Medford mail tribune., March 15, 1936, Page 23, Image 23

RANCH MYSTERY
A Story For Children
: By Paula Norton
Beth it a girl from Illinois who
has come out west to regain her
health on her Uncle Walter's
cattle ranch. When the arrives
the finds unknown partiet have
been stealing her uncle's cattle
and doing various other deeds
tltat look as though they were in
tended to frighten her uncle from
his land. Bon and Tim, Beth's
cousins, teach her to ride, and
one day the finds a silver rowel
of a splendid pair of spurs. Later
tht learns that this rowel was
lost from the spur of Mort Rus
sell, a prosperous rancher whom
she has seen in the company of a
cityfied looking man at the rail
road station.
Chapter 9.
THE next morning at breakfast,
Uncle Walter told Tim he was
In need of a broken part on the
drill for the new well, and, glad
of an excuse to go to town, Tim
was off before the others had
finished eating.
Beth went out with Ron to fol-"
low the other men and Uncle
Walter. While they walked along,
they studied and argued and
figured. Should they drill here, in
the north end of the pasture or
down there where the dry creek
makes that turn around the
rocks!
By noon the men had carried
the tools up to the pasture near
the gate . , , the gate where Beth
had rushed to beat Ron and Tim
that day long ago when she had
taken her first riding lesson.
At the lunch table the men
were filled with talk of the new
well and their hopes that they
would find water.
Before lunch was over Tim
came riding into the yard.
Luckily, he'd been able to get the
tool-part at the general store. He
proudly untied it from his saddle.
"Say, dad," said Tim as he
heaped his plate with fried pota
toes, "I saw Mort Russell at the
store. He wanted to know what I
was buying a part for a drill
for."
"Good old Mort," smiled Unci
Walter. "Always Interested In
everything. Did you tell him,
son?"
"Sure," said Tim, through a
mouthful of potatoes. '1 told him
we're well drilling. He said.
That's pretty dry country, Tim,
for your dad to expect to get
-much In the way of water. I
wouldn't hope too much'."
"Now, he's a nice clfeerful
cuss," said Ron.
And Uncle Walter smiled that
slow, almost sad smile of the man
who has been disappointed so
often that bne more let-down can
hardly make much difference.
Meanwhile Beth sat listening in
amazement . , . knowing what
she knew ... or at least was
pretty sure of . . . that Mort Rus
sell was on of the' men . who
visited her uncle' ranch the
night of the last raid. Hadn't she
found the rowel off his spur?
Didn't he admit that he had lost
a rowel ? And didn't he deny hav
ing been on her uncle's ranch?
Why did Mort Russell . . . who
had land and cattle and every
thing else a man could wish . . .
want to run her uncle from his
land?
Then . . . Mort Russell rode
past the window and hitched his
black horse to a post near the
kitchen door.
Uncle Walter and the boys hur
ried out to greet him . . . Beth
hung back. She had no faith In
the man' friendliness.
Finally her curiosity got th
better of her and she wandered
out to the field where th men
were already setting up the tools
for the well-drilling. Mort Russell
was talking fast.
"1 tell you. Walter, you're
ciasy as a coyote to go waatm'
your tlm drilling for water on
this land. That one measly litt
well that' been supplying you Is
all ther is. And IT will soon be
dry."
"Well, Mort," said Uncle Wal
ter," you're mighty nice to be so
CLASSIFIED
MANUSCRIPTS WANTED
WANTED: OHIOINM. POEMS. IONOJ. MMM
hbUn Dn. AH. Srndx) BH. fwlkKl 0t
interested, but honest, now, I sure
aim to try for water."
"Well, this ain't never gonna be'
fit land for anything but dry
grazln'," . . . then he lowered bis
voice so Beth had to strain for
ward to hear., "I need a little
more grazln' land, Walter, I'll
buy this 40 from you."
"No ... no, thank you, Mort,"
Beth relaxed. "I need every little
speck of grazin' land I've got,
even If my cattle have been cut
down in number lately. I aim to
borrow and get a few more later
on. I need this land."
"Walter, I'll tell you what I'll
" do. Just because I know you've
had hard luck lately . . . and be
cause I want to help you ..."
He took Uncle Walter's arm and
led him away from the drillers.
Beth trembled for very anxiety.
"I'll buy the place from you,
Walter . . . turn the whole thing
into grazin' land. It ain't fit for
nothin' else. You can buy up that
Hennessy place up near town. It's
got a truck-garden and every
thing." Uncle Walter looked interested.
