The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 4, 1906, Page 15

THE ' SAN - FRANCISCO. SUNDAY CALL. m all—so did John, but not dently. brother soon wandered away to- the North in search of these g He found them at last in the State of Washington, where he after- ward s ed and has now become a beeomes wealthy orchardist such is John Hicks was to follow. So he did or, beter tw rd, and when he to know endid fishing and 'd he brought away n Davis apples. Some ow it was that he had visit his brother Ve- wered wit char- had him.” twer & the life of th ducements could had range, avail to cause the coun- o to Old Mexico as the cowboy and . fron jersman know it—by s streams and mountain ranges. years b He came when there was not a fence 1 & at area. He was the first mnan fence ole of those great ranches. »w there are but few unfenced. afld » do to-day what it took'a g gs do formerly. = This very . fencing caused endless s th the Mexicans, and even there has ks twelve for- rfoot oot des a very mself at that ys @idn’t like him at s ad to_pay penalties for tenderfeet, but eventu- ¢ grew to like him and be and s me great friends. re life fascinated Wister. He stayed - Niles. N time drinking in the wildness g As he grew t >w John e realized that here was one of d's strong men man of efulness, resolute, of absolute un er of men, e The -n knowing no chiv z rho along with great strength possessed great gentleness. And with all a keen sense of humor and an in- itude for story-tel By his ability and fidelity Hic “How wmuch money have you?’ ‘she asked. Somehow her conversation this morning on the Coronade beach was most uncertain. laughed. “Enough to pay my bills and get up to » San Francisco.” “Then you will have to wait until some one sends you the money to get home on. 1 don’t think you are worth walting for, Billy.” % “You might at least be nice this last day,” he sald shortly. “Let's talk about something else.” Two days later Valadon stood on the wharf at Oakland. Miss Brockman stood by the sleeper in which she and her mother were to make the trip East. remittance will be along e of days and we can East together.” Brockman ne, aren’t you, Billy I SAY.” cried Billy, “walit for a fel- evelantly. ary,” assented Valadon ave to wait untfl your papa ? T don't think you even do you?” looked hurt. “You are always to work,” he frowned. “I I should have to, with the r so disgustingly rich.” A A A A A A A A A AN AP By MARGARET E. SANGSTER. feet, but many schoolgirls do some- L jear child, that 14 com- thing almost as foolish in the effort to the girls in the Squeeze them into shoes too short or i i too narrow, or in some way ill-fitting. fancy a little foot t0 Ty Tso0t “to desire is one like yours, very perfection of beaul¥. Dorothy, just in proportion to your size. idea has for ages been A tall, slender girl should have a long, an extreme that aristo- narrow foot, rather than a short, plump tottering about on oOne.- A schoolgirl well rounded and of g their Eood weight must have a foot that can of carry her &mfortably along the ways of ther, s 8O feet, and when reached the age deformed e ave life. 1 have sometimes felt very sorry ur a paintful process Of for young girls whose diminutive feet occurs, which effectually were out of proportion to the bodies they e growth of those little supported, precisely as I feel sorry for girls whose feet are uncommonly large. There is a little comfort for the latter, however, in the reflection that large feet need not be clumsy, and that large foot- ed people are credited with being keen witted and clever, the large foot bal- The toes are bent in under and a sort of club effect is which Chinese fashion Te- 1t is really a hideous ced gards as elegant. distortion, Here in America we do not bind our HORSEBA eX o DRAWN PHoR GENTHE | &K quickly to positions of trust, and al- though mest exacting he has made him- self extremely popular with the cow- boys. He is firm, determined, just and thoroughly capable of carrying through the most dificult undertakings that are réquired of him. He ,is looked upon es one of the best cattlemen in the country. Any one who has read “The Virginian” will readily recall the three acts and entr'acte of “The Game and the Na- tion,” one of the most stirring episodes recounted in the book. This"is not an exaggeration by, any means, but. sim- ply such an ordeal as has been encoun- tered with- frequency among cattle- rangers. - Mr. Hicks can out of his own experience tell tales quite as thrilling. “I may see you soomer than you ex- pected.” he said with a smile. “Having money telegraphed to you?” she asked. No,” he answered shortly. “I have an idea that perhaps I can come East in ac- cordance with your apptoved methods. I'm going to try it, anyhow.” “If you do, Billy,” said the girl softly, as she mounted the steps. “If I do, what—" Mabel shook her head over the port- er's shoulder as the train pulled out. She loved Valadon in spite of his ab- solute dependence upon his father. If she could rouse him to action— She smiled to herself as the train rolled along the water front and permitted a last glimpse of the bay. Valadon took the boat back to the city, but instead of returning to the