The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-04-28
THE GRAND REUNION
By ROY NORTON
Copyright by E. L. Nelson

come out, heard the men in the mace,
mousse IN roaring chorus sing the same
old songs Of the border that tbev
themselves had sung fifty years be-
fore, and smoked.
us glttin' real late, Hugh" said
ADner, knocking a golden shower
from the end of the bench.
Yes" piped Ezra's voice IN tho
same high treble, it's gittin' real
late" ''"i
mccarthy wanted them to stav
longer. Said he wanted company, but
as no one had said anything for an
hour' his ideas of companionshin
must nave been of the quiet sort.
NO. Hugh" same Abners voice in
answer. It's most nine o'clock. and
were Just workin' men now"
Yes, Just workin' men now" came
the echo.
They all arose and turned toward
the cabin door. 1t was quite dark,
and they couldn't see each other very
plainly, so it was less embarrassing
TO say things from the heart. That is
probably the reason why Abner, in
his fine old way, said TREMENDOUSLY. as
II offering thanks was very hard
! work:
| Hugh, me and Ezry is gittin'
tribe old, p'haps, to do as much work
as some men. We're mighty thank
! full to the Lord and you, and feel
we must do our share We decided to-
DAY you'd better call US an hour
earlier than the others, because them
that can't work as fast as some must
work longer"
Yes, must work longer" repeated
Ezra.
And we want to tell you, Hugh.
that we think you're mighty good to
us to try to make us feel at home.
because it's hard to get used to the
new things when you think so much
! of the old"
That was the time when Ezra didn't
answer, but Hugh heard a big gulp in
the darkness, and knew that these
two old chaps were wiping their eyes
when they went inside, all because
they were homesick as two boys, and
bubbling over with gratitude for what,
after all, was only a little kindness
and understanding. Maybe Hugh had
kind of clutch in his own throat, SO
couldn't say anything, but just kept
quiet
So they went to work earlier than
the other men. This caused a fellow
one of those big, hulking chaps-to
poke fun at them. There aren't many
ever saw Mccarthy angry, because he
knows how to keep his temper, but
this fellow had a chance. Hugh had
come along unobserved. There were
little forks of fire in his eyes when
he seized the joker by the throat and
shook him as if he were six inches
instead of six feet high.
They'll hold their jobs longer than
you," he said, as he dropped the
man in a heap. You're fired. Now
hike!"
There were no more jokes at the
partners expense, and the man wasn't
n
Ezra talked Hugh out of it, And
pretty soon no one wanted to hurt the
partners feelings, because to know
them was to love them.
Now, the real secret of their work
ing at all was that Hugh was finding
a way to help them out without ma
king them feel bad. He owned a
claim above, and without any one
knowing what it was for, built on it
the finest cabin that ever went up on
the Mariposa. It's there yet.
1t had four rooms, and fine floors,
and a window in each room. Great
est of all, it had real, beautiful store
furniture, brought in with heap of
trouble from the nearest railway sta
ton. But Hugh didn't mind He
never did things by Lalvcs. He even
went so far as to have flowers-the
old-style kind-planted around the
doorway, and was as happy as boy
while watching the work.
One afternoon he took Ezra and
Abner up there. They stood around
dWh"dEuly, anu duu1AlSu oil ILLS mas
nificence, and kept repeating: Its a
mighty fine place, a mighty fine place,
and must of cost pile of dust"
Boys" Hugh said-they were al.
ways boys" together-"Boys, here's a
deed for this claim and cabin. It's all
yours. Now we're neighbors again,
just as we used to be on the Ahpalino;
so We'll call this claim The Grand
Reunion"
Abner and Ezra didn't want to take
it, but Hugh explained that probably
the claim wouldn't pay more than day
wages, and therefore the house was
really the only present he was Civ
ing them. Then they all had supper |
together, and that ended the partners
lob"
AS they watched Hugh go down the
trail that night he was so happy he
tried to sing, but he couldn't sing
much. Hugh was an awful bad
singer!
Then they took their boots of out
side, for fear of spelling the carpet,
and gingerly went in.