The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume], July 12, 1917, Image 2

About The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921

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THE TUCUMCARI NEWS
HEART OF THE SUNSET
By Rex Beach
Copyright by Hurpvr A Brother
"Whnt's wrong with Mi".
ummlt'il
"I ilim't know, lie's qucor--ln - "f
IiIh heun. I've IiiiU u hard time with
him.
Pnlnmn wns In thocnrrlogo nt Dnve's
i utile ikiw, nnil culling Ills iiiiiiu ; hut
Lnw, It seemed, whs scarcely con
scious. He hud slumped together; his
face wns vnt'Miit, his eyes dull, lie wim
muttering to himself it queer, delirium
Jumble of words.
CHAPTER XVI Continued. I during her stay In Hrownsvlllo, iiml her
16 failure to do so wns u crave dlsnp-
'nut first, wait!" exclaimed the pnlntmont its she know thnt ho wits In
linrsiwlirrnker. "I lirlnif von soniethinu . town nttondltlg court. Yet she told
of value, too." Desiring to render fa
vor for favor, nnd to show that he was
fully deserving of the general's gene
rosity, .lose removed from Inside the
sweattiand of his hat a sealed, stamped
letter, which he handed to his em
ployer. "Yesterday I carried the mall
to town, hut ns 1 rode away from Lus
Pnlmas the senura handed me this,
with u silver dollar for myself. Look I
It Is written to the man we hoth hate."
Longorlo took the letter, read the in
scription, nnd then opened the enve
lope. Jose looked on with pleasure
while he spelled out the contents.
When the general hud finished rend
ing, he exclaimed: "Ho! A miracle I
Now I know nil that I wish o know."
"Then I did well to steal the letter,
ch7"
"Dlnhlo ! Tes I Thnt brute of a hus
band makes my angel's life unbearable,
and she flees to La Ferln to he rid of
him. flood I It fits In with my plans.
She will be surprised to see me there.
Then, when the war comes, and all Is
chnos then what? I'll warrant I can
tunke her forgot certain things and cor
tain people." Longorlo nodded with
satisfaction. "You did very well, Jos."
The latter leaned forward, his eyes
bright. "That lady Is rich. A tlnu
piir.e, truly. Stic would bring n huge
ransom."
This rcmnrk brought a smile to Lon
gorlo's face. "My dear friend, you do
not In the lenst understand," he said.
"Itunsoml What an Idea!" lie lost
himself In meditation, then, rousing,
spoke briskly: "Listen! In two, three
dnys your senorn will leave Las Pul
mas. When she Is gone you will per
form your work, like the brave man I
know you to be. You will relieve her
of her husband."
Jose hesitated, and the smllu van
ished from his face. "Honor Kd Is not
a bad man. lie likes me; lie" Lon
gorlo's gaze nltored and Jose fell silent.
"Come! You nre not losing heart,
eh? Have I not promised to make you
it rich man? Well, the t.me has ar
rived." Seeing that Jose still mani
fested no eagerness, the general went
on In u different tone: "Do not think
that you can withdraw from our littlu
arrangement. Oh.no! Do you remem
ber n promise I made to you when you
came to me In Itomoro? I said that If
you played me false I would bury you
to the neck In an ant-hill and till your
mouth with honey. I keep my prom
ises." Jose's struggle wns brief; ho prompt
ly resigned himself to the Inevitable.
With every evidence of sincerity he as
sured Longorlo of his loyalty, and de
nied the least Intention of betraying
herself that It was brave of htm to
obey her Injunctions so literally and to
leave her unembarrassed by his pres
ence at this particular time. It in
spired her to he equally brave and to
wait patiently for the day when she
could welcome hltn with clean hands
and a soul unashamed.
In the midst of Alalrc's uncertainty
of mind It gratified her to realize that
Dave alone would know of her where
abouts. She wondered if ho would
This wits unbearable 1 It was bad
enough to have Unit woman In Jones
vllle, a constant menace to his good
mime, but to allow her access to hU
own home was uuthlnkahtc. Sooner
or later they were hound to meet, and
then Piiloma would leant the disgrace-
How Capital Is Fighting "High Cost of tiving"
"Oh, dad! He's sick sick," Polomn
hbed. '"Dave, dou't you know us? ; 117
Everything Is-
sol
You're home, Dave,
all right now."
