The Tomahawk., 1925-10-08

| edSly.
swell, ma" he said, 81 tried to git
Eingsbury's Rocky Mountain Best, but
Jed wuz clean out, and KNOWN as
how you he'd to hev -four, Jed says as
this Is jest as good"
Jest as good! Powerful lot Jed
Summers knows about fourl It's q
purity howdy-do! Me with them cakes
to bake fer the Ladies' Aid, an not a
teacupful Of decent flour in the house 4!
No, faint no use fer you to try to
change 1t now, them cakes oughter be
In this minutel I'll hev ter use It,
Like as not they'll fail an amt had
failure with my bakin' In twenty
year. Lucindyl Come here an empty
this sack of flour while I git the eggs
an milk"
Lucindy, stumbling country girl,
appeared In the door as mas ample
proportions disappeared pantryward:
"Oh, ma" came in excited accents
minute later, "look what's in the
fourw
"Lord!' calculated ma, dropping an
egg on the spotless floor. "A silver
spoon! Pa, look here"
swell, don't that beat ALI" Pa
took the shining object in his great
hand almost reverently. "Jed said
as how they wuz premiums in some of
the sacks, but I low he didn't know
It wuz anything like this er he'd
never sold"
Don't you tell him, 81" gasped
ma. "I'm goin' ter make fiat failure
out'n these cakes SOS they won't no.
body else buy that flour. I'm goin'
ter git all Of these here spoons Jeds
got. I wonder how often they come"
"Oh, once In so often, I reckon.
Won't Billy's eyes stick out when he
sees this? Well, I got ter 60 an put
up the hoss."
"Lucindy," said ma, confldentially,
when pa was out Of sight, I'm goin'
to git half a dozen of them spoons.
I've always wanted some real silver
an this Is my chance. I reckon I'll
take a fall out'n them stuck-up Hig-
ginses with their silver butter dish
that the platin's all wearin' off,"
That night, instead Of her custom
airy knitting, Ma Wilson got out some
scraps Of flannel and made q long
case containing six pockets.
"Now, what would you embroider
on 1T" she inquired of Lucindy,
Spoons?
"Silver sounds a heap sweller," Lu-
cindy replied.
"No," ma objected. "Silver Is mis-.
leadin'. Knives an forks is silver;
SOS Higginses' butter dish. think
I'll make it Silver Spoons"
And "Silver Spoons 1t was when
the case was reverently placed under
mas pillow that night.
In the two months following ma
contrived to use four sacks Of -four |
and was rewarded with two more
spoons, and her soul scared heaven
ward as she slipped the third spoon
into It's pocket and realized that the |
case was half full. Her thrifty soul |
would not permit her to waste the |
flour and she was driven to distrac- |
ton thinking of ways to use 1t fast
enough. The family lived on cakes |
and pies, thickened gravies and -four
until Bill remarked that he
wished she'd give him his -four dry
II it would rush things any"
Three months passed and brought
the fourth spoon With 1t ma begun
to develop a fear Of burglars. Her
sleep came to be mere cat-naps, from
which she frequently aroused to call
pa and send him down to see If he
had fastened the cellar door. A night
Of unbroken rest was an unknown lux
ury to the long-suffering family.
The fifth spoon only served to make
matters worse. Mas old hand trem-
bled plteously as she slipped 1t into
the shining row.
Seems like she gifts worse'n worse"
Billy growled.
"Never mind!" consoled pa. "Praise
be! They amt but one more!'
And 1t was this thought that goaded
ma on. She doubled her efforts and
tripled her vigilance, but the sixth
spoon came not.
Weeks passed, leaden weeks of
Jour buildings and thickened gravies,
and nights Of sleepless anxiety. Pa
grew sullen and mas rotund figure
shrunk to gaunt proportions. She
yazed at pa hollow-eyed across the
breakfast table. Flour, -four every
where! Flour In every imaginable
shape am form.
The climax came when she tainted
'ne afternoon, opening a sack of
-four.