The Newark journal. (Newark, Ark.) 1901-1959, 1908-06-12


road tand the railroad station when
1t camel lay the fairest meadowland
farmers eye had ever rested upon
q am speaking again for the father
of Seffy and with his hyperbole)
Save in one particular it was like an
enemy's beautiful territory lying be-
tween ones less beautiful own and the
open Bookkeeping one a poor inlander
who is mad for the seas-whose crops
must either pass across the land of his
adversary and pay tithes to him, or
go by long distances around him at the
cost of greater tithes to the soulless
owners of the pikes-who aggra-
vatingly fix gate each way to make
their tithes more sure. So, | say, it
was like having the territory of his
enemy lying between him and deep
water-save. as | have also said in
one particular, to wit: that the owner
the Sarah Pressed | have mentioned
was not Old Baumgartner' enemy.
In fact, they were tremendous
friends. And it was by this friendship
and one other thing which | mean to
mention later-that Old Baumgartner
hoped before he died, to attain the
wish of his life, and see. not only the
| Elysian pasture-feld, but the whole
of the adjoining farm, with the line
fences down, a part of his. The other
thing | promised to mention as an aid
to this ambtion-was Seffy. And,
since the said Sarah was of nearly the
same age as Seffy, perhaps | need
not explain further. except to say that
the only obstruction the old man could
see now to acquiring title by marriage
| was-Seffy himself. He was and al
ways had been, afraid of girls-es-
pecially such aggressive, airtatious.
pretty and tempestuous girls as this
Sarah.
These things, however, were heredi-
tary with the girl 1t was historical,
in fact, that, during the life Of Sarahs
good-looking father, so importunate
had been Old Baumgartner for the
purchase of at least the meadow
he could not have ventured at that
time-and so obstinate had been the
father of the present owner-fhe had
red hair precisely as his laughter
! had)-that they had come ~ blows
| about it to the discontinue of Old
Baumgartner; and. afterward they did
not speak. Yet, when the loafers at
the store laughed, Baumgartner swore
that he would, nevertheless, have that
pasture before he died.
But, then. as If fate, too, were
against him, the railroad was built
and Its station was placed SO that tn
Pressed farm lay directly between il
and him, and of course the life went
more and more in the direction of the
station-left him more and more "Out
| OF it"-and made him poorer and poor.
| er, and Pressed richer and richer AnG
when the store laughed at that, Baum
gartner swore that he would possess
| half of the farm before he died; and
as Pressed and his wife died, and Seffy
: grew up, and as he noticed the fond
{ ness of the little red-headed girl for
/ his little tow-headed boy, he added to
! his adjuration that he would be har-
! rowing that whole farm before he
J died-without paying a cent for it!
| But both Seffy and Sally had grown
! to marriageable age without any
! thing happening. Seffy had become in
ordinately shy, while the coquettish
/ Sally had accepted the attentions OF
Sam Pritz, the clerk at the store, as
an antagonist more worthy of her,
and in a fashion which sometimes
made the father of Seffy swear and
lose his temper-with Seffy. Though,
! of course, in the final disposition of
the matter, he was sure that no girl
so nice as Sally would marry such
| person as Sam Pritz, with no ex-
| tremely visible means of supports
! salary of 81 week, and an odious rep
| utation for liquor And it was for
these things, all of which We're known
! (for Baumgartner had not single
secret) that the company at the store
detected the personal equation in Old
Baumgartner's communications.
Seffy had almost arrived by this
time, and Sally was in the store, With
| SAM The situation was highly dra-
| matte. But the old man consummate.
| ly ignored this complication and di-
| rected attention to his son. For him.
the molasses-tapper did not exist.
The fact is he was overioyed Seffy,
for once in his life, would be On time
He would do the rest
Now. boys chust look at EN-
Dogged If .ney amt bose like one an
other. Huw's the proferb? Birds of a
feather flock wiss one another?
dunno Anyhow. Sef fiocks wiss Betz
constant. And they undeEstand one
another good. Trotting kke side