"Why, you'd hnrdly recognize the
boyl" lllazo exclaimed; then he added
his appeal to his daughter's. Hut they
could not arouse the sick mini from
his coma.
"He asked me to take him to Las
Pillions," Strange explained. "Look
to me like a sunstroke."
fill truth yes, nnd the whole neigh-1 Paloiuu turned an agonized face to
borhood would likewise know his her father, "(let n doctor, quick," she
shame. In fancy, lllazo saw his rep- Implored ; "he frightens mo."
titation torn to shreds and himself ex- p,,,t Mrs. Striiiiuu had followed, and
now she spoke up In u imitter-of-fuet r tirlces
ASIIINOTON The "fnrm-to-tnhle" movement, by which the farmers nnd
nr.. i.elne bronchi Into direct comnuinlcntlon for their mutual
benefit. Is proving n great success here In Washington. This movement was
i.uiun. is proung h inaugurated by the Washington post-
W-BUThWK "or some two years ago nnd t has
in l.iu-Mtni. n real factor In reduc
ing the cost of living. Other big cities
have taken up the Idea and are report
ing much progress.
The scheme U to put the farmer
In touch with the resident of the eltj
so that he can sell direct, delivering
by parcel post, thereby saving the
commission of the middleman, which
posed to the gibes of the people who
venerated him. He would become a
scandal among men, an olTeuse to re
spectable women ; children would shun
him. lllazo could not bear to think
come to see her. Ho wns n reckless, of the consequences, for ho was very
headstrong lover, and his desires wero fond of the women mid children of
alt too likely to overcome his dellb- Jonesvllle. Ho rose from his hum
crate resolves. She rather hoped that mock nnd tiptoed down the porch Into
In spite of his promise no would ven
ture to cross the border so that she
could see and bo near him, If only for
a day or for an hour. The possibility
frightened nnd yet pleased her. The
tlie kitchen, from which point of se
curtty he culled loudly for his daugh
ter. Alarmed at his tone, Palomn came
running. "What Is the matter?" trite
s held to he one of the chief causes
A bulletin bus been Issued by the Washington postmaster
tone: "Doctor nothing, she said. "I giving the names and addresses of several hundred farmers In Pennsylvania,
know more than all the doctors. Pa- , Maryland, Virginia, and W"M Virginia, with a list of the products they have
lomu, you go Into the house and get a for J,,,),., oM(, Mt contains the mimes of KM) people In these states who hnvt
lied ready for Mini, and you men lug I eggs for sale, another list shows lhoe who want to sell eggs nnd butter,
him In. Come. now. on the run, all of : ,u.r st advertises eggs and poultry, and n much larger list gives the
you! I'll show you what to do." Sim n,PS f those who have miscellaneous farm products for snle. This latter
took Instant charge of the situation, , il!t, inpiiiiipc ,.f.LrS. uottltrv. butter, nntntnes. fresh pork. snuingo. honey, tur-
conveiitlomil woman within her asked, quickly.
frowned, but her outlaw heart beat
fust at the thought.
Alnlrc did not explain her plans oven
to Dolores, but when her preparations
wore complete she took the Mexican
woman with her, and during F.d's ab
sence slipped away from the ranch.
Hoarding the train at Jonesvllle, she
wits in Pueblo that night.
It seemed at lust that war with
Mexico was Imminent. After mouths
of uncertainty the question had come
"(let her out !" Hluze cried, suvngely.
"(et shed of her."
"Her? Who?"
"That varmint."
"Father, what alls you?"
"Not bin' alls me, but I don't want
that caterpillar craw! In' around my
premises. I don't like her."
