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neighbors
W ROBERT STEAB
[JiwJicM -AUTHOf?. or "THE COUJPUNCHER'.'
•©PYRIGHT #Y ROM* | STtAD THE HOMESTEADERS;
•
SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER I.—Lured by his four
jr«ar»old •r-old playmate, playmate, Juan Jean Lane, La Prank
Hall, aged six, ventures on the for¬
bidden wall of He a falls dam, into in a the small water, On¬
tario town. possible death by
and Is saved from
©tinging |f«zt to Jean's outstretched arms,
day he has a vision of romance
When Jean Informs him that because of
their adventure of the day before he 1*
in duty bound to marry that her, they He agrees,
the only until proviso being "grownups." are to
wait they are
CHAPTER II.—With Jean's brother
John, also aged six, Frank begins
school. Two years later they are Joined
hr Jean and Frank's sister Marjorie.
A little later Jean confides to Frank,
In verse, her hope of some day the becom¬ '‘pro¬
ing “Mrs. Frank Hall.” He accepts when his
posal." la fourteen
mother dies. He takes a job in the
mill where his father works. The boys
are eighteen when John's father Is
killed in an accident. Two year* later
Frank’s father and John’s mother are
married. Dissatisfied with conditions,
and ambitious, the two and boys make
plans to go to Manitoba “home
•tead," the girls agreeing to go with
them. They set out.
CHAPTER 111.—At Regina considera¬ they meet
“•Jake," who for And a monetary them satisfactory
tion agrees to the
homesteads. He does Sections so, and Fourteen two
friends file claims on
and Twenty-two.
CHAPTER IV.—Jake sagely advises
the adventurers In the purchase of sup¬
plies, and in a wagon drawn by a yoke
of oxen, and with a cow, the four set
out for their future homes,
s CHAPTER V. Construction of
—
"•hacks" and the making of a garden
arc their first occupations. There Is
a pond of good water on Frank’s farm,
which serves them until they dig a
Well, A young Englishman of the name
of call “Spoof" is a neighbor of theirs. They
breeding on Spoof, education, typical Englishman of
and who la living
in a tent.
CHAPTER VI— Spoof, on his return
visit, discloses himself as a man of
varied social attainments. He promises
to give the girls lessons on the banjo.
Frank has an uneasy feeling that Jean
takes an altogether unnecessary and
undesirable Interest In him. His jeal¬
ousy U aroused.
CHAPTER VII
Affairs began to move with some
rapidity In our little settlement. Until
now we hud had the world, as far us
the eye could carry, to ourselves, but
Spoof proved only the advance guard
of a Stream of neighbors which, from
its source in a dozen diffewkit springs
of humanity, was to pour in upon us
during the next few months. Wednes¬
day night we came back from Spoofs,
as we had a little shyness about being
overtaken in our good works, and the
next morning, while I was gulping
great draughts of ozone in front of the
shack before breakfast, Marjorie called
over ray shoulder: /
“What’s that, away to the east,
Frank?”
Sure enough, (here was a little white
pyramid outlined against the horizon;
another tent pitched against front
trenches of civilization,
“Neighbors, Marjorie; neighbors!” I
said, “We’re getting to be quite a
community. Do you ever think of the
day when all this wilderness of prairie
will be plowed, every foot of it: all
bearing something for (he world’s
n’eeds, with prosperous farmhouses at
every corner, schools, churches—”
“I smell the porridge 1” Marjorie ex¬
claimed, rushing into the shack. She
had a way of cutting off my rhapsodies
like that.
Jack had seen the tent, too, and he
and Jean came over at noon to discuss
it. We decided to knock off work
early that evening and all drive over
to make the acquaintance of the new¬
comers.
! We found that the tent was pitched
on Eighteen, In (he next township to
tin,; east. As we came up we were
greeted by a tine collie dog, who
seemed to he suffering from the con¬
flicting emotlous of ids natural good
humor and a sense that we had no
business on Eighteen. His rush upon
us with great barking and shod’ of
ferocity ended in much affiliable tail
wagging. Evidently we measured up
to Ids requirements, which we took to
be no mean compliment.
A team of ponies were tethered on
the prairie not far away, anil a demo¬
crat stood beside the tent, with some
of Its burden still to be unloaded. A
woman of slender build and rather
striking beauty stood at the door.
There was surprise, and, as I thought,
a suggestion of fear in her eyes. More
remarkable was the sudden and un¬
mistakable relief which sprang into
her expression when she had seen us
clearly.
I am not a detective, even of the
amateur kind, but I found myself in¬
stantly gripped by a conclusion. “The
■woman is afraid," I said to myself,
“and yet she is no coward, she has no
fear of strangers, bnt she Is afraid of
someone —afraid of someone she
knows. She was relieved when she
saw we were strangers.” The thought
was one which was to recur to me
from many angles during the next few
months.
She seemed to hesitate about greet¬
ing us, and Jean, always the quick¬
witted one of our quartette, was the
first to break a rather stupid silence.
