Anthony Trollope - "The Mistletoe Bough"

Horatio - "Love's Final Victory"

Williams, Emlyn - "Night Must Fall"

John Martin Crawford, trans. - "The Kalevala book 2"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: Happy Hawkins

R >> Robert Alexander Wason >> Happy Hawkins




"Do you mean to tell me that you didn't see him? I sez. "He had
horns an' a long bcard, an' was about six feet high an' spouted
fire, an'--"

"Do you mean the goat?" he snaps in.

"Goat!" I sez, gettin' mad. "Now don't get gay. The goat has tried
to butt me fifty times since I been here, an' I guess I know him by
sight; but this thing--"

He see I was in earnest, took a match, wet it, an' held it in a dark
corner. "The goat was painted with that," sez he, an' I saw it all,
an' I--well, I just natchly shriveled. I thought it all over. "Well,
then," sez I, "what was the thing that gave the spirit call in the
cellar?"

"That was my college yell," sez Ches, an' he gave it again, an' gee,
but it would 'a' made an Injun's mouth water.

I was beginnin' to see that the' was a heap more in a college
edication than I'd ever supposed.




CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE DIAMOND DOT AGAIN


Next day we searched the barn an' found her just soggy with stolen
stuff. We started out the news an' most of it was claimed up by the
neighbors for a hundred miles around. They heroed me an' Ches right
consid'able; but we didn't tell 'em about the goat. It might put the
Chinamen wise, you see. They took up a purse of eighteen hundred
dollars for us which had been offered in rewards one place an'
another, an' we felt purty tol'able contented.

But I was beginnin' to get lonesome, the same as I allus do when
I've been in one o' these quiet, stagnant places for a spell. I was
fond o' Mrs. Cameron an' the baby an' the place an' the cookin', an'
I thought the world o' Ches; but the' was a constant tuggin' at my
heart to get back to the Diamond Dot, back to the big, free sweep o'
plains, back to little Barbie.

I'd been soakin' away all Ches's stories an' ways, an' I knew she 'd
be full as interested in 'em as I was. I had had enough o' business
too. I could easy see 'at I wasn't cut out for a business man, but I
generally managed to round up a little wealth one way or another. I
knew all along that I didn't really have a taste for business; it
was just that fool talk o' Bill Andrews that made me want to cut
loose from the Diamond Dot. I'd made up my mind now on that
question, an' it was surprisin' how simple the answer was after I'd
finally worked it out. The answer was this: I had as good a right
anywhere on earth as any one else did. I was some company for Barbie
at the Diamond Dot, an' it suited us both first rate. If it got on
Bill Andrews' nerves till he couldn't keep it under his breath, why
I'd have to furnish him with an excuse for movin'; but as for
myself, I'd just stick around until things began to creak a little.

When Mr. Cameron came back, he made a big fuss over me an' Ches--he
was an' A1 sort of a man, Cameron was--an' he wanted me to stay
right along offerin' me big wages, which was a thing that Mrs.
Cameron had forgot all about, an' me too; but I didn't feel like
stayin'; so I set a date an' then it was settled. Besides, Ches
would be goin' back to college again soon.

Cameron was a real estate broker in the East, but was beginnin' to
study up on minin' propositions. He knew all about Slocum's Luck,
that is, he knew the' was such a mine, an' that they was still
lawin' over it; but when I asked him about ever havin' heard of a
mine called the Creole Belle, he shook his head an' said he never
had. He hadn't heard of Jack Whitman, nor George Jordan, nor even
Sandy Fergoson; so I see the' wasn't any use in stayin' around
there, an' while I hated to part with 'em, I was glad when the time
came for me to say good-bye.

