Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-06-25

vi q l. oNoDC IOuSe III lie nHIllpT
OF San Miguel, county of Rio Arriba,
state of New Mexico.
In most of the little towns of New
Mexico, far away from the main lines
OF the railroad, there are men from
east of the Mississippi. Some of them
live in that high, dry atmosphere be-
cause they find the flag end of life
sweet to them. There are others who.
as they say, have taken it in time"
Ihese expect to get we'll and return
some day to Gods country. That
phrase is as old as the garden of Eden,
1t was invented when Adam look
ed back over his shoulder and caught
the flash OF the sword at the bounda-
ries. Gods country is V the land
In which one lives, but the land to
which one cannot return. Thus to John
ny Meegan Gods country meant
Chicago, to Billy Kilbourne it meant
Boston. to Fred Parks it meant Sha-
mokln, Pa, and to jefferson Davis
Johnson Gods country meant Balti-
more.
The Chicago sporting writers gave
johnny Meegan a farewell BANQUET
and a loving cup to lake with him
when he went away. and they drank
his health with a choke in their
! threats, for they did not expect to see
him again. Sentence had been pro-
nounced upon him by a specialist of
international reputation after the star
baseball reporter had coughed all win
ter.
"There is a chance" said the spe-
cialist. 'Try New Mexico or Ari-
zona."
Never let it be said that l quit
while there was a chance" said John
ny Meegan. I'm on my way, doe"
Johnny had seen the local specialist
at Albuquerque, who had given him
hope and good advice. Open air had
been recommended, and Johnny had
made a long, rambling trip with a
mustang and a pack horse. San Mi
guel had been at the end Of that Jour
ney. That was because of Billy Kill
bourne.
ONy VIC SA1oIlIS Ill Sil miguel
with more comfort than he had been
able to find elsewhere. Billy was only
twenty-five. but he had lived his life
in a tremendous hurry and crowded so
many things into it that it had been
New Mexico or heaven, and Billy took
no chances. He mourned for Boston
and the Maine woods and nearly wept
with joy at meeting some one who
u give him an expert opinion upon
the probable strength of the Boston
Nationals. Kilbourne's people were
quite wealthy. and he had turned an
! adobe house into a very comfortable
affair. The furniture had been bought
in Denver and freighted from Chama
at the foot of the Cumbres pass.
You'll stay here with me for
awhile said Billy. Nothing hap
pens by chance, you know. You were
sent here to cheer me up. Just think
of Il regular big league baseball writ
er dropping in out of the clouds. It's
too good to be true. Now, how is this
young Hawley going to 10 in the out
field? And why did they tie the can
to Homer Kennedy"
So Johnny Meegan stayed on at San
Miguel, filling his lungs with the clean.
dry air and his stomach with the ex-
cellent nourishment furnished by JEFF
ferson Davis Johnson, who had once
been Kilbourne's valet. but through
love was now his cook.
pcc;1n. LriIho,,r,,n o,,J Nfoo~,, 4l>a.a
was Fred Parks, a wandering printer,
who had reached the end of his earth
ly pilgrimage at San Miguel. Parks
had a small general supply store and
managed to make a living mainly
through the large orders which Kill
bourne gave him. There was also An
tonic, a young Jacarilla. who had
been to Carlisle, and sometimes liked
to remember that he had played CEN
ter field with the fastest ball team
that that school ever produced. An
tonic was interesting. He took Kill
bourne and Meegan on long rides
through the reservation, and Kill
bourne pretended that he was making
a collection of Indian blankets. 1t
gave him a slender interest in life.
One evening Meegan, Kilbourne and
Parks were sitting in front of the Ho-
tel Touraine, as Kilbourne persisted
in naming his house. He said it had
a homelike sound. They had ex-
hausted seven-up, cinch and dominoes,
and Meegan had been recounting some
of his newspaper experiences.
"Gosh." said Johnny; II wish we
had a paper here"
Kilbourne laughed until he coughed.
"Man alive"!' he painted. what
for?"
"Why, just for the fun of getting it
out!w said Johnny. think Of the
things we could put into it. No copy
desk to get by no city editor to howl.
Why, we could kid the whole south
west"
ut wouldn't pay" said Parks SOL
EMMY, whereupon both young men
hooted at him.