Palomn regarded her parent curi
ously. "How do you know you don't
like her when you've never soon horV"
"Oh, I've seen her, all I want to;
anil when Dave refused to leave the
carriage and begun to light off his
friends, gabbling wildly, It was she
who quieted him. Klhowlng Hluze and
her husband out of the way, she loused
to Issue, and that lowering cloud which and I heard her tnlkln' to you Just now.
hud hung above the horizon took oml- I won't stand for nobody tellln' you
nous shape and size. Kllswortlt awoku bad stories."
one morning to loam that an ultima- Palomn sulckored. "The Idea! She
tuni hud gone forth to President Po- doesn't"
tosl ; that the Atlantic fleet had been ' "fiot her out, und keep her out.''
ordered south; and that marines wore Hluze rumbled. "She ain't right; she
being rushed ubourd transports pond- ain't human. Why, what d'you reck
ing n general army mobilization. It on I saw her do, the other day? Makes
looked as If the United States bad mo shiver now. You remember that
finally risen In wrath, im.l as If until- big bull-snake that lives under the
lug less than it miracle could now avert
the long-expected conflict.
ISlnze Jones took the San Antonio
paper out upon the porch and com
barn, the one I've been liiyln' for?
Well, you won't believe mo, but It I tit
and her are friends, Fuel ! I saw
her pick him up and play with hlm
posed himself in the hummock to read 1 Who eel The goose-flesh popped out
the latest war news. Invasion! Troops!
The Stars and Stripes! Those wero
words that stirred Jones deeply und
caused him to neglect his work. Now
that his country had fully awakened
to the necessity of it war with Mexico
a necessity he bad long felt ho was
fired with the loftiest patriotism ami it
youthful eagerness to enlist, llluze
realized that he was old and fat and
ueur-slghted ; but what of that? He
could fight. Fighting, In fact, hud
been one. of his earliest accomplish
ments, und ho prided himself upon
knowing as much about It as uny
man could learn. He believed lit fight
lug both us a principle and as an ex
ercise; In fact, In attributed his good
health to his various neighborly "un
pleasantnesses," und ho bud more than
once argued that no great lighter over
died of a sluggish liver or of any one
of the other Ills that beset sedentary,
peuce-'ovlng people. Nations were
like men too much ease made them
lhihby. And Illnze had his own Ideas
of strategy, too. So during the perusal
f his paper he bemoaned the mis
takes his government was milking.
Why waste time with ultimatums? ho
argued to himself. He had never dona
Kxperlence hud taught him that
"Then I Did Well to Steal That Let.
ter, Eh?"
his general's confidence. After all, the
gringos were enemies, and there was
no ono of them who did uot merit de
struction.
Pleased with those sentiments, und
feeling sulllcleutly assured that Jose
was now really In the proper frame of
mind to suit his purpose, Longorlo
the way to win u Vtttlo was to bent
the other follow to the draw; hencu
this diplomatic procrastination tilled
htm with Impatience. It seemed al
most treasonable to one of Maze's In
tense patriotism.
Ho was engaged In Inylng out n plan
on mo till It busted the buttons of my
vest. She ain't my kind of people,
Pitlomu. 'Struuge' ulu't no iinme for
her; no, sir! Thtit woman's dam' near
peculiar."
Pitlomn remained unmoved. "I
thought you knew. She used to bo a
sitiiko-ohuriner."
"A what?" There wits no doubt
about It. Illnze's hair lifted. Hi;
blinked through his big spectacles; he
pawed the nlr freely with his hands.
"How can you let her touch you? I
couldn't. I'll bet she carries it pocket
ful of dried tends und nnd keeps live
lizards In her hair. I knew an old voo
doo woman thnt nto cockroaches. Oct
shed of her. Paloinn, und wo'Il fumi
gate the house."
At that moment Mrs. Strange herself
opened the kitchen door to Inquire, "Is
anything wrong?" Misreading Hluze's
expression for ono of pain, she ex
claimed: ".Mercy! Now, what have
you done to yourself?"
Hut the object of her solicitude
backed away, making peculiar clucking
sounds deep In Ills throut. Pitlomu
wits saying:
"This Is my father, Mrs. Strange.
You it ml ho have never happcucd to
meet before."
"Why, yes wo have! I know you,"
the seamstress exclaimed. Then it puz
zled light flickered In her black eyes.
"Seems to me we've met somewhere,
but I've met so many people." She
extended her hand, and Htaze took
it as If expecting to llud It cold and
nips, smoked meats. Inrd, oysters, fish, squabs, buckwheat, cornmenl, hominy.
sweet potatoes, scrapple, parsnips, carrots, apples, hickory nuts, wninuts,
peanuts, asparagus and other things.
