THE ALAMANCE GLEANER
VOL. LII.
THE
KILLING OF
BLACK DOE
By TRENTON CLURE
'
(Copyright by W. O. Chapman.)
PERHAPS Dunn should never
have' Joined the Northwestern
mounted police, for of all types
of men who are out of their ele
ment there, the moody, introspective,
unaggressive man comes easily first.
Rut Dunn had had a hankering after
the military life when he went out to
Calgary two years before.
Now he was In for several years,
iind cursing his luck dally. What he
liked best was the lonely patrols up
In the Big Lake country.
He*had met Marie Dufour there,
the daughter of an old trapper who
had- retired, like his fur-bearing
beasts, before thq march of civiliza
tion. He had seen her three times
during the past two years, and it had
been understood that when he became
a corporal he was to speak to her fa
ther. %
But the coveted stripes would never
be his so long as Sergeant Mitchell
remained in the squadron. A liard
featured, service-bitten man, Mitchell
made Dunn's life wretched. He In
spected his uniform with an eagle eye
that discovered the smallest speck or
flaw, lie hauled him before his officers
on trivial charges; in short, he did
his best to break Dunn or force him
out of the service.
It was a long time before Dunn dis
covered that Mitchell had met Mari»
in the Big Lake country the year be
fore and coveted her beauty. When
Dunn understood this he privately re
solved that some day he would even
up the score between them. For the
present he remained quietly in bar
racks, doing his duty and suffering
- under Mitchell's ill-treatment. »
The quiet life was interrupted by
one of those periodical excitements
that descended upon the barracks.
Black Doe bad shot a police officer
at Neverport, and was making for the
Big Lake country. Mitchell was or
dered to take two troopers and get
him.
It was a Journey of two hundred
miles, in the slushy period of Spring.
But tlje polibe never postpones its
vengeance when it can avoid it, and
never abandons it.
Dunn could not Imagine what it was
that impelled Mitchell to select him
along with Crum. Perhaps Mitchell
wished to see the' man he most hated
In Mariels presence, so as to .be more
sure of his bearings. Whatever the
'native, he selected Dunn, and he
gibed at him all the' way.
He found fault with Jilm during the
long and -painful day marches, with
his equipment, his care of his horse,
bis manner of riding. He detailed him
on onfr-man fatigues in the daytime,
and gave him all the difficult work.
Dunn's rage smoldered, but the Idea
in the back of his mind that he would
get even with Mitchell hardly assumed
any tangible form.
In due course they reached the
store at Big Lake. Their visit was a
complete surprise. Black Doe had
been seen in the neighborhood, and
evidently was off. bis guard. Mitchell
ascertained that he had made no
purchases, without which it would be
impossible for him to continue on his
way northward into the barrens.
"We'H spend the night at Johnny
Dufour's," he said to Crum, as the
three rode away toward the shack.
Dunn's "'heart sank when he off
saddled. Marie was directly in the
doorway to greet the visitors, and her
eyes wandered with, wonder from
Dunn's face to Mitchell's.
"Take my horse to the stables!"
commanded Mitchell curtly. "And.
say! Take Crum's, too. And see that
they're* well groomed before you
come In to supper."
Dunn went away obediently, riding
his horse and leading the two others.
Now he began to understand, he
thought, the reason why Mitchell had
selected him. He wanted to humiliate
him in the eyes of the girl.
At supper Mitchell kept up a cross
fire of chaff, banter and spitefulness,
directed at Dunn. Dunn's acquies
cence seemed to enrage him. He
would have welcomed a chance either
for a brawl or for punishment for In
discipline ; hut Dnnn only sat silently,
watching Marie furtively, while the
sergeant's eyes were alight with
triumph. He felt that he had won,
bad shown 'Marie his isuperiority over
Dunn.
They retired to their bunks. They
were to start up the trail at day
breok, on the quest for Black Doe.
I'uftn slept fitfully; he was. -thinking
of Marie, and his heart was full of
Passionate resentment.
He was the first up, and went to,
"roi'tn the horses. As he came back
to the shack, he heard Mitchell's voice
at »«J the girl's behind the open door.
