Martinsville High School - Artesian Yearbook (Martinsville, IN)

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i: Mnf aoorren 1917 THE WORD OF A MARVIN .,...ByG RETT A cw- All the fine good nature had retreated from Sallie Marvinls plump face. There was a spot of pink on each well-rounded cheek and points of light in her steel-blue eyes: her chin was quivering spasmodically and her voice was pitched unnaturally high. , Once for all, jacob Marvin, she demanded, are you going to or aren't you? ,lake thrust his hands deep into his trousers pockets and spread his legs apart as he backed up against the kitchen stove. l-lis face, plump like his isster's, was apoplectically red. No, he roared, I am not, and there's the end of itf' Sallie arose. The pink dropped out of her cheeks. She stooped hastily and caught up Tabitha, burying her chin in the cat's fur to hide its increased quiver. She spoke jerkily, but with a note of finality of which her brother took stormy cognizance. Tomorrow, then, I shall start for South Bend. I shall board with Cousin Bill. And I shall never set foot in this house again until the front is painted white. jake Marvin never tlinched. He stared stormily into his sister's eyes as he declared slowly, I'm not to blame for that side being made the front side now, and it will never be' touched with white paint as long as I'm alive. Sallie moved to the stair door, Tabitha struggling in her tight grasp. l'm not one to go back on my word, lake. Nor me either, promptly retorted Jake. He started for the outer door. His eyesight was unusually good for one of his age, but he fell over a chair and two cats on the way, snorting wrathfully. This ended the first quarrel, the first in the long historv of the brother and sister. It had begun withthe beginning of the state road, beside which Sallie stood resolutely with her baggage on the day following her decision. Around the curve beyond the house came the stage, the wheels rolling smoothly over the new macadamized road, the pride of Pleasant Valley, and came to an abrupt halt behind-or, Page li? rather, in front of-the Marvin house. For the new state road had not followed the lines of the old road across the long slope, and the results were decidedly unpleasant. Mornin', Sallie, called the driver. Goin' away ? Sallie nodded briefly. Her back was turned squarely toward the back-now the front-of the house which had been her home for Hfty-five years. The high wall behind her was of a dull brick color, unrelieved by porch or blind-a blank ugly surface three stories high rising not ten feet from the road. Looks like you were going for quite a spell, the driver continued, raising the side flaps of the stage and stowing away Miss Marvin's luggage. Are you ? XVith difficulty Sallie unlocked her lips. I am. The driver gave her a side glance of curiosity as he asked, Xl'here's Jake? I'd like a boost here with these trunks. The answer came with greater effort than the last, I don't know where he is. XVith many a grunt the driver stowed away her luggage. the larger pieces consisting of two trunks, one of which was new and covered with brown denim, a canvas-protected suit case, a shoe-string bag bulging with packages, and a large covered basket swaying under the movements of two frightened cats. After these and minor articles had been -deposited in the stage, Sallie climbed agilely to the front seat. Gathering her linen duster', about her. she set one foot atop of the cat's basket. clutching an umbrella firmly in one hand and a small handbag in the other, every line of her usually supple figure tense, and every muscle of her calmly stiff. In this attitude of mind and body she was conveyed down toward Pleasant Valley and out of sight of the missing jake, who was stealthily watching from an upper window. Presently he came out of the front door-formerly the back door--and stood for a moment in the fl'Ol1t yard, which before had been the back yard. He drove his hands deep into his trousers pockets and stared up at the red wall, his round face flushed with wrath.

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U Mn: soofren 1911 H l would soon have to quit the business. XVhat's the matter? llave you joined the army of dietarians? No, laughed Mary, l am a new recruit for a larger army than that, and went on her way. 'l he garden was planted in potatoes, beans and other prosaic things, and Mary was happy. She could bearly resist the tempta- tion, when her beans did not come up for over a week, to dig them up and sec what was wrong. llut they finally appeared. as did all the other things. weeds included. Now the real work began. lt seemed to Mary that the hoe was worthy of a place of prominence in the most horrible ,torture chamber everdevized. lint a Sheffield never gave up anything as a failure, so she kept at it. Wars and rumors of wars grew apace. The government ,needed men badly and was urging all young men to enlist. liirst lion answered to the call. and then llarry, till finally only Mr. Fhefiield was left at home. Times grew hard and prices went soaring, as is the peculiar custom of prices at such times. Then one day Mr. Sheffield came home with a very grave face indeed. The governntent had asked for all married men who had any means with which to sup ily their families during their absence. to enlist. The call was clear and strong now and he felt that he must go. Could not they sacrifice a little more for their country? The Sliefiheltls were of fighting stock and their answer was always yea, so Mr. Shefiield went also. That left only mother and Mary and poor grandfatlier. who had come to stay with them during the boys' absence. Mary was glad indeed then that she had listened to the voice of wisdom in the spring. Her garden had grown into a thing of beauty now and promised a wonderful return for the thought. care and labor she had spent on it. ln the fall the war still dragged on. XVant was beginning to st'r abroad. and the residents of .Xcron were not exempt. l'oor widow liarley had given her son to the cause and was now so worn and frail by ceaseless work and worry that she was all but helpless. Page I I Then Mary came to the rescue. The widow was moved to the Sheffield home. There they had at least the necessities of life, thanks to Mary's garden. Meat they had not so much, per- haps, but one can be a vegetarian if one so desires and thrive. That was proved in the Sheffield home that winter. Grandfather, with Widow Farley as assistant, took care of a few chickens, which helped out quite a bit. Mrs. Sheffield did her part by concocting the most delicious dishes conceivable from their stores. And Mary-Mary was so busy she scarcely had time to sleep. Many homes she visited and always a basket accoinpanied her. She talked to the women and to the children on gardening and got ready for the spring again. Next spring the town was to have wheat fields, decreed Mary, and the potato should be the only Hower worthy of consideration. Did Mary know what she was talking about? Indeed. she did. everyone declared, for she had demonstrated to Acron that she was capable of raising a garden. .Xt last the winter wore away and spring came once more. Acron was fully awake and waiting for the first warm days. My! what a swarm of workmen there was. livery available bit of la.nd was used by the women and old men. liancywork was a back number, and woman's suffrage was entirely out of the running. Clubs could not get enough together to constitute a quorum and they, too, went to the dogs. llut gardening grew. lly midsummer. however. the hearts of .Xcron were over- .ioyed to hear that the war was over. Soon the men folks would be coming home. Very joyful was that home coming, yet sad also, for their were many who never came back. .Such is the way of all wars. in any country. But those who did come back received a lesson in gardening they were not likely to forget. .Xnd let me tell you still another thing: never again in Acron was there hunger, never! That, you say. is impossible. Not at all. for now the idle folk of Acron are given land to tend, and woe to him who shirks that duty: he must work or starve.

