Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1927)
HEPPNER GAZETTE TIMES, HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, AUG. 4, 1927. PAGE THREE mm. swamp The Leading Characters. SCOOTS LIBBEY, a worthless char acter, who has smashed his machine into another car, killing its lone occu pant, a woman. Forbes' companion and Libbey quit the scene hurriedly, leaving the former alone to face a constable who reasons that Eddie, with the scent of whiskey about him, must be connected in some way with the accident. Accordingly Forbes is arrested. EDISON FORBES, a young resident of Scottdule with an inherent crav ing for liquor, is held for the death of a woman who has been killed by a bootlegging truck. Circumstantial evidence points to Forbes and rather than tell the truth of the episode, which would clear him but cast an other friend in a bad light, he stands trial and is sentenced to a long term in prison. The governor of the state, an old friend of Eddie's father, be lieves him innocent and pardons him shortly after his arrival at the jail. Back in Scottdale he and PATSY JANE, Eddie's pretty wife, agree that public sentiment runs too high against him. Accordingly they migrate up north to some land that has been in the family for years. Set tled in their log cabin ISAIAH SEALMAN, a neighbor, pays the Forbes a visit and intimates that there are some back taxes for the young couple to pay. Sealman offers to give Eddie a job after he goes down to Long Portage, a nearby town, and learns about the taxes. CHAPTER VII Had News Eddie looked after him with wrink led brows when Sealman struck off to the northwest. "Wondre what he means about taxes, Pat?" he niuid. "They can't be so much, can they? "Much obliged, kid," he said gruffly. "Have a litle drink on us. And says ust forget you saw us. Hey?" ft'ho'd have the nerve to tax this stuff?" He pointed out to the rolling acres that flowed ud to their door from nearly every direction. It was innocent of vegetation except sparse, laggard sweotfern and bracken, just peeping through the thin, old stalks, Btunted, scattered jack pine; and the occasional jagged shell of a lone pine of some size, blackened by repeated fires. "I don't know, Eddie. Let's diive downtown tomorrow and find out." They slept soundly that nig'.if. The bedroom contained an iron bedstcan, Btout and serviceable. Equipped with their camping bedroll, it scrvad ad mirably. After breakfast they went out for a survey of the quarter-section. It was an oblong, the longer dimen sions from north to south. It had once been fenced. But many of he posts were missing now, and the barb ed wire, rusty and snarled lay on the ground or trailed forlornly. The land sloped from the north ar.d west. It was bisected by a brisk stream, Portage Creek, which purled over stones, a novelty in the jackpmc coun try, where there is very little rock foundation. Willows grew thickily along the stream and there was an occosional strong young hardwood. The banks of tho stream wera very steep and precipitous, capable of holding no more water than flowed between them, even in freshet time. Not far from the southwest corner of the property was a curious mound. It rose abruptly from the plain to a height of perhaps eighty feet. It was as large as a city block at the top, a rough oval in shape. The side nnd top were clothed in a mat of thick, luxuriant old grass through which the now spears were shooting. It was interspersed with stout trees and bushes. "That's a queer thing," commented Eddie, when they had stopped to survey it. "Won der what it is Indian burying- ground? Thcro were lots of redskins around hero in tho old days." "Would tho Indians heap enrth up in hiirh?" aucricd Tnlsy Jane. "It might bo n relic of the Mound Build crs." They followed a path which was fed bv many branches, and which comnletclv surrounded the mound. On tho south side of the groat heap of earth was a bare space, like scar. Tho exposed enrth was vari colored. There wore streaks of yellowish-brown, of chalky white, and dark purple. Theso wero nccompnn led and bisected by thinner, semi transparent veins of a quartz-like subsfanco thnt sparkled dully In tho ijunlight. He stepped closer nnd snif fed. "Smell anything, Pat?" J. Her little nose wrinkled perplex edly. "Yes; that earth Bmells smells sour." "That's it," he nodded. "Sour mukes you think of the way salt should smell." There was a trail following the eas iest grade which surmounted the knoll. "Bet it was made by deer," said Eddie. "Gee, you get a fine view up herel" Bare spots were visible on the top of the knoll. The sod had been scrap ed away, and the subsurface was crystaline and white as Bnow. He broke off some of the crystals with his heel and tasted cautiously. It was salt. "Sure," he