They wanted to give some kind of a present when I left; but the only
thing I'd accept of, was a pair of chickens. I had got used to
eatin' eggs whilst I was there, an' I knew 'at Barbie would like
'em; so they put me up a rooster an' a hen in a basket, an' I rolled
up my roll, an' drove off to the depot with Ches. He was mighty
sober when we got out of sight of the house, an' after he did get to
talkin' it was mostly of all the good times we had had, an' how he
wished I was goin' back with him, or else he was goin' on with me. I
told him all about the Diamond Dot, an' how to get to it, an'
invited him out for a visit any time he could get away. I didn't
tell him much about Barbie; but I made him promise that if ever his
Cousin found out the facts about the Creole Belle mine, he'd let me
know at once. I couldn't bring myself to believe that Sandy Fergoson
had been crazy, an' I was beginnin' to come to the conclusion that
the' must have been both a woman an' a mine mixed up--an' that's a
combination to bowl over the best of us.

Ches said he was so stuck on the West that he half believed he'd
learn to be a minin' engineer an' come out here an' live. He tried
to get me to promise to come an' visit him, but I told him that I
ranged over the same territory mostly, an' wouldn't know how to act
in the East; but that if I ever did head in that direction, I'd sure
look him 'up. He bought my ticket while I was gettin' my roll out of
the wagon, an' I couldn't make him take the money for it.

"This ain't on me," he sez, "the Camerons's payin' for this; but
even if I was, I reckon I could afford it. You've brought me my
luck."

"How about it bein' your bringin' me mine?" sez I, but he wouldn't
stand for it, so I got on the train with purty close to a thousand
dollars in my clothes an' a pair of chickens in my basket. He stood
on the platform until we were out o' sight, an' then I settled back
to think things over.

People are more different than the other kinds of animals, an' yet
they're a heap alike, too. Now, me an' Ches was about as different
as they ever get, most ways, an' yet we pulled a level double-tree
out in the open. I could see the difference between my kind o' talk
an' his; but neither one of 'em was the booky kind that Mr. Cameron
talked, an' yet we had all three sat out one night watchin' the
stars, an' the' wasn't much difference in what we thought about a
lot o' things; but by the time we reached Oakland, I wasn't takn'
such friendly views of humanity.

Now, I don't mind what a feller does as long as it don't interfere
with me, an' even then, I can put up with a sight o' bother; but all
the passengers on that train, an' the train crew too, seemed to
think that it just about capped the climax to see a man o' my build
totin' along a pair o' chickens. The' wasn't anybody on that train
who behaved any better'n those chickens did, except the first time I
tried to water'em out o' the cup; but they nearly pestered me to
death tryin' to find out what was mysterious about 'em I told 'em
the full reasons for my takin' 'em up to the Diamond Dot; but that
didn't suit 'em, they had to have some outlandish excuse. I stuck to
the truth until my good nature began to blister an' then I fixed up
a past history for those chickens that wasn't nowise common.

When you just glance at it, a chicken ain't a creature that's apt to
have a adventurous life; but long before we reached Oakland, folks
was gettin' on the train every place we stopped, just to have a look
at chickens what had been taught to tell counterfeit money. It was
easy enough when I got started. Every one knows that a chicken's eye
is mighty detectin'. They stroll along pickin' up bugs 'at you or I
can't see with a magnascope, an' all 'at would be necessary to make
'em experts at money, would be to get 'em interested.

The' 's allus somebody in a crowd who don't swaller bait as easy as
the rest, an' bye an' bye a feller holds up a silver dollar to the
rooster. The rooster was a pretty beast, all red an' blue, an' a
good feeler; but he didn't care a hang for money. He turned his head
away, an' I sez, "The dollar's good."

But the feller had to keep on makin' tests, which didn't interest
the rooster any until finally the rooster begun to get some
exasperated. The feller held out a five-dollar bill to the rooster,
an' he was tired o' such nonsense an' took a sudden peck at it an'
tore it in two. It's bad," sez I.

"I knew it was bad," sez he. "I said when I took it that I bet it
wasn't any good; but one o' these smooth Easterners give it to me.
If I'd had a bird like that I wouldn't 'a' got stuck. What'll you
take for him?"