Mitchell had his arm round her waist '
and was drawing her toward him.
Crum was nowhere in sight.
Then Dunn knew what he meant to
do. He crept back very softly to the
stable and loaded his rifle. He took
it in his arms, carrying it as a mother
might her first born, and approached
the doof again.
Mitchell held the girl in his arms
now, and she was struggling as he
tried to kiss her. Dunn, aiming de
liberately, was conscious of the open
door at the back of the shack, and a
clump of dwarf fir about a hundred
yards distant. Then he concentrated
his attention upon Mitchell. Carefully
he drew a bead on hiin so as to avoid
hitting the girl.
Bang!
* Mitchell leaped into the air, flung
out his arms, and pitched head fore
most. Dunn stepped Into the shack.
There was no need to look more than
once at the dead face; or the blood
oozitig from the heart. )
.Marie ran to Dunn, sobbing wildly.
"You did right, the beast!" she cried.
"Come with me," said Dunn.
They raced to the stables, and In a
moment he had freed the hordes,
saddled them, and placed lier on the
sergeaht's. In another moment they
wece galloping across the barrens. At
the time Dunn was conscious of worn*
dering where old Dufour and Crum
were. But a moment later they heard
shouts behind them. They galfoped
frantically forward, anywhere, so long
as they could win free.
Crum was a man of resolution, and
Dunn knew that he would take up the
chase and never leave it. He reckoned
on the fact that Crum's horse was the
slowest of the three. The freshly fall
ing snow would hide their tracks If
they could win the country across the
river bed, where a series of hummocks
swelled into the Big Lake mountains.
Far behind liiin Dunn heard a
shout. He turned and looked back as
he rode. Crum was standing at the
door of the stable, waving his arms
to hiin.
A few minutes later Dunn, looking
back, saw Crum .mounted and in pur
suit of them, a tiny figure upon a tiny
horse. They rode madly for the dip
toward the river.
"We must be careful," said Marie,
as they began the descent. "The rocks
are dangerous."
Even as she spoke her horse tripped
on a projecting bowlder, stumbled,
and flung her face downward upon
the hard bed of the frozen stream.
Dunn 'leaped from his horse and
kneeled beside her. She had been
stunned by the fall; she opened her
eyes and looked about her half-con
scious.
The horse scrambled to its feet, ran
up the bank, and raced back toward
the stable, followed by Dunn's horse.
And Dunn, kneeling at Marie's side,
knew that chance had settled his par
ticular problem. And in the distance
Crum came on inexorably.
Dunn shrugged his shoulders as one
who has played his last card. He car
ried the girl up to-the top of the bank
and waited for Crum, who came gal
loping up on his horse. He flung
himself to his feet, panting, like his
steed. i ,
"What's the matter with you, to
play this crazy trick' after killing
him?" he shouted.
Dunn smiled. "I guesfe you're right,
Crum," he said. "Take the girl on
your saddle; I'll walk. You can trust
me."
Crum, staring at him in apparent
perplexity, lifted Marie to t|»e saddle
before him. She had faHen into a
swoon again. Then he rode slowly
back toward the cabin, with Dunh
walking a little distance In front of
him.
He turned Ills horse away when
near the stable, and went toward the
little patch of stunted trees that had
struck upon Dunn's attention at the
moment when he raised bis rifle.
Dunn saw the motionless body of a
man lying hidden among them. It
was Black Doe.
"How did you get him, Dunn?"
asked Crum, dismounting and turn
ing the body over. "See! He had
Just fired. You
time." .•
The dead man's fingers were
clutched about the trigger; the rifle
had been discharged; over his heart
was a bullet wound.
Dunn, unable to speak, accompa
nied Crum back to the shack. Mitchell
lay where he had fallen, and old Du
four was muttering in the corner, aa
If he did not understand.
"He got poor Mitchell a second be
fore you fired." said Crum. "Over the.
heart, too. See!"
