The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

thursday obobumn 31t 10m the acton free press good wllih toward men iiajutv iiaiuitson kholl he wkstnnookb wre disagreeable grairplng lot dave conley wu think ing tu ho crunji- cd through tho snow toward the tree ho was tall wellknit youns man with a chin turned with rseolu- tlon mixed with tcndomwi he wo garbed in old hunting clothe with hlgh- laced boots reaching the ltolly tree half he examined it from every angle tits just the thine ho atd aloud but id better be sure its alt the wcbtbroolt land he was familiar with the land hugh and fences after borne search he aaw ax marks in a big poplar near by three chip and a crotui thats the line ho thought in a moment ho fell to work and soon had the tree down ho trimmed it with con siderable coro chopped oft the bate won and mode ready to dra it down to the waimn waiting at the foot of the hill t i cut the tree setldm its not from their land i looked carefully for the unci im akcored said jones doubtfully that you made some kind of a mistake fesnor for the tree sliore did come off the wobtbrook land i rode by tho place to moke mire and simon woatbrook showed me just where it happened and everything he was standing behshd mother tree no piece at all off nnd he oen you cutting it him and another feller i know you didnt mean no harm feasor but thatll the way it in and im sort of nkecred that it may mess you up right smart if they keep pushing it you know what sort of folks they are stubborn hardheaded and once theyve put their mean hands to the plow they bust out the middle or bust up tho plow i know eald dave conley far the first time with a hint of bitterness well i reckon theres nothing i can do about it but face it out i dread it though on account of the school i should have had sense enough to make sure if it had happened on this side tho line you could get tho case in jodge tvarago co hprt thro lfflnt a tree down he left it on a rock ledge and drove the wagon to a point whore he could gently roll the tree on he was ready to tuke it to tho schoolliouso whom tomorrow the pupils would put it up and decorate it making ready for the big event of the yule tree dave conley returned to lili earlier thinking he would use huge laughing grasping simon woatbrook for santa as usual simon weslbrook had been santa now for slit or seven years or was it eight at any rate simon was fat he had a hcorty laugh and if ever anybody got pleasure out of playing a part it was simon playing big generous santa clauz once dave had a suspicion that it was because simon could give away many presents without the necessity of having to put out any money for them but as that was rather unkind he did not harbor the conviction for long dave conley had gone away to college come back home and the school board had given him the past autumn a place to teach the westbrook clan fought him tooth and nail they knew a thou- aand ways to annoy the teacher and at times young- dave thought that the west- brook tribe used the whole thousand plus a few extra combinations for bod measure they talked about him they said the sclutlars got into fights on the i grounds and to and fro from school i they disapproved of the long recesses sometimes davo did forget and go over time a few moments when the play was full of fun they magnlflod every little falling and overlooked entirely the foot that dave conley had the school in splendid enthusiasm with plenty of hard work during study hours best of all his scholars loved him ffiven one or two of the westbrook girls and boys secretly loved dave they dared not admit that at home of course dave hauled the tree on down to the aohoolhouse where he unloaded it he then drove the beam on to ids boarding place at ham ricks where he put it up he had been home perhaps an hour when squire leverage chairman ol the school board drove up to the gate in the wintry sunlight and called hay fessort dave went out to the gal come in uncle jesse nope got to be riding i dropped by to tell you i wont be able to help with the treecalled away on sickness so im just going to turn all my official job over to you you see about flatting the santa and ml laws lm the red suit up at her house v i been thinking about sim westbrook hes awful good at the job but them wtssuirooks havent dew a thtrqr oufall but make trouble o id made up my mind not to let them com in and run the show so you get up santa ill just leave it to you if x get hack in time i hope to come to the tree so long and