--- I HOSTILE I' .VALLEY 1 B»i r Ber i\ A mes Willia ms SYNOPSIS Jim Saladine listens to the history of neighboring Hostile Valley, with gossip of the mysterious, enticing “Huldy,” wife of Will Ferrin. Inter ested, he drives to the Valley for a day’s fishing, though admitting to himself his chief desire is to see the reputedly glamorous Huldy. “Old Marm" Pierce and her nineteen year-old granddaughter Jenny live in the Valley. Since little more than a child Jenny has at first admired and then deeply loved young Will Ferrin, neighboring farmer, older than she, and who regards her still as merely a child. Will takes em ployment in nearby Augusta. Jenny is disconsolate. Bart Carey, some thing of a ne’er-do-well, is attracted by Jenny, but the girl repulses him. Learning that Will is coming home, Jenny, exulting, sets his long-empty house “to rights,” and has dinner ready for him. He comes—bringing his wife, Huldy. The girl’s world collapses. Huldy becomes the sub ject of unfavorable gossip in the Valley. Entering his home, unlooked for. Will finds seemingly damning evidence of his wife’s unfaithfulness, as a man who he knows is Seth Humphreys breaks from the house. Will overtakes him, and chokes him to death, though Humphreys shat ters his leg, with a bullet. At Marm Pierce’s house the leg is amputated. Jenny goes to break the news to Huldy. She finds Bart Carey with the woman. When he leaves Huldy makes a mock of Jenny’s sympathy, declaring she has no use for “half a man,” and is leaving at once. Will is legally exonerated, and with a home-made artificial leg “carries on,” hiring a helper, Zeke Dace. Months later, Huldy comes back. Will, only warning her she must “mend her ways,” accepts her pres ence as her right. Two years go by. Zeke and Bart Carey engage in a fight, the trouble arising over Huldy. Amy Carey commits suicide. Before Huldy’s return Zeke Dace had been showing her attention, but Zeke had succumbed completely to Huldy’s wiles. Salhdine comes to the Valley. Bad roads cause him to stop at the Ferrin farm where he meets Huldy. CHAPTER VI—Continued i -11 She turned to face ^ Saladlne. "This is my place," she'told him. Her voice was rich and fullt “A chance to get down t’the brook from here?” he asked. ’ “Over that side," she assented. '“If yo’re still a mind to go!” And she urged, almost cajollngly: “You won't take any trout today. Brook’s too high!” He would not argue with her. “Likely not,” he agreed. “But I'm a mind to see the brook.” He found the steep path at one side. “What did you come here for, anyway?" she demanded, and her month was sullen, almost angry, challenging. “To fish,” he said, uncomfortably. “To see Hostile Valley.” “We ain’t all hostile here,” she said. She was smiling again. “If you wa’n’t In such a hurry!” He took one step down. “I might come along with you,” she proposed. “If you asked me pretty, I c’d show you the best holes.” Saladlne was a man sober and contained; but no man could escape the disturbing force she emanated. His senses swam and his cheek was brick red. “Ill find 'em," he blurted; and plunged down the steep path to ward the brook like one who breaks away from detaining hands. From the foot of the precipice he looked up and back, his eye drawn Irresistibly. She stood poised on the very margin of the ledge, leaning a little over to watch him; and he heard her laugh softly. Then be turned into the woods, relieved to be away. He supposed she would go back to the house; but so far as Saladlne ever knew, she did not return to the house again before she died. ~ CHAPTER VII JENNY went down brook that morning to do Marm Pierce’s bid ding in the matter of the lily root The girl made her way to a poo) she knew, with a rip of singing water at the bead, crawled out on a log and lay at length, reaching deep into the water with a heavy kitchen knife to loose one of the roots froin the mucky bottom. Saladlne came upon her while she was thus en gaged. ■ < Along any well-fished stream there Is sure to be a trail that will lead even a stranger to the most advantageous spots from which to try each pool. Saladlne was quick to discover such a path here. When he first found it, be saw a boot track In the muck, and knew that another angler had gone down brook this same morning. He thought regretfully that if the oth er man had fished the pools, the trout would be not so readily re sponsive now; and as he went on, be began to wonder about this man who had gone downstream before him, and to watch alertly, waiting to overtake