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About The Springfield news. (Springfield, Lane County, Or.) 1916-2006 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1921)
Tie VdPic (of tie Pads By EDISON MARSHALL SYNOPSIS. Warned by his physician that he haa not mora than six month to live. Falling alta despondently on a park bench, wondering where ha should spend those six months. A friendly squirrel practically decides the matter for hi in. tils blood la pioneer blood, and ha decldee to and his dnyj In the forests of Ore gon. Memories of his grandfather tut a deep lova for all things of the wild help him In reaching a decision. In a large southern Oregon city ha meets people who had known and loved hla grand father, a famous frontiersman. He makes his home with Silas Lennox, a typical westerner. The only oth er members of the household are Lennox's son. "Bill.- and daugh ter. "Snowbird." Their abode Is many miles from "clvlllsstlon." In the Cmpqua divide, and thera Falling plans to live out the short span of life which ha haa been told la Ms. Ills extreme weakness In the face of even a slight exer tion convinces him that Hie doctor had made a correct diagnosis of his case. CHAPTER II Continued. Yes. Steele know mil. HIM weighed two hundred pounds, and he would choose the biggest of the steers lie drove down to the lower levels In the winter and, twisting Its horns, would make It lay over on Its side, resides, both of t!:e men assumed that Dan must he only In the first stages of his malady. And even ns the men talked, the train that bore Dnn Falling to the home of his ancestors was entering for the first time the dark forests of pine and fir that make the eternal background of the Northwest. He was wholly unable to understand the strange feeling of familiarity that he had with them, a sensation that In Ms 'dreams he had known them al ways, and that be must never go out of the range of them again. e e e e e a Dan didn't see his host at first. For the first Instant he was entirely en grossed by a surging sense of disap pointment a feeling that be had been tricked and had only come to another city after all. He got down onto She gravel of the station yard, and out on the gray strtet pavement be heard the clang of a trolley car. Many au tomobiles were parked Just beside the station, some of them foreign cars of expensive makes, such as be supposed would be wholly unknown on the frontier. A man in golf clothes brushed his shoulder. Dan looked up to the hills, and he felt better. He couldn't see them plain ly. The faint smoke of a distant for est fire half obscured them. Yet be saw fold on fold of ridges of a rather peculiar blue In color, and even his MYou'ra Dan Falling's Grandson, Aren't You?" untrained eyes could see that they were clothed In forests of evergreen. Over the heads of the green hills Dun could see a few great peaks; Mc Laughlin, even nnd regular as a paint ed mountain; 'Vogner, with queer white gashes where the snow ctlll lay !n Its ravines, and to the southeast the misty range of snow-covered hills that weie the Slckcyoua. lie felt de cidedly better. And wheu be suw old mm m j Silas Lennox waiting patiently beside the station, he felt he had come to the right place. It would he Interesting to explain why Dnn at once recognized the older man for the breed he was. Silas Len nox was not dressed In a way that would distinguish Mm. It was true that he wore a flannel shirt, riding trousers and rather heavy, leathern boots. Put sportsmen all over the face of the earth wear this costume at sundry times. Mountain men have a peculiar stride by which experienced persons can occasionally recognlxe them; but Silas Lennox was standing still when Dnn got his first glimpse of him. The case resolves Itself Into a simple matter of the tilings that could be read In Lennox's face. Dan disbelieved wholly In a book that told how to read characters at sight. Yet at the first glance of the lean, bronzed face his heart gave a curious little bound. A pair of gray eyes met his two fine black points In a rather hard groy Iris.