I smiled and sez, "I don't reckon you'd believe what these birds is
worth, but I wouldn't want to sell 'em even if I got my price. I
wish you'd give me that counterfeit bill though. The hen ain't fully
taught an' bills like that are scarce."

He give me the bill, an' offered me all kinds o' prices for the
poultry; but I wanted to take 'em to Barbie, an' I finally stuck 'em
under the seat an' refused to let any one see 'em. That blame fool
offered me seventy-five dollars for that pair o' chickens when he
got off the train at Oakland, an' I was blame glad I had give up
business, 'cause it was sure good business to take a price like
that. The five-dollar bill was all right an' I spent part of it at
the restaurants along the way.

When I got off the train at Webb Station, who did I see but Spider
Kelley an' the home freight-wagon. Well, we was both glad to see
each other, an' he stayed sober just so we could chat together on
the home ride.

"How did you like business?" sez he. "Oh, it pays--in a money way,"
sez I, "but it's too monotonous. I don't like it."

"You ain't been gone long enough to make much money," sez he.

"Oh, no, not what you would call money in business," sez I, "but
I've handled several pieces o' coin since I been away, an' I'll have
nine hundred for ol' Cast Steel to put out on pasture for me."

"Nine hundred! Well, by gee!" sez Spider. "What kind o' business
have you been in, Happy?"

"Oh, I tried hosses first, but they wasn't enough change in it, then
I went to Frisco an' give the dry-goods business a work-out. I tried
the real estate business next; but, Spider, you'll be surprised to
learn that I made more money out o' goats an' chickens than any
other business I got into."

Well, that sure is wonderful," sez Spider. "Are you goin' to stay
here a spell, or are you just goin' to try to get Old Cast Steel
interested in poultry? I doubt if he goes into chickens deep, he
allus likes to herd on a big scale."

"I'm goin' to give this here pair to Barbie," sez I. "If the old man
wants me to take on for the fall round-up, why it's likely I'll do
it, an' I may even stay through the winter. Money ain't the whole o'
life, an' I like this range better'n any I ever rode over."

"Well, he'll be glad enough to take you on for the round-up," sez
Spider. "Omaha has quit."

"The deuce he has," sez I. "What did he quit for?"

"Him an' Bill Andrews had some words, an' I got to own up that Bill
was in the right of it. Cast Steel didn't take any sides, an' Omaha,
he finally pulled out week before last. Bill Andrews is the nearest
thing we got to a foreman now." "How's everything goin'?" sez I.

"Smoother'n oil," sez he. "I've been around the ranch house ever
since you been away, tendin' to Pluto an' breakin' colts."

"I'm goin' to get out an' walk back," sez I.

"What the 'ell for?" sez he.

"I never struck this place before when it wasn't in a tangle," sez
I, "an' I feel in my bones, it betokens bad luck."

"Oh, hoofs," sez he, "you ain't that superstitious are you? Did you
leave last time in the same humor as usual?"

Then I felt a shade easier. "No," sez I, "every other time me an'
Cast Steel had had a little difference; but this time, I was simply
tired o' the place. Well, I'll go on an' chance it; but I'm leery
that somethin' will happen."

We arrived next day in time for supper, an' Barbie an' Jabez was
mighty glad to see me. Barbie went wild over the chickens, just as I
knew she would, an' Jabez said that he used to like eggs himself
when he was a boy, an' would have got some poultry long ago if he'd
only thought of it. They both of 'em laughed to think that I had at
last come back to the Diamond Dot without findin' any kind of
warfare; an' when I told 'em that it sort o' worried me, they only
laughed the more.

"How did you like business, Happy?" sez Jabez.

"I got nine hundred dollars I wish you'd range out with the rest o'
my herd," sez I, "but to tell you the simple truth, I don't like
business, not one mite."

