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About The Springfield news. (Springfield, Lane County, Or.) 1916-2006 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1921)
; & i-wc - 1 ; ' " 1 . TAGE SIX THE SPRINGFIELD NEWS V? OF SYNOPSIS. Warned by his physician that hs has not mors than six months to live. Pan Failing alts despondently on a park bench, wondering- where, he should spend those sis months. Memories or his grandfather and a deep lots for all things of the wild help him In reaching a deci sion. In a large southern Oregon city he meets people who had known and loved his grandfather, a famous frontiersman. He mskes his home with Silas Lennox, a typ ical westerner. The only other members of the household are Lennox's son. "Bill." and daugh ter. "Snowbird." Their abode Is in the I'mpqua divide, and there Falling pi: ns to live out the short span of life which he has been told Is his. From the first Falling's health shows a marked Improve ment, and In the companionship of Lennox and his son and daughter he fits Into the woods life as If he had been born to It. By quick thinking and a remarkable display of "nerve" he saves Lennox's life and his own when they are at tacked by a mad coyote. Lennox declares J-.e Is a reincarnation of his grandfather. Dan Falling 1. whose fame as a woodsman la a household word. :0 CHAPTER III Continued. 5 Pan saw the door close behind hlra, and he had an Instant's glimpse of the long sweep of moonlit ridge that stretched l.encath the window. Then, all at once, seemingly without warn ing. It simply blinked out. Not until the next rooming did he really know w-hy. Insomnia was an old acquaint ance of Dan's, and he had expected to have some trouble In getting to sleep. Ills only real trouble was waking up again when Lennox called him to breakfast lie couldn't believe that the light at his window shade wn really that of morning. "Good Heavens:" his host explode "You sleep the sleep of the Just." Dan was about to tell hlin that o the contrary he was a very nervou sleeper, but he thought better cf Ii Something had surely happened to hN Insomnia. The next instant he ever forgot to wonder about It In the reuli ration that his tired body had beei wonderfully refreshed. He had n dread now of the long tramp up th ridge that his host had planned. Dut first came target practice. Ii. Dan's baggage he had a certain ver plain but serviceable sporting rifle oi about thirty-forty caliber a gun thai the Information department of the large sporting-goods store In Cltche apolls had recommended for his pur pose. Except for the few moments In the store. Dan had never held a rifle In his hands. The first shot he hit the trunk of a five-foot pine at thirty paces. "But I couldn't very well haTe missed It !" he replied to Lennox's cheer. "You see, I aimed at the mid dle but I lust grazed the edge." The second shot was not so good, missing the tree altogether. And It was a singular thing that be aimed longer and tried harder on this shot than on the first. The third time he tried still harder, and made by far the worst shot of all. "What's the matter?" he demanded. "I'm getting worse all the time." Lennox didn't know for sure. But he made a long gness. "It might be beginner's luck," he said, "but I'm in dined to think you're trying too bard. Take it easier depend more on your Instincts." Dan's reply was to lift the rifle lightly to his shoulder, glance quickly along the trigger and fire. The bullet struck within one inch of the center of the pine. For a long second Lennox gazed at him in open-mouthed astonishment. My Btars, boy!" he cried at last "Was I mistaken In thinking you were a born tenderfoot after all? Can It bo that a little of your old grandfa ther's Ekill has been passed down to jou? But yo'j can't do It again." But Dan did do It again. If any thing, the bullet was a little nearer the center. And then be aimed at a more distant tree. But the hammer snnpped down In effectively on tho breech. IIo turned with a look of question. Tour gun only holds five shots," Lennox explained. Reloading, Dan tried a more difficult target a trunk fflkA mil tWifi , !: ii u . -J i i , ,1 MS IBSSasSMMBllii - 'irr 1 I Tl miSsssssSSlP"''" '" ' I -" '"J"""TMSJSJsSMaMM I I h "TTTTTT-TIMaMSJWM I. ----- - 1111 --""" "' ' i s v - M THE almost one hundred yards distant. Of course It would have been only child's play to a exiMTlenced hunter; but to a tenderfoot It was a difficult mark Indeed. Twice out of four shots Dan hit the tree trunk, and one of his two bits was practically a bull's-eye, Ills two misses were the result of the same mistake he hnd made before- attempting to hold his aim too long. see Dan and Lennox started together up tho long slope of tho ridge. Dan alone armed; Lennox went with him solely as a guide. The deer season had Just openec?, and It might