The Washington herald., 1906-12-23
[(~ OR the Lords sakei" calculated
Mrs. samuels. in her amaze
ment forgetting that the La
dies, Ali meeting esnecin1l,,

when held in the parlor Of the
parsonage. was hardly the proper place
for such expressions.
But, as all her felIow-workers were
hanging breathIessIy on the recital OF
Mrs. Gleason, wife of the local druggist,
her remark passed unnouced
Yes, he said, just that: If you can
get one that costs five dollars more, al
the better. There's nothing too good for
Mrs. Hiram Grey"
with the accent on the Hiram. !
suppose" suggested Miss Kent, the town
milliner. The druggists wife caught her
breath and resumed:
And then he bought every Christmas
tree ornament in our store and Bradley
stationery store. too. even to the wax
angel which my husband was quite sure
he would lose on, nothing so expensive
ever having been sold in Santa Anna be-
fore. And then two hours later Larry
Grey, he came in. and what he said when
be found al. the Christmas tree trimmings
was gone my husband said would curl
your hair. And be handed Mr.. Gleason q
tea-dolIar bill. and told him to telegraph
al order for a duplicate lot, and some
more. directly"
Ny, those trees will be worth seeing
It's shame the Grey families live TWEEN
L. miles from nowheres"
And to think of Lucy Grey having a
g)id-mounted toilet set, with French wo-
Hen painted on the back of the mirror
ard the brush, and only ten years ago the
TWO families of them coming here IN
prairie schooners. Well some folks do
have lgck!" sighed the little mHliner.
The minister's wife looked up from her
sewing.
Yes: but I think Lucy Grey would "a
tner have back her sisters companionship
and love than all the gold-mounted toilet
sets in Christendom. It is very sad, in
deed"
The soft, regretful tones quoted the
ciatter of gossiping tongues. The drug
sists wife coughed not exactly in apollo
gctc manner. but as if she had said per-
haps, tTife toe much. The little miili-
ner rose and fastened her scarf around
her throat She had work TO finish at
the shop. Some one remarked that the
doctor had told the blacksmith's wife that
Ter eldest child was threatened with ap-
pendicitis and perhaps a committee ought
20 be appointed to tender the sympathy
and assistance Of the Ladies Aid.
And so the conversation drifted in 9TH
or channels. but the Grey quarrel was by
no means forgotten. In fact. for nearly
a year the breach between the TWO bro
theirs had been the one. au-absorbing, new
cT-faiiing topic of gossip in Santa Anna.
and. in a way. Santa Ana had profitcd
by the quarrel For when Hiram Grey
bought his wife a new dress length at
the Fawcett store, Larry Grey bought his
wife a better one at the Hanson store
When Larry Grey paid 500 on the mort
gage hanging over tie church Hiram
promptly sent his Offering of $3.50. Not
that the Greys Of either family ever came
to town TO church. They had done SO be-
fore the quarrel. Even their women folk
had sometimes driven in for the meet
ings OF the Ladies Aid Now they stayed
away. Not that they were afraid Of
meeting, but because the presence of the
two factions might embarrass other
churchgOers and impede the efforts Of the
Ladies Aid. At least that was what Mrs.
Hiram Grey had said to the minister
when he had ridden the lonely fifteen
miles out the Saguache road to find out
why he had lost two good parishioners
Mrs, Larry Grey had simply worked her
fingers in and out of the lace which edged
her apron and wept quietly.
Away back in other years. and in old
Missouri. Hiram and Larry Grey had
married sisters, Ellen and Lucy Barton.
Together the four had made small farm
profitable Then, reducing all their be-
longings 10 cash, they had taken prairie
sch0Oners and entered this mOuntain-lock-
ed valley Of Southern Colorado, with its
marvellous undeveloped resources, its
great sheep ranges, and its land to be
had from the government for a song or
less. With their nest egg they had made
a fair start, and by intelligent, puTposeful
efforts were becoming prosperous, when
the serpent IN the form OF a corporation
lawyer entered their Eden.
Hiram Grey was in Pueblo at the time,
on his way to Kansas City with great
shipment of sheep and lambs Larry
wrote to him. setting forth the lawyers
plan, but the letter miscarTied, and so.
IN the subsequent silence Of Hiram, the
foundation of the domestic tragedy was
laid The lawyer had no time 10 waste
If the deal was 10 be closed at all il
must be done at once. Other men who
controlled watersheds would be glad TO
talk business.
Avarice. the glitter Of gold on the dis
tant horizon, daZzled Larry. He closed
the bargain. The lawyer went back to
Denver, and drew uD corporation pa
pers, by which a company was formed
which controlled the water supply of
thousands upon thousands of acres OF
ranch land, and Larry Grey was vice
president of the company. All the ranch
men 10 the south of the Larry Grey land
would have to pay so much a year for
water to run through their irrigation
bitches, water which heretofore had been
free. and Hiram Grey was among those
southern neighbors In fact, his ranch
lay next TO Larry's, and their comfort
able homes were just the width OF a quar-
ter section apart
Larry had really meant TO protect
Hiram's water rights IN the final deal He
had power to do so. but Hiram's hot
words when he returned from the trip
whose profits the brothers were TO share
reused a very devil in his sOul-and he
had shut OF the water supply within
twenty-fOUr hours
Then Hiram had built, at tremendous
expense. an artesian well, and the quar-
rel 20 all appearances was deeper than
this well, and as inexhaustible Con-
nection between the two comfortable
homes on opposite sides of the quarter
section ceased. Barring sensational eff
forts TO Guido each other in the eyes Of
acquaintance and tradesmen in Santa
Anna. fifteen miles away, the community
knew nothing. Only the sad faces of the
two sisters on their occasional trips TO
town, and the fact that two governesses
instead Of one taught the two fiocks Of
small Greys, bore eloquent testimony to
he fact that oil frroroor,s.-, 1,,+-----.-.