Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

CHAPTER 1. --1 The Street stretched away north and south in two lines of ancient houses that seemed to meet in the dis tafiee. It had the well-worn look of an old coat, shabby but comfortable. It was an impression of home, really, that it gave. There was a house across and a little way down the Street, with a card in the window that said: "Meals, twenty-five cents." The Nottingham curtains were pinned back, and just in side the window a throaty baritone was singing: Home is the hunter, home from the hill; And the sailor, home from the sea. For perhaps an hour Joe Drummond lad been wandering down the Street. His slender shoulders, squared and resolute at eight, by nine had taken on a disconsolate drool). Prayer meet ing at the corner church was over; the Street emptied. The boy wiped the warma band of his hat and slapped it on his head again. Alh! Across the Street, under an old allan thus tree, was the house he watched, a small brick, with shallow wooden steps and-curious architecture of the Mid dle West sixties-a wooden cellar door beside the steps. In some curious way it preserved an air of distinction among its newer and more pretentious neigh bors. The taller houses had an appear ance of protectlon rather than of pat rolauge. It was a matter of self-respect, perhaps. No windows on the Street were so spotlessly curtained, no door mat so accurately place(, no "yatrd"' in the rear so tidy with morning-glory vines over the whitewashed fence. The June moon had risen. When the girl came out at last, she stepped out into a world of soft lights and waver Ing shadows, fragrat with tree blos soms hushedl of its daylight sounds. The house had been warm. Her brown hair lay moist on her forehead, her thin white dress was turned in at the throat. She stood on the steps and threw out her arms in a swift gesture to the cool air. From across the Street the boy watched her with adoring, humble eyes. All his coufage was for those hours when he was not with her. "Hello, Joe." "Hello, Sidney." He crossed over, emerging out of the shadows into her enveloping radiance. His ardent young eyes worshiped her as he stood on the pavement. "I'm late. I was taking out bastings for mother." "Oh, that's all right." Sidney sat down on the doorstep, and the boy dropped at her feet. She set tled herself more comfortably and drew a long breath. "How tired I am! Oh-I haven't told you. WVe've taken a roomer 1" She was half apologetic. The Street did not approve of roomers. "It will help with~ the rent. It's nmy doIng, really. Mother is scandalized." Joe wans sitting bolt upright now, a little white. "Is he young?" "lie's a good bit older than you, but * ~that's not saying lhe's old." Joe was twenty-one, and sensitive of his youth. "He'll be crazy about you in two days." She broke into delightful laughter. Y "I'll not fall in love with him--you I .**7.&llikMMA tilli nr mi&M/Ml* "We've Taken a Roomer!" can be certain of that, lHe is tall and very solemn, His hair is quite gray over his ears." "What's his name?" "K. Le Moyne," Interest in the roomer died away. The boy fell into the ecstasy of content that alwaays caine with Sidney's pres ence. Is inarticulate young soul wvas swelling with thoughts that he did not know how to p~ut i"do words. It was easy enough to plan conversations with Sidney whlen hae was away from her. But, at her feet, with her soft skirts touching him as she moved, her eager face turned to him, he was miserably A thrilling myst man who lost hi* girl who helpedh awkward and strangely speechless. Unexpectedly, Sidney yawngd. He was outraged. "If you're sleepy-" "Don't be silly. I love having you. I sat up' late last night, reading. I wonder what you think of this: One of the characters in the book I was reading says that every man who who cares for a woman leaves his mark on her I" ""Ivery man! How many men are supposed to care for a woman, any how?" "Well, there's the boy who-likes her when they're