The Meeker herald., 1919-09-20
His. Bright
Idea
toep,r,sAt. 1918. ;, Weston Newspaper u.io..
By GEORGE ELMER COBB

1.-THE board of pardons are convinced
that you were an Innocent bystandcr
In the riots at the Eclipse sheet mill
and have committed your sentence.
Allen. you are q free man,"
AFTER three years being shut out
from the world! Still. ! don't COM
pain. warden. ! was an Idle, thrift
less fellow. had no business mixing In
with destructive crowd. and have
the penltentlnry to thank for teaching
me trade that will always earn me
decent living. ! understand that a
relative has left me a little piece Of
property. SO can recommence life
with experience. capital and clenr
record"
The birds seemed Ginning n WELDON.
ing chorus as Sidney Allen left the
grim pent house where he had passed
thu e precious years Of his Young life
under an error Of the law. The sun
shine appeared to him Mt its bright
est, he drew In great drnughts OF the
sweet. clear air. insplriting ms wine
His second year In confinement he
had been notified that he had become
one Of several heirs through the death
Of a relative. II was Impaired to him
that he had inherited n store property
In Layton. a thriving country town.
It was twenty miles from the prison
to Layton and Allen hnd money to 20
there by rail- but the delight of free
dom kept him tramping the distance
after he had started.
II was late afternoon when, tired
md dust covered, he learned That Lay
ton was only three miles ahead down
straight country road. Allen rested
for One-half an hour, even dozed. and
set out upon his way refreshed to
pnuse again. this time amid excitement
and interest. mt the edge of the lit
tie town. Near rickety old house
With n welEkept vegetable garden sur
rounding 1t was fve-ncre pasture
fenced in, and here was presented the
amazing spectacle Of four whIte-halred
Indies, spry and nimbie, chasing n
young horse and striving TO keep him
from escaping through n break Mt one
end Of the enclosure. They laughed
like merry romping girls. they scolded
the Maynard pony. who seemed full Of
mischief. Allen Joined In the pur-
suit. but Just MS he caught the horse
by the name his foot struck rock
and he was disabled.
One nf the ladies' led the horse
toward the house. The three others
discerning Aliens plight. assisted him,
lImpIng. from the spot. They were
grateful for his cooperation. solIcitous
over his mishap. They got him into
the house. his injury revealing a
bruised md swollen ankle. Like trained
nurses they bathed and bandaged the
injured member and soon he was COM
fOrtably disposed In an arm chair.
From the window he saw the horse
hitchef to small wagon, in which
henping baskets OF doughnuts and new
ly baked loaves of bread were carried
you won't be able to move about
much until tomorrow" said one of the
old ladies'. ~ suppose you wonder at
all the cookery you see around here.
Well, we were all inmates OF IN old
ladies' home that burned down, and
dubbed together to make living.
We supply some families with bread.
cakes and the like, twice week md
get along very nicely. indeed.
THAT Is Nellie Glare. girl we
adopted four years ago." spoke one
Of the others. "You zee, two Of us
have small war pensions and we are
-uow educating her at a seminary.
This explanation referred to the pic
ture on :he wall Of beautiful young
girl of about eighteen. Allen had Ger
tainly come across strange cOmbina.
ton. The quartette made 1t n pleasant
evening tor him and he went on his
way the next day feeling sure that
glowing picture Of home comfort would
not soon fade from his mind.
Allen found the property left to him
to comprise large roomy one-stdfy
store building In the best business
quarter of the town. He resolved to
utilize II in a business way. What he
considered to be bright idea had
appealed to him. While In the peni-
Tertiary he had served an apprentice
ship In the plastic art. that Is, model
ing center pieces, Images and even
stntuary heads. He had the old store
room cleared up. purchased material
and tools and set Mt work on his grand
plan.
This involved long chat with the
four old ladies'. who were inlmitable
cooks. There was no kind Of pastry
they could not handle artisticnlly.
Allen made perfect plaster Of paris
limitations Of bread. cakes. pies, pud
dIngs. He tinted them 30 artlstically
that they would deceive nm expert