- They didn't look pust him, or at either sldo of him, or at his chin or his forehead. They looked right at his own eyes. The skin around the eys was burned brown by the sun. nnd the flesh was so lean that the cheekbones showed plainly. The mouth was straight; but yet It was neither savage nor cruel. It wus sim ply determined. Lennox came up with a light, silent trend and extended his hnnd. "You're Dan Falling's grandson, aren't you?" be asked. "I'm Silas Lennox, who used to know Mm when be lived on the Divide. You are coming to spend the summer nnd fall on my ranch." The Immediate result of these ; words, besides relief, was to set Dan j wondering iiow tne old mountaineer had recognized Mm. He wondered If he had any physical resemblance to his grandfather. P,ut this hope was shot to enrth nt once. Ills telegram had explained about bis malady, and of course the mountaineer had picked him out simply because he had the mark of the disease on his face. As he shook bands, he tried his best to rend the mountaineer's expression. It was ail too plain: an undeniable look of disappointment. The truth was that even in spite of all the Chamber of Commerce head had told him, Lennox had still hoped to find some Image of the elder Dnn Falling In the face and body of his grandson. Because of the thick glasses, I.ennox could not see the young man's eyes; but he didn't think It likely they were at all like the eyes with which the elder Falling saw his way through the wilderness at night Of course he was tull. Just us the fa mous frontiersman had been, but while the elder weighed one hundred and ninety pounds, bone and muscle, this man did not touch one hundred and thirty. Evidently the years jad brought degenerucy to the Failing clan. Lennox was desolated by the thought He helped Dan with bis bag to a lit tle wiry automobile that wulted be side tlie fetation. They got into the j two front seats, and a moment later I were starting up the long, curved road that led to the Divide. ! rinrlrif tta fistli 4tm tiim m.awa -ru.il. uvrut lllUh 1 c V crossing over the foothills, on the way ! to HiP hi? tlmlicr Kll:is lonnnr liilliod a great deal about the frontiersman that had been Dan's grandfather. A mountain man does not use profuse adjectives, lie tnlks very simply and very straight and often there are long silences between Ms sentences. Yet he conveys his Ideas with entire clear ness. Dan realized at once that If he could be, Ir. Lennox's eyes, one-fifth of the man bis grandfather had been, he would never have to fear again the look of disappointment with which his host had greeted him nt the station. Hut Instead of reaching that high place, be had only death. He knew what bis destiny was in these tjulet Mil. And It was true that be began to have 6ecret regrets that he bad come. Hut It wasn't that he was dis appointed In the land that was open ing up before him. It fulfilled every promise. His sole reason for regrets lay In the fact that now the whole mountain world would know of the decay that had come upon bis people. I'erhaps It would have been better to have left them to their traditions. Ho had uever dreumcd that the famo of his grandfather had spread so far. For the first ten miles Dan listened to stories legends of a cold nerve that simply could not be shaken ; of a powerful, tireless physique! of moral and physical strength that wus seemingly without limit Theu, as the foothills began to give way to the x .-j Copyright. 19S0, by Little, T-rowa A Co Mkher ridges, and the shadow of the deeper forests fell tion the narrow, brown rond, there began to be long gups In the talk. Ami soon they rode In utter silence, evidently both of them absorbed In their own thoughts. Dun did not feel oppressed at all. He merely seemed to fall Into the spirit of the woods, and no words rnme to his lip. Every mile was an added delight to him. Not even wine could have brought a brighter sparkle to Ms eyes. He had begun to experi ence vague sort of excitement, an emotion that was almost kin to ex ultation, over the constant stir and movement of the forest life. Once, as they stopped the car to refill the ra- "You'd Detter Walt Till Tomorrow, Dan." dlator from n mountain stream, I.on nox looked at him with sudden curi osity. "You are getting a thrill out of this, aren't you?" he asked wonder Ingly. It was a curious tone. Terhaps It was a hnpt-ful tone, too. He spoke as If he hardly understood. "A thrill!" Dan echoed. lie spoke as a man speaks In the presence of some great wonder. "Good Heavens, I never saw anything like It In my life." "In this very stream," the mountain eer told Mm Joyously, "you mny occa sionally catch trout that weigh three pounds." F. ut as he got back Into the car the look of Interest died out of Lennox's eyes. Of course any man would be somewhat excited by bis first