The Detroit times., 1913-11-17


which Uncle Jefferson was won't to
regale his labors;
MY pran'mothsh lived on yondah III
Fines OF lady evan wuz seen,
Tummy-eye. tummN -oh, tumhsS-
umpy -tumpy-tee,
| Fines oil lady evan 20 see
The ridiculous refrain rang out
through the bewildering vistas OF
the wooded slope as he swung on up
the hill, through the underbrusff
The place was painless and over
grown with paw-paw bushes ana sass
afras. Great trees stood SO thickiy-
in places rs To make twilight ana
the SUMMER spots were masses OF PINK
laurel. poison-ivy. flaming purple
rhododendron and wine-red tendrils
! OF interbraided briers. This was the
forest land of whose possibilities lie
had thought In the heart OF the
woods he came upon great irnp
that had been wrenched on by storm
The broken wood was of deep rich
brown, shading to black. He broke
OF his song. snapped twig ana
smelled il. Its sharp acrid odor was
unmistakable. He suddenly remem-
bered the walnut tree al Rosewood
and what Shirley had said Il know
girl who had two in her yard ana
she went 10 Europe on them.
He looked about him; as far as ne
could see INC trees reared. hardy and
| pei feet. untouched for generation.
4 he selected one OF medium size and
pulling creeper, measured Its cir
conference and gaging this measure
with his eye. made penciled ealcu-
! lation on the back OF an envelope.
Great Scott he said jubiliantly to
the dog: that would cut enough to
wainscot the Damory Court library
and build twenty sideboards.
| He sat down on messed boulder.
! brcathless, his eyes sparkling. He
had thought himself almost beggar.
and here in his hand was small for
tune. Talk about engagement
rings" he muttered. why. dozen
OF these ought to buy whole tiara"
Far below him he could see the
square tower OF the old parish church
OF ST. Andrews. The day before he
had gone there TO service. slipping In
TO pew at the rear. There had been
| flowers In silver vases on either side
OF the reading-desk, and dim hues
from the stained-glass windows had
touched the gray head OF the rector
above the brass lectern and the
crooked oak beams OF the roof. and
he had caught himself all at once
thinking that but for its dropping hat,
Shirley's head might have outshone
that of the saint through whose
bright mantle the colors came After
the service the rector had showed him
the vestry and the church books with
their many records OF valiants before
him. and he had sat for a moment
in the Valiant pew. fancying her
standing there sometime beside him,
with her trim gloved hand by his on
the prayer-book.
At length he rose and climbed on
presently turning at a right-angie 10
bisect the strip to It's boundary be-
fore he paused to rest I'm no tim
ber-cruiser." he said to himself az he
wiped his brow. "but I calculate there
are all of three-hundred trees big
enough to cut. Why, suppose they
are worth on an average. only hum
dred apiece. That would make
Good lord" he muttered, land I've
been incoming about poverty"
| The growth was smaller and spar
ser now and before long he came, on
the hills very crest, to the edge of
q ragged clearing II held q squalid
settlement. perhaps a score OF dirt
daubed cabins little better than
novels. some Of them mere mud-wall-
ed lean-tos. with sod roofs and win
dow-panes Of nour-sacking. Fences
and outhouses there was none. Lit
tered paths rambled aimlessly hither
and thither from chip-strewn yards
to starved patches of corn. under
cultivated and blighted. Over the
whole place hung an understandable
| atmosphere of disconsolate filth, Of
unredeemed squalor and vileness.
Razor-backed hogs rooted every
where. snapped at by a handful of
lean and spiritless hounds. A Stat
ternly woman lolled under a burlap
| awning beside one of the cabins from
! whoss- intarior- came-the -sound-o1
mems voices raised In fierce quar-
rel. Undisturbed by the hideous din.
q little girl Of about three years, was
dragging by a string, an old cigar
box In which was propped a rag
doll. She was barelegged and bare
armed. her tiny limbs burned a dark
| red by the sun. and she wore a
single garment made from the leg
Of patched pair OF overalls. Her
| hair, bloachcd the color OF corn silk,
fell over her face In elfin wildness.
With one hand on the dogs col
lar, hushing him to silence. Valiant.
unseen, looked at the wretched place
with shiyer. He had glimpsed
many wretched purlieus in the slums
Of great cities, but this. In the open
sunlight, with tho clean woods about
II and the sweet clear blue above,
stood out with an unrelieved bold
ness and contrast that was doubly
sinister and forbidding. He knew
instantly that the tawdry corner was
the community known as Heil's-
Half-Acre. tho place to which Shirley
had made her night ride to rescue
Hickey Snyder.
A quick glad realization OF her
courage rushed through him. On It's
heels came feeling of shame that
spot like this could exist. a foul
blot on such q landscape. II was on
his own land. Its denizens held
place by squatter sovereignty. but he
was. nevertheless, their landlord.
The thought bred n new sense OF re-
sponsibility. Something should be
done for them. too--for that baby.
dragging its rae-doll In the cigar
box, poor little soul, abandoned to