The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-12-25
CHAPTER VIII
THE TRAMP OF THE YOUNG MEN

THE TRAMP OF THE YOUNG MEN
Mr.. Curran was in his office working
on a u job for the Gem restaurant
whose Illumination across the square.
Home Cooking-Chicago Style was in
his eyes as he kicked h old press
treadle, when Harlan came in. Harlan
mad not intended to see Wiley again,
SO deep was his hurt and humiliation,
but when he crossed the qnare n
heard the clankety clank Of the News
JOB department, he could not resist
old faiths and ardors. Wiley too, would
be nurt If Harlan departed without a
word. So it seemed the most natural
thing to lounge in, sink down in the
editors chair, while the editor held up
his inky hands a minute to wave them
cheerily.
And always it was something like
this: Hello, Harlan!"
Hello, Wiley!"
Were you down at the junction for
the seventeen this evening"
Yes"
who came in?"
odd Lady Hicks and thai Sheasby
girl-frcm Ottumwa, Billy said
Hash EN- up for the local. Give
Old Lady Hicks a real snifter-her ub-
scription Is about out n / want a
renewal.'
So Harlan reached for some copy
j HSpSA oAAo y = w iSo lllC llSkllS, dllt
looked over the stuff on the local hook.
News Notes will be rotten this
week. The brakeman on Ten said his
wife had a baby
Shove it in
II don't know his name"
Shove it in anyhow. Splash 1t on
thlck-jolly him about the cigars and
number 10, n let folks guess who it
Is"
So Harlan scrawled on while the
editor rehearsed all the news he could
think of. Tear up some editorial dope
local option. Saloon must be kept
from our midst. . Home and
Fireside. = Remember Our Boys.
Outlaw the Unholy Traffic. y
Murmuered Wiley above the
clankety-clank.
Now, Mr.. Curran had no boys, and
the unholy traffic had piled beer bottles
SO high behind the News fence that
wagons could barely pass; and his
Home n Fireside'' consisted Of one
rotund cid lady who had followed his
haphazard fortunes from Puget Sound
to the Rio Grande and back to the
old town, but nevertheless, Harlan pa
tiently denounced the traffic for a
stickful.
"TherelI be-" unused the editor, Ban
burr, tarts and coffee in a minute
meeting. Arne and Janet will drop in
it'll be a farewell spree for you, old
boy. I'm glad we had you last, after
ALL"
This was a rare comforting. Harlan
had wanted to be distant to Wiley,
but one couldn't. Even Aunt Abby
couldn't, and she ought to know his
worst. He was a man, like many a
bachelor, who sought the mothering
stimulus of elder m He was his
gayest and his best with them. Aunt
Abby had followed all the later years
| OF his WANDERING. had hnrpnStao1aI
with him under the gray l~ow-hanging
skies of the Dakota winters; she re-
membered the ceaseless winds and
sands of Nevada where he had pros
pected, and the dim buttes of the
southWes where they had slept under
the stars in lonely cow camps AL
ways she had saved him from sheer
vaga bondia, given the responsibility of
motherhood to his vagaries, defended
him against town gossip; was proud Of
him against all the world. That limb.
Wiley T." he was to her lonley need
Of love.
Janet" mused Wiley, land Arne-
and you-that's about all there's been
to the old town for me-. It's been lone
ly here, Harlan-and I'm a bit gray
around the temples. You three have
made the town more green fair
and liable"
His eye had an unwonted sparkle to-
day as he worked. Presently a smart
team drew to the door, and by way of
welcome, with his hail, the editor
hurled a begrimed newspaper directory
at the newcomers feet. A tall,
swarthy-cheeked man with the air of
the fields upon him, followed Miss
Vance into the shop. The woman sup
e~rintendent Of schools listened to her
brothers. exuberant chatting of the
others for a moment; she seemed men
tally taking stock Of the place-Curran
wiptng his hands on an empurpled
towel, Harlan tmpaling copy on the
hook; the general ne'er-do-well atmos-
phere Of the Rome, Iowa. News.
and r'S' cofree sa'0 Maybe ths edI bear
Who likes beer? Nobody. It's unlaw-
full. But there's a case Under Aunt Alb
by's bed, and the good old lady, all I'M
suspecting, is at praye meeting
We've dined." rejoined Miss Vance,
keep on with your work"
Mr.. Curran was noted for his pretexts
to evade work,-which explained a deal
about the News circulation. Miss
Vance sat down In the swivel chai at
the editors desk which Harlan had va
Gated. She was tailored far beyond
Rome's possibilities even If Sarah
cent trip to Chicago, changed the leg
end on her shop window to "Modiste."
Tailored and groomed, 80, aggressive,
keen, recerved-the county said it was
not LOT TOLnlnB she was OF
Jake Vance, the political farmer
Janet was accredited to be the most
effective campaigner in the courthouse;
she had been elected to her second
term by a splendid majority after hav-
ing carried her first election to the
courts. The old line party men a
not wanted her, but they had a to
accept a woman school superintendent.
She looked Harlan over with critical
interest; Mrs. Van Hart and High
street a not given her much support.
Arne was poktng among Wiley's ex-
changes, snorting militantly now and
then. He was on his way back to the
agricultural school in Wisconsin, where
he absorbed as much radical politics
as soil culture. Out Of his pockets now
bulged a great yellow ear of prize corn
and a bundle Of congressional speeches.
Jake Vance, arguing about the
square on market days in his old,
m~oth-eaten. buffalo coat, expound-
Ing his heresies to the farmers, was
proud of his two children. Country
bred, there was no "hayseed" about
them. Out at Cloverland farm they
| haH a ja1nnbnno Va - rion& Mo x,o- q