glimpse of the wilderness. It was not that he had Inherited any of the traits of his grandfather. It was absurd to hope that bo had. And he would soon get tired of the slleiices and want to go back to bis cities. He told his thought Hint It would all soon grow old to him; and Dan turned almost In uuger. "You don't know," ho said. "I didn't know myself, bow I would feel about It. I'm never going to leave the hills again." "You don't mean that" "Hut I do." He tried to speak fur ther, but he coughed Instead. "Hut I couldn't If I wanted to. That cough tells you why, I guess." "You mean to say" Silas Lennox turned In amazement "You mean that you're a a goner? That you've given up bono of recovering?" "That's tlie impression I meant to convey. I've got a little over four months thcugh I don't see that I'm any weaker than I was when the doc tor said I hud six months. Those four will tnkj) me all through tho fall and the early winter. And I hope you won't feel that you've been Imposed upon to have a dying mua on your hands." "It Isn't that" Silas Lennox threw his cur Into gear end started up the long grade. And be drove clear to the top of It and Into another glen before ho Kpoke ngnln. Then he pointed to what looked to Dan like a brown sir cnk that melted Into the thick brush. "That was a deer," he said slowly. "Just o glimpse, but your grandfather could have got Mm be tween the eyes. Most like as not, though, he'd have let Mm go. He never kilted except when he needed meat Hut (hat as you say ain't the Impression I'm trying to convey." He seemed to be groping for words, "What la It. Mr. Lennox f Dan asked. "IiiKtend o? being sorry, I'm mighty glad you've come," Lennox (old Mm. "It's not that I expect you to be like your grandfather. You haven't had hla chance. Hut It'a always tho way of truo men. tho world over, to come back to their own kind to die. That deer we Just anw he'a your people, and so are nil these ranchers that gruh their Uvea out of the Torests they are your people, too. And you couldn't have pleased the old man's old friends any better, or done more for his memory, than to come back to his own land for your Inst days." The words were strange, yet Dan Intuitively understood. It was as If a prodlgnl son bad returned at Inst, and although Ida birthright waa squandered and he came only to die. the people of his home would give hint kindness tnd forgiveness, even though they could not give hint their respect CHAPTER III. The Lennox home was a typical mountain ranch-house square, aolld. comforting In storm and wind. Hill was out to tlie gnta when the car drove up. lie wus a son of his fa ther, a strong man In body and per sonality. He too bad heard of the elder Falling, and he opened his eyes when he snw the slender youth that wus his grandson. And he led the wny Into the whlte-wulled living room. "You must be chilly and worn out from the long ride," Lennox suggest ed quietly. He spoke In the tone a strong man Invariably uses toward an Aivulld. Dnn felt a curious re sentment ot the words. "I'm not cold," he said. "It's hard ly dnrk yet. I'd sooner go outdoors nnd look around." The elder nan regnrded him curi ously, perhaps with the faintest glim mer of admiration. "You'd belter wait till tomorrow, Dan," le replied. "Hill will have supper soon, anyway. You don't want to overdo too much, right at first." "Hut. good heavens I I'm not going to try to spare myself while I'm here. It's too late for that." Da a Failing is introduced to "Snowbird." who proves to be a decidedly interesting member of the Lennox family, and Dan shows now Interest in life in the next installment. t'lU UiC CON 11NL KD.) HUMOR SUPERIOR TO WIT Former Quality Always Kindly, While the Latter Is Inclined to Be Caustic Hoth wit and humor, like, art, poetry and love, are quite Indefinable. Hut humor Is the more elusive of the Iwo. There are national types of wit, an English wit, a French wit. a German wit, an Irish wit. and yes a Scottish wit Hut humor Is something universal, the curious and blessed gift that mnn has, all the world over, of discerning the Incongruous In most things, re marks a writer In the Edinburgh Scots man. Wit Is related to the superficial, but humor dwells deep down In the In most heart of tis. Wit may be caustic; humor is kindly. Wit Is the accom paniment of comedy nnd draws forth the loud guffaw of the top gallery of tho music hulls. Hut humor Is not divorced from trngedy, and Its laugh ter may be