be that Dan would want to procure oue of these creatures. "But I'm not sure I want to hunt doer." Dnn told him. "You speak of them as being so beautiful " "liiey are beautiful and your grandfather would never hunt them, either, except for meat Bnt maybe you'll change your mind when you see a buck. Besides, we might run Into n lynx or a panther. But not very like ly, without dj:s." They trudged up, over the carjt of pine needles. They fought their way through a thicket of buckbrush. Once they saw the gray squirrels In the tree tops. And before I-ennox bad as intH.li ns supposed they were near the haunts of big game, a yearling doe sprang up from Its bed In the thickets. For an Instant she stood motionless, presenting n perfect target It was evident that she had henrd the sound of the approaching hunters, but hnd not as yet located or Identified them with her near-sighted eyes. Lennox whirled to find Dan standing very still, peering nlonz the barrel of his rifle. But he didn't shoot The deer, seeing Lennox move, leaped Into her terror-pace that astounding run that "There's Something Living In That Thicket" Is one of the fastest gaits In the whole animal world. In the wink of an eye she was out of sight "Why didn't you shoot?" Lennox de manded. "Shoot? It was a doe, wasn't It?" "Good Lord, of course It was a doe! But there are no game laws that go back this far. Besides you aimed at It" "I aimed Just to see If I could catch it through my sights. And I could. My glasses sort of made It blur but I think perhaps that I could ha7e shot It But I'm not going to kill does. There must be some reason for the game laws, or they wouldn't exist." "You're a funny one. Come three thousand miles to hunt and then pass up the first deer you see. You could almost huve been your grandfather, to have done that. lie thought killing deer needlessly was almost as bad as killing a man. They are beautiful things, aren't they?" Dan answered him 'with startling emphasis. But the look that be wore said more than his words. .A l : rw f 1,1 I! 1 They t nidged on, and I,ennox grew thoughtful. He was recalling the pic ture that he hnd seen when ho had whirled to look at Dan, Immediately after tho deer hnd leaped from Its bed. It puxiled him a little. Il hnd turned to find the younger man In a perfect posture to shoot Ms feet pi nerd tit exactly the position that jears of experience hnd taught Len ii ox was correct; and withal, absolute ly motionless. What many hunters take years to lenrn, Dnn had seemed to know by Instinct. Could It be, after oil, that this slender weakling, even now bowed down with a terrible ninlmly, had Inherited tho true fron tiersman's Instincts of his ancestors? The result of this thought wns at least to hover In tho near vicinity of a certain conclusion. That conclusion was that at least a few of the char acteristics of Ills grandfather had been passed down to Dnn. It meant that possibly. If time remained, he would not turn out such a weakling, after all. Of course his courage, his nerve, had yet to be tested; but the fact remained that long generations of frontiersmen ancestors had left this Influence upon him. The wild was calling to him, wakening Instincts long smothered In cities, but sure and true as ever. It wns ths beginning of regeneration. Voices of the long pnst were speaking to him, and the Fallings once more hnd begun to run true to form. Inherited tendencies were In a moment changing this weak, diseased youth Into a frontiersman and wilderness Inhabitant such as his ancestors had been before him. They were slipping along over the pine needles, their eyes Intent on the trail ahead. And then Lennox saw a curious thing. lie beheld Dan sud denly stop In the trail and turn his eyes toward a heavy thicket thrt lay perhaps one hundred yards to their right. For an ln(tiht he looked al most like a wild creature himself. Ills head wns lowered, as If he were lis tening. Ills muscles were set and ready. Lennox hnd prided himself that he had retained all the powers of his Ive senses, and that few men In the moun tains hnd keener ears than he. Yet It wns truth thnt at first he only knew the silence, nnd the stir and pulse of his own blood. He assumed then thn Dan wns watching somethli.? thnt from his position, twenty feet behind, he could not see. He tried to probe the thickets with his eyes. Then Dan whispered. Ever so soft a sound, but yet distinct In the si lence. "There's something living In thnt thicket." Then Lennox henrd If, too. As they stood still, the sound became ever clearer and more pronounced. Some living creature wns advancing toward them; and twigs were crncklng be neath Its feet. The sounds were rath er subdued, nnd yef. as the animal ap proached, both of them Instinctively knew that they wero extremely loud for the usunl footsteps of any of the wild creatures. "What