the other. But it was not a man whom pres ently he encountered, but a woman, lying along a log which extended into one of the pools, with her head lower than her heels, her ankles crossed, and her heels toward him. While he checked in his tracks, still and astonished, she brought up out of the water an object which he recognized; one of the thick fleshy root-stocks of the water lily. She washed it clean, and then she rose to her hands and knees on the log, and sat back on her heels, and so came to her feet and turned to face Jim on the bank behind her here. Her dark eyes widened at sight of him; and Jim looked at her with a pleasurable appreciation. The beauty which she wore was not a simple matter of hair and lips and eyes, of coloring and conformation. She was, Saladine thought, illum ined and made radiant by some in ward glory. He told her: "I didn’t look to run into anyone, this far from the road.” “It’s not far to where I live,” she said simply; and she asked: “Done anything?” “Not much,” he said apologetical ly. “Some one fished down through ahead of me. That’d scare the trout. I see his tracks. Likely he passed you?” ■■meres a steam mui working, down below,” she reflected. “Likely it was one of the men from there." She was clearly uneasy. “I’ve got to go,” she decided, and before he could speak to detain her, she was gone. She vanished among the trees, and he had an impression of an almost musical harmony as she moved. The girl set out for home swift ly, disturbed by this encounter, her eyes watchful of the woods around. She came back to the house, and Marm Pierce saw her uneasiness and asked; "What happened, Jenny? See some one?” “A man, down brook,” Jenny ex plained. “Fishing, he was." She hesitated. “He didn't bother me,” she said. “He was kind of like Will, big, and steady. But he said he'd seen tracks all down the brook, along the path. I didn’t know who might be around.’’ “This man, did he look like he might be from Augusta?” Jenny shook heir head. “No, more like folks around here,” she declared. “But no one I ever see before." They exhausted the subject pres ently, and must by and by have for gotten it But a little before noon, when he was done fishing, Saladlne, - mistaklng Will Ferrin’s directions and seeking the road to Carey’s, took the way in to Uarm Pierce’s farm instead, and so came to the house divided. Marm Pierce and Jenny were in the dining room when rain suddenly began to fall Jenny rose to close a window, and as sbe did so, Saladlne came running around the house to take shelter on the porch; and Jenny called over her shoulder: “Granny, here’s that man 1 see down brook!” They saw him pass the windows and go toward the kitchen door, and the girl made baste to open to him there. When Saladlne thus saw Jenny again, he was surprised afresh at her beauty, and amused at this sec ond encounter. The rain had wet ted him. "Lome in ana set, jenny umiea him. "Tin the rain’s done. To’re soaked through!" She pushed the screen door wide. ‘TU drip on your floors,” Saladlne pointed out “And it’s not cold! I’U stay here on the porch till It passes. Then maybe yon can put me on the way to Carey’s.” “Come In, come In I" Marm Pierce Insisted. “Water won’t hart the floors, and yon’ll catch your death out there 1” So he leaned the loose sections of his disjointed rod against the weather-boarded wall and stepped Into the kitchen. “I Ashed down broor, after I saw you,” he said to the girl. “It’s all a bog, below there. I got enough of that, and cut back up to the road. Will Fer rln told me to take the first road right . . When he spoke that name, the girl’s pulse caught, then pounded In a quicker beat. To think suddenly of Will could always shake her long composure. She stepped back. Into the shadowed end of the kitchen by the sink; but Marm Pierce—she bad put aside her knitting—came out from the dining room and said briskly: “Chunk up the fire, Jenny,” and to Jim: “Ton get up dose and dry.” Jmoy obeyed, glad of this pro text of activity; and Saladine told them his name and errand here. "The road In here fooled me," he explained. "I thought it’d bring me to Carey’s. It looks like a traveled road." She nodded, with clucking chnckle. “’Tisl” she agreed. “A lot of peo ple come In here, take It by and large!” "Why?" Her little black eyes twinkled at him. “If you lived anywhere around here, you'd have heard of Marm Pierce,” she told him, a crotchety pride In her tones. “Folks come to me for doctoring. Tarbs and sim ples. I’ve healed a pile of