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ff Mnr soofren 1911 l An all-fired fuss over nothing, he burst out finally, And if Sarah Beasley Marvin expects 'l'm going to give in and paint this side white. she'll wait until llleasant Valley changes places with Marvin llill-which won't he today nor tomorrow. . Stutling his hands more deeply into his pockets he made a slow tour around the house. It was set on the side hill, conse- quently was three stories high on the down hill side, two and a half on the up slope and two in the front-or, rather, at the back. The sides and former front were painted white, Sallie's favorite house color. Across the former front ran a side porch, the widest in l leasant Valley, shaded by a fragrant honeysuckle vine and facing a little square of leveled yard filled with shell bordered Hower beds. ln front of the yard was the hed of the now unused dirt road. .Ns .lake turned his gaze downward to the new state road he scowled darkly, and wished heartily that in the years gone by he had painted the fourth side white--red had been the original color of the entire house. c Ilaving finished his view on the outside of the house, Jake went into the basement kitchen-now the front room, and began to get his dinner, a calainity which had not befallen him before in years. ,Ns he journeyed from jar to jar and from cake-box to bread- box he whistled to keep up his spirits, but between whistles swal- lowed frequently. Sallie had remained up half the night, baking and cooking. Presently jake sat down to a cold dinner, consisting of cake, cookies. pie, bread and boiled meat, while out of the oven came an ill smelling smoke, harbinger of scorched potatoes and burned ham. Beside him sat his favorite cat, occasionally mewing mournfnlly for its two mates. It was a solitary meal as were many others, as three desolate months went by. Loneliness, baker's stuff and an uneasy mind were all responsible for the change which took place in lake. The Hesh fell away from his round face and the ruddiness left his face. The laughter died out of his eyes and his shoulders began to sag. Ile no longer gossined daily at the post ofiice because of the in- quiries concerning Sallie's absence, and he was ashamed to own that all which stood between the end of Sallie's protracted visit Page IJ and home was a surface of ugly dull red. Still the idea of chang- ing the red did not occur to him, for had he not said that that side of the house would never be touched with white paint as long as he lived? And his word was the word of a Marvin. But had not Sallie said she would never set foot in that house again until it had a white front? Aml Sallie's word was also the word of a Marvin. One day, the latter part of August, ,lake hitched his horse to the buekboard, and, tying a lamb securely behind the seat, started for the butcher's beyond llleasant Valley. Suddenly a turn in the road brought him on a scene noisy with the creaking of ropes, the sudden tightening of trace chains, the sharp word of command. lt was a scene which electrified .lake with a wonderful idea, the solution of all his trials and the return of domestic peace. lt was supper time before he returned to his own hill-side, vhistlfng as he jogged along. When hc climbed down from his seat in front of the barn door he was astonished to see the lamb eyeing him meekly from the back of the buckboard. Ile had quite forgotten his real intention to dispose of it to the butcher. He untied it and drove it into the barnyard. lt's the last one in the flock, he muttered. and Sallie 'll want to raise it ,-for so soon was he counting on Sallie's return as the result of his idea. Three weeks he gave over to the completion of that idea. He had never worked so hard before, and yet, despite the heat and the work and the baker's stuff , the Hesh returned to his face and the laughing good nature to his eyes. .Nt the end of the three weeks he laboriouslv indited a letter addressed to Miss Sarah Beasley Marvin. The letter merely said: . l have just given the front ofthe house a brand new coat of white paint. Come along home. Two days later around the curve came the stage. and out of the stage. as it drew up outside of the gate, stepped Sallie, the handle of the cat basket grasped firmly in one hand. She looked eagerly toward the house with its front white, but with a glance a startled change came over her. She stopped short in the dusty road. staring, her mouth slightly ajar, at the