this narra­
tive would not have been written.
“You marry I Humph 1”
Jim Irwin rose from the bench
tingling with the Insult be found In
her tone. They had been boy-and-glrl
sweethearts In the old days at the
Woodruff schoolhouse down the road,
and before the fateful time when
Jennie went “off to school" and Jim
began to support his mother. They
had even kissed—aud on Jim's side,
lonely as was his life, cut off as It
necessarily was from all companion­
ship save that of his tlnv home and
C T R E Y O U a brown
|q 1| mouse? Have you
•T&JJ a touch of that lun-
“ “
acy called genius,
which gives you extra­
ordinary ideas and makes
you do things better or
at least different from the
average run of people?
I f so, you are a Mendel-
ian segregation of genetic
factors (not meaning to
call names) which scien­
tists say produces the
brown mouse and other
odd things in the animal
creation. Read
TSe
Brown
Mouse
By HERBERT QUICK
Here is one of the most
original stories in the
world; a novel as enter­
taining a# it is instruc­
tive; a regular thought-
awakener containing ac­
tion , rom ance, hum or,
real ch aracter studies
and a love interest. It is
not about mice but about"
people, th e ir problems,
ambitions, emotions and
affections. T he au th or
s im p ly h ad a h a p p y
thought when he took a
b ro w n » p u » Ç and ap­
plied its characteristics
to a human.
Follow the Story
Serially in
'he Enterprise
Countered W ith an
Upper C u t
Awkward
swinging uppercut. It landed fairly on
the point of the Jaw. The chauffeur
staggered and slowly toppled over into
the soft earth which had caused so
much of the rumpus.
“Oh, cut It out,” said a fat man In
the rear of the cm, who had hither­
to manifested small Interest In any­
thing save Ponto. “Get In, aud let's
be on our way 1“
Colonel Woodruff, waiving toward
him In his runabout, held up by* the
traffic blockade, asked what was going
on here, and the chauffeur, rising
grogglly, climbed Into the car; and the
meeting dissolved.
Good work, Jim." said Cornelius
Bonner. "I didn't think 'twas In ye!"
“It's beastly," said Jim, reddening.
'I didn't know, either.” .
The deadlocked members of the
board bad been so long at loggerheads
•hat their relations had swayed back
to something like amity. Jim had
scarcely entered when Con Bonner ad­
dressed the chair.
“Mr. Prisldent," said he, "we have
wld us t'nlght, a young man who nadec
no introduction to an audience in this
place, Mr. Jim Irwin. He thinks we're
bullheaded mulea, aud that all the
schools are bad. At the proper time I
shall move that we hire him f r teach­
er; and pin ding that motion, I move
that he be given the floor. Ye've all
heared of Mr. Irwin’s ability aa a
white hope, and I know he’ll be lis­
tened to wid rcfpcct;"
“We have bad the privilege of Us-
t'nln'," said Con Bonner, rising, “to a
great speech, Mr. Prisldlnt. Makln’ a
good spache is one thing, and teach­
ing a good school Is another, but In or­
der to bring thia matter before the
board, I nominate Mr. James E. Irwin,
the Boy Orator of the Woodruff dis­
trict, and the new white hope, f r the
Job of teacher of this school, and I
move that when he shall have received
a majority of the votes of this board,
the secretary and prisldlnt be ln-
sthmeted to enter Into a contract with
him f ’r the cornin' year."
The president followed usage when
he said: "If there's no objection, It
will be so ordered. Prepare the bal-1
lots for a vote on the election of teach- ]
er, Mr. Secretary."
There was no surprise In view o t i
the nomination of Jim Irwin by the '
blarneying Bonner when the Secretary i
smoothed out the first ballot, and
read: “James E. Irwin, one.” But i
when the next slip came forth, “James
E. Irwin, two," the board of directors |
of the Woodruff Independent district
were stunned at the slowly dawning
knowledge that they had made ao
election! Before they bad rallied, the
secretary drew from the box the third
and last ballot, and read. “James E.
Irwin, three."
»
* * * * * *
“More we adjourn." »»Id Peterson.,
“No *bjectlon 'tls so ordered!” said
Mr. Broneon.
The secretary and Jim went out,
while the dlrecters waited.
"What the Billy—" began Bonner,
and finished lamely 1 "What for did
you ve tf fog the dub. E a r
(Gontinued la column 5J
satile and entertaining geniuses in this country. Farmer, school­
master. la w y e r, editor, public servant, social w o rke r and novelist, he
has had a great round o f experiences and has w orked many o f them
into his stones. Born in G rundy county, Iowa, he has been mayor o f
Sioux C ity, nominee fo r supreme judge, editor o f Farm and Fireside,
member o f the Federal Farm Loan bureau and several other national
commission«, and during the w a r, had the rank o f colonel conferred
upon him by the Red Cross.