hotel he went to the Barbary Coast. In one of the dives sat a party of men, rough, uncouth and with a most evi- dent smell of the stable about them. Billy went up to their leader. “Im ready now,” he ald. “Stow the glad rags,” commanded the other, “and come back here in half an hour. We don’t want silk hats around.” Before the end of the half-hour the silk hat and frock coat had been met- amorphosed into a cloth cap and a pea Jacket, and Billy was $5 richer. The leader marshaled the gang, and an hour later Billy was back in Oak- land, but this time in the freight yards. He clung to a handsome leather suit case, but this time it carried only ne- cessities, and his baggage was aug- mented by & soap box containing a ‘whole bolled ham, ten pounds of corned beef, six loaves of bread, a hunk of cheese and & bottle of pickles. There was also a two-quart pall, which, it was explained, was to be filled with coffee when they made their day stops. On the track before him was a train of twelve vellow cars, at the head of which panted a huge engine. Bllly ancing the large brain at the other end of the body. Great geniuses have been seen before now with very generous feet. As a rule, American girls have dainty feet, and are very particular about the style and fit of their shoes. A shoe should fit perfectly over the instep, and should well support the arch of the foot. It should be a wee bit longer than the foot, because, when you stand, the weight of the body is thrown for- ward on the great toe. It should be neither too loose nor too tight. A shoe which. slips about on the foot like a It is a great pity that any girl in her young Pernaps nowhers in fiction will there be’ found ‘a character agreeing moré nearly with the original'than that of “the Virginian” with John Henry Hicks. When the book appeared and was first seen by his friends it was as if they - had received a pen portrait of him. Six of them sent copies of the book to him. Mr. Hicks is manager of the million and a half acre “T. O.” cattle ranch in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. He has a part ownership in two smaller ranches in the vicinity of Las Vegas, N.M., the Los Esteros or “A Bar Y" ranch of 140,000 acres and a very valua- ble ranch of 1200 acres called the Agua Negra ranch. He {s also president.of the First National of Santa Rosa, N. M. 4 . The similarity betw the real and the fictitious “Virginia@” 1s not that of character alone, but of personal ap- pearance as well. This is rather un- usual, but it may be that the novelist regarded ‘the man’s physique as being 80 truly in keeping with his personality that he found it Iimpossible to ais- sociate the two. John Hicks is six feet in height, as also “the Virginian”; he is a “black- headed guy,” as also “the Virginian' his voice is “Southern and gentle and climbed into the third car and deposited his belongings in a corner. There was much hoarse -shouting, a blast from the whistle and & jolt as the train pulled out, and the first section of the horse special was under way. Billy's fellow passengers in the car were gnother hostler and twelve thor- oughbreds being hurried East to the big .winter sale. The stalls took up most of the room, but there was a tiny space for the two men at opposite ends of the car and room enough to sleep in i one should be very tired. Men from the ranch had accompanied the train as far as San Francisco and had fed the horses before the train pulled out. The only thing to be done during the night was to quiet any horse that might become restless, and at 12 he could go to sleep and turn the watch over to his fellow. Because Billy had paild over to the foreman $10 in addition to the pay due him he was given a car In which the travelers were experienced tourists; racers of the Western circuit being sent East to be sold as hunters, and it was not a dificult matter to keep' them quiet. i~ ‘Bven as it was he was kept busy and sleep came quickly to tired eyes in spite of the novelty of his surroundings and the fact that his head was pillowed boat Is as likely to produce corns and bunions as a shoe which presses un- comfortably upon any part, like a vise. For walking, running, going te school and for the uses of every day, wear a shoe with broad sole and low heel. Narrow pointed foes and high heels are perilous to safety as well as iniurious to the foot. In theso days of polished floors and rugs even a sure-footed girl may make a slip and receive injury from an unlucky tumble, if the heel be too high. D drawling,” as also “the Virginian's.” Think of such a character amid such surroundings and a maker of novels on the soot! ; ‘What navelist could ask for more? ‘With an eye trained to unerringness of observation Wister watched narrow- 1y the daily happenings, came to know the signs of inciplent revolt among the men,“of rising discontent, and came to feel absolute assurance that the man in charge was equal to the task. It ‘was several years before Wister used the character in his book, but all the time he had in mind and later on saw more of him. g Mrs. Hicks corresponds in no striking particular with “Miss Molly Wood, chiet female cnaracter in the book—and not a very remarkable one. She is a