Beth walked up beside him in
time to hear Mort Russell say, "I'll
pay you Just what your pappy
paid for this place before you . . ."
"Uncle Walter, Uncle Walter,"
shouted Beth at the pause, "Aunt
Mary says for you to come to the
corral gate. Hurry I It's one of the
colts . . ." Before the man could
ask for 8" -
him across the field, through the
fence, and out of sight.
Then she took hold of her
Uncle's shoulders and looked
earnestly into his questioning
face. '
"Uncle Walter, please, please,"
she pleaded, "Don't sell the ranch
to Mort Russell. I can't prove
anything, yet, but I've got every
reason to bellev he's th person
who's been trying to discourage
you and run you off the land..
Please don't sell, not today, any
way." ,
"Why, honey, what makes you
think thing like that about Mort
Russell?" He looked surprised
and curious.
"Uncle, I HAVE got proof that
he has been on the ranch ... in
the very place where you're Tlrill
ing , . . and it was very recently."
"Honey, 1 that straight?"
"Yea."
"Then I'll go back and tell him
I have to think it over."
(Continued next week)
RESTORING A LION
ANYONE interested In lion
will like the effort of the
American Minister in Athens,
who la asking for subscriptions to
restore the ancient lion of Amphl
polls. The huge marble statue has
been lying, more or less in pieces,
on the River Strymon since the
fifth century B.C. The Greeks, led
by the pott Falamas, want the
lion repaired and set upon its
proper pedestal If American
will supply the money. Address
Mr. MacVcagh, Athens, Greece.
LAMPS FOR BUDDHA
A WEALTHY woman In Cey
lon la owner of 84,000 cocoa
nut oil lamps, which she donatea
to the old temple at Buddha
Gaya, near Calcutta. The woman
la following the early example of
royalty the pious King Asoka,
who ruled the Indian Empire
2000 years ago waa the first to
flood his temple with light. Wor
shipers apparently prayed in
darkness for the past 20 cen
turies, but now will enjoy their
rites under the weird light of
thousands of candles burning
day and night.
YOUNG EXPLORERS
AMERICAN school boys can
benefit by following the
example of England's Public
Schools' Exploring society, which
this summer will take 48 public
school boys to Newfoundland
Here the boys will go Into the
wild part of the country and live
clone to nature. The aim of the
training la to teach them to act
for themselves, and to build up a
group of pioneers for expedition
to Lapland. There are still
frontiers to penetrate.
A Story of
By ROBERT
CRAIG and Nino were insepa
rable pals. Craig waa the
English boy who lived on Wind
sor Road in Millvllle, and Nino
waa the little Italian boy who
lived around the corner. They
were going on a hike the next
day, and as they wanted to leave
early, Nino came to Craig's house
(they decided on Craig's because
he had two beds in his room),
and the two retired about 7
o'clock.
Both awoke around 6 o'clock,'
dressed hurriedly, and steathlly
crept downstairs and out the back
door without awakening anyone.
They hiked about four mile and
finally reached the old Hillcock
Woods where they were going to
stay all that night and hike home
next morning.
They began hunting for a place
to camp and finally found one
near an old oak. Unpacking their
sleeping bags and cooking uten
sils, they began clearing a place
for the bags to lay. They then
took out their rods and ran to the
creek for a morning of fishing.
In about ten minutes Craig
landed a nice, fat catfish and
yelled across the creek to Nino,
"I landed a whopper and that's
enough for my dinner tonight."
"Aw," replied Nino, "wait until
I catch mine. It will be twice as
big as yours."
NINO'S brag came true in
about half an hour. He
landed a catfish at least twice as
big as Craig's, and right away
he yelled, "Ha, ha, Craig, you
sure are a swell fish catcher, you
are. Oh yeah!"
"Aw," answered Craig, "I was
the first one to catch anything,
anyhow."
The boys had brought some
sandwiches with thenvtind were
eating them on the way to their
camp. When they arrived they
began to think of something to
do the rest of the afternoon. Sud
denly Nino said, "Let's go in
swimming!"
"Gee, that's an idea, but we
didn't bring our bathing suits,"
replied Craig.
"Aw, it's okay," answered Ni
no. "There isn't anybody around."
In an Instant they were both
running at top speed toward the
old swimming hole so Well known
by all the boys In Millvllle, and
In no time were swimming and
diving. Suddenly they heard voices
and th sound of footsteps com
ing up the path. Lo and behold,
around a corner walked Barbara
Norton and Bessie Dtckason, two
of the girl in Cralg'a and Nlno'a
class!
