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went whirling at the llrst twist of the
plow, but the widow wa me. and she
raced along with the bolters and put the
whip over their noses. She might pos-.
sihly have stoppedtliem before they got
over the countynline. but for an accident.
the beginning of the
waited until a stray bee had lifted his
heels off the ground for humanity's sake,
t then he fled. and it visa two days
later that he knew that the widow had
sixty-one lillnpB‘0n her body and was
doing as well as could he expected, and
that the oxen had been heard of forty
miles away and still on the run.
"Deacon," began the widow. as he made
his appearance in response to her mes-
“I believe you cussed them oxen ‘
sag
the other day. .
'1 uess I did," he rather sheeplsh-
ly replied.
"But it was for yourself, deacon. I
now wish you to cuss ‘em or me.‘ You
also clubbed ‘em till you tired out. Can't
you club ‘em some more?"
"And you ain't-ain't mad at
asked. as 8.
face.
me 7" he
no-not a mite."
"And I ain't cruel-hearted nor a hypo-
crite and a pirate?" '
!'No, deacon. On the contrary. you are
one of the best men on earth. or will be
after you have bought them oxen and
peeled their pesky hiilas off"
"And about-about 7" stammered the
deacon, as the sunburn deepened on his
e and he hitched around as it he sat
on splinters
"About our getting married?
Simiiel. you
yourself. and
Fill, put on that clover hone)’
comb, an you Jest help yourself and
feel right to home." '
D! ,9. Y!
When Jimmers Mixed.
“ OW is Jimmers for our work?" asked
thestoutpcllticiain.
hipitionist at 2; meeting of the Bartend-
ers’ union.“
"How do you done that out?"
"Like th Jimrners has no political
horns sense. He reminds me of a setter
l had one time. e sent out to
i-un down :1 rabbit, and before he got
Iizlfwsy he'd come across axchipmunk
or a load and forget all about his quar-
' vy, He couldn't keep his mind on the
.m . [-
'''l‘hat's how Jimmers turned out last
year. ‘We had our campaign going tull
l-last,-you remember. and the opposition
was crowding us to the rail at t turn.
We tried to put over a rally in the ninth
‘ , so'we'decided to ring in B ‘CZ
Bl‘!
, let 'em' try their hands. In picking thesg
workersvsorns one spotted Jimmers an
l-redicterl that if he was allowed to visit
g nobs on the avenue uli
them over to our side without sweating
.1 hair. ' '
"We called in Jiuimers one dar and
directions. We coaches! hm
in a line of talk and left the rest to him.
We gave him a list of opposition voters
rind turned him loose. .
"Jim:-hers was some salve spreader. all
right! some oil can! We found that
his first call was on Hlbhlns, Who own
the Umptleth Nations! bank. We wanted
lllhblns more than nl'iY one else. rAnd
him a friend. But instead
"But that wasn't. all. He met the love.
ly Miss Whang at he home.
where We expected to line up.the seven
women voters, and fell in love with the
lady. lie called there agairivthe next
evening and the next. and a week later
we discovered that he had missed eighty
call: and had ‘never mentioned our man
to the‘Whangs.
"‘Yr:eh. we lost that precinct. and our
one.
to talk about Ouija. boards and the
Einstein theory. ’ Vvliat are you Suing to
' h a boot) like that?” ., -
"Well." said theitout politician sagely.
"I suppose wifll have to hesatlsiied with
his vote and his wife’ " e
"'Say"' said the tall ward worker. "you
know he married th1t'Whang girl. And
if we get her I'll say she can swing M!’
vote and the votes of every woman in
that part of the ward." ,, ’
look of relief came to his .
h
CHICAGO
ihhnsrhieh o some
I ' . By Frederick lM..l-Iyolmes ,
.‘how
,.
E WAS stopped by ei clerk in the
,outer omce, or Mr. Paul
mond was 3-very.busy method-
ical man.
The tail. sunburnt man was full of
nervous energy and only paused when
the'clerk ilnaliy laid his hand on his
nn.
"Name? No. no name. That is, I’il
tell Mr. Redmond-he knows m%and
he will be glad to see me. Very glad to
see me,” he repeated, with a nervous
laug x. ‘ ,
But'it would be impossible to see Mr.
Redmond at that moment.
"Wait? yes. I can
wait. .It-it isn't forty years, you
know;" and again that rasplng laugh.
young man looked at him curi-
ously, but gave him 3 chair and he sat
down near the cierk’s desk.
Slowly the minutes passed in almost
painful silence. . .
"How lonl: have you worked here
Mr. Redmond doesn't spend
personally on any one oi’ us.
‘How long has he been well off---llx
! mean. “bout like this?" The stranger
waved his hand to include the whole
business blot: .
"I don't know; he‘: always been a
manufacturerfr . >
"llad a severe loss when he was 3
young man. ' ' r
muc time
didn't he
"Not that I know of. tho it is possible."
"1 heard the stranger stop;-rd and
cleared his throat before ronlirnzing, "I
heard that he was-robbed, once“ '
the clerk was trying to talk
not‘on‘ihe visit "I never lizard of
',that." was all he said. .