Any farmer who has food product" for sale which enn be sent by pnrcel
post, has only to notify the Washington poMmnster to have his name put on
the list, together with his address and the things he has for sale. These lists
are published In the bulletins Issued from time to time and circulated quite
generally In the city.
Gum and Other Matters Forgotten for a Moment
TWO girls, who looked ns If they had come out of n grnbbng. were prome
nading nrm-ln-nrm nlong the stnte department flagging. Hoth wore cheap
white, elaborately trimmed nnd badly laundered skirts, with sweaters of
contrasting guutllness. somewhat sub
dued by grime. One had water scallops
to her eyebrows, plastered down with
white combs, sot with rhlnestones that
i flashed like summer lightning. Tim
I other gave it touch of simple elegnnco
to her side-part with a black bow thnt
stretched from ear to ear and be
yond. And both were Irresponsibly
Joyous and ready for fllrtntlnns on
sight.
As they renchod Seventeenth
street corner the hlnck-bow girl un
linked herself, and going over to the grnnlto cornerstone thnt Joins the rnll
Ing ran a linger under n weather-beaten edge nnd then looked crestfallen-
"Well, I'd like to know who's hud the nerve to swipe my chew'n' gum!"
"Law Maine, you don't save your gum, do you?" The toss thnt went
with the Inquiry made the rhlnestones sizzle, but black bow held her own.
"Sure, I save It! I guess If you had n mother nnd two kids to blow your
good five on, you wouldn't be so brash -with your nickels, neither, Miss Smart-
On young man's frenzied clutch from take. Course I don't throw my gum nwny!"
the carriage ami, holding bis hands In "You might as well, If somebody goes and cribs It."
hers, talked to hlm lit such u way that "Oh. well. I was In n skliloo of n hurry nnd Jnbbrd It under without
he gradually relaxed. !' was she who seeing If It stuck. On somebody's shoo good nn' tight by this time, I guess,
helped hlm out und then supported him ! I gotta dnndy hldlii' place down at the Pence monument."
into the house. It was she who got i "Say, Maine, I think It's n niiwfle thing for you to hnvo to spend your
him upstairs and Into hod, and It was money keepln' your folks like that. Why don t you
Est'
Tm Going to Pack Hit Head in It."
of cnnmalim for the United Stales scaly. Ho muttered something uulu-
, leiiigimo. "i'vo noon (lying xo see you.
when he became conscious of voices
behind him, and realized that for some
time Pitlomu hud been entertaining it
culler lit the front room. Their con
versation had not disturbed him lit
first, but now tut occasional word or
sentence, forced Its meaning through
his preoccupation, and ho found him
self listening.
Pitloma's visitor wus u woman, and
as Hlaze barkened to her voice, be felt
bis heart sink. It wus Mrs. Struuge.
She wns here again. With dllllculty
Illaze conquered till Impulse to flee,
for she was recounting u story all too
fumlllur to 1:1m.
"Why, It seemed ns If the wholo city
she who flnully stilloil his babble,
"The poor man Is burning up with a
fever," she told the others, "and fevers
are my long suit, (let mo some towel"
and u lut of Ice."
Illaze, who hud watched the snake
charmer's deft ministrations with
mingled amazement and suspicion. In
quired: "Wlint nre yon going to do
with Ice? Ice ain't medicine."
"I'm going to pack his -bond In It."
Hlnzo wns horrified. "Do you want
to freeze his brain?"
Mrs. Strange turned on him nngrlly.
'You get out of my way and mind your I
own business. 'Freeze his brain 1
With u sniff of Indlgnutlon she pushed 1
past the Interloper. I
Hut lllazo was waiting for her when
she returned u few moments later with
bowls and bottles und various reme
dies which she had commaudeered. He
summoned sufllclent courage to block
her way and Inquire:
"What you got there, now, ma'am?"
Mrs. Struuge glared ut hlm bnlefully.
With an effort ut patience she In
quired: "Suy! What ulls you, uny-how?"
Tones swnllnwed hard. "Dnderstnnd,
he's a friend of mine. No muglo goes."
"Magic?"
