Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1912-11-07


the door, riding-whip in hand, clad in
the familiar corduroy skirt and leg
gings of the old Piedmont days. There
was warmth and glow in her own face
as she answered his gaze and glanced
on past him to the horses. Then sne
saw Nab. But her gaze leaped back
to the man. &Lt
ooh, Elam!" she breathed.
q
Many persons, themselves city-bred,
and city reared, have fed to the
soil and succeeded in winning great
happiness. In such cases they
have succeeded only by going
through a process of savage dlsll'
lusionment. But with Dede and Day
light it was different. They had both
been born on the soil, and they knew
its naked simp!icities and rawer ways
They were like two persons, after far
wandering, who had merely come
home again. There was less OF the
unexpected in their dealings with ma
ture, while theirs was all the delight
of "Reminiscences. What might appear
sordid and squalid to the fastidioasly
reared, was to them eminently whole
some and natural The commerce OF
nature was to them no unknown and
untried trade. They made fewer mis-
takes. They already knew, and 1t was
JOY to remember what they had for
gotten.
AID another thing they learned was
that it was easier for one who has
gorged at the fesh-pots to content
himself with the meagreness of a
crust, than for one who has known
only the crust. Not that their life
was meagre, 1t was that they found
keener delights and deeper satisfac-
tons in little things. Daylight who
had played the game in its biggest
and most fantastic aspects, found
that here, on the slopes Of Sonoma
Mountain, it was still the same old
game. Man had still work to perform,
forces to combat, obstacles to over
come. When he experimental in a
small way at raising few pigeons
for market, he found no less zest in
calculating in squads than formerly
when he had calculated in millions
Achievement was no less achieve
ment, while the process of 1t seemed
more rational and received the sane
ton Of his reason.
The domestic cat that had gone
wild and that preyed on his pigeons
he found, by the comparative stand
ard, to be Of no less paramount men
ace than a Charles Klinkner in the
field Of finance, trying to raid him fol
several millions. The hawks ant
weasels and 'coons were so man!
Dowsetts, Lotions, and Guggenham
mers that struck at him secretly. Thu
sea of wild vegetation that tossed III
surf against the boundaries of all hi
clearings and that sometimes crept II
and flooded in a single week was n,
mean enemy to contend with and sui
due. His fat-soiled vegetable-gardel
in the nook of hills that failed OF II
best was a problem Of engrossing in
portance, and when he had solved 1t b
putting In draintile, the joy of tn
achievement was ever with him. II
never worked in 1t and found the So
unpacked and tractable without e'
periencing the thrill Of accomplish
ment.
There was the matter of the plumb
ing. He was enabled to purchase tn
materials through Q. lucky. sale of
number Of his hair brides. The wor
he did himself, though more than ono
he was forced to call In Dede to hol
tight with a pipe-wrench. And in tn
end, when the bath-tub ana the ST
tionary tubs were installed and
working order, he could scarcely tea
himself away from the contemplate
OF what his hands had wrought. Tt
first evening, missing him, Ded
sought and found him, lamp in han
staring with silent glee at the tub
He rubbed his hand over their smoot
wooden lips and laughed aloud, al
, was as shame-faced as any boy wht
she caught him thus secretly exultir
in his own prowess.
1t was this adventure In wood-wor
Ing and plumbing that brought abol
the building of the little worksho
where he slowly gathered a collectiC
,, Of loved tools. And he, who In Il
old days, out of his millions, cou
purchase Immediately whatever
might desire, learned the new Joy
the possession that follows upon rig
economy and desire long delayed. /
/, waited three months before daring Il
extravaganza of a Yankee screw.drl
er, and his glee In the marvellous
tie mechanism was so keen that De,
. conceived fortnight a great idea. f
six months she saved her egg.mone
which was hers by right of allotmei
and on his birthday presented hi
with q turning-lathe Of wonderful SIT
pliclty and mQltifarious efficienciC
And their mutual delight in the latf
which was his, was only equalled
/. their delight In Mab's first foal, viii
was Dede's special private propert
Daylight had made no assertion
: total abstinence, though he had n
taken a drink for months after I