both young." A bit of innocent mischief this, but Joe straightened. "Then they both outgrow that fool Ishness. After that there are usually two rivals, and she marries one of them-that's three. And-" "Why do they always outgrow that foolishness?" Ills voice was unsteady. "Oi, I don't know. One's ideas change." Sidney was fairly- vibrant with the zest of living. Sitting on the sleps of the little brick house, her busy mind was carrying her on to where, beyond the Street, with its dingy laimips and blossoming ailanthus, lay the world that was oie day to lie to her hand. Not ambition called her, but life. The boy, was difYerent. Where her future lay visualized before her, heroic deeds, great ambitions. wide charity, he plannie-d years with her, selfish. con tented years. As difftrent as smug, sat Isfied sminier from visionary, palpitat ing spring, he was for her-but she was for all the world. By shifting his position his lips camne close to her bare young arm. It teml)ted him. "Don't read that nonsense," he said, his eyes on the arm. "And-i'll never outgrow my foolishAess about you, Sid nley." Then, because he could not help it, he hent over and kissed her arni. She was Just eighteen, and .Joe's de votion was very pleasant. She thrilled to the touch of his lips on her flesh but she drew her arm away. "Please-[ don't like that sort of thing." "Wihy not?" His voice was husky. "It Isn't right. Besides, the neigh bors are always looking out of the win dows." The drop from her high standard of right and wrong to the neighbors' curi osity appealed suddenly to her sense of humor. She threiw back her head and' laughed. 'He Joined her, after an uncomfortable moment. But he was very much in earnest. He sat, bent forward, turning his new straw lat in his hands. "I thought, perhaps," said Joe, grow ing red and white, and talking to the hat, "that some (liy, wh'len we're olde~r, you--you might beC willing to narry''3 me, Sid. I'd be awfully good to you." It hurt her to say no. Indeed, she couldh not bing herself to say It, In all her short litfe she had never wvillfully infileted a wvound. And because she w~as young, and did not realize that there Is a short cruelty, like the sui' geon's, that is mercy in the end, she temporized, "There is such a lot of time before we need think of such things I Can't we Just go on the way we are?" "I'm not very happy the way we are." "Why, Joe l" She leaned over and put a tender hand on his arm, "I don't want to hur't you; but, Joe, [ don't want to be engaged yet, I don't want to think about marrying, There's such a lot to do in the wvorldl first, r'here's such a lot to see and be." "Where?" he demanded bitterly. "Here on this Street? D~o you wiant muore time to ipull bastinigs form your uother? Or to slave for your Aunt H-arriet? Or* to irun up and down stair's, carrinlg towels to roomers?' SIarry mei and1( let me take cai'e of Once again iher' dangerous sense of omor threatened her., Ie looked so L)Oyisht, sitlting thei'e with the mtoon ight on his br'ight hair, so inadequate .o carry out his imaifcent offei'. Two r three of' thei star' lossoims from the :zee lad fallen on his head. She lifted hiem cai'efully away, "Let inc take care of myself for a vhie. lI' never lived my owvn life. 'ou know whia t I mean, i'm not un anppy ; but I wianut to (10 somaetinig, *nd some day I shilli-not anything )ig ; I knowv I can't do that--but some hing useful. T1hen, af'tei' year~s mand 'ears, if' you still want me, I'll conic mck to you." lie drcew a long breath and got up. all the joy had gone out of the sum ner night f'ot' hipn, pooi' lad. He slaincedi dowin thte Street, wvhere Pal ner' lowe had gone home happily wvith !1(dney's friend Christine. Palmier viould always knuowi how he stood with LChristine. Butt Sidney was not like limit. A fellow did not even cai'ess her 'asily. When lie had only kIssed her urn-- lie trembled a little at the "I shall always want you," lie said. 