The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-10-22

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sition convenient to his capacious
mouth.
And such chorus of shrieks of mer-
riment with which he was greeted.
you'll break your toesy' cried one.
"Piggy-wiggyr' screamed another.
Dropping his piece, with a muttered
exclamation of rage, Eddie hit the near
est girl. who happened to be his sister
Lucy. and shook the next, who hap
pencd to be his sister Jenny, and then
made one bound for the gate and tore
home. Thus the party marked an epoch
in his life, leaving its impress for years.
For, as he tore home with his eyes half
blinded by tears of anger and mortifica-
ton, he resolved that, henceforth, he
would be master of these girls, and
show himself their superior. And he
faithfully kept his resolution, as we shall
see.
From that day forward. he became to
his sisters, to use slang phrase, "a
holy terror" All cringed in his pres
ence, and to them his will was law.
When they were small, they BACKED his
boots, and unguestionably obeycd his
every behest; when they were larger,
they asked his permission regarding the
books which they might read, or the
company that they might keep.
Time passed. Edward had graduated
from the village academy. as Lucy had
done the term before him, as Jenny
would do the term after him. Then it
was dccreed that he should study medi-
cine. So. his mamma and sisters reso-
lutely packed his trunk for HIM, and he
went away to the city, soon finding
himself in the fourth story of big
boarding house, with three other stu
dents. For the first time in his life he
could actually live with real boys-or,
perhaps, these boys would have pre-
ferred being styled young men.
Two of the three other boys were
quite ordinary-that is, not very hand
some, not very ugly, not very bright,
not very dull. Walter Jones and Will
Lewis represented the average boy,
from a respectable family in good cir
cumstances, the boy whom you see
every day and never think of remark
ing. But Percy Roy-oh, he was a
character! So childlike, so simple
minded, SO stupidity good natured that
one could scarcely fOrbear asking, not
''What possessed him to undertake the
study OF medicine?'' but "How did he
ever have wit enough to learn his alpha
bet?" Percy was tall and ungainly.
with pink baby-face, and mop of
white hair, which alone would have
him conspicuous among the
trio with brown locks.
Upon the fourth floor of this big
boardin house were two small rooms
and one large one. The two small
rooms were occupied by Walter and
Will respectively, while the two beds in
the large room were taken by Edward
and Percy; the large room with its GEN.
ter-table and lounges being also used as
a common study by the four. They
could thus have the whole floor to them
selves, undisturbed by any body.
Edward specially found that not only
was he a boy with boys. but also, that
he was a boy above boys. Not one of
the other three could compete with him
in intellect and strength of character.
And. in recognized sovereignty, he for
a time was happy. But he soon realized
that recognized sovereignty. excellent
as it was, was still unworthy to be COM
pared with actual sovereignty, to which
he had long been accustomed. If his
sisters were not boys, he could at least
order them to black his boots; but, al
though his present companions
were boys. and insensibly bowed
to his authority. he could not very
well command them to wait upon
him. Percy, to be sure, would ma Ike
an excellent servant-Pcrcy would do
just as well as girl when subject for
was desirable; but then Percy
was not yet in Edwards power. Once
in Edwards power, however, and Wal
ter and viii would aid in fastening the
yoke upon his neck.
Lets play trick on Percy" sug-
gested Edward one day, when that un-
fortunate wight's hack was turned.
The thoughtless Walter and the indif-
ferent Will smiled an assent, and Ed
ward reached across the table and
picked up poor Percy's anatomy-his
textbook upon anatomy, l mean.
There, between the pages, just as he
had left it, lay card as a marker. Ed
ward moved the card a few pages
t ward the front of the book, and re-
placed it. Guileless Percy came in, re-
sumed his chair by the table, opened
his book at the card, and read ON in ST.
lence for an hour. Then he inserted
the card between the leaves where he
had left off, closed and put away his
book and prepared for lecture. As
Percy passed out into the little entry,
Edward laughed, slipped the card a
few pages toward the front for the sec
ond time. and was rewarded by his con-
federates' applauding smiles.
This went on for weeks. Edwards
deepened, and Walter and
Will looked at him, at each other, and
at Percy in plying incredulity. The
question began to assail them all as to
whether they had any right to continue
such farce. Finally, viii broke the
spell by asking:
"Percy. how do you like reading
anatomy?'
ats very NICE" drawled Percy; .'but
don't you think it's-a Ieetle-monoto-
,OGS?'
As the story-writers say. 1--WE draw
a vail over the Climax" that is,
We would, if this were the end. But.
when the fit of historical laughter
greeting this speech had subsidized
boys do laugh Historically sometimes
Walter challenged the victim thus:
"Fll bet you don't know the name of
a single bone you've read about"
III bet do!' declared Percy. vehe-
mently.
Name it, then"
''The-Peter-y-goid" enunciated Per-
CIV, decidedlr. with the accent on the Y.
"The-what?" cried the mysti;ied trio.