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THE COLBORNE EXPRESS, COLBORNE, ONT., DECEMBER 20, 194| DARK LIGHTNING HELEN TOPPING MILLER CHAPTER XI At dusk Gary and Adelaide returned from another trip over into the oil fields, and Mona Lee noted how sober Gary's face was. He handed her a sheaf of papers. "Will you put these away carefully, Mrs. Mason, till Mr. Mason comes back?" Mona Lee looked at the figures. "My gracious, Gary, does an oil well cost as much as that? That's more than Harvey makes in a year!" "Think how much he'll make when we get oil, Mother," Adelaide said. "If he gets oil," Gary added. "Still croaking, are you?" remarked Adelaide coldly. "But I can't blame any oil man for having a nasty disposition. If you'd see the way they have to live, Mother --even the ones that have fairly nice houses--and most of them don't. They have little, dreadful places, stuck around under derricks "That's where we'll be stuck I suppose," sighed Mona Lee. Harvey Mason came back, very jubilant, with his driling permit in his pocket. "Had to finagle some of those guys," he admitted. "Railroad Commission thinks there are too many wells down now--but I got around 'em." "I'll bet you paid somebody plenty." Mona Lee dashed his exuberance. "Just paid my lawyer. Permit didn't cost anything." "Hadn't we better see about the water before we go any further?" Gary asked. "There's no use moving drillers on to this job, till we 'rc sure about the water." "Ought not to have any trouble about that." Harvey was bland. "I've loaned old man Harper plenty--got a chattel mortgage on all his stock and tools now. Mortgage ain't due till August--but he can't pay it and he knows it." Old man Harper lived in a long, unpainted house with a kind of ©pen hallway through the middle of it. The porch sagged in sad scallops, each depression occupied 4623 SIZES 12-20 Wonderful way to build up your wardrobe at low cost. Pattern 4623 shows you how- easily you can remake a man's discarded suit into a smart jacket and skirt for year; Pattern 4623 comes in sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, 20. Size 16 suit, takes 21/, yards 54-inch material. Send TWENTY CENTS (20c) i (stam t be ; ted) for this pattern to Room 421, 73 Adelaide St. West, Toronto. Print plainly SIZE, NAME, AD-PRESS, STYLE NUMBER. by a languid, long-tailed dog. Every dog's tail thumped like a signal drum on the wooden floor as they drove up to the gate, and from within the house a woman's voice called nasally, "Pa, Here comes somebody!" Harvey and Gary waited on the porch, surveyed with weary indifference by the flat eyes of the dogs. Then old man Harper came to the door. "Howdy, Harvey." "Hello, Harper." Mason pulled up a chair and sat down between two dogs. "Thought I'd come over to talk over a little piece of business with you." "If it's about that note," Harper said, "I'm fixing to pay it. When "It's not about the note. If you ain't able to pay it--or maybe pay all of it, we can fix that up. What I want to talk about is me running a pipe down here through your pasture and pumping a little water out of that creek. What you figure you'll charge me for running the pipe line, and the water?" Old Harper did not look up, but there was about his mouth a sly and contemptuous twist. "Don't figure to charge ye nothing. Har- "Well, I'll pay whatever the damages come to." '"Don't figure to charge you nothing," Harper went on in a maddening drawl, "because I don't figure to let you have any water, because I've leased every doggone acre of this place to some fellers down in Corpus Christi. And if there's any more water in that creek than what my cattle can drink, I reckon they'll want it theirselves. They're paying me twenty dollars an acre for ten years, and that's more than I can make off'n a bunch of cows." Harvey's neck was red and his eyes glared. "Harper," he said, 1 sure wish that note was due right now. I'd foreclose and sell you "Well, it ain't due. And when it comes due I'll have the maney to pay it. So looks like there ain't very much you can »do. Anyway you got it all right in your own family. It was your son-in-law, Ol Kimball, fixed up the leases for "Who'd vou lease to, if it's any of my business?" "It ain't, but. I don't mind telling for I reckon you'll find out anyhow. I leased to Grice-Mor-gan--and if you can get any water out of that outfit, you're a good "Well, I'll get it--if I have to run a pipe plumb to the Gulf of Mexico after it!" Harvey stamped away. He trod viciously on the starter and raced the engine till it roared. "What do you know?" he demanded wrath-fully. "That dirty little heel! He comes to my house Sundays and eats my chicken and drinks my liquor, and then he sells me out-- like- this. Son, if it wasn't for Grace, I'd sure drive into town and give Mr. Oliver Kimball a good poke in the jaw!" "I'm afraid you won't get any concessions out of that Grice-Mor-gan outfit." Gary was dubious. "Yeah; I've heard about them-- "You might figure on running u pipe line and tapping the city supply--that is, if they'd let you." "I'll go talk to 'em. They've got water to sell--they can sell it to "Do you want me to see about the concrete, job? We can't put a derrick up without concrete have (lie surface casing in." "You said jou knew a good outfit." "Powers is the best. All new equipment, and they work fast and "Well, you get Addie to take you (To Be Continued) The British goverm: itish farmers to 3re pigs next ye; FOUR OF A KIND 5 a long step toward easing the beef shortage when that biological rarity--quadruplet calves--were born on the farm of Chas. Lucas and Sons at Dyer, Ky., last April 18. They are shown on exhibition at the Chicago Market Fat Stock Show, war ' ment of the International Stock Show. Christmas Suggestions The outburst of Christmas cheer, the chiming of the bells, the worship, the fun and all that goes to make a Merry Chrismas, are customs