'Only-you will never come back." It had no't o(curr'ed to either of them iry story about a courage and the m tofind it again that this coming back, so tragically whi considered, was depending on an en- a i tirely problematical going away. Noth- win lg, that early summer night, seemed mat more unlikely than that Sidney would Ver ever be free to live her own life. The pur Street, Stretching away to the north Fro and to the south in two lines of houses thir that seemed to meet in the distance, had hemmed her in. She had been born in he ( the little brick house, and, as she was wot of it, so it was of her. Her hands had chail smoothed and painted the pine loors; S her hands had put up the twine oil Wit which the morning-glories In the yard she covered the fences; hind, indeed, with gon what agonies of slacking lime and add- lug ing blueing, whitewashed the fence it- was self! thai "She's capable," Aunt Harriet had sidc grunhilingly admitted, watching from "6 her sewing miachine Sidney's strong quit young aris it this humble spring task. "She's widerful!" her mother had - said, as she bent over her handwork. She was not strong enough to run the sewing llitchinte. So Joe Druimiond stood on the paive ment and saw his dreai of taking Sidney in his uis fade into an indel eit'e fututrity. "I'i not going to give you up," lie said doggedly. "When you come back, I'll be waiting." The shoek being over, and things only postnied, lie dramnatized his grief a trifle, thrust his hands savagely into his pockets mnd scowled down the stree. Sidney smiiled up it hillm. " ;oIi imnight. ,Joe'."' "Good inigit. I say, Sidney, it's more than half an engagement. Von't you kiss me goodi-night?" She iesitated, flushed and palpitat Ing. Perhaps, after all, her first kiss would blave gone without her heart gone out of slieer pity. But a tall fig ure loomed out of the shadows ntid approached with quick strides. "The roomer I" cried Sidney, and backed aiwily. " -n the roomer !" The roomer advanced steadily. i Whenl ie realcled the doorstep, Sidney was demurely seatted and quite alone. M The roomer looked very warm. ie N carried a sultese, which was as it should be. The men of the Street al ways carried their own luggage, except -the younger - Wilson across the wiay. His talstes were known to be luxurious. "Hot, isn't it?" Sidney inquired, )e after a formal greeting. Sie indicated it; the place on the step just vacated by lng Joe. "You'd better cool off out here. Thie house is like tin oven. I think I wh should have warned you of thilt befe'e to 1 you took the room. These little houses vou with low roofs are fearfully hot." lhe lew roomer hesitated. He did " iiot cnre to etiablih anyl relations with clos the Ipeopile inl thme hloue. Long eve- wel ntings in which to read, quliet nlights ill "] which to sleep) andi forget-thmese were qi Itle thmings he had1( come for, o Butt Sidney hiad imoved over and1( was ma1l1 smiilinig up at huim. Hie folded up awk- do wvardlly on the low step. Hie seemled tli iniieh too big for tile house. Sidney thiet laud a pantieky thlought of the little 81 room11 upstairs. o "I doni't mind1( hieat. I-I suppose I ' dlon't think about it," siaid the roomer, Pag ratlher xurprlised at himself. ironi "I'm afraid you'll be sorry you took and thle rl'uom, TIhie roome1r smliled ini tile shiadow. vou "111'meginning to thinik that you are II sorry." I Ills quick min~d grasped the fact that h is it was the girl's bedroom h~e hafd taken, in ti Other things lhe hand gathleredi that aft- untl ernloon froml tile hunmmiing of a sewving seio minie, from Sidney's businesslike est. way of rentinlg thle little room, froml thle the glimpse of a wvoiman in a sunny "2 window, hent over a needle. Genteel row poverty wax what it meant, andl more- as the contantlit dt'ain *of disheartened, decrs midi~dle-iaged womenei on the youthl and a fth coulrage oif the girl beside him. 1 K. Le Moyne, wh'lo Was living is jtaki ownl tragediy thiose (lays, what withm lug lpoverty andl other things, Swore a quiet INeon onth i to lhe