hurts In iny day. “A real doctor can’t make a living here, so they come to me, and pay me with help In hay time, or they get my wood In, and do the chores that’s too heavy for Jenny." “It must be hard for just the two of you,” he hazarded. Marm Pierce eyed him shrewdly. “Now yo’re wishing you dast ask questions,” she guessed. “You’ve got eyes in your head to see the looks of this house, and you’ve got a head on you to wonder about the why of it!” She related, almost proudly, her ancient stubborn quarrel with her brother. He said, amused: “Looks to me you cut off your own nose to spite your face!" “Folks get so they hanker for a fight, around here,” Marm Pierce declared. "Quarreling with your kin comes natural in Hostile Valley. I take a heap of satisfaction out of seeing the Win-side of this house go to rot and ruin. Serves him right, I say!” “He around?” Saladlne asked. “He sneaks back, oncet in so often, to see to’t I’m letting things alone,” she said. “Or he says that’s why.” Her tone was dry with scorn. Then old Marm Pierce asked: “You say you come in by Will’s?” And at his assent, she said: “Will’s a fine man! He deserves better!” Saladine explained: “I left my car at Will’s. Mis’ Ferrin showed me the path down to the brook.” Marm Pierce’s tone was suddenly unfriendly. “Guess likely you vis ited with her for a spell?” Saladine shook his head; and the other said tartly: “It’s a wonder she let you get away!” There seemed no reply to this: but Saladine, standing by the stove, was deeply uncomfortable. He bad caught one foot between two bowl “I C’d Show You the Boot Holes.’* ders, and had felt a sharp burning pain la his ankle. Moving a step away from the stove Just now, that hurt reminded him of Its existence with a pain so sharp that he winced, and limped. The old woman looked at him shrewdly. “Tour foot hurt?” she asked. “I twisted it," be confessed, and she came to her feet with a spry alacrity. “High time you was a’telllng me;” she said. “I can tend that for you. Set down and take off your shoe.” She began to heat something In a saucepan on the stove. “How’d you do It?” she asked. He said with a smile at his own 'Clumsiness: “A fool thing. All down brook today, I kept feeling as If some one was watching me. So I kept looking back, and naturally I stepped Into a bole.” And he said, watching her: “This Talley’s a gloomy place for a stranger, ma'am!" She nodded. “It la that,” she agreed. “And for folks that live here. too. I could tell you tales.” And then suddenly she became mo tionless, her head cocked, listen ing. “Heavy foot a-comtng,” she said softly, and looked toward the outer door. Saladine, seated, did not Immedi ately rise; and Marm Pierce was busy, so It was Jenny who crossed to the door. She was thus the first to see Bart, striding toward the bouse through-the rain. He bore a bur den in bis arms, a woman. Her head bung down over his elbow,.and her upturned face streamed with rain. Huldy Ferrln, limp and still and broken! That dark red gar ment she wore was drenched and shapeless now. Jenny Instinctively recoiled; but Marm Pierce came to fling the door wide. Bart stepped up on the porch, panting. He crossed the threshold and his dripping burden stained the dean scrubbed floor. For an Instant none spoke. Jen ny, like one poised for flight, backed into the dining room. There was a hideous ringing In her ears, and she stared at Huldy with blank, glased eyes. Even Marm Pierce was star tled Into silence. Then Bart told them in explosive ejaculation: “She fell off the ledge back of Will’s. I fetched her here— case yon could—do anything." So Marm Pierce recovered her wits and took quick command. “Carry her In here,” she bade; and led the way Into the dining room, Jenny moved aside, and Bart deposited Huldy upon the couch against the further wall. Jenny saw that he was curi ously disheveled. Something — a dead stub which he had brushed In his passage through the wood—had gouged three deep scratches on his cheek; and the shoulder of his shirt was torn. His garments all were soaked, save that across the front of him, where he had carried Hulda In his arms, the faded blue of his overalls was of a lighter hue than elsewhere. Her body, pressed against his, had kept the denim there, save for two thin trickles, completely dry. N auu UCUUJ ICUiUUUCICU UlUl. icugc where she had seen Huldy, lying In the sun, on a day long ago; and she remembered, shutlderlngly, the steep declivity below. Then Bart was speaking, still panting a little. “I was fishing,” he