Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1910-09-30

eu ANONYMOUSLY, Will TONlHB eyes ucht
on finding his cap with the loss of the
fewest possible seconds shall
say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake'-and that's all"
And he was off like a shot.
Mind, now, Thomas Jefferson; you
are not to go near that railroad" his
mother called to him as he raced down
the path to the gate.
Oh, no.; he would not go neal the
railroad! He would only run up the
pike and cut across through the Dab
ney pasture to see II the train were
really there.
1t vas there, as he could tell by the
noise of kissing steam when the cross
cut was reached. But the parked
wooding of the pasture still screened
it. How near could he go without be-
ing near" in the transgressing sense
of the word? There was only one way
of finding QUITO keep on going until
his conscience pricked sharply enough
to stop him. 1t was a great convent
ence, Thomas Jefferson's conscience.
AS long as IL kept quiet he could b.
reasonably sure there was no sin III
sight. Yet he had to confess that it
was HOI always dDONc pldyllS HlCdh
tricks; as that of sleeping like a log
till after the fact. and then rising up
to stab him till the blood ran.
He wal halfway across the pasture
when the crash Of a falling tree stop
| ped him in mid-rush. And in the vista
opened by the felled tree he saw a
sight to make him turn and race home
ward faster han he had come. The
invaders, hundreds strong, had torn
down the boundary wall and the earth
for the advancing embankment was
flying from uncounted shovels.
Caleb Gordon was at work in the
blacksmith shop, Sunday-repairing
while the furnace was cool, when
Thomas Jefferson came flying with his
news. The iron-master dropped his
hammer and cast aside the leather
apron.
"You hear that, Buck?" he said,
frowning across the anvil at his helper,
a white man and the foreman of the
pouring floor.
The helder nodded. being a mai of
as few words as the master.
We'll, l reckon we-all hain't got any
call to stand by inc see them nightly
CTS u - lOubhoiiou oNCl NldJOI al
ney thataway," said Gordon, briefly.
go down to the shanties and hustle
out the day shift. Get Turk and Hard
away and every white man you can lay
hands on, and all the guns you can
find. And send one O. the black boys
up the hill to tell the Major. Like as
not, he amt up yet"
Helgerson FASTENED away to obey
his orders, and Caleb Gordon went out
to the foundry scrap yard. In the
heap of broken metal lay an old cast
iron feld-piece, a relic of the battle
which had one day ragged holly on the
hillside across the creek. A hundred
times the ironmaster had been on the
point of breaking 1t up for remelting
and as often the old artilleryman In
him had stayed his hand.
i. Now it was quickly hoisted In the
crane shackle = Thomas Jefferson
/. sweating manfully at the crab crank
clamped on the axle of a pair of wag.
on wheels, cleaned, swabbed, loaded
= with quarry blasting powder and piece!
of broken iron to serve for grape, an.
trundled out on the pike at the heel
e Of the ore team.
BY this time Helgerson had come vi
with the furnace men, a motley crev
y in all stages of Sunday-morning dis
hevelment, and armed only as a mol
may arm itself at a moments notice
) Caleb, the veteran, looked the squa,
over with a slow smile gathering tn
e wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
You boysll have to make up Il
fierceness what-all you're lacking Il
= soldier-looks," he observed, mildly
n Then he gave the word of comman
e to Helgerson. "Take the gun and pu
e out for the Majors hawss-lot. I'll b
along as soon as I can saddle tn
q mare"
It Thomas Jefferson went with hi
Y father to the stable and helped silent
ly with the saddling. Afterward h
held the mare, gentling her in sup
q pressed excitement while his fathe
n went into the house for his rifle.
j. 'That'l do, Buddy" he said, when h
d came back. Run along in to you
IL nanny, now."
v But Thomas Jefferson caught agai
at the bride and held on, choking.
II 20 pappy!-take me with you! II
J. die II you don't take me with you!"
1t Who can tell what Caleb Gordon sa'
= in his sons eyes when he bent to loos
ID en- the grip of the small brown han
Id or the rein? Was 1t some sympathet
lie ic reincarnation of his own militar
soul striving to break its bonds? With
re out a word he bent lower and swun
the boy up to a seat behind him. "Hol
or tight, Buddy" he cautioned. II
Of have to run the mare some to catch 4
err with the boys"
" When the one-piece battery dashe
T. at a clumsy gallop through the ope
lie gate of the Dabney pasture and swur
g. with a sharp turn into the vista
I'd felled trees, Thomas Jefferson beheld
thing to set his heritage Of soldi'
~ blood dancing through his vein
a. Standing fair in the midst Of The .,