Dunn looked in horror now mixed
with agitation. He saw that track of
the bullet through the breast and out
under the rib. The missile lay upon
the floor beside the inert man. It was
a battered .45, such as the Indians
u ~e Dunn's bullet had been a .303.
And It had been Black Doe whom ha
had killed, not Mitchell.
Sheep's Long Ftut
Seventeen days after being missed
by an Osswestry (Eng.) farmer, a
sheep was found Inside a large wa
ter pipe near the Liverpool water
works. The animal was quite frisky,
in spite of the long fast.
"HARD LUCK" MINER
LET FORTUNE SLIP
Claim Worth Half-Million
Sold for $l5O.
The death at Quesnel, B. C., of Abe
Stott, characterized as the original
"hard luck" miner, recalls the story
of how he sold for $l5O a claim Which
brought Its purchaser a cool half-mil
lion, says the Los Angeles Times.
Since Stotfs death the story of his
early adventures in the Cariboo coun
try has been told by old timers who
knew him well and were in the terri
tory when he listened to wiseacres
who told him there could not be gold
In his holdings and witnessed him sell
his birthright for a mess of pottage.
Pat McKenna, a young Irish police
man, fresh from the Chicago blue
coated force, gets a place in this story
because if he had not made Stott's
acquaintance the Englishman proba
bly never would have made his strike.
McKenna made his way \ip to Bar
kerviile, then the headquarters of the
Cariboo miners, and after a week of
trying to drink the hardened miners
under the table he decided to seek a
quieter spot. He ran into Stott, who
told him of the quietude around Eight-
Mile lake, where the fish bit well.
A week in the new atmosphere was
enough for the young Irishman to
throw off the effect of his drinking
bout and give biin his fill of fishing.
He decided he would do some prospect
ing. He did not know how to go
about it and Stott, a window dresser,
could give him little assistance. So
Pat decided to start right at the camp.
He dug a hole in front of the tent
in which they lived. Presently he dis
covered nuggets in the bottom of his
pan, even though practical miners said
formation of the gropnd barred gold.
Yet the partners turned 'up gold nug
gets whenever they felt like panning
a barrowful. Occasionally they went
out and fished a day or two and re
plenished their pokes for months at a
time.
Even itlien the scientists wouldn't
admit gold was there in paying quan
tities. Eventually Stott became dis
heartened and sold his share In the
claim to Billy Ogden, an old-time
prospector, for $l5O.
Ogden and McKenna worked their
claim for a whilfe and when a Minne
apolis man named Hannah offered
them $16,000 for their property they
grabbed it before the buyer could
change his mind. Hannah began in
tensive work on the mine and when
he got through with it he had taken
gold to the value of $500,000 from the
claim.
Woman Good Organizer
American genius for organization
evinced by Countess Felix von Voss,
formerly Esther Lawrence of New
York, has revolutionized one of the
richest landed estates in the former
grand duchy of Mecklenburg. Coun
tess Voss, the only American in the
titled aristocracy of this province,
has identified herself with her hus
band's agrarian interests. The poul
try farm and the horticulture of the
estate, are personally managed by
her. Both have been brought up to
date. It was the countess' idea, too,
to provide a market for her own
and neighboring products. She or
ganized a sort of producers' co-opera
tive store, from which the products
are in turn sold to more distant places.
Fortunate Aeeident..^'
When a painter Carelessly upset his
bucket In the ore bins of a California
mining company recently, he unwit
tingly exposed an improved method
for precipitating the iron pyrites In
the minerals, a process which Is ex
pected to yield the mining company
as much as $50,000 a year. The paint
caused the "foam" on the bins to dis
appear and the effect was at first
considered serious, as the form has
been thought necessary to separate
mineral concentrates. Recoveries
that day. however, ran 12 per cent
higher than usual, for the paint con
tained linseed oil and kerosene. Ingre
dients that proved effective agents In
the protfess.-'-Popular Mechanics Mag
azine.
Modern Crusoe
Twenty-five years on a tropical
Island under ideal, almost paradisial
circumstances, was the lot of one E.