said. “Down below Will’s place. Heard her let ont a screech, and then a kind of thump; and I scrabbled up to the foot of the ledge and there she was. I ’low she’s dead and done for,” he confessed. “But X never took time to think of that I” Marm Pierce nodded. "Aye, done for, finally,” she said In low, al most triumphant tones. “I could’ve lugged her home, up the hill,” Bart admitted. “But It’s steep, and I thought yon might do something. It’s some further over here than up to Will’s; but It’s eas ier going. Looked to me I could get her here as quick as there!” He was rubbing his right hand with his left, and Jenny saw that the right was bruised and swollen, a split across one knuckle; “You hurt your hand,” she sug gested huskily. "Fell on It; fell and landed on a rock,” Bart agreed. The girl turned toward the couch; she stood beside It, her back against ihe wall, her hands spread at her sides and her palms pressing against the plaster. She looked down at the hurt woman over her shoulder, sidewise, with wide eyes; her lips were white and still. Bart stood in the middle of the room. “I thought first off she was alive," he repeated. Alarm Pierce said softly to her self, like an old crone mumbling some mysterious charm: “The blood still runs!” She darted out to the kitchen, lightly, swiftly, moving like a shadow; she returned with some white stuff In her band, and clapped this against the wound on Huldy Ferrln’s neck, from which a thin stream flowed. She held her hand pressed there. "Dead, ain't she 7" Bart asked huskily. "You’d best fetch Will, Bart,* she directed. “What’ll I tell him?” “Tell him anything yo’re a mind f' she said impatiently. “I’d better stay here,” the young man urged. “There might be some thing I could do I” “I can do anything needs doing,” Saladlne volunteered. He saw Bart's glance touch his bare foot.' “I sprained my ankle down In the woods,” he explained. “Harm Pierce was boiling up some liniment for me.” “Land!” cried the little old wom an. "I declare, my wits are skrlm shawl” She flitted to the kitchen. "I'd be letting this boll dry in an other minute. Nothing stinks like burned vinegar! What’s the matter with me?” Saladlne followed her .Into the kitchen. Bart stayed with Jenny In the dining room. “I’ll set It back to cool, or it’d take the bide off yon,” Marm Pierce decided, and suddenly she was busy with another saucepan, water, some twists of herbs from the cabinet above the sink. “I might try a hot steep on her chest” she whispered, half to herself. "No good Just standing by.” And she called; “JennyI Jenny 1” The girl came softly to the door. “Jenny, you loose her clothes,” Marm Pierce directed. “I'll want to rub this on her chest, soon’s It’s ready. Get her wet things off, easy as you can, not moving her. Get a blanket 'round her. . .” Jenny tried to speak; and after a minute she managed an assenting word. “Yes, Granny,” she said, and doeed the door. Her knees were wavering; she turned and set her back against the door, and stood there weakly, look ing toward the conch where Huldy's broken body lay. So, slowly, 'at Inat she moved across the room. (TO BE CONTINUED) Weather Affects Hessen Efficiency Studies of the effect of at mospheric conditions on hnman ef ficiency show that the majority of ns work faster In the spring and autumn than In winter and that we accomplish more work than usual Immediately after a change In weather, not only on a clear day following a stormy period but also during a storm following several days of sunshine. A. e N«w Tork Pott—WNU Ssrvics. Louis Victory Looks Sure on Baer’s Past npHls month a headline hero,who -*■ took advantage of every oppor tunity to make a fool of himself, meets a younger man who stead fastly has spurned far more glow ing temptatlona to toss aside all sense of proportion. Perhaps the younger man Is a greatly superior fighting machine but of that no matter. Because there is no real evidence that either man can, or will, change his old habits so soon, there is little need for waiting until the evs of their affair before pre dicting that Joe Louie will beat Max Baer easily, and probably quickly. A superbly built man, Baer is bet ter equipped physically tban even the lithe-muscled opponent w n o se legs must event ually cause him trouble. Whether he could have become the greatest of all champions Is some thing that never can be decided be cause, obviously, there Is no yard stick for such Max Baar measurement ot past and present. Yet it also must be as obvious that be has