Instantly both boy flov under
water and began swimming
toward. the shore, thinking they
might hide in some weeds- and
stay there until the girls had
gone. However, Instead of the
girls walking right by, Barbara
said, "Let's ait down here and
rest and talk some more."
"All right, let's," answered Bes
sie. "It's so nice and shady here."
THE girls talked for about 20
minute. Finally Bessie said,
"Let' begin walking towards
home. We might be late for din
ner if we don't hurry. When the
boys heard this they wr re-
Eyes In The Night"
Two Boys Who
THOMPSON, 13, of Lo Angelef, California
lieved, and when the girl disap
peared both boys Jumped out of
the weeds and ran for all they
were worth toward their clothes.
When the boys arrived at their
camp they began to gather some
wood for a fire. They soon had
enough to lost them all night.
By the time they had finished
their dinner it was quite dark.
. After a while Nino said, "This
sure 1 a lot of fun."
"It aure Is," replied Craig.
. After about 20 minutes of talk
ing about how much fun they
could have on a longer hike', Craig
said, "Nino, don't you think we
had better turn in? I have to get
home early in the morning. My
Uncle Abner is coming to our
house and is going to take me to
the fair."
"It's all right with me," an
swered Nino, "I was getting a
little sleepy myself."
The two crawled into their
sleeping bags and were soon fast
asleep. They slept soundly until
suddenly Craig heard Nino let out
a yell. He opened his eyes to find
-HE Pilgrims that little band-
where they could practice their
chosen religion without someone
saying they couldn't made their
famous voyage to America at a
very bad time of the year. They
sailed in the month of September.
The Mayflower wasn't .a very
high-powered boat anyway; so It
took her two months to cross the
ocean.
They were headed for Virginia
to establish a new freedom of
worship, to work their way Into
th ever-growing tobacco indus
try. , The skipper of the Mayflower
managed to get about 900 miles
off his course, and finally landed
his travel-weary passengers in a
little snow-covered bay.
Indeed ...
"The breaking waves dashed high
On a ttern and rockbound eoast."
' Some of them rebelled and said
they'd not stay In the little camp
they called Plymouth. No, air;
they were for finding Virginia
and all that it promised in pio
neer comforts.
Well, It looked as though there
wasn't going to be much of a
Plymouth company, what with re
bellions and sickness and death.
Then up came the strong-willed
member of the party. Thee
forceful gentlemen held a meet
Close On The Scent
i
i m Jt f . i i . i m in . 1st i -. mr
C L
Were Pals
that he was looking Into the face
of some large animal. He, too, let
out a yell and at the same time
Jumped up and ran behind a tree.
Just then he heard Nino laugh
ing, and he stuck his head out
from behind the tree to see the
moon shining on the huge bulk of
an old cow.
Craig sauntered out and ex
claimed, "Boy, he sure gave me
a scare!"
NINO, somewhat subsided from
his laughing spell, replied, "I
was sleeping swell when suddenly
I felt something wet rubbing my
face. I let out a yell and opened
my eyes to see this big cow Jump
over towards you. I guess my
yell scared him and he Jumped."
"Yea, and imagine how I felt,
auddenly looking into the ugly
face of that old cow."
"Well, let'a chase it out of here
and get back to sleep," replied
Nino. "I'm sleepy."
"So am I," answered Craig,
"but it'a going to be hard to go
. to sleep after this harrowing ex
perience." 1 s
In about ten minutea they both
fell asleep. They awoke about 6:30
o'clock and both ran toward the
swimming iiole for a couple of
hours of good fun. After they had
finished their swim the two went
back to their camp and packed
their belongings and began the
hike home. On the way back they
talked about how they had never
had such an exciting night or
such a swell time as they had ex
perienced In the last 24 hours.
ing ana arew up an agreement,
which, strange as It seems, every
one signed.
Even the disappointed ones,
who were determined at any cost
to find Virginia, finally signed.
Thus they promised to do all that
was right and proper to keep the
Plymouth company together.
Oh, you want to know about
the Indians around these parts?
Well, fortunately for the Pilgrims,
the natives of this neighborhood
had nearly all died off with small
pox shortly before the arrival of
the Mayflower.
That was a pretty tough win
ter for the brave Pilgrims snow
and sleet and all that that means.
Thelr'a was no picnic party, and
only th strong rule of th determined-head
of th little colony
held them together; they let them
live and let them worship accord
ing to their own desires.