inherited from a long line of ancestors and from many countries. Warm hospitality at this season is a tradition of long standing, so we gather our families, our friends, and those for whom we are making Chrismas, to share the .happiness of the day. The home economists of the Consumer Section, Dominion Department of Agriculture, offer a few suggestions to simplify some of the homemakers' problems. In keeping with the Christma9 colour scheme the salad should be red. The choice is between'cranberries, tomato juice and beets. A jellied salad will be the easiest to prepare and serve, since it requires only garnishing with greens and dressing at the last minute. Dessert" will probably be plum pudding or mince pie, but it is wise to have an alternative dessert for the children and those who may have already indulged rather heartily in the first course. An old-time homemade vanilla custard ice cream served with a red fruit sauce is just right. Jellied Beat Ring 1 tablespoon gelatine li cup cold water 1 cup juice from canned beets, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 3 tablespoons prepared horse- 1 teaspoon salt Yi cup vinegar 1 cup diced celery 1 cup diced cooked beets Soak gelatine in cold.water for 5 minutes. Bring beet juice or water to bailing point. Add soaked gelatine and stir until dissolved. Add corn syrup, salt, horseradish and vinegar. Chill. When mixture begins to thicken, stir in cele- iml bc-< ry ened and fill ( Pour ould and chill until Id on salad greens : with cabbage salad. vmgs. Mincemeat Upside-Down Pudding This pudding requires more mincemeat than pie, therefore is luscious and juicy but easy on the shortening. lVi cups sifted pastry flour OR I1/?, cups sifted all-purpose four IYl teaspoons baking powder Yi teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons shortening ;4 cup granulated sugar nilk Mi Sift together the dry ingredients. Cream the shortening slightly, add sugar and egg. Blend well. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, to make a rather thin drop batter. Decorate- the bottom of a well-greased pudding mould with 'a few toasted almonds. . Spread with a geneious layer of mincemeat. Fill mould no more than two-thirds full with batter. Cover and steam over rapidly boiling water, about 13/4 hours. Turn out and serve hot with hard sauce or a hot pudding Sunday School Lesson December 23 The Message of Christmas to the World Lesson: Luke 2:1--14. Golden Text "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."--Luke 2:14. Journey to Bethlehem Luke 2:1--4.--In taking a Jewish census, all families went to the tribe to which they belonged and to the place where their family had resided. Joseph in fulfilling this demand of the Roman authorities was fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy respecting the birthplace of the Lord. Angel of tho Lord 5-7.--The word manger means simply the stable or place where the cattle or camels lodged. There was no room at the inn and Mary and Joseph were obliged to lodge in the stable. It was not necessarily a proof of poverty--under such conditions even the rich with the poor had to suffer inconveniences. 8-11.--The angel of the Lord came upon the shepherds suddenly. It is not surprising that the appearance of the angel, enveloped in Heavenly glory, filled these simple shepherds with fear because the presence of an angel was associated with disaster or death to the Jewish mind. But the Divine messenger came not to speak of disaster, but of deliverance; not of death but of life. The great joy of believers in their darkest hour is a striking fulfillment of the angel's message. The Gospel is first a personal message. The angel spoke as though Christ was born especially for their salaes--"Unto you is The Angels' Joy 12-14.--The sign given to these simple hearted shepherds was so simple that they could not fail to find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The angels gave praise to God in the Highest, that is, in the highest Heavens. - They praised God for the great plan of redemption, whereby sinful man was to be saved through the Babe whose birth the messenger announced. STOPS COUGHS ISSUE 51--1945 Thanks for a 'Nice' Christmas Present With Christmas close at hand the young man is likely to solve the 'gift problem" in an orthodox way by visiting the florist or candy shop. Exhibits in the Royal Ontario Museum, however, show that in the 18th-century his lady love likely would have received a far more varied selection of presents, for instance, she might have been given a stay busk, 'which was a long flat piece of wood that women wore at that time tucked down, inside the front of their bodices to add to the rigidity of the prison-like corsets. There is a stay busk in the costume gallery bf the Museum that is carved with two sets of initials and the date 1793. An even more significant gift was a wooden spoon. There are some of tliese love spoons in the Museum that are beautifully caived and seem to suggest that in days gone by you had to be quite handy with a pocket knife before you could be a successful lover. The expression "spooning" comes from the way spoons fit closely together and this curious custom of giving a spoon grew out of that use of the word. Christmas Bells 1 heard the beHs on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols piay, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men. H. W. Longfellow. for BETTER SLEEP... BETTER DIGESTION.. BETTER HEALTH! I right? "A Happy Christmas!" As 1 wrote the. words I wondered in my own mind what we generally consider constitutes a happy Christmas. A lot depends upon one's sense of values doesn't it? Funda-ally, the conditions are very :xpect. there mple. Traditi will be a ard getting, but in that I often feel we have lost sight of the original idea behind this exchange of gifts. We sesm to be leaning towards a tendency to spend more and more for o