declined to his present es tate because he listened too Im plicitly to those who screamed so stridently that be was the greatest of the great Louis, whose ears have been as sailed by a ballyhoo far louder, far mors intense and probably far more reasonable, has yet to indicate that he has been swayed by it Baer Must Depend on Slugging Ability Whether his ability is such as would have enabled him to arrive so close to the top so quickly in an other fighting era is something that need be touched upon here only scantily. Perhaps, for all the fan flare about his murderous punch, the future will reveal that it was as a cool, deadly, unwinking stalker of his prey—a master boxer—that he was at his best Through no fault of his own ths supply of svsn second-rats oppo nents is scarcer now than, at any time within 20 years. Again It is to his credit that hs gets through with ths Job quickly, still on his balance. Baer, even though It is quite pos sible that his best days are done and quite certain that those days never were as magnificent as was insisted upon by the sports page philanthropists who made him 1,000 to 1 against Jim Braddock, might be a worthy opponent It may be that, after spending months in get ting into shape for Camera and not getting that way and after spend ing more months In getting in shape for Braddock and then claiming that he was not ready, Max can come Into perfect form now. Probably It would not matter anyhow. If there Is one time mors than another when a guy contin ually pops off about his own vir tues is apt to make a sucker of him self It is when hs faces a cool, de termined opponent who keeps bor ing In. Braddock did that to Baer, and It is obvious that Louis will do mors of the same. Braddock won from a temperamental opponent be cause hs gave early evidence that hs never had read those headlines which said Max would kill him. With the possible exception of the New Jersey Irishman who has been vastly under rated because ot the quarrel be tween the Hearst press, and Mad ison Square Gar den, there Is no white man who could stand a chance at ontbox-> lug the cream-col ored Joe. Baer, one of the noorer hex era, clearly will not Joe Louie try each a thing. That meana that If he la td have any chance at all ef winning he muat depend «n his slugging abil ity. If he quickly gave up such Ideas while facing Braddock, who waa handicapped by an Injured el bow and rib. it la difficult to under stand how he poaalbly can continue them long against the coldly confi dent pride ef Alabama. 'T'HEY fired a man out In Clove land tha other day. Of courao they called It- something elae but that la what It waa and . . . but maybe there are tome who recall a soggy, miserable October day In 192S. In the first game of the World series with the Pirates that year Old Barney had pitched the Sen ators to a 4-1 victory. He had come back in the fourth contest to do even better, to win, 4-0. Now, while sullen clouds stared down upon the soggy turf and chill mitta bltw up from the rlvera, ha waa to try again In tha deciding gama. Al. moat aingla-handad thla veteran of a departing day waa to try to beat the National league championa. It waa no fit afternoon to drag him forth : again but there waa nothing else to do Johnson and no one else to save the cause. Perhaps he thought about that as, arm swathed in a heavy sweater, he warmed up slowly. Four runs for Washington in the first, Vic Aldridge driven from the box. It was news that delighted his supporters throughout the land but he took It calmly. He knew how tired his legs were and how merci lessly the chill drizzle was seeping into his muscles. Still, he kept at it Bad breaks menaced him Inning after inning, but In the eighth Pecklnpaugh hit a home run and the Senators came Into the final session with a one run lead. That was enough for Old Barney, they aald. Perhaps hs thought so himself. He had not yet glimpsed his most dangerous foe. Calmly, easily he disposed of the first two batters. Only one more and a long career would be crowned with two years on world champion ship teams. “Old Barney” Takes Fate’s Raps Smiling Smith came to the plate, a good batter but not a great one. He poked the ball into right field. It should have been held to a single but rain was falling again. While the outfielders slid in pursuit of the ball Smith reached second. Bigbeo batted for Kremer—It was so dark that you could hardly see him but hs slashed a double to score the runner. A tie now. Too bad, but no use crying over that