I thought I could stall 'em off without tellin' 'em what kind o'
business I'd made my stake in, but they wormed it out o' me before
that first meal was over. It was a merry meal, an' lasted about
three hours. I enjoyed it, but I made up my mind that if I took on
again, I was goin' to eat with the rest of the boys. I had allus et
with Barbie an' Jabez; but I didn't want to have any o' the outfit
get to thinkin' that I wasn't nothin' but a visitor. When bedtime
hove around, Jabez sez, "Well, you'll find your old room ready,
Happy."

"Why, I reckon I'll sleep in the bunk shack from this on," sez I.

"I reckon you won't," sez he. "You're worth more to me as a sort o'
reserve than you 'd be as a straight puncher, an' the' ain't no use
o' your gettin' so blame finicky all of a sudden. What's got into
you lately?"

"Now, you knob' how it is, Jabez," sez I, "if I cut loose from the
rest o' the bunch, they're bound to talk about it an'--"

"Let 'em talk," he snaps in. "Talk ain't expensive; but I don't
think they're a jealous lot. They all like you, Happy, an' I got a
sort of a suspicion that those who don't won't pester you overly
much. I ain't heard the straight of it, but I have heard some talk
about him overestimatin' his ability in the ridin' line. Now cut out
this nonsense an' just begin where you left off. Barbie here'll be
mighty glad of some company again."

It didn't take 'em long to talk me into it--it generally is easy to
break down a man's will when it ain't braced up by his natural
desires; so after I'd balked as long as seemed polite, i settled
into the collar again an' trotted along just in the same old gait.

It was just as I thought. Barbie was plumb wild to hear all those
college stories, an' the queer words that Ches used to talk with.
She asked me about a thousand questions that I wasn't sure on the
answers; but I made out to interest her, an' Jabez' face used to
beam when he'd hear her laugh ring out.

We were sure a happy household; but I noticed mighty soon that
Barbie was more restless than ever; but also had more control over
herself. She wasn't so quick about either askin' questions nor
givin' answers as she used to be, an' she noticed things closer--an'
this was goin' some too; 'cause she allus did inspect everything
that came on her range.

We had a gang o' tourists swoop down on us for a couple o' days, an'
it tickled me to see her watch 'em an' draw back in her shell any
time she thought they was watchin' her. I knew every line in her
face, an' mighty few of her thoughts came as a surprise when she
framed 'em into words. She never said it all now, unless she was het
up about something, an' I like to listen to any one 'at talks like
that. Her best thoughts were never accented, they just came in as
packin' like, an' it added to the interest. When a feller hands out
a little commonplace idy an' then sends along a couple o' verses to
tell what it means, I get weary; but when I'm able to see into
somethin' that lays too close to his heart to say out, an' too close
to forget, why I feel as if I had found a real jewel, an' that was
the way with Barbie. I knew that somethin' was tuggin' at her; but
when I found out exactly what it was, it came with almost as much of
a shock as if I hadn't known it was there all the time.




CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMAN


Barbie had grown some more, even durin' the little time 'at I'd been
away. She had got used to the new rig she wore an' wasn't a mite
awkward, an' her face was firmer an' more self-composed. She was
purtier too, though it don't seem possible. It even seems more
impossible when I tell ya that she looked more like of Cast Steel
than ever. He an' the girl was a heap alike, 'cept that he was big
an' raw-boned an' spare-featured; while she was as dainty as an
antelope, an' as far as looks went, she was the Queen Bee of
Creation, I reckon.

When it came to ridin' a bucker or shootin' off an eye-winker or
expressin' herself free an' frank, she didn't have to import no
testimony to prove 'at she was his daughter either. She had him
skinned on ridin' though; 'cause while he was able to set anything
on four feet, he allus showed 'at he had begun late in life, an' he
sometimes jerked the bit unintentional; while she--well, I reckon
she must 'a' been born on hoss-back, an' besides, I had give her all
the pointers the' was.