said, "this is a deerlick. The deer love salt, just like cattle. They'll travel miles to get it. Ought to be some hunting here in the L-eason, though of course it's pretty close to the house." They looked for miles over undulat ing stretches of wilderness. It was as though they were standing in the bottom of a great cup, for on every horizon, soft hills rose, green when not too far away, purple with added distance. The stream with its thicker vegetation, was a slender green slash which ran into the picture from the far north and disappeared in the south. Patsy Jane sighed with satisfac tion. "It's wonderful up here, Eddie," she breathed. "So still, so peaceful, to unspoiled. Let's stay forever!" Ho put an arm about her. "All right," he agreed. "Only we can't live on green grass and scenery. I'll have to find something to do, you know, to help out the trout we catch." "Oh. you will," returned his wife, optimistically. "Why, Mr. Sealman has offered you a job already." "Uh-huh," he grunted. "And I may take it. Though I'm not crazy about Sealman. He's sort of well what you might call slick, Pat." ' They resumed their inspection. They found that the road from Long Portage flanked the south line of Sealman's place, cut through their own property near the centre, and crossed the creek not far from their front door. The high banks were notched at this point so the road might descend to water level. There was no bridge. "Must be other set tlers beyond," surmised Eddie. "Lake Huron isn't a great many miles over there to the east." Another road came down from the north close to the water's edge, join ing the main east and west highway at the crossing of the stream. "Looks as though there were some travel on that, too," he continued. "We seem to have a corner on the main trails. This one must go north till it hits the lake. Remember on the map how Huron cuts in sharply just above us?" The drive to the village was swift and pleasant. There were few grades. The sands which later in the summer would be powdery and hard to nego tiate, was firm and damply brown. It made an ideal roadbed. The flivver skimmed about the myriad curves at smart pace. Portage county has recently invest ed in a combined courthouse, jail and office-building. It was an ambitious two-story "cuilding of red brick. The population was sparse, and one office housed three departments Cicik, treasurer and register of deeds. Peter Wimple held all titles and transacted all the business. He was a fat man who, in anticipation of summer, had already donned a black alpaca coat. "The Forbes quarter-section?" he echoed to Eddie's question. "Oh, yes; that's over east hero, near Sealman's. Ho waddled to a large, canvas-jacketed book and made some figures, which he checked in a slimmer volume of red leather. "You're property's had a couple tax plasters put on it," he announced. "Coritfictttes are held by Murcuj Bow er, of Chicago. Year of grace pretty near up. Want to pay now?" - "No," Rnswered Eddie apologetic ally. "How much time have I?" "Oh, about five months until the first of September. Then if you don't pay up he takes title." "How much do I owe, altogether?" The fat man figured. "Eight hun dred and ninety-seven dollars and ninety-three cents. That's everything that's overdue, and the penalties he can collect. They're heavy." There was a moment of stunned si lence. "This Mr. Bower," ventured Eddie. "Who is ho and what's his idea of bidding it in?" "Well, he's a rich man. I think he wants to get a big block of stuff bnck there as a reserve for fish and game. I'm his agent for this county. You can poy mo the bock taxes when you got the money." . Phillips Illuftration by Henry Jay Lee Copyright Mickl V. PhilUp (Uleued thru PuWihr, Autocutr 5i-vlc CHAPTER VIII The Old Curse A soberness which was almost gloom encompassed the littfe car as they drove homeward. They had gone several miles before Eddie broke the silence: "Eight hundred dollars, Pat. That's a lot of money." "I know it," agreed Patsy Jane, gravely. "We've got about sixty," he went on, with a rueful smile. This car is worth mighty little. All of our be longings wouldn't bring much." "The land itself, Eddie. Couldn't we sell part of it and pay off the taxes?" He shook his head. "It's a dozen miles from town and the railroad, if it were worth much for farming pur poses, which it isn't. There are some jackpines which would produce rail road ties and fenceposts, only they'd bankrupt you, getting them to mar ket. Some city sportsman might like it well enough to buy it as a summer home, or for the deer season. But he wouldn't give you a great deal for the whole thing, the house included." "Oh, dear!" mourned Patsy Jane. "I don't want to sell the whole thing. I want it, I want it! I'm just