Is It?" Dan asked quietly. Lennox was so Intrigued by the sounds that be was not even observ ant of the peculiar, subdued quality in Dans voice. Otherwise, he would have wondered nt It. "I'm free to confess I don't know." ho said. "It's booming right toward us, like most nnlmnts don't care to do. Of course It may be a human being. You must watch out for thnt." They waited. The sonnd ended. They stood at mining for a long mo ment without speech. "Thnt was the dumdost thing!" Lennox went on. "Of course It might have been a henr you never know what they're going to do. It might have got sight of us and turned off. But I can't believe that It was Just a deer" But then his words chopped square ly off In his throat. The plodding ad vance commenced again. And the next Instant a gray form revealed It self at the edge of the thicket BIG DAY IN BALBOA'S LIFE Great Spanish Explorer First Sighted tho Pacific Ocean on September 25, 1513. On Sept 23, 1513, Yasco Nunez do Balboa had bis first peep at the blue expanse of the Pacific ocean, remarks the Los Angeles Times, It was gained from the top of the mountain range at the Isthmus of Darlen. Four days later, on the 20th, be reached the slopes himself and stood waist deep In the waters. He called It the Great South sea and be took formnl posses sion In the name of the king of Spain, after the manner of the old-time ex plorers. That was the big day In Balboa's life. He come to the New World as a stowaway and he attained the title of admiral of the Pacific and governor of Panama. Yet four years later he was executed In the public square nt Acln on a trumped-up charge of treason. Balboa was an adventurer with the passions of the gambler, the drunkard and the spendthrift; yet as be gathered power and authority he Indicated prudence, Judgment and fore sight. He was a regular scout end now California has a delightful beach and a guarded bay named after him. It would be very proper to call the last It was tJraycont the coyote, hit If blind with his nindiicst. and U' -ernte In his agony. There wns no more deadly tMng In all the hilts than ho. Kven th. bits of a rnttlesnnke would have been wel comed beside his. He stood long Instant, nnd all his Instincts and re flexes thnt would hnve ordlnurlly made him flee In abject terror vers thwarted and twisted by the fever of his madness. He stared a moneiit nt the two figures, nnd his red eyes could not Interpret them. They were simply foes, for It was true thnt when this racking agony wns upon him. even lifeless trees seemed foes sometimes. He seemed eerie nnd unreal as ho gnred nt them out of his burning eyes; nnd the white fonm gathered nt h i fangs. And then, wholly without warning, he charged down nt them. He enme with unhellevnbl speed. The elder Lennox cried once In warn log and cursed himself for ventur ing forth on the ridge without a gun He wns fully twenty feet distant .10111 Dnn; yet ho snw In an Instnnt his only course. This wns no time to trust their lives to the marksmanship of an amateur. He sprang toward Dan, Intending to wrench the weapon from his hand. But ho didn't nchleve his purpose. At the first step his foot caught In a projecting roof, anil he was shot to his face on the trail. But a long itfe In the wilderness hnd developed I .en nox's reflexes to an abnormal degree; many crises hnd tnught him muscle nnd nerve control; and only for a fraction of an Instnnt, a period of time thnt few Instruments are fine enough to measure, did he He supinely upon the ground, lie rolled on, Into a position of defense. But he knew now he could not reach tho younger man before the mad coyote would lie tiimn them. The matter was out of his hands. Everything depended on the aim and self-control o, the tender- foot. Daa Failing's true marks manshlp proves thai be Is not the weakling he Is supposed to be on several occasions la the next Installment of "The Voice of lb Pack." CIO UK C'O.VI l.Nt'KU.) Mental Travel for Edueanda. We must never forget that eduea Hon Is a form of mental travel. Its aim might be described as that of sending the youth en voyage, Intelll gently. Ilenco tho Inndcquncy of re garding the local as the staying plate. rather than the starting point, of edu cation. We kuow the breadth of view ordinarily characteristic of tho "trav eled" man. We should seek In our schools and colleges to afford the edu eands (who are ns yet, and possibly likely long to remain, untrnveled) op portunities of trained soundness of Judgment and width of perspective, in Its measure of possibilities, like the traveler's. Tho fewer the opportuni ties of the pupils for personal physical observations of things ut a distance (whether In tlmo or space), the more earnestly should the school endeavor, by sound methods, to fill tip gaps if knowledge, and to round out tho lim ited scopo of the pupils' kuow