The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-10


table garden, eating strawberries and
green peas. inspecting the old adobe
barn and rusty pillow and harrow, and
rolling and smoking cigarettes while
he watched the antics OF several
broods of young chicks and the moth
er hens.
Nothing could satisfy his holiday spir-
It now but the ascent Of Sonoma Noun
tain. And here on the crest, three
hours a%fterward. he emerged. tired and
sweaty. garments torn and face and
hands scratched, but with sparkling
eyes and an unwonted usefulness Of
expression. He felt the Illicit. pleas.
ure OF a schoolboy playing truant. The
big gaming table OF San Francisco
seemed very far away. But there was
more than illicit pleasure in his mood.
It was as though he were going
through a sort Of cleansing bath. No
room here for I'll the s%ordidness.
meanness and viciousness that filled
the dirty pool OF city existence. He
was loath to depart. and 1t was not
for an hour that he was able to tear
himself away and take the descent OF
the mountain. Working out a new
route just for the fun of It, late after
noon vas upon him when he arrived
back It the wooded knobs.
Daylight cast about for a trail. and
found one leading down the side
opposite to his ascent. Circling the
base OF the knoll. he picked up with
his horse and rode on to the farm
house. Smoke was rising from the
chimney, and he was quickly In con-
versation with q nervous, slender
young man, who, he learned, was only
a tenant on the ranch. How large
was 1t? A matter Of one hundred and
eighty acres, though it seemed much
larger. This was because 1t was SO
irregularly shaped. Yes. 1t Included
the clay-pit and all the knobs, and Its
boundary that ran along the big can
yon was over a mile long. Oh, yes.
he and his wife managed to scratch
a living without working too hard.
They didn't have to pay much rent
Hillard. the owner. depended on the
income from the clay-pit. Hillard was
we'll off and had big ranches and vine
yards down on the fiat OF the valley.
The brickyard paid ten cents a cubic
yard for the clay. AS for the rest OF the
ranch, the land was good in patches.
where 1t was cleared. like the vege-
table garden and the vineyard, but the
rest Of 1t was too much u~p-and-do%n.
You're not q farmer" Daylight
said.
The young man laughed and shook
his heaf
mo; N a telegraph operator. But
the wife and | decided to take a two
years vacation. and . here we
are. But the times about up. I'm
going back into the office this fall
after | get the grapes off,"
AS Daylight listened. there came to
him a cudden envy Of this young fet
low living right in the midst Of all
this which Daylight had travelled
through the last few hours.
"What in thunder are you going
back to the telegraph Office for?" he
demanded.
The young man smiled with a GER.
tain usefulness.
Because we can't get ahead here.
(he hesitated an instantly.
land because there are added eA-
penses coming. The rent. small as Il
Is, counts; and besides. I'm not strong
enough to e~ffectually farm the place
If | owned it. or II l were a real
husky like you, I'd ask nothing better.
Nor would the wife" Again the visit.
full smile lowered on his face. "Yon
see. we're country born. and after
bucking with cities for a few years.
we kin1 Of feel We like the country
best. We've planned to get ahead.
though, and then some day we'll buy
a patch of land and stay with It."
(TO BE CONTINUED.)