One mornin' about ten days after I'd come back, I heard 'em
discussin' purty heatedly out back of the corral; an' I just
sauntered over to harken to it. It wasn't a case of eavesdroppin',
'cause when them two had any comments to make they didn't care a
blue bean what the prevailin' style in opinions happened to be, they
nailed their own personal jedgments on the wall an' then stuck
around handy to back 'em up. I was particular anxious to know what
they was crossin' words over, 'cause I couldn't get it out o' my
head but what my comin' back an' findin' 'em peaceable betokened
something.

Jabez was standin' with his feet wide apart, his hands on his hips,
his hat tilted over one ear, his chin stickin' out with the lips
pursed up, an' his eyes had a dogged look in 'em. Line by line an'
feature by feature, she shadowed him to the last item; an' neither
one of 'em saw a twinkle o' comicalness in it, neither.

"Do you know who you're talkin' to?" he yells just as I arrived.
"I'm your father!"

"What of it?" she snaps back. "It's too late to remedy that--I just
got to make the best of it. But do you know who you're talkin' to?
I'm the future owner of the Diamond Dot, an' I ain't a-layin' no
plans to have the lala-kadinks from the civilized parts o' this
country come out an' round up my langwidge, same as they gather
Injun speciments. You may be my father, but you can just bet your
saddle that before I reach the end o' my trail, a stranger won't be
able to guess it from our talk."

Now the old man was mighty savin' with his cuss-words, a' he put out
a purty tol'able fair grade o' grammar; but the girl had an eye in
her head and an ear to listen with, an' she had been for a long time
takin' notice o' the side winks o' the Easterners. Some Easterners
put on their manners the same as their complexions, an' the open air
is apt to put cracks in 'em.

The of man looked at her a good long while, but she never blinked a
winker; an' he finally turned away an' said in a soft-like voice, "I
know, child, I ain't been able to fill the part full measure--but it
ain't 'cause I haven't tried. I reckon you'll have to go, honey; but
it'll sure be lonesome while you're away; an' when you do come back
you'll never be my little kid any more." His voice kept gettin'
sadder an' sadder until I about snuffled myself when he continued
"I'll rub up my talk all I can while you're away, an' then if you
bring out any friends next summer you can tell 'em that I'm the
foreman an' that you let me eat in the house while your father is
takin' a trip to Europe."

The ol' man would have played that part about as natural as a bull
buffalo, but he fooled himself into believin' it, an' his voice was
purty shaky at the end. Barbie's eyes filled up with tears, an' when
he stopped an' began to totter feebly toward the house, she ran up
an' threw her arms about his neck, an' said. "Dad. I just hate you--
you don't play fair. You start the game under one set o' rules an'
then when you get the worst of it you just simply crawfish. When we
were sayin' mean things out in the open, I just natchly put it all
over you; an' now you flop over on your back an' work that 'coals o'
fire' stunt, an' I just hate you. You know in your heart I'd be
proud of you in any company on earth, but the' is a heap o'
difference between you an' me. You have been successful, an'
strangers will respect you for it; but it's got to be a show-down
with me every time. If I don't learn the new gaits, so a stranger
will think I'm city-broke, some fresh tourist is apt to get the idee
that I'm as uncivilized as my manners, an' it won't do to tramp on
my toes--not overly often. But I don't have to leave you. I'll just
turn in an' do the job right here on the ranch, an' accordin' to the
very latest models. You get me a lot o' books an' all the magazines
an' fashion papers, an' hanged if I don't turn out a job 'at'll fool
the best of 'em. You're a mean old Daddy, you are, for a fact; but
we snake too dandy a duet for me to go away an' leave you to grind
out a solo all alone. But--but I sure wanted to go."

Well, Jabez grinned all over; but I saw that he wasn't through with
it so easy. Barbie wasn't the one to throw her rope before she was
all braced for the jerk, an' the' wouldn't be any kinks in her
logic, neither. She had thrown a purty stout string of arguments,
an' I was full prepared when they told me that he was to have his
way about it, an' she was to go to college that very fall.