na- tive of Ohio, but has lived in San Fran- cisco almost all hgr life. She is a gradu- ate of Stanford &nd taught for several years at Tempe, Ariz. She is a young woman of striking personality, original and very artistic. She has beautiful dark blue eyes, s vivaclous and altogether charming. The one fault Mr. Hicks finds with her is that she has not the “lylng sense” which is considered quite essen- tial on the range. It is to be hoped that she will speedily acquire it. She delights in the life that is before her and joins, heart and soul, in her hus- band’s interests. Six years ago, when she went to Tempe to teach in the training school there, she had her first insight into what the life of the range might be and has ever since been most enthusiastic over it. It was there that she met Mr. Hicks and 1t is not to be wondered at that upon a ‘whisp of hay spread over the grubbox, through which the smell of cold ham filtered. There was plenty of work in the morning, too, feeding and watering six horses and rubbing them down, and he was glad enough when the train slowed down and the welcome shout of “Cof- fee!” echoed along the line. There was a full quart of the taffy- colored liquid in each can, and with that bread and ham Billy made a breakfast that would have surprised the attendants at his favorite club. By the time the next stop came, he had his stalls cared for, and the fresh coffee came as a welcome reviver. He had ‘wondered at the announcement that there would be coffee at frequent stops, but the day was not halfi over before he real- ized that it was needed. Five days later a tired and dirty but exceedingly cheerful young man drove up to the door of the Valadon residence on Fifth avenue just at the head of the house was sitting down to his break- fast. It required an argument with a new footman to convince him that the caller was pot required to go to the side entrance, but at his voice the elder Vala- don came running into the hall. " “Bless my soul,” he puffed after Billy had told his tale in brief. “Didn’t you get my check?” - - Billy thrust a paper into his hand. "It came the day I left,” he said, ‘but it sort‘of spoiled the idea and I pretended that I did not get it. Now I want a bath and breakfast and then I want to see it I cannot go down to the station in time to meet the Brockmans.” The Chicago express was three hours late when it puffed into the huge arched shed and Miss Brockman was in no amiable frame of mind as she descended to the platform. There had been delay and six days on the train even in a stateroom is not pleasant. For a moment she mrfll'dlsml l't'“; groomed young man possess mself of her handbag and turned to help her l’ther down the steps, and it was not places or corns on her feet. If once they ‘have come, the obvious thing is to get rid of them as soon as ever you can. To this end, soak the feet in hot water, and when the surface Is softened, pick the corn out, if you can, remembering that any instrument you use for the purpose must first be carefully sterilized by dip- into boiling water. Some ears knew 4 very sad case of death resulted from blood poisoning negleét of this precaution. A to remove a corn with this fine fellow, *he of rope and corral” with his graceful “tiger undulation of body,” won her. ‘When Wister attended to the matter of mating his hero he generously provided him with a bride from good, old, prim Vermont as far away from California as he could comfortably get. Perhaps It was because he had been ‘thus fictitiously married to a girl from Vermont that Mr. Hicks set his heart on having a girl from as far west as pos- sible. But, be that as it may, his choice fell on a schoolmarm—and so was “Molly ‘Wood,” you remember. “What was he to do? Schoolmarm or no schoolmarm he must have her, and he did. However, the wedding took place in California and not Wyoming, on the 1st of January and not the 3d of July and the ceremony was petformed by the Rev. Henry A. Fisk’ of San Francisco and not by the Bishop of Wyoming. So, in the main, he had his own way after all Having got upon dissimilarities it might be apropos to state that Mr, Hicks is pot an illiterate man and that as far as is known he was not received by Miss Adams’ family as “the Virginian™ is re- ported to have been by the hypercritical relatives of “Miss Molly Wood.” It is not reported that they wers “astonished to find him se gentle,” nor discovered gradually and to their unutterable sur- prise that “his conversation—when he in- dulged in any—seemed fit to come inside the house.” Rough as his life has been his gentle breeding has stood the test. Last summer Mrs. Hicks and her sister with a party of friends, among whom was Mr. Hicks, went camping in the northern part of the' Territory of New Mexico. At that time Mr. and Mrs. Hicks were engaged, but, remarkable as It may = until they had headed for the ferry that she found her voice. “How dld you get here so quickly?” she demanded. “I came the northern way,” he ex- plained, “and I had a special.” Miss Brockman turned away to hid: her disappointment. “I might ha known you would do something llke that,” said she coldly. “I suppose that you wired for money.” “There was a check at