good lurk hope you have grand time thanks squire wc shall squire leverage drove away he hod been cone leas than nve minutes when morris jones the constable came up on horseback dave turned at the cau thinking whimsically that it was a busy day for him hello mr jones light and come in thankee davei got little busi inr o wfttttloua uju jsllt since its goliyr to go through the weit- brooks hands in trial its going to be a right smart moss most folks feasor will take your side dont worry all the same tho trial is bound to react against tho school yycb thats right to some extent but fight it out dont let em put any thing over an you heros the bond sign it got somebody to go on with you or you can give me a signed check far the amount of bond to appear two weeks from now before squire juko west brook dave signed the papers wrote tho check and tho constable turned nnd went back as ho had come the whole disagreeable affair took the flavor out of the christmas season for young dave conley peace on earth good will toward men what irony it wast the fact that the incident wns merely technical guilt did not matter he should have taken more aare to that extent he certainly was blame worthy nor was it of any moment that the tree itself was worth little or nothing he had taken something off somebodys property without permission perhaps the tree cut and trlmmod and taken to the city would have fetched two dollars the ugliness of a small matter magnified into a big one was that whloh annoyed dave while the scholars put up tlie tree hi theschoolhouse and the bis girls decor ated it beautifully with colored papers i and glass ornaments davo conley watched with a sense of morosenoss all the yulotlde sweetness was gone from him meanwhile of course the westbrook camp was a good amount of gratification simon weatbrook throwing out his bar rel chest would smlt himself heroically and laugh hi that vast manner he had i kotched the lessor on lus blind aide that time and socked him one thatll hold htm a spell then his face hardy ened his eyes glinted ho thinks hes some pumpkins qo off and take on a jag of book- taming then come back and gooly over us pore folks 1 he aint such- amuch nohow jcqnnlo westbrook one of the younger girls who secretly had succumbed to the charms of the schoolmaster came home that afternoon and reported to big gloat ing simon youre not going to be any santa clous this time sim she said with a certain ferocity- who said i wontr bellowed simon i said you wont yah i guess youre boss man of the works ch well ill pull your pbjtoila out and throw you in the crvk if you tret sassy with sim westbrook ill reach down and gnaw off twothroe acres of that bigoted upper lip of yourn how come i wont be santa i already asked squire jesse leverage and he never said no word against it well judge jfixe hes gunr away ull after christmas and gave feasor dave the right to name his own santa what barked simon i told you i said the girl nencaiy vou just made a mess of things and yourself too when you started that law suit ills dark face went a curious gray then became swept with the swarth of cha it to you i youre just plain mean ai small that what sim westbrookl u you had an inch of real man in you youd go st to arahdpop westbrook and hove hialcajl6trntnjtrrrtmtofcourtrj and youd go to that christmas tree and apologiko in nubile for what youve done i im a mind to wring your neck i he did nothing of the kind instead he hurried out saddled his mule and rode furiously away to interview the other members of the school board he came bock after an hour looking glum and browbeaten lie had talked with mr walker and luke sardls the other members they said it was judge jesso leverages job to look after that if judge jesse had empowered mr davo to get his santa then mr davo should get him and that was all there was of it to anyone not familiar with the single- track mountaineer mind it would bo difficult to understand how desperately upset simon westbrook wan by tho turn of events few honors were to bo had in the simplicity of life in poverty run and chlttllnff meat mountain the adults divided the honors of mimutrntes office cotuitable and school board among them little wan left for nn arrogant power- hungry young fellow like simon west brook moreover he wan the best santa tlmt could bo hod in that locality the haneht truth won he was a genuine artist nt it now lie had played havoc he hod lost the single great honor that ho want ed above all others available to him he could not humblo