"No cockroaches or snakes' tongues,
"You mind your own business, Sadie Hlnnk, nnd leave mine nlono! I
gnttn good mouimii nn' the kids uro tho cutest goln'. Sny, look tit that young
sojor feller. Ain't he grit ml?"
The gum wns forgotten. Hut n woman who wns strolling nlong beside tho
youngsters, for n reason, caught n flush of loyalty In tho eyes of tho blnck
bow girl. It wasn't the shine of rhlnestones.
It was the real thing.
tr.nl? It,,, ii'lrwllm- trull lifif-lr tiivvnril I . .
........... or Uulve8tn Wll there, und yet no
hungre do cristo. i bmly off,,rwJ t0 ,,, U8 , ,ln.ss
t inn If f
CHAPTER XVII.
A Warning.
A few days after she hud written to
Judge Ellsworth Alnlru followed her
letter In person, for, having at lust de
cided to divorce Kd, she acted with
characteristic decision. Slnco Klls
wortlt had more than once advised this
very course, she went to Hrownsvlllc,
enlisting his willing support. She hud
written Dave Luw, telling hltn that
ld:e Intended to go to La Fcrlu, there
to remain ponding tho hcnrlng of her
suit. To be sure, she would have pre
ferred some pluce of refuge other than
La Ferln, but sho reasoned that there
no would at least be undisturbed, nnd
thnt ISd, even if he wished to effect a
reconciliation, would not dare to follow
tier, since he wpb persona non grata
In federal Mexico.
She had counted upon seeing Dare
innkcr was soylng. "Phil was it per
fect hero, for the rUIIIun was twice
his size. Oh, It wus nn awful light I
I tinte to think of It."
"What made him pinch you?"
Palimm inquired.
"Heaven only knows. Some men nre
droudful that way. Why, ho left n
black-und-blue mark I"
Hluze broke Into a cold sweat nnd
cursed feebly under his breath.
"He wasn't drunk, cither. Ho wns
Just naturally depraved. You could
sco It In his face."
"How did you escape?"
"Well, I'll tell you. Wo chased hlm
up across tho boulevard and In umoiig
the tents, und then" Mrs. Strange
lowered her voice until only u mur
mur reached tho . listening mun. A mo
ment, then both women burst Into
thrill, excited laughter, und Uluze hlm
self blushed furiously.
she told hint, "and tliunk you for glv
lug uiu Pitloma's work. I love you
both for It."
lllazo was Immensely relieved that
t lit A dreaded crisis had come and gutie;
but wishing to make assurance doubly
sure, he contorted his features Into it
smile the like of which Ills daughter
hail never seen, nnd In a disguised
voice Inquired, "Now where do you
reckon you ever suw mo?"
The seamstress shook her head. "I
don't know, but I'll plnco yo j before
long. Anyhow, I'm glud you aren't
hurt. From the way you called Palomn
I thought you were. I'm hitndy around
sick people, so I "
"Listen!" Palomn Interrupted.
"There's someone ut tho front door."
Site left the room; Illaze wits edging
lifter her when ho heiiril her Utter u
stilled scream and cull his niiini
Now Pulomit wns nut the kind of
girl to scream without cause, and her
cry brought Illaze to the front of the
bouse at it run. Hut vhat hu suw there
reassured hlm momentarily; nothing
was In sight more alarming than one
of tho depot hacks, In thu rear sent of
which wns huddled the figure of
man. Palomn was tlylng down the walk
toward tho gate, und Phil Strange was
awaiting on tho porch. As Illaze flung
himself Into view tho hitter exclaimed :
"I brought him straight here, Mr.
Jones, 'cause I knew you wns his best
friend."
"Who? Who Is It?'
"Dave Law. He must have come In
on the noon train. Anyhow, I found
him like thnt." The two men hurried
I toward the road, siue uy side.
Mrs. Strange lingered n heavy chlnn
bowl us If tempted to bounce It from
Hluze's head. Then, not deigning to
argue, she whisked past lilm und Into
the sickroom. It wus evident from her
expression that hho considered the
master of the house tt .harmless but
offensive old busybody.