She did go in less'n a month to a prep-school clear down East. A
prep-school is a sort of a calf college, you know; an' she had to
train there a solid year before they had the nerve to turn her loose
on a full-grown university. But she had a head on her, Barbie had;
an' when she got squared away, she made 'em all get down an'
scratch. They do say that she put more life an' vim in that
institution than anybody what had ever give it a work-out before.

Ol' Cast Steel went down twice the first winter, an' never let her
know 'at he was in the neighborhood, for fear it would make her
think 'at he was pinin' for her. He just went down there an' bought
some store clothes an' prowled around waitin' for the chance to see
her at a distance--never even lined out the professors to see if
they were doin' their duty, nor mixed in the game the slightest bit.
Talk about bein' game? I reckon that puts a shadow on anything ever
that man had to face.

She used to come back every summer, bringin' a lot of chums an' all
kinds o' pets with her. She was just daffy over any kind of a wild
animal from an Injun papoose to a white mouse; an' when she'd go
back in the fall, Jabez had his hands full with parrots an'
alligators an' butterfly coons an' sech--to say nothin' of a lot of
potted flowers what was mighty notionable in their tastes.

I was so busy tendin' to this branch o' the outfit that about all
the ridin' I did was for exercise--yes, an' for company, 'cause it
allus seemed as if she was along when I'd be out on the range. Then,
again, I allus felt a kind of drawin', myself, to the silent people,
who think an' wish an' feel, just the same as we do, but aren't able
to handle our langwidge. I got so I could purt' nigh tell what an
animal had on his mind, just from tendin' to her speciments.

She had one speciment which was a possom, an' the blame thing bit me
eight times one winter, me tryin' to give it baths--an' then she
wrote back home that the doggone critter didn't need'em nohow. She
purt'nigh got expended for takin' a rattlesnake back to the
university an' keepin' it hid in her room; an' after I'd had a deuce
of a time catchin' 'em, they made her send a bob-cat an' a mountain
lion to some kind of a garden--wouldn't let her keep 'em at all. The
professors allus was a sore trial to her, but once she began a thing
she allus fought it through, so she put up with 'em the best way she
could.

She used to tell us that bein' housed up like to 'a' drove her crazy
at first, an' they was so tarnation fussy that she felt like a
hobbled pony in a stampede. They wouldn't even let her picket her
ponies out in what they call the campus, which she said was just
drippin' fat with rich grass, an' nary a hoof to graze it. Why, they
even had fool notions about havin' certain hours about goin' to bed,
an' even when you had to put your lights out.

One night she got fidgety an' nervous with the lonesomeness of it,
an' she got up about one o'clock an' fired her revolvers out the
window,--just for sport, you know, like a feller sometimes will when
he's--well, when his soul gets kind o' itchy like,--an' it purt'
nigh started a riot. She said 'at we wouldn't never believe how
different the people was down there. I reckon a university must be
run a good bit like a penitentiary. But as I said, she wasn't no
quitter, an' I reckon, takin' it all in all, she give 'em back about
as good as they sent.

Course we could see a lot o' change in her when she'd first come
back, but it seemed to slide off as the tan came on, an' by the time
she left in the fall again she'd be purty much the same old Barbie.
She went full five years, countin' the prep-school, an' I don't
suppose they was much in the way o' learnin' they didn't filter
through her; but it didn't spoil her, an' the very moment her knees
clamped on a pony again you could see that her blood was as red as
ever, even if her face was roses an' cream. My heart allus beat out
of time when I knew she was headin' back; but the very minute she
gave my hand the old-time grip I knew she was still the old-time
girl, an' when she'd turn to the chums an' say, "Girls, this is
Happy," why, I was big brother to the lot, an' before they went back
I'd teach 'em ridin' till they could giggle on hoss-back without
fallin' off. They all owned up that she was the takin'est girl at
the university, and while her pals was a mighty attractive lot, they
didn't have to use any arguments to convince me it was the truth.