Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1933-12-28
SAVE IN HIS
OWN COUNTRY"
g
By Richard Hill Wilkinson
o Ben syndleatewNu Service.

AT Aapiewood and listen TO the Older
men swap yarns. Up until the time
he reached his fifteenth birthday
Pennies whole universe WAS eentered
In Naplewood. and the folks In il
were. as far as he knew. exactly like
folks everywhere.
There was. for example. LATE Rip
ley. who owned and operated the local
garage
II didn't seem to Bonnie there could
possibly he anyone anywhere who
could know more than Lafe.
lou could ask Lafe any kind of
question about anything. and be had
an answer. an answer that was log
ieal and satisfying. too.
He had a deep resonant voice. and
possessed 4 natural bent for story
telling. which fact added a convincing
ole To his tales.
And then there was Bert Morgan.
the barber. who made you feel that a
man who didn't shave once a day or
who let his hair grow over his ears,
was a criminal.
When BerI got through talking you
most always felt that the most noble
ambition a mar could possess was
10 become q good barber
There was also Joel RuggIes, owner
OF the general store. who, by bis very
silence became In the eyes of Rennie
a wise and awe inspiring figure.
And there vas Marty D0lan. a
Spanish war veteran. who had al
edge on the others because he'd
fought at San Juan hill and could
command attention by referring TO
that memorable battle In a most Inn
pressive which he did at fire.
quenf intervals.
These mel talked and young Ben
ME listened.
Frequently they directed their con
yersafion to him. In a sort of patron
izina manner for Bonnie Il an ap
preciafive listener and displayed no
little amount OF iattery at thus being
addressed
These men TO him were gods to be
initiated II possible; to be admired
and respected and honored
In fact Rennie came TO believe that
II ever he could acquire a fraction OF
the knowledge with which each was
invested. or achieve a small part Of
the success which each had achieved
in his respective line. be would ask
no more of fife.
Bennie believed these things for q
period OF two years And during that
time he guilfily nursed q secret ambi
ton.
In spite of the deep impression
made upon him by the sages of Rug
giles general store. Bonnie wanted TO
become an artist A painter.
He felt rather guilty about 1t;
would never for the world have ad-
mitted the nature OF his secret desire
10 Iafe or Bert or any OF the others.
He know they'd laugh and scott at
A4AfA1~ aHG lAaA HbniG n0lL
Unfortunately for Bennie's general
store career. however. the craving to
become an artist persisted.
II was In him rather larger than a
wOodchnck-
And the youngsters father. Robert
Markham. president of the local bank.
o kindly. g~entle-natured. taciturn
man. and hence somewhat mediocre
compared with LATE and Bert,
CHANGED upon a couple OF kennie's
freehand drawings one day and that
evening had a heart-to-heart talk with
his son
The uyshot of the conference was
that Bennie was to go away to school;
a art school there to develop the
natural talent which his dad believed
he possessed. and seemed to be quite
proud Of
Bennie agreed TO go, In fact was
quite eager about the Idea, but he
asked his father not to tell anyone
what he was up to. especially not to
mention IL when he was getting a
shave or having his a fixed.
And SO Bonnie. still feeling rather
guilty and ashamed when he thought
of Lafe and Bert and Joel. went away
10 school and began to study art.
II wasn't long before Maplewood
and the general store wisemen be-
came remote and hazy In his memory.
The natural talent which had be-
gun to assert itself years before was
being cultivated. and the results were
rather pleasantly surprising. ever to
Bonnie.
Bennie remained at art school for
five years. returning during that time
TO Maplewood at long intervals. and
then only for short visits.
He developed fast, displaying an
uncanny gift for the creation of orig.
inal ideas and setting them down on
paper In the form of drawings.
The natural talent was polished and
groomed to a degree nearing perfec-
ton
Two years after his graduation.
Bonnie was doing nicely as a free
lance artist drawing illustrations for
magazines.
Within q years time he was being
sought by editors all over the coun.
try.
He mo famous ovpr nioht