For some time longer Hluze hung
about the sickroom; then, his presence
being completely ignored, ho risked
further antagonism by telephoning for
Jnnesvlllo's loading doctor. Not Had
ing the physician ut homo, he sneaked
out to the barn und, taking Pulomu's
cur, drove nwny In search of htm. It
was fully two hours later when he re
turned to discover that Dave was sleep
lug quietly.
Duvo slept for twenty hours, und
oven when he awoke It wns uot to n
dense of relief from tho grny, drab
rotors of peace times.
Kvory second man on tho street is
o soldier, n sailor or n marine.
Any hour of the dnyllt span ono
clear appreciation of his surroundings. , may look to the cnrdlnnl points nnd
At Hrst he was relieved to And that : witness a military lecm-ic.
Good Work by Council of National Defense
PItKPAIlATIONS thnt are being mnde for participation by the United Stntce.
In tho greatest war of all history Include the strengthening on n stu
pendous scale of nil lines of communication lending out of the cnpltnl. The
vast system of telephone nnd tele
graph wires nnd cables nidlntlng out
of Washington hns been more than,
doubled during the last few months.
Comprehensive plnns have neon drawn
for placing the military departments,
thp trensury nnd tho department of"
ngrlcnlture In close wire touch with
nil of tho flnnnclnl nnd agricultural
centers nnd the mllltnry enmps nnd'
posts throughout tho country.
Lnng-dlstnnco service nlrendy has
been practically doubled and In addi
tion n vast system of private wires Is being rapidly Installed. Plans for titer
mobilization of tho telephone nnd telegraph service for wnr purposes, which,
involve tho Inylng of a now underground cnblo from Washington to New
York, containing more than 80,000 miles of wlro and supplying Importnnt
cities en route, are virtually completed throught tho commlttco on telephones
and telegrnphs of the Council of Nntlonnl Defense.
When completed tho new system will connect the wnr, navy nnd other
governmental departments with strategic points all over the country by u
widespread network of speclnl and private telephone nnd telogntph wires.
Everywhere the telephone nnd telegraph companies hnvo given procedenco
to tho government service.
Long-distance fncllltlcs In nnd out of Washington nlrcndy Iwtc been
nearly doubled, the original system of M8 long-dlstnnco wires lendliu; out of
the cnpltnl hnvlng been Increased to 2-10. In addition to tho new cable to
New York, under contemplation, copper wlro will be strung nhove ground la
many directions. When nil this work Is completed there will bo nporoxl
mntcly COO long-dlstanco wires radiating from Wnshlngton.
Uncle' Sam's Uniform Everywhere in the Capital
WASHINGTON the sent of tho war pulse tells n remarknblo story of
the change In tho status of tho uniform, tho Increuslng use of It nnil it
popularity. It Is as If America has turnea to a rorin or militarism wua m
the splitting pain In his head wns gone,
but Imagined himself to he still In tho
maddening local train from Hrowns
vlllc. Hy und by he recognized Palo
mil und Mrs. Strange, mid tried to talk
to them, but the connection between
brain und tongue wus Imperfect, und
ho iniido a hud business of conversa
tion. It seemed queer thnt he should
bo In bed ut the Joneses'. When he hud
recovered from his surprise he turned
his head nnd suw Mrs. Strange slum
bering In u chair beside his bed; from
her uncomfortable position und evi
dent fatigue he Judged that she must
have kept a long nnd faithful vlgt'
over hltn.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Fnr out Pennsylvania nvcnuo n
troop of cavalry Is Jogging nlong to
,'someyhcre."
Over the brow of tho Fifteenth
Ftrr-ct hill a battnlton of Infantry is
swinging along to Join tho cnvnlry
"somewhere." neyond the city, camped up and down the Conduit rond, nlong:
the old Chpsnpenko canal, far over Into Vlrglnln, are thousands of young men,
In tho khaki of tho service, nwnltlng tho rnll to "somewhere."
And nt night, tho grim, gray wnr department building blinks 1,000 yellow
eyes, way Into the small hours of tho morning. It keeps Its secrets nnd winks
wisely.
Yet it Imparts a solid confidence to the thousands of men In khaki who
nro camped within sight of tho cnpltul and nwnlt the cnll to "somewhere."
Tho dny of uniforms as a distinguishing mark for swashbuckling lovers
has passed.
Today they trark thr young man of serious purpose.