A brave band they ware, fight
ing the dread of winter, making
shelters, caring for the sick, at
tending their little wilderness
church, burying their dead kin in
the frozen soil of a strange land,
and helping to make a new coun
try a free country . . .
"Amidst the storm they sang,
And (ha start heard, and the tea;
And the sounding aisle of the
dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free!"
Over the Captain's Coffee Cup
Travel Tales From Eivrywhere
by Whil W.llmen
EVERY wanderer knows the
feeling . . . days grow gloomy,
nights are long. The zest of living
has departed. Climbing Jungle
slopes of South Sea islands, chat
ting over coffee In a waterfront
tavern ... or sitting before a log
fire with a book and knocking
aahea discontentedly from a pipe
... the best of skippers work
hard at times to keep an even
keel.
There's a story
About a Shah of Persia who
had the same trouble, being a
human sort of fellow. Like most
of us, he wanted to do something
about it He wanted action. So
he called his wise man and gave
the trembling sage a plain gold
ring. "By morning you will in
scribe on the inner band of this
ring a motto which will cheer me
In adversity, and make me hum
ble in prosperity."
"A hard task," the wise man
murmured. "If I fail "
"You lose your head."
Night brought the sage no
sleep. He thought long thoughts.
Then he leaped from his rug with
THSf
bfoQM ROBfcRT.
SITTING around the hangar
stove this wet morning and
sort of hoping that we don't have
to stir our stumps seems to
be a good time to dig up some
yams, not all of 'em old.
Seems that every time anybody
starts talking stories, they al
ways go back to the "good old
days." Shucks, these days, a few
' years from now, will be the "good
old days," and here we are think
ing that there's no fun left.
Well, let'a see. How about some
yarns from the barnstorming
days.
Barnstorming, was good train
ing, if you lasted. Take a look at
this series of "minor" incidents
in the life of a certain captain
we know:
He learned to fly before the
war and was barnstorming when
Uncle Sam let out a call for
flyers. Joined up and had to go
to school to learn to fly! After
th war, married, he started barn
storming again. Thia time in the
usual Jenny. His wife tipped ua
off that they had so many forced
landing in soft, muddy pasture,
he got mora used to dropping
head first out of the nosed-over
ahlp than ah did getting out the
regular way!
Hopping passenger at IS per
(and never stopping the motor) he
waa going strong, one day, when
rain started. After about two
hour, with a couple of cash cus
tomer in front, he gunned bis
Jenny and took off, Fifty feet up,
and the fabric, well soaked,
started to peel off the top wing.
Did he land In a hurry? Sat right
down In th biggest mud puddle
he could find I
This same fellow had a Job to
do some stunt flying over the In
dianapolis race one Memorial
Day. HI wlf was to go along in
the old DH. Tied up In traffic,
she was luckily too late. A couple
of thousand feet over the epeed
way, the DH caught Are aa they
were wont to do and friend hus
band had to slip all the way in.
Everything would have been rosy,
but the tall surfaces wera half
burned off and he didn't notice It
In time. Result: one. sound (mack,
but no great Injuries. I
Another hunch for collector:
poster from the world's airway.
Early posters of the first estab
lished airlines someday will be
worth plenty.
Aa a matter of fact, we'll bet
you don't know when or where or
what the first line waa. Well, not
to get too ituck up about our
facta, we'll let you in; in 1910,
the German Airship Transporta
tion Company ("Delag") Inaug
urated the world's first line when
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin
piloted the "Deutschland" from
Frledrlchshafcn to Dusseldorf by
way of Stuttgart, Mannheim and
Cologne. By 1014, th "Delag'
had carried 87,250 passenger on
1600 flights (8200 hours In th
air and 00,000 mile).
STEAMSHIPS
THE first ateamshlp to cross th
Atlantis Ocean was th SA
VANNAH. II weight waa 350
tons. It waa built In New York
and crossed from Savannah,
Georgia, to Liverpool In 26 days.
This waa in June of 1810.
The S. 8. PACIFIC crossed the
Atlantic In 8 daya, 19 hours, 28
minutes, Thla waa In May, 1881.
The United State warship
LEXINGTON steamed from Ban
Pedro, California, lo Honolulu, In
72 hour, 86 minute. Th trip
was mad In June, 1928.
WINTER HIDING
THE bear I not th only ani
mal to hlbtmat in th win.
lor. Th dormouse, th bat, and
the badger sleep away the winter,
too. Or moat of It, anyway.
