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'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"