The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1914-03-26

OF horses hoofs going from Damon
Court
He had heard those hoof- beats ech
In his brain for thirty years.
Till the sun was high John Valian
lay on his back in the fragrant grass
meditatiyely watching bucaneerinl
chicken-hawk draw widening circles
against the blue and listening to tn,
vibrant tattoo of ''pecker-wood" OF
far-away tree, and the timorous we
whistle OF bob-white. The whole
place was very quiet now. For just
one thrilling moment 1t had burgeonec
into sound and movement: when the
sweaty horses had stood snorting and
stamping In the yard with the hounds
scampering between their legs and the
riding-coats winking like rubies in the
early sunshinel
! Had she recognized him as the
smudged tinkerer OF the stalled car?
"She saw me drop that wretched brute
through the window" he chuckled. 81
could take oath to that But she didn't
give me away, true little sport that
she was. And she won't. / can't
think of any reason, but know. Was
she angry? wonderi"
At length he rose and went back
to the house. With bunch of keys
he had found he went to the stables,
after some difficulty gained access,
nd min
dows open to the sun. The building
was airy and well-lighted and con-
tanned a dozen roomy box-stalls, a
spacious loft and a carriage-house.
The straw bedding had been unre-
moved, mice-gnawed sacking and
rotted hay lay in the managers, and the
warped harness, hanging on its pegs,
was a smelly mass of mildew and
decay. He found a stick, moved away
the festooning cobwebs, and moved
the debris piece-meal.
"There!" he said with satisfaction.
There's a place for the motor-if
Uncle Jefferson ever gets it here"
1t was noon when he returned, after
a wash-up in the lake, to the meal
with which Aunt Daphne, in costume
dimly suggestive of bran-meal poul-
tice with a bingham apron on, RECALLED
him. Fried chicken, corn-bread SO
soft and fluffy that it had to be lifted
from the pan with a spoon, Drowned
potatoes, and to his surprise, fresh
milk. "Ah done druv ouah OF COW
ovah, subj" explained Aunt Daphne.
" Case she gotter be MIXED, er she
run dry ez de Red Sea 70 de chillon
OBJ Izril"
Aunt Daphne" inquired Valiant
with his mouth full, what do you call
this green thing?'
Dat? OATS jes' turnip-tops, sub,
wild err hunk er bacon in de pot. Laws
ERNIE, ct cer'n'y do me good ter see
yo' git arter 1t dat way, sub. Reck'n
yo' got er appetite! Hyuh, Hyuhl"
81 have. / never guessed 1t before.
and it's a magnificent discovery. How
ever, it suggests unwelcome reflec-
ions. Aunt Daphne, how long do you
a man can dine like this on
well, say on hundred dollars?"
''Er hun'ed dollahs, sub? OATS er
light smart heap O. money, deed ct is!
Well sub, pens on whut 20 raises.
81 yo' raises yo' own gyarden-sass en-
,hick'ns en- aigs, All reek'n yo' kin
i've longah dan dat ar Methoosalum,
IN still hat mos of 1t in de OF stock
n"
"Ahl l can grow all those things
myself, you think?'
"Yo' cert'n'y kim said Aunt Daphne.
Ev'ybody do. De chick'ns done peck
o. deyselves en- de yuddah things-yo'
my gotter courage EN- en- dey jes'
rows"
thoughtful smile wrinkling his brow
IS he pushed back his chair he smote
is hands together and laughed aloud.
Back TO the soil!" he said. John
'aliant, farmerl The miracle of 1t is
nat it sounds good tome l want to
oil. l want to be my own man! And
m beginning to see my way. Crops ,
i'll have TO wait for another season,
ut there's water and pasture for cat Z
Q now There's timber-lots of it I
n that hillside, too. l must look into
lat"
He filed his pipe and climbed the
taircase to the upper floor. There
ere many bedrooms with great four I
osted, canopied beds and old-fash- {
med carved furniture of mahogany
nd curly-maple, and in one he found 7
great cedarlined chest filed with
ed-linen and napery. In these rooms
ere more evidences of decay The
edroom he mentally chose for his
wn was the plainest of all, and was .
Dove the library, fronting the vaga- 8
Dnd garden. II had great black
esk with many glass-knobbed draw 8
q and book-rack