I- .
a shout. On the ring he engraved
these words: "This too shall
pass."
YET A FEW THINGS
do not pass away. Ballnese beauty
continues to blossom under Dutch
rule. A friend with the wander
lust is returning reluctantly to his
desk in Vancouver. He found that
Bali I the one enchanted Island
which changes not at all. The
strange thing was that although
he saw the most beautiful native
women In the world, the Ballnese
have no word for love. The girls
marry early, and apparently
that's an end to love making.
Seventy-five per cent of the pop
ulation Is feminine. The women
are the business men with an
equal choice In selecting mates.
They are as strong aa men, with
generations of living out of doors
. . . working in fields, carrying
burdens on their heads. As to
dress a girl binds her hips in a
length of colorful batik, or kain.
It drapes about her, long ends
falling to the anklea. Above the
waist nothing, save an embroi
dered Jacket on festive occasions.
"Why not?" asks our friend. "A
modest woman has nothing to
hide."
At dusk he visited the Bat's
Cave near Karang Asem . . . the
hour when bats fling a black cloud
of wings Into the sunset. Bud-.
denly, thousands of wings whirred
over him. Bats flew out in droves,
wheeling upward In dark circles
. . . making little queer cries.
THE SMALLEST
newspaper In the world Is The
, Dally Pilot, published on Thurs
day Island. It's the size of a letter"
head, runs about 133 lines of
small print, one or two small ads
of shops. It costs sixpence.
It's at Thursday and nearby Is
lands that great sea turtles come
ashore to lay their eggs in tho
' sand, and swim back with the
high tide.
ONLY PAPUA CAN BOAST
these incredible laics. A letter
brings news of the RobscI Island
ers, mild-mannered little men who
live without weapons. Smiling
happy, they are the most detof
mined murderers alive. Their an
cient method is tho same Witt,
man or beast the art of moth
erlng.
A chief dies. A meeting Is held
to decide which youth shall ac
company him. Village braves wan
der about discussing the question.
Suddenly they agree. On of their
friend will satisfy th gods, and
th cook. Th victim 1 not seized
at ones. He gets a nice head start
into th Jungle, Later he I fol
lowed, captured, tjut xprtly
smothered. Later eaten by epi
cures. Th Island I amazingly beautU
ful. A gem let down in th tropi
cal seas. Whit cockatoo flit
against th green forest. Natives
keep clean huts, neat garden of
flower, and support sleek pet
, cat which thy nver cat. They
point with pride to tl.e deeds of
their ancestor who captured 326
shipwrecked Chine, aet them
ashore on a barren Island, and
fed them like so much livestock.
Feast days came regularly, and
on by one the Oriental con
tributed to tho cook pot All but
on old Chinese, who escaped to
' tell th tale.
A MASTER OF SAILING
hip send a tru yarn from
Yakima, Wash, T. Tanaley (we
gueaa his first nam 1 Tom) has
seen things. He' traded for copra
In th South Pacific, tailed to the
Bering Sea for salmon and cod.
In th last year of th war he
waa first mate of th Alaska
Packer' schooner Metha Nelson
... In the latitude of th dol
drums, "sometimes laiy, aome
tlmea ferocious."
The wind blew strong. He
alghted a deserted ahlp wallowing
in the heavy sea, the Ouadro
Hermanot. Tanaley got th "bet
boat ready for boarding, but the
weather waa getting worae, and
Captain Charlea Welaa and I held
a confab." They feared that fever
had stricken the Hermanot. Tan
aley Insisted on boarding, but the
tropical storm decided differently.
They drifted away.
Tanslcy'a ship went Into dry
dock at Eagle Harbor, and be
met a chief engineer who placed
out the tragedy. The engineer
said: "I was with the S. 8. Cath
erine a little south of the equa
Ur. A lifeboat waa sighted. We
altered our course and found a
woman and four men delirious,
their tongue cracked open from
thirst, W took them aboard and
gradually restored them . , , the
only survivors of th Cuadro
Hermanot. Th Chilean captain
had died; hi crew deserted, row
ing for land. Their laat beaker of
water waa exhausted. Delirious
suit water looked as good as any
other. Finally, In their Insanity
they Jumped overboard."
BRIEF EXPERIENCES '
of adventure In foreign port and
trang comer of th world will
be used In thla column ... If
thsy'r abort. Not over on typed
page. Credit I given, of course,
to th cont Ibutor.
PAGE 8EVEN