nio further weight on the atei gd i5l'sthuyantt siit. ie 11ad( no in- ol t'ntion of hletting tile Street eneroachl Si onl hull, lie had built upi aI waill he- She tweent himtself and the rest of thle darlII world. and lhe wvould not scale it. Bhit Loiv, he he(ldi no gruidge aga ist it. Let oth- mian erms ge*t whtat they couild (out of liviing- niot Sidney, sudenly plractienll, broke in for' on his thioughts:t \\ her'e ar'e you gomng to get your TI "I ilhd't thought about it. I canwo stop in somiewher'e oin miy way down- the ton~ a. I work in the gas ofilee--I don't of y bclieve 1 toldh you."A "It's very haid for you," said Sidney, uiw with decision. "It lendsl to slovenly l1ilt habits, such as going without whil wa you're In ai hurry, and~ that sort of sprat thinig. Tihe only thling is to have sOmle- IK. I. (onc expectigg you ait aI certain timeI "It sounds like mlarriaige." Hie wa'is lazily amused. "It soundls like Mrs. McKee's board- w lag house ait tile corne-. Twenty-one nl meals for five dollars, anrd your ticketh is good unltil it is puncl(hed. But Mrs. w McKee doesn't like it if you miss." T "Mrs. McKee for me," said Le Moyne. ini "I darlie stay I'll be fairly regular to may se meais."" It was gr *,elate, The Street, By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART eli mistrusted night air, even oin t suiner evening, was closing Its Jiows. By shifting his positioln, the Swats able to see the girl's faee. y lovely it was, he thought. Very , albost radiant-and young. Ii tie middle age of Iis allmrrost ty years, she was a child. There been a boy in the shadows when ame up the Street. Of course there Id be a boy-a nice, clear-eyed dnrey was looking at the ioon. Ih that dreamer's part of her that had inherited from her dead and 3 father, she was quietly worship the night. But her busy brain working, too-the priletical brain she had got froin her nother's Vihat about your washing?" she in ed unlexpectedly. "I suppose you've S- / // f The New Roomer Hesitated. it sending things to the launidr~y -what do you do about your stock ?" Bu1y chleap onets andl( thrlow 'eml alwa3 ni thley'r~e wvorn ouit." There seemetfo ec no reserves w%,ith this surprising 119 per1sonl. kid buttonls?" I'.aey is he hyr ed' on-a utn vrte ~ as--" thnk" ai Sdny,"tatiti TeNwRoeHeita"d. aee supefacgthin was the Len !'ne's.lAftoer omn t:w't wr 'ou'rey'really ra ter wonderfusel, ie i. Here aIogefewahd e rd a~nd ene fo2evnd"lr sevsentylcns aV wenek'r ehoe said buttn severeth, "that as-" iptat ou saeiney "that bank. e tias stillaomewto azie when 11 of at yife willha giee atie 1l recently-ad cet abeek, shcon yur fafriengns and ndly t ter-u He t expaned nd I'll Somenof tir inslefatisn asL ne's Aferwear for ouent mr e unked all crae . woNewl un redr and smedegdsiesK forsendlar oe" pondere oi(asveretyfr, thma, g put hisa yhous slowly in think" l' al whtil doidwt mater? whe hvenvtieux te narro htirc. t hwey aake, garnishe room. theere Ii0 oftn ane life at be active - ently-oe, hfcre, bute so con luie thlried h~er-a ak. honcro t-rhid linsft. sfae I(gL tone" h ie wohinlfv, ' ea, ni o receivig butde gKving-. L'liifire vrisedo thtfo paefnme, rih. AIt iris she slwypt. itrac and spead cooess thrugh Athe h13'ousie gThe.r allanthu t rrsete lid in fthea mooinierlifeht nst -v11ing [' haowf CovU'e t t was Whis' this(f K. t Le atoyne any-( ay?1 1li' Wh lnot~ mer-a gusessIr >wis to is detiy ad.e hn' thnlie cI)lima lovs' !irecd 'v t's toa makney a tgoodh ltove teristin, and, reeiv but, tiis rilis. thrilig. lnlistic (TO WhB otmk aONTuess m SEASON OF JOY . . . "When the frost Is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock." TURKEY AN "IDUT At Least That Is the Op'nion Farmer Has of the Great American Bird. OUSEW1VE's contemplating tie annual Thanksgiving dinner lit tle realize the months of prep aration which preceded lithe feast. Their cranberries are on the market. Turkeys, drqssed and rendy for the oven ; huge yellow puiiipicins, with the earth still clinging to their