himself to dave conley however tlmt would have been unthinkable he beat his hands to gether and moaned walking up and the i lilg piinrheon room ol the job youre on artist at it in foot slm6n youre not much on the peaoe- onearthgoodwlltowardmen side of it going around here totmfj guru to ehbol mmurmmtihno1urhwt tin 1 hnve to victoria prepares for old fashioned christmas mm here with you some papers he i grlned anger- say began simon was hesitant as he fumbled in his poc kts paperst said dave in surprise warrant swore out- in squire jake westbrooks cot i dldnt much want to serve it but duty is duly you know now them things i feasor the young man stood there a bit stupe fied warrant he repeated in a tight toimrvrwhitr theootuubl produced the legal paper owd tread the charge for willfully sbealioir tree off simon and clay west brook v land why whyr- tpd dave tree you mean that christmas tree why my goodness they must have broken om nck to net this warrant sworn out for its only been two hours am then he fell to raving and growling thats the way lie worked to gt it back on met he knowedr good- and well its my job i bean so now for eight years everybody in the settlement know i ml my job the suit fits me uke it was made for me i do it far better than any buer person in these parts dave con- icy knows that he knows how i feel kowflhlattbllns ne stopped glaring at hi sister as if ahe might have tome part in itl im half a mlttd to box your jawsk zm going to tee the othtr members of the school board well i hone they dont give it to you i you say tint again and ill snitch you baldheaded i i hopesald the girl they dont give the mountain dwelling i wlsht id never have started this mess i wisht that idiot davo conley had aleft that tree alone then i would not have done this im of a mind to no hunt him up and beat his head far him it was all his fault its your fault accused his sister look here i you going back on your own blood and kin on account of that there roller i aim to bo roir all the pupils are crazy about pcssar dave hes nice and lies smart and hes good ho wouldnt ever have sworn out a warrant for you sim if hed been back of that trocv wutchlng you cut a tree on his land hed have yelled out to yau dont do that sim or more opt hed have come on down and said take it its a nice tree im glad i can 8 it to you and to the school here let mc help you cut it i and load it thats what hird havif said i think simon glowered at minnie in baffled rage you done fell in lovo with tho teacher think of that no she denied swiftly uut ive got a right to like somebody that i ought to like im going to hunt unit feller up and have this thing out with him tho mat- tcr hud resolved itself in simons mind as a personal issue he went to the door and took tho gun from the horns above minnie undertook to wrestle the weapon from him but ho flung her backward and strode out into tho falling dusk a light snow was foiling the wind wan bitter in its knife thrusts simon west brook but dimly aware lie was making on idiot of himself walked quickly down the school path he thought that he probably would find young dave there working on the tree christmas evo would be tomorrow night tormorrow night ho stumbled the wind hold him back then lie took a fresh grip on his anger and pushed on men had killed each other for loss tho mosleywestbrook feud famous in its day had cost a score of lives over the years on a pretext no more valid than simon westbrooks the excuse does not count muoh in anger the condition of mind dnd drive of anger is all that counts this set and drive carried simon westbrook on he saw a dim muscular form take shape in the twilight of ghostly snow simon woatbrook stopped the figure came up the trail carrying some sort of parcel simon stiffened all through uts croat frame and ha brought the gun to rest in the bend of his arm howdy he snarled standing in the middle of the hath well howre you although dave conloy was startled by j this unexpected encounter with simon sestbrook his voice was still quiet and pleasant he saw that simon was arm ed in that grim swift moment the schoolmaster sensed that simon was after him young westbrook stood erect i t he said throughset teeth i could lull you the barrel of the gun emme gently to a point where it covered dave conley why certainly agreed dave and he was glad that his- voice was natural and pleasant though he knew a quarrel was inevitable and that ii was almost as inevitably cause this simple fellow to kill him i suppose he wrnt on