ledge. llevlew. Familiar Incident "I understand the platform on which a candidate was speaking broke down under hlin." "Nothing unusual," com mented Senator Sorghum. "I line very seldom known a candidate who did not fall off his platform at one tluio or another." Sailor Superstitions. A seaman's superstition Is that a penknife stuk Into the mast of a sailing vessel Is supposed to bring wind. For tho same reason a tailor will whlstltf through his teeth. week In September Balboa week In this section, for from the discovery to the possession of the Pacific four days elapsed. Earthquake Belts. There ore two earthquake belts, which encircle tho world. One of them runs through the Mediterranean re gion and Asia Minor to the Himalayas nnd beyond, crossing tho Pacific to Central America and the Caribbean. The other encircles the Pacific ocean, running northward along tho Andes In South Amerlcn, following the west coast of North America, continuing on by way of the Aleutian chain to Knm chntkn, and pnssliig through the Japa nese Islands to the Philippines and New Zealand. The two belts cross each other In the Andes and In the western Pacific. Within them occur 04 per cent of all the earthquakes re corded on the terrestrial globe. Plaster for Mending. Adhesive plaster Is Just the thing for mending hot-water bugs, raincoats, gloves and rubber goods of all kinds! Exactly. I have found out wo enn hnve an open fire In our library." "That's a grute piece of news," POULTRY CACKLES 0 PREPARING MARKET POULTRY , Fowls Should Not Oe Given Any Hard Feed From Eighteen to Twenty, four Hours Before Killing. (I'rnri1 ty tho t'ultnl Hiatvs tcpart lUKitt ut Asrli lilluia I , Poultry should l kept without any hard feed from eighteen to twenty-four hours before killing, but n light uienl of soft feed cult be given up to twelve hours before killing. Water should be given them up to tl for killing, say v poultry siH-clnllMs of the Fulled States Department of Agriculture. When ready to kill, suspend the fowl by tho legs nnd, using a knife, cut the vein nt tho back of the throat through the mouth. As soon ns this vein Is cut run the olut of the knife through the roof of the mouth Into the brain mid give the knife a slight turn, which caunes the bird to lose nil sense of feel lag. In most markets dry-picked birds ore preferred. Iinme(iitely after killing. Capons Properly Dressed for Market while the birds nre still bleeding, I ho picker should remove the feather, be ing cnreful not to tear the skin. If the picker walls until the bird is partly cold, the feathers will Ih difficult to re move. As soon ns picked the fowls should be hung In a cool place until thoroughly colli. If the weather U warm nnd fowls nre to be packed In Ice where no cold storage Is nvullable, they should be placed In n tuitk of lew water until nil tho animal heat has left the body. When birds nre senhled before re moving the feathers they ore Immersed In hot water, which should be a little below the Ixdllng olnt, as mimui hs they are through bleeding. They should be Immersed three or four times and then picked clean. Be careful not to nvcrsculd, ns this will cause the outer surface of the skin to rub off. If fowls are to ho shipped dry, they should bo hung up until the skin becomes thor oughly, dry. If they nre to be parked In lee, they should be left In cold wa ter several hours or until they ure to be packed. TEACHING CHICKS TO ROOST Difficult to Keep Young Fowls Clean When Permitted to Remain on the Floor. It Is often advisable to teach tho Chicks to roost when 8 to 12 weeks of nge, say poultry siH-clallsts of the United States Department of Agricul ture. When they are allowed to remain on the floor, It Is difficult to keep them clean and to keep them from crowding. If wide roosts 'A to 4 Inches are used, there Is but little, If any, more danger of crooked breasts than If the chicks are allowed to remain on the floor. The chicks can generally be taught to roost by putting the perches near the floor, hut If this plan Is Inconven ient or does not prove effective the chicks may bo placed on tho perches nfter dark for a few nights until they have learned to go there of their own uccord. Where a large number of chicks nre brooded together n round n brooder stove It Is it good plan to place roosts In the house when the chicks ure four to five weeks old, so that the larger und stronger chicks will start using the roosts while tho weaker chicks still stay around the brooder hover. SOME FAILURES WITH DUCKS Weak Breeding Stock Is Generally Cause of Unthrifty Fowls Use Strong Birds, Failures with ducks nru generally duo to weak breeding stock. Strong, vigorous birds can be profitably bred even at four years of nge. In the early part of the season a f0 per cent hutch, should be considered a good one, but later on the percentage runs very hlirh.