the hotel when I got to San Francisco,” he ex- plained wickedly. “I had it in my pocket when I sald ‘good-by’ to you In Oakland. I thought you would like a surprise.” “It was not a surprise; it was the appear, they were successful f the rest of the party in ignoranc The trip was made in true cattle land fashion, with chuck wagon and saddle horses, and was thoroughly delighttul. During the outing three rou s were witnessed. Every night around th - camp- fire tales were told‘of just such a nature as those told in “The Virginian.” Many of the stories were recitals of practical Jokes played on ministers. Wister’s anecdote of the ail-night ses- sion of exhortation meted out for him- self by “the Virginlan™ at the expense of the unsuspicious divine rings very true. One daes not easily forget how all night long at intervals “the Virgintan uld not find rest for himself—nor for the rev- erend gentleman—on account of the bur- den of his sin, which had been so forcibly impressed upon him that evening by the sermon, preached from Jthe text, “They are altogether become filthy; there is not of them that dceth good, no, not how, even after 3 o'clock in the morning and many long, “helpful” con~ versations, he cried out, 'm afeard to be alone!” “I'm losin' my desire afteh the sincere milk of the Word!” and “Sin has quit being’ bitter in my belly," and how in the morning the misstonary finally un- derstood. After her return from the camping trip Mrs. Hicks acquainted her friends with the fact of her engagement, but Mr. Hicks let 'his friends remain in the dark concerning the matter, for reasons that may be imagined. Hicks says that previous to his wedding he had never had a black suit on, al- though he once owned a quarter interest in one. The unhappy feature of the af- fair, however, was that the man who was most anxious to get the suit had it made to fit himself, and as a consequence it would have been too close a fit to be produetive of any comfort to Hicks if he had had an opportunity to wear it, but the opportunity never came, for there was always a toss-up for it and it never fell his way. The wedding took place at 1 o'clock at the family residence on Ashbury Heights. It was a simple affair, being witnessed only by relatives and a few intimate friends. The bride carried white hya- cinths instead of the time-worn orange blossoms. The day was perfect and all things were propitious. A large number of guests attended the reception, which was held between 2 and 4, and among them were many prominent san Francls- cans. An amusing feature of the affair was the receipt of a mysterious box contain- ing twelve dolls tricked up with great nicety to represent the characters in “The Virginian.” The counle left on the evening train for the South, making their first stop at Los Angeles. They spent a few days at Tempe and also at El Paso, and on the 10th of the month they started from Sierra Blanca for their home on the “T. O." ranch, about forty-five miles to the south- ‘west. ‘When last heard from the couple were engaged in sending thelr apologies to Owen Wister. expected,” she corrected. “T had hoped my sermon had sunk in.” He made no explanations until they were In the carriage which had waited at Twenty-third street. Then Billy leaned forward. “I should have explained,” he began, “that the special was for the Ora ranch horses for the sale at the gar- den. I was a hostler and I brought the check back with me.” She leaned forward and kissed him, to the surprise of her mether. “Billy" she cried Impulsively, may take tbat che:k ana ouy solitaire with it.” (Copyright, 1906, by McClure, Phillips & Co) “you me a b A i A g rihnas teens should ever suffer from' callous & sharp pair of scissors that had not been sterilized, and lost her life in con- sequence. Do not use any lotion for your feet that has not been recommended to ycu by a physician. Even tincture of iodine, whick is often recommended to ease pain, would better be purchased on a physician’s pre- scription. Nothing is better for the feet than daily bathing. They should be kept very clean, indeed. and observe that if there is a tendeéncy to disagreeable per- spiration you must use a dash of am- monia in the water and after dry'ng. pow- der the feet with talcum before putting on the stockings. It is wise to use a good quality of stockings. Those which are coarse and harsh and have rough seams are as bad for the feet ag are i fitting shoes. Every girl who can should have in use several pairs of shoes at the same time, as one Is often greatly refreshed by simply changing one's foot-gear. Have beside the bed at night a pair of slippers or slumber shoes, and do not walk around cold floors with bare feet. 3 Some of you have a great aversion to overshoes. I do not cuite under- stand why. If you wear thick shoes with cork soles, you will be protected from ordinary dagpness. but for rain and snow nothing equals, in the way of efficient protection, a pair of good old- fashioned rubbers. If you IHve In a At} country. and must tramp over roads. choose rubbers with a sole of extra thickness. They may be had at country stores, though you ran- sack city shops for them in vaim, (Copyright, 1905, by Joseph B. Bowles.)