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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1914)
k.l 'HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SUCTION The Reign of the Automobile 1 By Myra Nye, ELIZABETH GLENKKN glaneod down hor pergola's sun-splashed t porspeetlvo with longing eyes. It Sras not so much Its shade she desired, though the September sun pushed tho mercury no truo Callfornlnn would caro to say how high; but (t was with longing for the work that tho sbado entailed. Iter flower-lover's fingers fairly trembled In their eagerness to bo removing dead leaves and staking pending stalks; but heat or not heat, tho figs must bo preserved or tho silly linnets would get every one. Sho turned resolutely from tho artis tic, home-ruado pergola, wont down tho path, paused at the corral feneo to give 'jerry a friondly pat. Oneo through Iho gato sho pushed Jane's Intrusive fa oso from her shoulder so that sho (night got the ladder lying against tho barn. 8ho had not qulto mounted to Jho top when a bell ringing made her pause. Beth, lingering behind to hunt f basket for tho figs, called insistently! I "Telephone, mother, telephone!" "Ob, dear I" It was a disgusted ex clamation that fell from her lips as Hzaboth set tho basket down on the top step of the ladder among tho bees End fragrant Smyrnas. Bhe gathered icr skirt In one hand, descended and Reached the telephone with character- rltle and capablo haste. 'Hellol" '0h, it's you, George." "What what did you sayf" It was 0Ln italicized exclamation moro than a taueatloB. "Oh, George, Un't that finer' ' "Do I liko itf I should say so. It Is simply great I What good times we will have. Cone here as quick as you an. I must teU Beth." Click went back tho receiver, and Elizabeth turned to her littlo daughter, her blue eyes black with excitement and oagernees. "What do yon think, girlie, father lias a new guess what." "Oh, mother, I can't guess; tell me." "No, you must guess. What would you rather havo than anything clsot" ' "A littlo baby slstor. Goodie! WU1 Iio bring it homo right nowf" Tho quick chango in hor mother's expression made her eagerness lesson a flcgree. "Isn't it a really, truly baby; Cr U it just a doll!" "Neither, Beth. What made you guess thatf" "Well, you said that father was go ifiS to make a deal with Or. Strong to '4ay, so I thought of eourso It would jio a baby." Beth's crestfallen fseo escaped a pout only becauso tho cor ners of her mouth wcro not mado to Jurn down. Elizabeth herself felt a slight abate tnent in her enthusiasm. "It is an auto iaoblle," sho said. Beth looked at her mother with big Earnest brown eyes widening Into a Questioning gazo which her mother eould not interpret as gladness. "Why, don't you like it, Both! 'Aren't you gladf It is a gTcat big tour ing car." "Yea I I'm glad, but mother, will Jso have to sell Jane and Jerry t" "Yes, I supposo we will, but just think of tho fun we will havo. Wo can Jjo cvorywboro wo want to, we can take all tho girls for a ride, we can go to )Jo beach and back in one day." "Ob, mother!" Beth gave a little jump. At last she was won to unre served gladness. They talked it over at length with increasing interest till the sound of a fabric horn mado them pause. With lips rounded for ready exclamation they gazed for an instant through the open floor in silence. "There's our automobile!" Beth's Sentence was pregnant with ownership. Her slender form slipped through the ecreon door boforo Elisabeth could reach It. Her good fellowship with her child made her hurry to catch up with Beth to be on tho jjround whon the great naw possession should appear. Under tho big popper tree, with its festooning branches brushing '.ho seats and its red berrlos already littering tho tonneau, tho shining, resplendent car tood incongruous between tho modest four-roomed bungalow und tho still SLorg jnodest, almost shabby, burn. Jerry stood nt tho corral gato with ears pricked forward, and Jane, with femin ine inqulsltlvoncas, thrust hor nose through tho bars. They regarded tho Intruder and usurper with. 'an Mr of reserve. When throbs nnd sputters and Jerk- ing sounds subdued sufficiently, George managinl to say flurrlcdlyt "Klttabcth, let mo present Mr. Mas ters." "Pleased to meet you, Mr, Muter." Kllzabeth's provincial reply had nt least feminine eomposuro under cxclttng circumstances. Neithor sho nor Beth was going to bo Indecently jubilant be fore a strangor when It was a matter of trado. They had been In California real estato business too long for that. Not that they wero going to lead this fashionable easterner to supposo this was tho first ear that ever came Into their yard. Kvcn Beth could have told him that Los Itoblcs had moro auto mobiles for its slro than any town In the state. This was ono of her father's stock pieces