very close to tears. Bcoltlsh "wit" Is not English wit, but a sense of humor Is tho sume in kind all the world over. Scottish wit, of both the deliberate and the accidental kind, consists very largely In a cer tain dry way of saying something so simple and obvious that it Is least ex pected. Crowning Triumph. Little Norman und his two play fellows were boasting about their parents and their belongings. "My fa ther," snld Normun, "Is going to build a fine houso with a steeple on it" "That's nothing!" exclaimed Willie scornfully. "My father bus Just built a house with a flagpole ou It" Conrad, who hud been listening In tently, was silent for a moment, then burst out triumphantly: "Oh, Hint's nothing I My father Is going to build a house with a mortgage on It I" Watch Expenditures. If ho who Is always bard up will but keep n record of his expenditures he may find that ho Is more lucking In sense than In dollars. Or a "Situation." When a statesman runs Into 0 brick wall and sees no way to get over or under, he emits a few sharp yelps and calls It 0 crisis, lSultlmore Sun. Tlie wives of Siamese noblemen cut their hair so that it stands straight tip on their bends. Tlie average length Is ubout one Inch and a half. IMPROVED ROADS ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN 1920 Cost Was About Twice as Much as In 1917 en Aoceunt of Distinct Shortage of Labor. rrPrel by the U. A. Department of Agriculture ( Every kind of road cost about twice as much to build In IICO it did In 1U17. according to the chief of tho bureau of public roads, United States Department of Agriculture, and high wny construction suffered more than any other class of work through rait road congestion, strikes, lubor troubles and material shortages. After the war there was a great public demand for Improved roads. Many roads had been seriously dam aged by war traffic, and It appeared that the return of men from military service would provide an abundance) of labor. The army of laborers which was expected to apply for the work did not. however, materialise. On the contrary, there was n distinct shortage Xi if ' f, Well Kept Roadside Where Weeds Are Controlled by Frequent Mowing. of Inbor, and wages reached tl o high est levels attained iu the history of the country. In 1017, eometent lubor could lie secured fur from to per day, but the corresponding twa in i:e were from $3 to $5 for a short er day's work. In proportion to this demand there was nlso a pronounced scarcity of con st ruction materials. Hnnd. gravel, stone, und cement, and materials com monly used In road work Increased In price between 1U17 and HCO from M to 1MI ht cent Nnturally, thes In crease In cost were reflected In the prices paid to contractors for road work. Gravel rouds increased from H.:M to $7.2.V) per mile; concrete from S21.lftf to upward of lH .') per mile, and brick roads from f.'W.UM) to ;:,( km) per mile. As funds available for mad con struction ore lurgely limited by stat ute, or by the returns from taxation, a majority of the stales this year have deliberately withheld work, tho plans for which had been completed, until they could obtain a greater return for their expenditure. SCOTS USED FIRST MACADAM Resident of Ayrshire Made His First Experiments About 1814 Roads Now Common. Macadam roads aro so common Irk America that national pride mny well lead us to look upon them as a do mestic product. Hut John MacAdam was a Scot, resi dent In Ayrshire, where he made his first experiments ubout 1814, accord ing to the New York Sun. Five years Jnter the first public rouds were laid with the pavement and a grateful par liament awarded the Inventor a grant of $r.o,ooo. In 1827, after the new pavement had been thoroughly tested, MacAdnm wus mndo surveyor general of all metropolitan rouds in and nhout Lon don and the uso of his method became general throughout the United King dom. HARDING LAUDS GOOD ROADS President In First Message to Con grass Deplorea Money Wasted In Improved Highways. In no uncertain terms, rresldcn, Harding expressed bis opinion of the automobile, motor transport and good rouds in bis first messugo to congress. He suid: "The tuotorcur has become an indlsiM'nHiible Instrument In our po litical, social and Industrial life, , , , I know of nothing mora shocking than the millions of public funds wasted In Improved highways wasted because there Is no policy of maintenance, lllgluvuys must bo patrolled and con stantly repulreil' 1 I