The man became silenL His head Rank
on one hand and he became absorbed in
the h . ,
Forty years! Forty summers and forty
winters of toll. of privatlon, of Auffefjng,
Anil all because of one In Thgy
faded away as he sat there thinking and
he was back again in the little frontier
ciiy in the spring then, even as n w
3Dl'lH5i' now. Paul Itevlmond was his
friend. He .weii,remembered the day
. .n
LEDGER
Redmond showed him the envelope.
thousand dollar bills were in'lt. ‘Vlld
he had often been. but dishonest never
until then. To disarm suspicion he gave
Redmond a thousand dollars, and risked
him to put it with what he had and take
charge of it. .
He lived that night over again. Red.
a.
2
t Redmond‘: clothes.
slipped it into his pocket and went out
with the guilty conscience ghat was
never to leave him.
And then the irony of fate: He was
scarcely out Of the hotel when he fell in
with the drunken mob who were cele.
bratlng some new gold rind. They nus.
tied him ‘round the bontlre they had
built. and in the struggle the envelope
10 the ground. A drunken man
it into the very heart of the
“H93 and they ieered at his shrieks and
v:.in eitorts. And then, when he an,“
escaped them, he lied almosnpenniless
brig? the place and his crime went with
Then came the struggle of years with
P“'"'Y Ind often with sickness until
three years before he had strnek a pay.
lns claim. He had cleared ilfty thou.
sand dollars. hut the money could not
HAND touched his arm and ‘he
started. it was the clerk,
“lir. Redmond will see yoii at once”
&, > u '.
8 mi
i The caller followed without a word I
‘ know 2'‘ 1. '
alert. clean-shave$eman FW:lS?‘;?9da ii: ‘ii:
chair and looked in him.
‘There was 8. close scrutiny, but
:13" of recognition came in Redmm-id's
ace. ‘'1 cannot exactl 1 ..
repnwhsmwlyl . Y pace you, he
"l-I was w'th m
mines, some foriy yE,aol"-3‘ nggml-.:ioopped
ill‘: 4:7 '
;0ml[P“ "131 H-‘at nigh: ntihe Planet
on my word, in: John Rankin“
manufacturer, springing go his
-faerfd ’,,’;“‘Lw“dV“"clnz with outstretched
man.‘ I haveafe V0“. John‘! Take 5 seat.
H. . nt seen you in I don't‘know
‘again. answered,
many years."
Forty," said Rankin mechanically.
"Well. well. sit down." y .
“No," stammered the visitor. "not yet.
I'll stand up now. like a main.” .
Redmond glanced keenly at him and
“I Heard ” the Sluunzer Stollbleil urn‘
Clenred Hlll Throat Before Tontinulnltn
"I llellrd That lie “VIII Enblred Once."
Was he playing with him? '
"‘Vell." he broke out harshly. “X may
as well tell you at once: I have come to
settle up. You never expected to see me
again. did you?"
V
,“Why. yes. John." replied the other..."J.-e-x
thought you, would turn up some day or
other and, not knowing when you would
come. I have tried to keep prepared for
.0“...
The cool. even tones affected Rankin
more than a threat; or’ w:ls.it intended
as a threat? . ,
"l' been a poor man all my life.
Redmond. or I should have been back
here before. But three years ago my
hock changed; I am worth $50,000 today.
I have lived most of my life in poverty
Red. Could he ever forget it’! Five crisp one and it may be Worse: it depends on you.
I can‘: change the past, but perhaps I
can pay the penalty. I am ready to set-
e up. What‘s the terms?‘
edmond turned methodically to his
desk. Dulled out a thin
['93
proximately, iltty thousand dollars.”
Rankin caught his breath sharply. A ,
beggar again and over sixty years of
ll“ gone! Well. at least he would be a
free man. - ,
"I suppose those are the best terms
you will make?’ he found himself asking.
edmond looked at him ‘hi EY-IYPll59-
"I should say they were.‘ he retort:-d.
decisively. ' ‘'
‘Then let‘s have it over as soon as we.
can.” said the miner. “Fifty thousand
dollars Well, that’: pretty good inter-
est on five thousand. even counting com-
pound interest."
. “Five thousand dollars?“ echoed Red- >
mond. lifting his eyebrows "I think You
have made a little mistake in the amount.
ohn. it was only one thousand dollars."
“What was only one thousand dollars?"
I “The money you gave me" ‘
"The money-Iagave-yon?“
Rankin.
“Certainly. When you disappeared and ‘
I could nna no trace ot you I invested
' y five
cried
credited you with ‘what it made.
It figures to about hfty thousand dollars
now‘. I will write yougi ch "
Rankin sank helplessly in his chill‘.
“But I heard you lost it all.” he sawed.
"Lost it. how?”
“L-I heard you had it stolen. envelope
3'13 811. from your clothes while 10“
slept.”
Redmond laid hack and laughed heart-
ily. "Stolen? “fhy, man what do
You take me for? '
with me except for 9. short time that day’
before you left. I put it all in the bank
that afternoon. An envelope? Let me
think. Why. now I remember. I did hive
3 bi: envelope containing mining in-
formation and advertisiiig matter. Proh-
ablr it dropped out or my pocket for l
don‘t remember seeing It ‘again. BM
guess. John. you've lost more than that
since we last met. - ' >
"Y:-a.” Kroaned ltnnkin, brokenly. ' V5
L081 forty years. but-but it's all right
ow.” l .
N4