crazy to live here!" "So am I, Pat. Well, maybe we can make the riffle. I'll get a job and we'll pinch and squeeze. That won't be very pleasant." "I don't care," returned Pat, stur dily. "This place is worth sacrificing for." A fine insistent rain was falling next morning when they awoke and there was a chill in the air which seemed to penetrate the marrow. The jackpine wilderness looked paritcu larly desolate and forbidding, as though it were sufficient unto itself in its inhospitality, and resented the hu man beings who attempted to live within it. Eddie had dragged several black ened logs into the woodshed the pre vious day, and after breakfast he at tacked them with axe and bucksaw, until the pile of billets of stove-length grew to respectable proportions. Patsy Jane sang lightheartedly within the house as she arranged and rearranged the scant furniture, and swept and scrubbed. But a reaction had set in with her husband. He felt depressed and shivery. He was home sick for Scottdale, Scottdale the un generous, the narrow and unkind, which had convicted him even before the jury had. From a distance of some hundreds of miles the little town had taken on endearing and desirable qualities. He wanted to go back where he could see familiar faces, even though they were turned from him, cold with disapproval. He worked doggedly away, hoping that the mood would pass, while the rain drummed monotonously away on the leaky roof of the log woodshed. It was approaching noon when he heard the exhaust of a heavily-laden vehicle on the north and south road; and later, voices. When the voices persisted he went out to investigate. A big truck from the north had attempted to make the turn out of the sunken road into the Long Prairie highway. But there was muck instead of sand for a foot ing near the creek and muck squashed treacherously under moisture. One of the rear wheels iiad sunk to the hub. The two burly, hard faced men in short, waterproof coats; the tarpaul ined truck, the bulge at the hip of each of the truck attendants all these were easily-read signs. This was a booze-truck. Apparently the main line of entrance from Canada ran past his very door. "Want some help?" he asked, with a smile. They looked up suspiciously, but his friendliness disarmed them, and they accepted briefly his proffer. He welcomed the break in the day's monotony. They cut a stout sapling for a lever; rolled a fire-blackened stub benenth the sunken hub for a fulcrum; and paved the truck's path way to firm ground with bits of wood. Within a few minutes the truck, bark ing with deep exhausts, rolled out of the bog. Once on a safe footing the driver brought the vehicle to a halt. The guard, who had been working with Eddie, went forward. After a little low-toned conversation with his com panion, he thrust his hnnd under the sent and brought forth a bottle of liquor. "Much obliged, kid," he said gruff ly. "Have a little drink on us. And say: Just forget you saw us. Hey?" Eddie stood looking at the bottle in his hand. His first impulse was to smash it on a nearby rock. He raised his arm, in fact, to do so. Then he temporized. Of course, he wasn't ro ing to drink any of it. Though a nip on a bleak and dreary day like this would help. But he'd hide it. Maybe someone else would need u drink pretty badly, sometime. His thoughts wero not very clear, except thnt he would keep the liquor for tho present. Ho went upstream a short distance, looking for a niche in which to hide it. He found a nar row opening under a rock which jut ted out from the bank of the stieam. Ho thrust In his arm; the hole went back for a considerable distance. lie pushca the bottle into it as far ns he could reach, and went home to dinner The devil of restlessness and home sickness was not exorcised by tho tempting meal which Patsy Jane had prepared. The warm kitchon firo and the crackling pine knots and splin- tors in tno nroplnco could not banish the clammy dew which the rain di jm ming on the windowpune seemed to distil In his heart. "Guess I'll run over and see Seal- man, he said, when the dishes had been washed and put away. "Want to go along, Pat?" She looked out at the pelting rain and shook her head. "I'll put in a riotous afternoon with those maga zines we bought yesterday," she told him. Waterproofed and booted he step- ed out the back door and cut through the fields toward Sealman's. It was not unpleasant. The sand was drink ing up the rain aa it fell. The brown surface was firm and springy. Exer cise fought off the chill. Sealman's double log house was pre tentious. His barn, nearly as large, sheltered considerable stock. There were implements under a long shed, open along the front, which adjoined the barn. 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