gnuldy sides; oranges, apples, grapes and nuts all await the call of the epi Icure. A trip to a market gives the laymuan an Insight Into the real business of Thanksgiving, and incidentally a quan tity of rural folk lore which is iliu minating. Wandering around the wag on1s which line the sidewalks of the market spaice, a reporter the other day ciime upon an old resident, of Virginia -a mantin with whiskers and a magniti cent quid of tobacco and a small sup ply of turkeys, the last nanedi allve and protesting vigorously against the confinement of their crates. After a little preliminary conver sation the old farmer dilated upon the ways of the great American fete ird and In his conversation knocked the pedestatl upon which the fowl is phced squarely from under its feet. "Biggest fool bird in the world," he conilded to the reporter. "They ain't nothill' iII the world that I've ever found that's as big an idjut as a tur key." "In what way?" was asked. "In every way," replied the farmer. "I believe that the wvords 'not sense enough to come in out of the rain' was written to ,describe a turkey. Did you ever k'now, for instance, that a turkey can drown itself during a rain storm ?" "WVhat I" ejaculated the reporter. "Fact," said the farmer. "Them there birds hold up their heads during a rainstorm exactly as if they was trying to swallow the whole creation. Naturally, they can't drink the entire output. And I tell you as a fact, that I've found eases wvhere they man aged to drown themselves." Continuing on the peculiarities of the bird, the old man said: "They're helpless critters, too. Ain't got as much gumption about them as a chicken. And frail-let me tell you, young man, that a turkey is the great est naitural-b~orn invalid in the world. They have to be watched every minute or the first thIng you know they'll up and (lie on you without a second's warninag. "I been ralisin' turkeys for years and years--had good luck with 'emi, too. Blut I reckon I don't understand more than half about them. Nobody does--particubir'ly why the Creator, when he made '01m, didn't give 'emi ml ids.'" "Doces that apply to wild turkeys as w~ell as the tamec ones?" asked the re por'ter. Thle old mmmiapn st thought fully and~ profusely at a chip of wood in the street. lie hit the mmuarmk. "As to, that," lie sald, "I can't exact ly sany. "A~leblbe t here's someuthi ng in the idea that a tur'k'y, wvhen lie's tame, gets so used to havin' folks make a fuss over him that lie jest naturally loses all his ambition. There's one thing certain--If every wild turkey was as big a fool as some that I've raised therec wouldn't b~e a live Wild turkey In the U'nited States within a yeair."--Wasilngton Star'. Cranberry industry. Studly of the( craniberry industry by government specialists has shown it to be confined practically to three state.,: Massachusetts, New Jersey Iand Wis conusin. Of the total crop, Massa chuisetts prodIuces in tan average year aib:ut :300,003, New Jeosey 150,00., and Wisconsin 75,000 barrels. Theli indus try Is gradually extending to Minneso in. Michigan aund Oregon, whereI marshes and climatic conditions are< fa vorable. PREPARED By DOUGLAS MALLOCH We may be shy of cannon and we may be short of guns, We may not have as many men as many other ones, We may require a fort or two, some iafan. try and hors.' A little more artillery to back them up, of course; But in one matter we have not a reason to be scared - For, when it comes to pumpkin pies, we surely are preparedi We may be short of men of wdr and shy of submarines And low in mines and other subterranean machines We ought to have an aeroplane, or, maybe two or three, To nest among the mountaintops or hydro. plane the sea; We haven't any instruments for shootint, poisoned gas - But we can beat the universe at making apple sasel We have the pumpkins and we have the fippins big and final An iyou want preparedness, pie-par edness for minel If someone sails across the sea America to try, , -aeadfl We'll shoot them full of apple sass and full of pumpkin pie. - I bet they'll throw their guns away, beneatL that magic charm, And settle in America and buy them each a farml Copyright. 