J. Banfleld, a former London news
paper man, and his wife. A posthu
mous book on his experiences has
Just been published. It's the account
of a modern Robinson Crusoe, only
the circumstances were happier than
In those In which the hero of Defoe
Is pictured. His retreat to his "Isle
of Eden" followed a breakdown "due
to the weariness, the fever and the
fret of crowded years of newspaper
work.'' For most Journalists there Is
no such earthly paradise In store;
they must still "sit. and hear one an
other groan It"
GRAHAM, N, C., THURSDAY DECEMBR 30, 1926
KING'S 6NGUSH VS.
"SLANGUAG6"
—— MY WORD' WE
■ MEVWTALKED THAT
ME AH IRON MAN. I VE GOT j WAV Hi THF" DAVS
TO DRAG MY FRILL TO A CHANCE! THAT APPLE- .' OPTH E SOOD
.SHINDIG MUCE IS NO GO WITH THIS 9
____ _J WEKSENHEJMER. YOU WAMT ■¥»*"/ f
Drawing by Ray
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
m, HEBE are the slang
words of yesterday?
jvd if I back, into the vacuity
raggJ from which they came,
and then into oblivion.
Some of them may sur
vive for a few weeks or
a few months before they disappear.
A still smulier number will persist for
a year or more, then find their way
into new editions of our dictionaries.
But they will be labeled thus: (Slang)
or (colloq.), for the king's English Is
as conservative as the English king,
referred to in that designation of our
language, and no upstart word need
apply for admission unless it can show
some kind of ancestry to justify its
breaking into Word Society. Even
tually, of course, it may appear in
Diction's Blue Book without the stig
ma of (Slang) or (Colloq.) attached
to it, but the period of probation is
usually a long one. And thus are new
words born.
Who remembers the favorite slang
words or expressions of ten years ago,
or Ave years ago, or even a year ago?
How long has it been since you told
a friend to "skiddoo" or exclaimed
"oh, you kid!" or declared that your
plans has gone "blooey"? Or,'for that
matter, how recently have you retort
ed "So's your old man"? To say that
fashions in slang change as rapidly
as fashions in women's dress is an in
adequate statement of the speed
which we Americans add to the bright
lexicon of youth and then discard the
new extravaganza as worn-out and
trite.
That applies, of course, to the ma
jority of the current slang phrases.
They are rtie ones which can offer no
flbfinologlcal ancestry to Justify their
Bat for such a word as
cootie, which the lexicographer la
bels: (British soldiers' slang) and
which can point back to the ancient
Sanskrit "kutl," meaning "bSdy," or
to the Urdu, an obscure eastern dia
lect, "khuthl," meaning "scab," there
Is a good chance that It will becdme
an English word In good and regular
standing. The same is true of hootch,
a word of Alaskan origin which came
from' hoochlntM), a spirituous drink
made by the Indians of that territory,
and savvy, which has a double ances
try, the French savoir falre, meaning
ability or skill, and the Spanish sabe,
meaning understand.
Why do we use slang, anyway?
There are at least three good reasons,
according to one scholar who has
made a special study of the subject
The first Is for relief from monotony,
and no matter how lacking in real
meaning the slang word or phrase Is,
it offers a welcome change 1
from the stale, customary
words of our everyday
speech. The second mo
tive is usually humorous
Intent, and bits of slang r
which contain some element of hu
mor have more chance to persist
than others. An example Is the word
flivver" which was coined less than
fifteen years ago, but which seems to
persist and to be gaining general ac
ceptance as a word In common usage
which leads to good usage and to
eventual Incorporation in the language
because it is intrinsically an amusing
word. The third motive for use of
slang, according to this scholar, is :o
avoid clumsy words, and a short, one
syllable word, even though it Is slangy,
becomes a recognized synonym for a
longer, two or three-syligfcle word.
To many persons it is easier to say
"bfean," "bone" or "plunk,"- than to
say "dollar," and to refer to a crazy
person as a "nut" rather than as a
/lunatic." *
But slang at Ita best Is exemplified
In the coining of a new word, or the
adaptation of an old one, to utter a
striking, picturesque characterization,
and the slang word often provides the
exact shade of meaning wifch the more
proper word would utterly fall to ,do.
