Mower County transcript., 1910-09-28


made the sleighbells Jingle merrily.s
They laughed reminiscently at each
familiar road and field. It seemed AS
il they had been away for years in
stead Of only for one short term.
When they reached home again and
Mollie was carefully stabbed and fed
they went out to the orchard. Every
tree was u friend. and true friend.
too, for none other would uncOmplain-
ingly furnish the funds to send them
]. to college. s5
[ Look how papa's been caring for
them" cried Gladys. Hes wound
every one with cornstalks to keep the
rabbits and mice from gnawing them.
I'd never thought of that" AL
I He's doing all he can to help us.
even. If he can't give us the money!.
said Mabel. II sometimes wonder if
we ought not to stay here and help
4 him and mommie SO they wouldn't
have. to work so hard. Then think of.
the nice things they could buy with
the money we're spending"
/ Gladys looked serious. II !. never
thought Of it that way" she confessed.
Lets go and ask them about it, III
!, Their father shook his head decided
" when they broached the subject to
him. s;'Stay out Of schoolv' he cried:
"Of course not. girlies. =. Mother and
are too proud of our college girls to
think of such thing for a moment
Aren't we. mother" r.. -.>
( Mrs. Sanders nodded smiling as
sent, and the girls were satisfied, for
the time at least. They were too
young to realize what the loneliness of
their absence really meant to the old
people. e, ,. -.
Gladys was out feeding the pigs that
evening when Jeff came riding up the
road on Nancy. That year and half
at school had done wonders for him.
as Gladys had predicted. He was a
man now and so strong and self re-
liant that Gladys was almost afraid
of him. = 's
'"That curl hasn't learned to keep
out Of your eyes yet. has it?'' he cried
gayly as he leaped to the ground. I'D
know you by that anywhere" r
Il couldn't say as much for you"
said Gladys. '"rhere isn't thing about
you that hasn't changed since l saw
you last. You seem like different
JEFF" ~, I'D +.
"1'm sorry" said JEFF contritely.
''I'm not" she replied promptly.
"It's-it's change for the better"
jeff laughed heartily. Pm glad to
hear it, be said. "There was lots of
room for improvement. But how about
yourself? There wasn't room for you
to grow much prettier. butt
Gladys shook her wavy head i'm
patiently. Il always thought you
were more sensible than the rest of
the boys" she said. How do you
like it at the university?'>
Jef's face lit up with enthusiasm.
'"There couldn't be anything that
would =. suit me better" he said
'"'There's something in the air there
that fills a fellow with ambition. with
desire to do something worth willie.
I often fancy that it is the spirit of
opportunity urging us to put up our
doors to be knocked on
And did you hold yours up?" ask
ed Gladys.
JEFF sat down on the fence. II don't
like to talk about myself" he said.
''but know you won't think I'm do
ing it to boast" p.
"Of course not" Gladys interrupt
ed. ''Tell me about it,
Its nothing much. I've been work.
ing on an grafton ever since started
to school almost. The university con-
test was held week before the close
of the term. and l was chosen dele
gate to the state contest" ~s. -.
"Good!" exclaimed Gladys. holding
out her hand Il guess you opened
your door,
stubble field with its one narrow
streak Of turned earth was a chal-
lenge. and ever since her father had
left she had been longing to try her
hand at the plow.
So today. after Mabel was safely out
Of the way and her mother too busily
engaged with her Saturdays baking
to notice what was happening outside,
Gladys hitched the three horse team
to the sulky plow and started out to
the field. One Of the three, colt
which Mr.. Sanders was breaking for
one Of the neighbors. was little skit-
tish at first, but after a few rounds
he settled down and pulled quietly
along with the older team. ii
Everything went well. and Gladys
was enjoying herself immensely. Then
all ut once, as they were coming down
the east side Of the field. the point Of
the plow unearthed a bumblebees'
nest With an angry '.zipp-p-p'' one
Of the enraged insects shot past Gladys
ear and planted its sharp sting be-
tween q couple Of the colts RIBS. He
dashed back viciously with both hind
feet and started to run. 7.
At the same instant two or three of
the bees began to jab the older horses,
and the whole team started on a mad
run across the field. followed BY q doz-
az, r>f the 0l1frs u1o1 x,o<e aa coo,,