Site sprang lightly from the wagon and
went forward with forms outstretched.
. Vii-Y ' -
“We are your neighbors, from Four¬
teen and Twenty-two," she explained.
“We saw your tent, and thought we
would welcome you to pralrleland.”
"That Is good of you,” said a well
modulated English voice, but some way
the voice seemed to break jnst there,
and the lips of the newcomer went all
a-tremble. The next we knew she and
Jean bad their arms about each
other. ...
“Ob, how horribly stupid of me!”
the stranger exclaimed, in a moment or
two, disengaging herself and dabbing
her eyes with a little lump of hand¬
kerchief. “One gets a bit—a bit lone¬
ly, In spite of everything. You will
think I am rather a bad pioneer. My
name Is Mrs. Alton, and I’m so glad
you came, Miss—Miss—’’
Jean Introduced herself and the
others of our party, and then we clam¬
bered down out of the wagon.
“Gerald and I have been very much
alone,” Mrs. Alton explained. “Ger¬
ald doesn’t seem to mind It a bit—
rather glories in it, I think. Already
lie has made some great explorations,
but always under Sandy's watchful
eye. Sandy Is a great comfort. Aren't
you, jrfr?"
Spe Ipe turned ti to the dog, who Redately
held up one paw in acknowledgment
of her remark.
"Gerald, I should have told you-, has
just turned three. I am a widow,”
Mrs. Alton rattled on, as though not
wishing to stress the point—“and
Gerald and I have our way to. make In
the world. He is tired now, and asleep
after a great day’s roaming, but I shall
wajte him before you go.”
"Oh, please don’t!” Jean entreated.
“Let us see him as he sleeps," and
without waiting for an invitation she
gently made her way into the little
tent.
“Don’t you think me clever?” Mrs.
Alton asked, when we had at last dis¬
covered it.
It consisted of a trunk, with the HU
turned back, and about half the con¬
tents removed. In this she had laid
a little mattress, and on the mattress
slept a beautiful toy, his face still
ruddy from his wrestle with the prai¬
rie winds; his lips cherry red and
slightly parted; his little arras thrown
jauntily above his head, Jean leaned
and touched the breathing lips with
hers, and so did Marjorie, and a little
later I saw tears on the cheeks of
both. It was then I remembered that
A Woman of Slender Build and Rather
Striking Beauty Stood at the Door.
these girls bad not seen a child sines
ue left Regina in the spring, and the
mothering fastinct in them, pent up
through ail those lonely months, now
burst forth in sweet silent tears. 1
began to realize that Gerald Alton
was to i>e one of the important mem¬
bers of the community.
“Isn’t he lovely—lovely?” Jean was
murmuring as though unable to tear
herself from bis side. “Mrs. Alton, 1
am sure you -have placed us ail under
a debt of gratitude. This community
simply had to have a baby.”
After that, conversation came eas¬
ier, and we found ourselves talking
about farm life, and the problems of
the homesteader. Mrs. Alton drank in
every word with avidity; she was
cage]; for information on the most
.eatTTal affairs. she
“I am so frightfully stupid!”
exclaimed. “You see, I know nothing
about farming, and I suppose It was a
very wild notion that I should take
a homestead. I dfei it on Gerald’s ac¬
count. I shall manage some way, and
in three years—byv the time he must
start to school—the farm will be
mine. Then I shall sell it or mort¬
gage it to give him an education.”
“By that time we may have a school
next door," I suggested. “People will
flow , in here in crowdsr once they
make a start. Have you plans for
carrying on the work of the farm T
“I have two men following with
boards t» tuiid a house; Just a very
tiny house, in keeping with my purse.
Then I hope to hire a neighbor to do
some plowing, and I will plant some
com next spring. I shall raise chick¬
ens, and have a great garden—I know
all about gardening,” she added
sudden ( of
naively, with a return con¬
fidence. “You should have seen xny
English roses!”
-We had not the heart to tell her
that there lay a great gulf between
English roses and a Canadian cab¬
bage patch, and she rattled on, evi¬
dently glad of someone to watch with
sympathy the mirage castles which
she was building on her horizon.
“For myself, I am quite penniless, 1
she confessed, thrusting her upturned
palms toward us with a little irnpul- ’
sire gesture. “Gerald is my re¬
source, as well as my responsibility.
He has a hundred pounds a year. We
shall invest it in this farm. I am
sure we are going to prosper wonder¬
fully.
“Ail the world seems to circle
around Gerald,” she added, as though
it were an afterthought
She made Jean and Marie sit down
on a box on which she had spread a
steamer mg. Jack and I stood at the
door of the tent, where the setting
sun blazoned our wind-tanned faces a
ruddy red.
“How healthy you men are!" she
exclaimed, clasping her Angers in a
nervous grip. “If only Gerald will
grow up like that!"
“We will come over when the men
bring the lumber, and help them
build your house,” Jack volunteered.
“The lumber—what lumber? Oh,
the boajrds! Oh, bo w good of you I”
The regard in which she held us
appeared to rise another degree.