1916, Western Newspaper Union.) DAY OF REJOICING rhanksgiving Celebration Is a Great Event on Cotton Plantation. IIANKSGIVING day on a cot ton plantation means an open heart and hand on the part of the minaster and a full stomach, a lay of happiness, and, consequently, ,ratitude on the part of the worker. It nteals, also, another, and, for that ittle world, universal token, an of 'ering up of thanks for the numerous ittle white pods which bring profits o the imaster and the winter's provi lons and clothes to the worker. But t also means a day of play to all. ilalrd as is the labor of the' cotton )laniltatiol hainlds, they do some extra vork willingly for Thanksgiving day or several Weeks beforehand. It is a ure sign of the approach of Thanks ivinig day Wilel oe sights here and here through tile woods the bobbing, ;tmokiing pine torches that light tile way for it dozen black, shining, grin iIg faces. It is the usual hunt for Mr. 'oSStum tht Ikeeps them from their beds, and iitkes them scramble through thickets, jump ditches and walflow through martishets. For several nights the woods for miles around the plantationl are the scene of night activities. It is easy enough to fin(] the trail of a 'possum, and when once located the dogs lead It running, howling band in the hunt. Mfr. Possui Is, however, a slow mover, 111d wVM-hlen lie heart's the yelps of those liounds and the ilowls of the negroes .id sees the glare of the torches, he gets upi tile nlearest tree and settles on It limib. Somiehow the liht fascinates him and he usually settles on tile lowest Ilhub. It is just whaltt tile hunters wanlt. Mr. Possumi; is noted for his fondness for (lead meat, consequently ai 'possum thait is shot is not the most savory of mients. Their obiject is to catch hmimi aliv~e amnd whien the tree is reached he is surrounided by a ring of b~lazinlmg torchles anid howling blacks un til in slheer frighlt lhe drops off, plays (lead and is h~undled into a sack, to be hulstled off in the mnorning to the plan tation pen. Sometimes two or thlree are'( caught in ai nigh~t and some of them show fight. Onice in the pen they are fed for a couple of weeks with food that takes away all trace of their natural food and rounds out their sides with good, sweet meat. Several days before Thanksgiving tLay somec of the hlandls are taken from the cotton fields and put to work tround the planftation buildings, This is, with tile exception of Christmas, perhiaps the most enjoyable task of lie year, for it means th~e preparation ror the feast which the plantation 1s to give its hands Onl tihe day wvhen tamiks offerings are made. Usually tis is spread in oe of te big huildings on tile plantation, perh~aps a barn or a cotton shed. The hands~i are set to work at first to clear )ut tile place and make it clean. Then hey put together a dozenl or iore long improvised tables and~ benches, and ist ly thley decorate thle bulkildng wvitha ill kinds of flags andi~ bunting. On the 41ide near the center thley also put up the fiddler's stand, for litter in the lay there comes thle usuatl dantce. Sey eral days before, also, some of the hiandts h'ake bitrrels of ginger beer and sw~eet cider and1( stow them away to ripen for the feast. Enemy of the Cranberry. An enemy whichl would rob the Th'aniksgi vinjg tablie of cheal) cranbier ries is the cranuberry root worm, an the government has been attempted to clrcumvenit this destroyer, too. E~x. perts of the dlepartmtent ef agriculture have found that by stinmulaiting the growvth of the plants with fertilizers i practice that has not b~een followed a thme pitst-thie ravages of this ors inarily deostruictive creature can be andte almost neglIgible. Worthy SupplIcatIon. For all blessings which may help o make the land we love more worty f its fortune, its founders, its de~ts% mnn