of Information in selling real estate, rad he was a truthful man notwithstanding his calling and the place of his calling. Beth Glennen could sing Los Ilobles' praise In tune with her father. Lator, when the two men turned to ward the carral gate and George low ered the bars, mother and daughter with one accord walked slowly to tho house, not onee glancing at Jffco new possession that monopolized the drive way. "I juit can't bear to see dear old Jane and Jerry ge, mother!" "Neither can I, dear." In the In stant Klltabeth regretted her sympa thy; for sensitive little Beth broke away nnd ran sobbing into tho house. When Mr. Masters drovo out of the yard, a sound suspiciously liko a sob came from tho screen porch. Elizabeth turned to her husband. "Beth is broken-hearted, George. What shall wo dof" "I'oor littlo girl, sho did lovo Jano nnd Jerry so." "80 do I." "Yes, and so do I." George smiled ruofully, then lio called out to new: "Como her, littlo girl, and I'll tell you how it happened." With George 's arms around both "his girls" thoy walked through tho cooler pergola, ho talked to thoin, un til Elizabeth said: "Tho best medicine for the dumps Is n ride. Let tho figs go to the bees, let my Ironing go. It's too hot to Iron, anyway. My sprengeri is all potbonnd. Never mind, let It go. Wo can afford to let anything go. Wo are rich. We own an automobile." George had already roastored the steering wheel, the gear-shifting levers and tbo brakes. The tbreo ventured lor their first rldo. It was a joy! This devouring of spaee made them greedy for moro. 80 each night for a week found them on the road. No lamplight shone through the windows of tbo little country bungalow to cheer the old peo ple in the big house on the hllL Often the whole day was spent in riding. One day George came home in the mlddlo of the forenoon, an unusual thing with him. He was white and his hands were trembling. Elizabeth hur ried to him. "What Is itf What U the matter! Aro you sick, dear!" "No, no, I'm all right; but Eliza both I met Mr. Masters with Jano and Jerry the V rakes wouldn't work and" "You didn't hurt Jane and Jerry! Oh George, you couldn't" "No, but I just missed them. Think what might havo happened!" "I can't bear to think of it, Ooorgo, and the worst of it Is, it may happen any tlmo." "No, not me, never again. Besides, Mr. Mastors told mo that they begin cultivating tomorrow In donr earnest. "That Isn't uny consolation. Thoy wero never meant to cultivate." Each mornin; in her wblto night gown Elizabeth stood in tho slooplng porch und worked nn improvlsod pulloy which agitated and flapped numorous twists of newspaper among tbo second - !. Ul.l.l... 1-..1 ...II 11.1- crop VI JKS- ran 11111145 .aiu ' were twirled la tho sunlight to frighten away the thieving linnets. It was by mifh vigilance that Kllraboth had, each year, a crop that was tho wonder of hor neighbors. But this year the days followed ono another with none of tho white figs preserved In ginger, or tho purplo ones with lemon. The nprieots had yellowed tho ground, tho peaches fell bruised whllo tho fruit shelves went empty. xnis was mo reign 01 ine auiomouuo. Tho sprongerol censed to send out Its quick-growing fronds. Th begonia leaves curled and lost their luster; the pergola changed from a cool retreat to a common, home-mndo clutter; U10 wal nuts lay uMn tho ground ungathcrcd, tthllo tho iimsrat irrane refused to bo- eoino raisins, but mildewed on the rouf for tbo lack of Klixaucth's care. Yet there wero rldesl They sped through the wblto moonlight; over the prone, purplo shadows of the oucalyp tus bordered roads. They whirled past acres and ncres of oranges where fitful far breezes came winnowing through tho smells of the many fragrant groves. They rode to the very bsse of the mar velous Sierra Madres till the time whon tho snow fell on the mountains. Then the amethystine glow of the peaks grew white they were alabaster steps lead trie through the azure to the throne of the Most Ulgh. No matter what the Joy npon the road, tho home coming was never quite tti nmn nn It had ben In the fuiritive spring days which they remembered with Jane and Jerry. "How can wa helo mlaalnff them! We loved them so," Kllzaboth said. "Why, we began loving them as soon as we were married when we took oar wedding trip after them down to Ban Diego. The first time Beth ever left the house when she was a baby was to ride after them. They wero always the best sort of company. "All summer when I have frightened away the birds, the first friends I saw in the morning were Jane and Jerry. Kvery morning till they went away they would stick their dear old noes through tho bars and show me that they were as glad to see me as I was to see them. Jane would nicKcr up 10 me on tho sleeping-porch and say Good morning' as plain as could be. Hut