,
T h e B ro w n Mouse, M r. Quick has taken his inspiration from
the scotch scientist w h o crossed Japanese w altzing mice w ith the
common w h ite breed and among ether hybrids got a b ro w n individual
that was different from anything else in the w orld. Unlike its domes­
ticated parents, it w as w ild ; it ran aw ay, bit, gnawed, scratched and
raised hob generally.
Jim Irw in , the hero o f the tale, is a b ro w n mouse. H is peddling
father w as a w altzing mouse, no good except to jump from one spot
to another fo r no valid reason. His mother w as a w h ite mouse hav­
ing had all her color washed out in one w a y o r another Like the
.b r o w n mouse w h ic h refuse« to act according to the rules o f heredity,
Jim had ideas o f his o w n and did many surprising things. H e com ­
pletely w oke up a sleepy farming community and showed it w h a t a
touch ot genius can do.
T his C harm ing T a le W ill Run as a Serial in
The Halsey Enterprise
If you are interested in cow testing and want to
interest your neighbor in it, get him to read “ The
Brown Mouse,”
"I voted fbr him," replied Bronson, raise nothing but a family ot farmers I
“beceuse he fought for my boy this A »no thing!"
afternoon. I didn't want It stuck Into
"They will be farmers anyhow,"
him too hard. I wanted him to have cried Jim, “In spite of your effort»—
one vote."
ninety out of every hundred of them I
"An' I wanted him to have wan vote, And of tha other ten, nine will ho
too,” said Bonner. '7 thought mesllf wage-earners In tho cities, and wish to
the only dang fool on the board-—an’ Ood they were back on tho farm : and
he made a spache that aimed wan tho hundredth one will succeed In tho
vote—but f r the love of hlvin, that city."
dub f y a teacher! What come over
The guns of Mrs. Bonner and Mra.
you, Haakon—you voted f r him, too 1" Peterson were silenced for a moment,
“Ay vented him to have one wote, and Mrs. Bronson, after gazing
toq," gajfl Petereqo. _
at the typewriter, the hecktograph.
the exhibits of weed seeds, the Bab­
* * * * * * * *
cock milk tester, and the other un-
“Jennie," said Colonel Woodruff, scholsstlc equipment, pointed to tho
after the party had broken up, ‘Tm
list of words, and tho arithmetic
losing the best hand I ever had. and problems on the board.
I’Ve been sorry."
"Jto you get them words from tho
“I’m glad he s leaving you," said speller?" she asked.
Jennie. "He ought to do something ex­
“No," said he, "we get them from a
cept work In the field for wages."
lesson on seed wheat."
"I've had no idea he could make
“Did them examples come ont of an
good as a teacher—and what is there arithmetic book?" cross-examined she.
In It if he does?"
"No,” said Jim, “we used problems
“What has he lost If he doesn't?” we made ourselves. We were figuring
rejoined Jennie. “And why can't he profits and losses on your cows, Mra.
make good?"
Bronson 1”
"Ezra Bronson,” said Mrs. Bronson
“The school board’s against him, for
loftily, “don't need any help In telling
one thing," replied the colonel. "They’»
tire him If they get a chance. They’re what's a good cow. He was farming
the laughing-stock of the country for before you was born!”
“Like fun, he don't need help! He'»
hiring him by mistake, and they're Ir­
ritated. But after seeing him perform
going to dry old Cherry off and fat­
tonight, I wonder if he can’t make
ten her for beef; and he can make
good."
more money o n the cream by beefing
about three more of ’em. The Bab­
“If he could feel like anything but
an underling, he'd succeed.” said Jen­ cock test shows they're Just boarding
nie.
on us without paying their board 1"
The delegation of matrons ruffled
"That's his heredity," stated the
like a group of startled hens at thia
colonpl. whose live stock operations
Interposition, which was Newton
were based on heredity. “Jim's a
scrub, I suppose; but he sets as if he Bronson's effective seizing of the op­
might turn out to be a Brown (Mouse.” portunity to Issue a progress bulletin
In the research work on the Bronson
“What do you mean, pa,” scoffed
dairy herd.
Jennie—“a Brown Mouse!”
“Newton 1“ said his mother, “don't
"A fellow In Ddlnburgb,” said the
colonel, “crossed the Japanttee wnltx- interrupt me when I’m talking to the
Ing mouse with the comr*>n white teacher!"