The thing to do was to get another man out. Then the Senatora would have their turn and maybe they could uae it to break the deadlock. If not, It waa likely that the game would be called before It en tered extra In nings. That would "" provide another Peckinpaugh chance another day. All thla Old Barney muet have been thinking ae he faced Moore. He wae thinking, too, of a vague face that kept leering at him from a distance. The ball was slippery, the famous control for once was lacking. Moore walked. “Too bad, but no use weeping. I’ll get the next one. I've pitched myself out of worse holes,” Old Barney must have been saying to himself, trying to ignore that leer ing face. He pitched. Max Carey hit a grounder to Peckinpaugh. Old Bar ney's high, stooped shoulders no longer felt tired. He bad done It But wait I There was a gaap from the crowd. Peok, who was.) setting a new record for errors, had fumbled again. Both runners were safe. A forlorn figure. Old Barney walked back to the mound and stood there a long moment He had staked everything on getting Carey and he had lost through no fault of his own. Still, even though he was be ginning to recognize that leering face, he must try again, this time against a far better hitter than Carjy. Try he did, but Cuyler, young and ardent, was too much for him. Klki doubled Into the right field stands and the rune scored. It wae time to surrender. Old Barney knew that an enemy might ier than the Pirates was crushing him, yet he did not yield another Inch. Cooly, gamely he retired the hard-hitting Barnhart and returned to the bench hoping against hope. Even when two were out In the Washington half he still hoped. But It was no use. Old Barney was ,***•"• * Who beat him I Cuyler, some say. Peckinpaugh with his errors, oth^fs add. Old Barney knows better even though he never said a word and took it with a smile. They fired a man In Cleveland the other day. Of course they called it something else but that la what It was and—Walter Johnson took It smiling. Probably he never was a good manager but no matter. You must admire a man who can take It thus In a world where destiny ao of ten pals around with overrated Housewife'* Idea Box A Paint Hint Do you And It difficult properly to mix paint which has just been opened? The next time you are going to use a can of paint, turn the cl ;ed can upside down a couple of uaya before you Intend to use It You will And that you have no difficulty In mixing the paint. THE HOUSEWIFE. 6 Public Ledger. Inc.—WNU Service. Week's Supply of Postum Free Read the offer made by the Postum Company In another part of this pa per. They will send a full week’s sup ply of health giving Postum free to anyone who writes for It—Adv. Stone Shower Fall* ’ A shower of stone which recently I fell In the TIpperall district of Ben- j gal Is believed to be fragments of a meteor. Forest Found in Desert A forest CO miles long has been j discovered In the Kara-Kum desert of Russian Central Asia. anew Coleman KvuMne CCOAL □ I L ) \ » \ \ i I f / / 300 Candle- I pow#r *Llve# I Pressure Light I T'HIS two-mantle i x Coleman Kero- I sene Mantle Lamp/) barns 96% air and£ 4% kerosene (coal oil;, it ■ a pressure lamp that produces 800 candle* power of “live”, eye 3 MODEL Ns. na i ■Ting OniOUM. . . fPTN more and better lijjht at lees cost. A worthy com panion to the famous Coleman Gasoline Pres sure Lamps. Safe...the fuel fount is madeof brass _smoky chimneys to wash. too* Indian Bronse with sttrmctiT« Pi MB YOUR LOCAL DRALRR—or writ* OB for Froo Descriptive Uteaton. THE COLEMAN LAMP AND STOVE CO. ^ tssj Happiness Happiness Is the silver in the gray hair of Suffering.—V. D. Ventrl* Field. Laxative combination folks know is trustworthy The confidence thousands of parents have In good, old reliable, powdered Thedford’a Black-Draught has prompted them to get the new Syrup of Black-Draught for their children. The grown folks stick to the powdered Black-Draught: the youngsters probably will prefer it when they outgrow theii childish love of sweets. . . Mrs. C. W. Adams, of Murray, Ky., writes: “I have used Thedford’s Black-Draught (powder) about thirteen years, taking it for bilious ness. Black-Draught acts well and I am always pleased with the results. I wanted a good, reliable laxative for my children. I have found Syrup of Black-Draught to be just that” BLACK-DRAUGHT Bowling at Midnight Midnight outdoor bowling matche* ire popular In Scotland. ECZEMA ITCHING Resinol

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