quietly you could take that gun and kill the next dosen men women and children you met what or it it wouldnt show you up much ot a man thafa what you sayl snarled simon anyway what are you sore about you had a right to prosecute ma for get ting that tree i had no legal right to go oh your land and take what was yours im not kicking x could have wished that the whole unfortunate matter wu otherwise but i cannot amy thoaerlghu that are 0 potently yours and about actlnr santa claus ive broucht the suit to you simon looked dased and he eyed the bundle with befuddled eyes that ttiafs it youre the beat man tor rdmit tho truth and say tlmt youre the finest santa i over saw or heard of so i kept thinking and i finally made up my mind that i could do nothing except give the job to tins one bout suited for it whether i liked youorjie person ally simon j the truth is i dont i cant hut i bellove that i can be honest with myself and you and at the some time give you the job i know you want heres the suit dave put it tn simons limp arm i suppose nome fallen will nay that x nm actlrie tlje coward trying to buy off your anger it may be simon you will think so i cant help wliat others say i hope tlmt i am anything but a coward im asking you to take your old place for no reason in tho world save tlmt youre by far tho bent for it the joli is small i think tho principle of the tiling is very great he turned artcr a moment leaving the duxed simon standing in tho snowy gloom and retraced his ntepn the next evening the crowd enme early to tho nchoolhoucc ami aooii the room was packed the tree won genu inely beautiful in its decorations and burden of prcnentn santa wan late when he entered ho waa bndly out of breath in his vigorous robust voice curlounly changed from the tense siivoho tone dave had last heard santa aald i ben late i had to stop down beyond the fence row and pray n spell pray for this here chrlstmns season pray for all you loctlc chnjuj and tho big folks too but mostly i imd to get on my hunkers and pray for myjfeir and i had a right smart ronnle with tho bad in iwwrsir iititiwi iiiihi mi nll you folks big onwi nnd little ones too some will know better than o thorn what i mean out this hero tiling wu call christmas is tlmo for peace and good will and i aint been ho peace continued on page seven propiinitlumi for tlio iiiuuo kind of hrldtiiwui fiilvltlch which enlivened kiiklnml in the jivh of inml queen iiimih urn now under way lit tho kmpremi motel ill vic toria 1u where an unuminl munlier of citiiildlniih will join approximately kid aiuerliiinii in tinu tim programme neon here in rolieiirhul ban nuch plctureaque featured iih ii houra head yulo loj whhhuh howl and chrlnimh nirolh iletnlnorn in old time enn- tunie haul the 1k to the mannivo rireplnee whom it ih lighted by the miivor of victoria wllli a frnj- trv linn been put under n bed to hocdro the limine from fire ae- conllnn to an iinrlent nupemtlt ion fhrlntmiih dinner in ihe ttireo croat liiiiiutlnk tialltt with tlm chef hen rin k tho hoarx bond tunkn flerre mount on a silver plntter nro othe plilttrohipin lui which inolcilnihlnnifmt rnlurtnl fp-ntlvjll- for best buysconsult the ads ur cuitomen very merry christmas butter carrolls first grade creamery lb z i mixed nut in shell ib 19c etirak bu1im1 walnuts ppr 3bil pecans wum brazils sbdud walnuts ulb special fit cocoa hlb tin 25c 23c 19c 10c 19c maple leaf mincemeat 25 aylmer golden whole kernel corn z 19 dew kut choice quality peas 325 libby tomato juice 2 qumnland sweet mixed pickles 18 f dueheu a mixed m i candy 2 u 25c 4 lmialvprtii jellies lb- davr auoriwl candy lb gum drop or jllr beans a lb- auerud checoul drops lb bungalow 1 lb chocolates bo 15c 15c 25c 15c 24c 4 special campbell to i soup tomato z 15 content only hright red cranberries 23c b sweet potatoes 4 crisp white celery hearts 10c bright queen royal peaches heather shortbreads mclaren invincible 6ox olives rl4 carroll sliced side bacon carroll creamy old cheese carroll da coffee special catarac dry ginger ale z iy 10c 49c 16oa tin lb it in pit lb 14b bag 3t9 colun hllowl dates krolt m1u whip jl porsauaa cooktalu oq- shrimps 2 tie aj7l wailmffai paaeb 32o- jar jam wllh pol carjiaal craaai saajwieb biscuits x cka aaul saabarat age 21c 15c coffee i lb obi lo llaoc craaalnill juice s is laehiaa caljae waa gg beans z no 1 uk bartlau pears i isoi alularons powilira jellies 7 pbi allaai aoou juice 2 acol 25c 9c 17c f california navel i oranges h 9c 23c mux street free delivery phone 1s8 1