The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1915-01-22
CHAPTER 1-continued.

CHAPTER f-Continued.
The boys were overwhelmed with de-
light at sight of the tears of senile dis
appointment that dribbled down the
'old mans cheeks. Then, unnoticed,
lHoo-Hoo replaced the empty shell with
a fresh cooked crab. Already dismem.
!bered from the cracked legs the white
meat sent forth a small cloud of saw
Tory steam. This attracted the old
mans nostrils, and he looked down in
amazement. The change I his mood
TO one of Joy was immediate He
isnuiiled and muttered and mumbled
making almost {. Groom of delight, as
he began to eat or this the boys took
little notice, FOR it was an accustomed
spectacle Nor did they notice his oc.
casionai EXPLANATIONS and utterances
'of phrases which meant nothing to
them' as, for instance, when ne
smacked his lips and champed his
gums while muttering: "Mayonnaise!
Just think-mayonnaise! And it's sixty
years since the last was ever made!
TWO generations and never smell OF
lit' Why, in those days it was served
I'm every restaurant with crab"
When he could eat no more, the old
man sighed, wiped his hands on his
naked legs, a0d gazed out over the sea
With the cortent of full stomach, he
lwaxed reminiscent.
To think Of it! I've seen this beach
alive with men, women and children
on a pleasant Sunday. And there
weren't any bears to eat them up,
either And right up there on the cliff
was big restaurant where you could
get anything you wanted to eat Four
million people liv- in San Francisco
then. And now, in the whole city and
county there aren't forty all told. And
out there on the sea we're ships and
ships always to be seen, going in for
the Golden Gate or coming out. And
alrships in the air-dirigibles and fly.
ing machines. They could travel two
hundred miles an hour Mail contracts
with the New York and San Francisco
Limited demanded that for the mini
mum. There was chap, a French
man, forget his name, who succeeded
Nn making three hundred; but the thing
was too risky for conservative per
sons, But he was on the right clue,
and he would have managed it If it
hadn't been for the great plague.
When was boy there we're men who
remembered the coming of the first
!aeroplanes, and now l have lived to
see the last Of them, and that sixty
years ago"
But there weren't many crabs in
those days." the old man wandered on.
They were fished out, and they we're
great delicacies. The open season was
only a month long, too And now
crabs are accessible the whole year
around. Thi-k of it-catching all the
crabs you want, any time you want, in
the surf of the Cliff house beachw
I sudden commotion among the
goats brought the boys to their feet.
The dogs about the fire rushed to Join
their snarling fellow who guarded the
igoats, while the goats themselves
tstampeded in the direction of their
human protectors. A half dozen forms. |
lean and gray, glided about on the |
Island hillocks or faced the bristling
idogs. Edwin arched an GROW that |
fell short. But Hare-Lip, with a sling, |
isuch as David carried into battle
against Goliath, hurled stone through |
lthe air that whistIed from the speed of
tits flight II fell squarely among the |
wolves and caused them to stink away |
toward the dark depths of the eucalyp-
tus forest.
The boys laughed and lay down |
again in the sand. while Granser
sighed ponderously. He had eaten too
much, and with hands clasped on his
paunch, the fingers interlaced, he re-
sumed his maunderings
1.-The feeting systems lapse like
foam." he mumbled what was evi.
IDENTIFY quotation. That's it-foam,
and fleeting. All mans toll upon the
planet was just SO much foam. He
domesticated the serYiceable animals,
destroyed the hostile ones, and cleared
the land OF its wild vegetation. And
then he passed, the flood OF primordial
life rolled back again, sweeping bis
lsandlwork away--the weeds and the
forest inundated his fields, the beasts
Of prey swept over his fiocks. and now
here are wolves on the Cliff house
beach. He was appalled, by the
thought Where four million people
iisported themselves, the Wild wolves
roam today. and the savage progeny OF
,ur loins, with prehistoric weapons,