“Well, then," said Newton, “don't
mouse. Jim's peddling father was a
waltzing mouse, no good except to tell the teacher that pa knew which
Jump from one spot to another for no cows were good and which were poor.
good reason. Jim's mother Is an al­ If any one In thia district wants to
bino of a woman, with «all the color know about their cows they'll have to
washed out In one way or another. come to thia shop And I can tell you
that It'll pay 'em to come, too, If
Jim ought to be a mongrel., and I’ve
always considered him one.. But the they're going to make anything selling
Edinburgh fellow every once in a cream. Walt until we get out our re­
ports on the herds, ma I”
while got out of his vhrtbuply-colored,
Tha women were rather stampeded
waltzing and albino,hybrids, a brown
mouse. It wasn t a conauon bouse by this onslaught of the Irregular
troops—especially Mrs. Rronson. She
mouse, either, but a wild m nuseusllke
felt a flutter of pride in her son, but
any he had ever seen. It ran away,
It was strongly mingled with a moth­
and bit and gnawed and. raised hob. It
erly desire to spank him. The depu­
was what we breeders call a Mende-
tation rose, with a unanimous feeling
llan segregation of genetic factors that
that they had been scored upon.
had been in the walfzers and albinos
"Oowel” scoffed Mrs. Peterson. "If
all the time—their original wild an­
we leove you In this yob, Mr. Irwin,
cestor of the wop&s and fields. If
our children will know nothing but
Jim turns out to be a brown mouse,
cows and liens and soils and grains—
he may be a bigger man than, any of
and where will the culture con e In?”
us. Anyhow, I'm, for him.”
"Culture!" exclaimed Jim. “W h y -
why, after tea »years of the sort of
school I would give you If I were a
“What we came for, Mr. li-win. Is —But you should read the whole story,
to object to the way the teechln's wnicli will soon appear as a serial in the
being done—corn and wheat, anil hogs Enterprise.
and the like. Instead of the learnln'
schools w ss made to t'-acOv I can see
an' the whole district can w e H a t it's
easier fur a man that's been « farm­
hand to teach farm-hand knowledge,
than the learnln' schools was set up
to teach; but If so be he hasn't the
hook education to do the right thing,
we think he should get out and give
a real teacher a chance.”
“What am I neglecting?" asked Jim
mildly.
Mrs. Bonner seemed unprepared for
the question, and sat for an Instant
The
Brown
Mouse
Every school pupil who belongs to an agricultural
or industrial club ought to read Herbert Quick’s
story. ’
Every parent who wants his children to grow up
with respect for the dignity of the farmer's calling,
and with an atnbition to make it a success, will
enjoy the story.
By H ERBERT QUICK
Did you ever hear of •
mouse that did any good?
Neither have we; hot it ap­
pear» that there « a brown
one which ha« a •peat fac­
ulty for stirring up things
in mouse society; and
when a human is horn
with some of t he charac­
teristics of this little ani­
mal, he always a lanages to
Every schoolteacher will enjoy it.
“Any job’s as bigas the man who holds it down
said Farmer Woodruff. Are you big enough to
make your job grow ? The brown mouse was.
Send me
5Oc
atid I will send the Enterprise four months, contain­
ing the complete story of “The Brown Mouse,’’ be­
sides its ordinary quota of local and state news,
editorials and, far from the least, advertisements
that will tell you how to save money and properly
satisfy many needs. 1 will send it to you or to any
address yen m.\y name, and will discontinue it at
the end of tho four months unless the subscription
is renewed.
This story is copyrighted by the Bobba-.Merrill
company. I have obtained the right to publish it in
Halsey, for I believe it will benefit our schools.
Wm. H. WHEELER
Publisher Enterprise, Halsey, Oregon
FACE 3
“Ws Object to the W ay ths Tsschln’s
Being Done.”
mute. Mrs. Peterson interposed her
attack while Mrs. Bonner might be re­
covering her wind.
"We people that have had a hard
time,” ahe said In a precise way which
seemed to show that ahe knew exactly
what she wanted, “don't want our
children taught about nothing but
work. We want our children to learn
nice things, and go to high school, and
after a while to the Junlwerslty."
"Aren't your children happy In
school, Mrs. Peterson?"
“I (loo t (tend them to school to be
happy, Yim," replied Mr«. Peterson,
calling him by the name moat famil­
iarly known to all of them; “I send
tn e m to learn to be nigner people than
their father and mother. That’s what
America means!"
'TTiey'll be higher people— higher
than their parent»—higher than thaie
teacher—they'll be efficient farmers,
and efficient farmers' wives. They'll
bo happy, because they will know how
to use more brains la farming than
any lawyer «e doctor or merchant can
possibly nse In hla business"
"It's a fine thing," said Mra. Bonner,
coming to tha aid of her follow sol­
diers, "to work hard for a lifetime, a«'
make a stir in
1 is circles.
If you are a fa rmer you
ire going io lev el in this
story, for, along i nth some
very delightful i 'omance,
it carries a n il mher of
ideas that are ra ire to be
valuable in your’ business.
If you are a to wn person
it carries some ideas that
will greatly in Iwest you,
and you will I tc charmed
by its love st ory. Read
shout Jim In rin, the hu­
man brown mouse, who
dared to as pire to the
affections of the queen
mouse of his district
Cfil »
e
N ew Seri i il Story
* Starti ng in
Tl te
(Halsey E Enterprise