A pioneer expression for an inefficient
and useless person was, "he's a do
less fellow." Modern slang has Im
proved upon that. Could there be any
more apt and to>the-polnt characteri
zation of an Ineffectual Individual than
to borrow two words from the realm
of motordom and say that he Is a
"flat tire"? Isn't that about the ulti
mate In expressing the acme of use
lessness? .
It Is traditional thut American slang
should be troublesome to England, the
home of the mother tongue and with
the Increasing interchange of Ameri
can and English literature and drama
the English have become more and
more concerned about It. An Amer
ican play In London baa a fail
ure because there was so much
American slang/ In It, and In issuing
some of our novels English publish
ers have found It necessary to print
a glossary of American slang
phrases so that English readers can
understand them. This, however,
leads to some amusing blunders, as
witness the explanations given in the
English edition of Sinclair fowls'
"Babbitt," Here the English reader
Is informed that "heck" In "by heck"
is the "familiar for Hecuba, a New
England delty.t a "go-getter" Is "one
who pursues business or Information,"
a "hoodlum" Is a "crank," a '"once
over" is a "trial," and a "freshman |
hop" IS a "college dancing club." . |
f° ~ -
But the English are valiantly trying
to understand us., An English society,
the ',' S. P. E." (Society for Preservation
of English or Society for Purity of
English, perhaps), has secured the
services of an American professor to
help them "get hep to our lingo.''
I'rof. Fred Newton Scott of the Uni
versity of Michigan, an authority on
rhetoric, has compiled a dictionary of
American slang phrases which has
been published as "S. I*. E. Tract No.
XXIV".to aid English readers who are
struggling with American novels.
Here are the flrst 33 of the expres
sions. There are approximately 200
more, but these will give us, some
Idea of the sort of "slangtiage" whlcb
has our British cousins puzzled:
AU In—exhausted.
Applesauce—(noun or Interjection)
One of the latest pieces of slang In
this country. It has two quite dli
tlnct meaning* (1) nonsense! and (t>
flattery. It Is commonly used aa a
term of Jocular contempt In reply to
effusive but unjuntlflable flattery.
Attaboy (from baby-talk for "that's
( a boy!")—flne! bravo!
Balled up—stalled: confused, and so
unable to go on. --p*. ,
Bat—sprae, good time.
Bat round—have a good time, go
from place to place (In quest of pleas
ure).
i Bawl out—to rebuke, sharply, scold
violently (transitive verb).
Bean —head.
Bean—to hit on the head.
Brat It— 80, get out!
Beat the living tar out of—give a
good drubbing to
Believe mo (sr/fhetlmes expanded to
"believe you me")—take'my word for It.
Bellhop—.i page In a hotel.
Thai's the Just right
Blia. (blah) —blunder, foolish talk
Blab-mouth—lndiscreetly loquacious
person.
Blowhard —boaster (pot unknown).
Blow In—spend.
Blow to a dinner—give a dinner to
Blurb (a noun) Is a term applied to
any publisher's announcement, espe
cially to pajxa.ges of fulsome laudation
on the jackets of newly-published
books. The word Is now used broadly
lo cover the trlef summaries, analyses,
snd appreciations (usually In smaller
type) that often precede magazine
stories and articles. Admirable word.
Indispensable.
Bo (from hobo)—friend, pal.
Bone —dollar.
BotJehesd —stupid person.
Boob—dunce, one easily misled. *
Boost—to promote, to push, to laud.
Booster —Indefatigable promoter.
Bootlegger—one who smuggles
strong drink. No\\ well known.
Booze-fighter—drunkard.
Booze-holstlng—drinking liquor.
Bring home the bacon—secure re
sults
Buck—oppose.
Buck —dollar.
Bulldoze—to compel by a show of
force, to bully.