“And are you carpenters, as well as
farmers?” she asked. “How wonder¬
fully clever you men are, here. I had
to go to a doctor in Regina—Gerald
had a rash, or something—it was in
the evening and I found him at his
house, building a ehicken-eoop. Jolly
wonderful, isn’t It?"
As the shadow of the democrat
filled the tent door wo spoke of leav¬
ing.
“Not until you have had tea,” she
Insisted. "We shall have tea with
biscuits and jam. I bought an oil
stove in Regina—a most wonderful
machine. We shall have it ready In
a moment."
While she started iter oil stove she
asked, casually enough, "Am I the
only newcomer in all the big prairie
which you have been having to your¬
selves?"
“No; you are the second,” I an¬
swered. “We already have one neigh¬
bor, a countryman of yours, down on
section Two. Spoof, he calls himself,
although that is not his real name.”
She was working over the stove,
with her back toward us, and perhaps
she dallied longer than there was any
need for, but l took no notice of the
matter at the time.
“Wliat a strange name,” she said,
after a while. . . . “Is he there
now—I mean, have you seen him
lately? A countryman of mine; you
know, 1 must be interested in him,”
she added, brightly, turning her face
to us again.
At length, with assurances that we
would repeat our visit soon, and a
promise from Mrs. Alton that she
would return it when the men had
her house under way, we clambered
into our wagon and started the oxen
on their slow, lumbering gait home¬
ward. Sandy saw us properly off the
place, and even stood at attention
until we faded out -of signt in the
There Is likely to he a nip
to the night air on the prairies even
in midsummer, and Jean, I noticed,
snuggled comfortably beside me on
tile board across the wagon box which
served as a seat. ... Or perhaps
it was that for the first time in
months the latent motherhood In her
nature had been stirred into con¬
sciousness.
It was Sunday before we heard or
•aw anything more of Spoof. In a
khaki-colored shirt and corduroy
breeches and leggings and an Indian
helmet which he had dug up from
somewhere he was a picturesque and
striking figure as he strode into the
grateful shade of the shanty. Under
his arm he carried a banjo case.
Spoof took off his helmet and sat
down in the shade. A ring of dust
had formed on his fair temples and
forehead and his brown hair was
curly with perspiration. He was a
man good to look at; straight and
lean, but not too spare; with white
teeth that flashed behind lips always
ready to spring to a smile beneath
a sandy ryusl/ttthe that 'had more in
it of promise than of realization. His
hands were small and finely formed,
with long, delicate fingers, and he
gave his nails a degree of attention
not often found among those so close
to the realities of life as were we
pioneers.
Opening the banjo ease he produced
not only a banjo but a box of candy,
which he had managed to smuggle
into it
“The ladies, I hope, Will accept,”
said he, tendering the candy to Jean,
“If accompanied by a serenade in
our honor?” was the quick rejoinder.
“Cut not until after I have had a
bath, and have somewhat recovered
my wind," Spoof pleaded, and was
excused.
It was evening before he took up
his banjo, but almost with the first
sweep of its clamoring strings he
started vibrations which seemed to
catch our little hand of exiles some¬
where about the heart and squeeze ns
suddenly hollow with loneliness. Then
he sang, dipping into little fragments
of repertoire, until at last he hit upon
something that .Jean had learned htf
tore we left the East, and there her
clear soprano joined his tenor as nat¬
urally as one brook mingles with an¬
other and both flow on, singing a new
song which Is all of the old one, and
something more. I had never learned
to sing, and while I felt the heart
tugs of their harmony there were
other strings tugging at my heart as
well.
“But we forgot the greatest news,”
Jean exclaimed, in a pause after one
of their selections. - “We have neigh¬
bors—two new neighbors—three, conn¬
ing Sandy. They are living on Eight¬
een, to the east; surely you saw
the tent?”
“So I did,” said -Spoof, “but I
thought it might be a wandering In¬
dian family. Two, did yon say? A
married couple?”
“No, a widow, Mrs. Alton, and her
baby Gerald, the dearest little chap.
He puts us down for Indians, and
with some reason.”
“Gerald?" said Spool “How old
is her’ ”
“Jnst turned three, so Mrs. Alton
told us. You should see her; not
very big, but pluck to the marrow.
She has taken a homestead so that
she can raise the money to educate
her boy. She is coming over as soon
as she is settled, and we must have
you meet her. . She’s English, and
you’ll love her.”
Jean’s frankness rather set me at
ease ing the again. grip Evidently that Spoof I was magnify-1 gaining
was
upon her. She was content that he
should love his new English neighbor. !
“I shall be wonderfully interested j
in her,” Spoof said, gayly, hut it :
seemed to me that his mind had sud- j
deniy gone all a-rarable. There was a !
moment's silence, then he took up:
the thread again. “I once knew a j
little boy of that name—Gerald—was
much attached to him. Strange how I
an incident—a name, for example—
will recaii a whole chain of memo¬
ries.”
What memories of Spoof’s were
aroused he did not say,' but he sang
no more, and presently decided It war
time to go home.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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