The St. Johns herald., 1889-05-16
cHILpAooo's mELoDaAMA.
Varied Ways in Which the Theatrical
 Instinct Asserts Itself.

Instinct Asserts Itself
 Lonely children particularly develop the dramatizing faculty, creating com panions. as, lacking toys, they are in- genious at inventing playthings. A brotherless and s;sto-less four-year-old of my acquaintance. taken upon jouTnev, gave her fond mother some sensation, the little ono being over- heard rec.ting to friendly stranger the out. ageoG5 pranks. including theft, assault and battery and incen- diarisrn, to which her "big brother Peter" was addicted. A5 an offset to the disgrace tf tli:5 relationship, she dwe,t with swet cn-Eusiasrn upon the winning traits Of her little sister, Sally Pinker" On being questioned by her mother. 1t appeared that this hypothetica! br.t thcr aad sister were very distinct realities 10 the solitary child, nor for a long fine would she drop them from t,le list Of kiHship.
 As child, ny record for truth-tell- ing and ingeuuousncss Of behavior was never impeache1; yet I ecalI instances of mental chicane.y wl-ch, had they been made patent, would hare sufficed to raise grave docL.5 iu the minds of my natural protectors W neither should not become . pcrjufer CT the blackest stamp. Well Go 1 recall that dull. rainy afternoon wl:cl. opcn-air sports being out Of the question, ! cast about for some novel entertainments indoors. l had heard of the extraordinary delg- sions which lad seized upon relative of mine while in inc e 'irium of a fever. l, too, would Dc delirious. see visions and talk wildly. I succeeded so well at thi, kinl of feign- ing that ret OI'y was my ten der mother alarmed, but I myself became genuinely il, unncrvcd by the vividncss Cf ny Cv2 iglnent5 and the blood-chilling character Of my own incohercnt utscranc nce5. Also. well re- member bcirF taken to the photog- rapher's. and the lu u5ubrious result attending the united eTo ts Of the artist" ny pare2ts-and myself. However cxhort-d to s.niln, the recs ord of each experiment showed 9 uni form gr;mnezs Of r,,rsed lips, saucer eyes and slightly cJr.'u sa.ci brows. The infant sphinx" a3 tho photo graph was afterwards known in the family, waj often c.auaestinely in- speoted by mo Witl c:1!gtna delight. Before and during .Ao operation had resolved that ii ! were 10 have my picture taken I would look noble (synonymou5 in my ,nin'l with se- vere). That I had sJrcoecded in my design was tns fond impression re, tained for several years.
 Beside tlis witness io tho theatrical impulse in children n ght te placed another portrait wh:5h was lately shown me--that Of 8 laGghing-eyed, dimpling, c3quottish La.age face. The lady whose cR .lG~5cif ij thIs daintily memorizod te. l=s t1@t tho motive of the sitter was to clock 9 though my sweetheart had just kissed mel" It was this samo eff wh,, having been corrected by hor nc11e conceived plan for lacora:iE : iA !. >;l # uf th3 in furious parent. Fer cyci Icing at the height Of their showecy #. sho caught up crim3on-bound pictI.'o book, and bending over it, let iaiL upon it's ad- mired cover two great tear-drops, with infinite satisfaction watching the spreading circles cf stain which in future yeas should so poignantly re- proach the maternal despot. The little red book is still extant. and I have seen it, with its twin hiorogiyrhs eX- pressive of so much n2ivcte and finesse.-AtlGntio.