NO. 47
Drew on imagination ,
' , as to Origin of Life
The race is "like the child in that
during the early stages of develop
ment the imagination is the predomi
nating instinct; hence we find the
first description of the origin of life
highly imaginative. The ancient
Greeks looked on the Goddess Gen
as the mother of mankind. In their
glorious mythology they pictured men
and women as springing into life front
the stones cast on the earth. The
Celts pictured the soil as peopled
with gnomes and pixies, friends or
foes of mankind. Many ancient writ
ers fancifully portrayed the transfor
mation of dead into living matter.
The Greek philosophers tatigbt li.
Aristotle wrote In 384 B. C.: "Anl-"
mais sometimes arise in soil. In plants
or in other animals."
Three centuries later Orid, In tils dis
sertation on the Pythagorean philoso
phy, defends the doctrine of sponta
neous generation, whereas Virgil la
ills Georgics gives directions for the
artificial production of bees.
Paracelsus (1492-1541), 'a Swiss
qpedlcal philosopher who greatly con
fused fact and fancy, gives instruc
tions for the making oi Homunculu*.
Certain substances are t*a t)e placed
in,a botj/e; the bottle is well stop
pered and burned id a manure hemp.
Every day certain incantations are
pronounced over the bottle In time.
: so Paracelsus declares, a small liv
ing human being (homunculus) will
appear in the bottle. He naively ad-
I nuts that he never succeeded in keep
i ing the little man alive after it was
taken from the bottle. Kircher went
\ a step farther and describe* and even
I pictures certain animals which be
j claims were spontaneously produced
before bis very eyes, through the ac
tion of water on f/agments of plants.
—Scientific Monthly.
Matrimony Among Bird*
The Idea that birds never get di
vorces but stick to their first -loves
throughout life received a rude Jolt
the other day when S. Prentiss - Bald
win of Cleveland, f»hio. announced the
results of a ten-year intensive study
of bird hnblts.
Mr. Baldwin kept a oay-by-day rec
ord of the lives of a number of house
hold wrens thai nested on his estate.
These wrens, according to his report
in Popular Science Monthly, usually
raised two broods of young a year.
But each year, between the broods,
the parents usually changed mates.
The mating lasted only while the
young birds were helpless; then the
parents felt free to make a'new
marital arrangement.
Irrigation in Peru
Peruvians are making possible tfcr
i irrigation work that will transform
| the barren pampas near Plmentel int-
I one of the most fruitful regions of ag
| ricultural land in the world Irrlga
I tion works have been under construe
tion for two years and Americans whe
J are supervising them expect that thf
whole project will be finished In
| years more. The 85.000 hectares ot
i most valuable land, with roads that
will allow easy transportation to mar
kets, will be, available to most Pern
vlans and foreigners. The government
obtains the necessary ftftids by a mon
opoly on matches.
Italy Honors Philadelphia
A Roman fountain copied from the
original will this year be presented
to Philadelphia by the Italian govern
ment. Italy, which did not officially
participate in the sesqui exposition,
wishes to pay its tribute to the city
| where the American republic was
i founded. The Italian ministry of the
fine arts is making an inspection of
| the numerous fountains in Rome to
, decide which one shall be copied. On
the base (>f the fountain 'will be In
scribed -the names of the navigators
1 of Italian origin who came to Anier
-1 ica, like Columbus.
v Japan Taking to Coif
Ten years ago there were three
golf courses in all Japan—Yokomaha,
Rokosan, near Kobe, and Tokyo. All
were nine-hole courses. Now, there
are seven, two at Tokyo and Hodo
gaya, near Yokohama, being as good
18-hole courses as the best of golfers
could wish. Fifteen years ago golf
was unknown to the Japanese. Now
(the number of low handicap Japanese
players Is increasing yearly and the
foreign players residing there may be
said to have lost the lead they held
in the first five years.
Turkish Woman Honored
A Turkish woman, Bedrle Hanoum,
has been appointed to the most impor
tant government position yet granted
a woman by the Turkish republic,
namely, head of the bureau of hy
giene. After graduating . from the
American college in Constantinople,
Bedrle Hanoum studied medicine in
Germany and France at the expense
of the Turkish government and re
turned to Turkey last year as doctor
of medicine. —New York' Herald Trib- ; f.