now that dead, ugly auto stands there nnd does nothing, just like an old dummy. Kvcn when wo ride In It, it la nnt aa eoxv ns nur little road wagon metl to be with Jane and Jerry In front of us three. Doth and I bump around on that big back seat like two popcorns In a popper. Jano and Jerry are alive, alive! An auto Is nothing but dead." Kllzabeth ended passionately, and a purposo crystallred In George's mind. A short twilight was already shading its gray Into the black dark of early winter. Tho fog was drifting In, ban daging the trees like cotton gauze. The imnna nf thit nntoinohilo must bo light ed beforo Glennen started. Like a groat black beetle, the machine a; lirsi crawled from undor tho pepper troo, ttinn took wlnns and flew down tho avonue of Innumerable peppers. Kllzabeth wateued lis mgni mrouRn the marshalled trees. Offbloons of Volonelas wafted their fragrance through tho home door; yet a home sickness that Is part of the dying sea--.. ,..,. r it la. overcame her. The scent reminded her of a spring ride with Jane nnd Jerry to we ruen Hills, where the maidenhair ferns wero HVn oarrwal to tread UPOtt in the small canyon. Thore the yellow violets, shooting stars and lupine siuuooa . slopes as thickly as stars In the Milky Wnv Hneh a wealth of beauty to bring home for their garden and fernery. "We can never go so rar up m.o tv.. MIL with a new aute: for WO might get it scratched," she said to Beth, who was Just coming in irom piay. "No," was the mournful reply, "and next spring we can't go up the hill roads whero the mustard blooms, nor In the washes where thero are millions and millions of flowers. Well just havo to forget what they look like, I guess." "Oh, It isn't so baa as mat, ana spring hasn't come yet. Wo do go lota of places, dear, and farthor than over boforo. But wo sure!) are singing a different tuno than we did whon we first got the auto, aren't wot" "Va. but nutos aro not such fun. after all, when you think of Jane and f..i if Hnnn aunnnr was readv. Tho home- cured olives gloamed green against the scarlet plailcutw, tho savory, smell of bacon and. frljolee reached out ta George Glennen returning. The smell added zest to the satisfaction of his planned surprise. The gleam paths of light hold the moving shadows nf the two whom he loved, to whom he brought joy. Kllzaboth stopped suddenly aa she re turned from her last trip to the cup board. "Listen! Someono Is coming WITH H0K.SK8I" "Jnno and Jerryl" Kllzabeth put down the eake plate and followed lloth's dash through the door. "t'atherl Fatherl" Heth's vole pierced the night with Its clear, glad treble, and Klitabsth's alto was Just at eager. "George!" "Yes, yos," came tho answer, "Here we are; hurry upl" It was superfluous Instruction. With unerring footstep In the dark they reached the open space by the corral. Kllzabeth's arms went around Jerry's neck, while Both shouted) "Lift me up, lift mo up on Jane's back, so I can hug her good! Jane, dear Janel Oh, Janey dear, have yoa come baek to stay!" "They are our. I bought these baek.' In the lantern light the hus band and father watched three twe eager children with amusod fondness. "How good It Is to have thorn here! But did you hare U lose in the trade, Oeorget" "No, no loss. Anything Is valuable according to how ranch you want It. I paid a little sum for experlenee, but that always comes high, you know. Anyway, I wouldn't take two autoa for just one of Jane, let alone Jerry," "Neithor would II" chorused Elizabeth. If asparagus has turned yellow It ought to be cut out and burned. It will kill spore of rust, which ebouU bo disposed of before they are rip) enough to be scattered by the wind. TEN ROSES FREE WrlU (or Information Today. BEST TIME TO PLANT NOW. HallifMllon Ouaranlrod. Mountain View Floral Co. Cast 7n4 Mill 8U.. rorUana. Ortfen. r 7a WHITE (IIIOKT LOn t STOUICB AND . I'JIOTO VLAVn AAork "( man,r n ,u . " w " D.m.nd rralr than With Tonr r-.ljr. 'riH-uaands of nxaisXJi tU)tiu ,a pi.,, Toor Brain Mwj ,.r7 nwnia. Wa Uach yoa U writ anil whtr to II your stories. Kndoriavi by llotaa fnJuilry I,raa. Cturlortd IPOS. llooaWl dtacribloc tLU and CO albar (radical and roanajr-ruaVlns court. nt YUr.r.. Writ Mar, Pt- Modtrn School of Coma-port Umlanrood lllds, Han Kraaciac. PLYMOUTH MANILA ROPE Coats 5 More Than Other ltopott, but It Give Yon 25 LONOKE LITE AND gTUNOTH. Don't yoa call thia oconomyt If you want to prove thia, let us send you a small piece to teat out for yourself. la full coils our price la 15 centi per pound base. Short lengths ,1 cent additional Two hundred thousand pounds in stock. Wo also havo tho largest Btock of Blocks and Sheaves on tho Pacific Coast. Catalogue sent upon rc coipt of 10 cents to cover pontage. The Beebe Company Dopt. 0. 18241 Morrison Street Portland, Ore. &vitsuar.if'M ataWKmiMtumnww"