Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-10-02
THE UNIVERSITY NAT H.

not unIFeQuenlly bf our uhlNersllies ana
public schools. He was big, broad
shouldered young man, who, besid les dis
tinguishing himself greatly both on the |
river and in the cricket field. had taken |
o very respectable degree, for he was 10y |
no means afraid Of hard work Of any de- |
scription. Such men often make capital
parsons, and Tom was hardly less ener-
getic in his parish work than he had
been In very different spheres of action
at Eaton and Oxford. But the Re were
limits to Mr.. Baxter's endurar ce; he
liked an occasional holiday, and this was
the only point upon which he and his
vicar, the Rev. Septimus traiahtway,
were not entirely agreed.
The Rev. Septimus was an earnest
man, and took severe and gloomy
view of the pleasures of life He worked
terribly hard in an East End parish:
knew nothing and cared less abbut out
door sports-or, in fact, about any form
Of amusement; and fully exped ted his
curates 10 follow unhesitatingly in the
extremely narrow and steep iath up
which he led them. Hence il .aIne to
pass that Mr.. Straightway ptrienced
considerable difficulty Ia finding curatcs
after his own heart; the Young ni,.n were
continually leaving him for less hrduous
duties, and the Wears opinion az human
nature in general, and of the younger
generation of curates in particular, stead
lily grew worse. In Tom Baxter how
ever, he really thought he posses-ed a
treasure, and the danger 81 wdrking a
willing horse to death never so much rs
entered into his head.
Poor Tom did his very best 10 satisfy
Mr.. Straightway's requirements. for he
really respected the man and valued Inn
mensely his good opinion, but. as has al.
ready been indicated. lao could not help
longing that his superior would enter \
little more into his own harmless liking
for occasional relief, and sympathiz,
with his passion for rowing anNi all tina
was connected with athletics.
At the time ! write of the cricket sea
son was In full swing; but Toms dutie
had not only prevented him frpm play
ing in n single match. but even from
looking on at one for few hours from
the roof Of the pavilion at Lords. More
over the university cricket match, Il
which he took an absorbing interest. wa
last anu nc WIS cbINi
troubled by the dread that he might no
be able to see IT, This fear haunted hir
day and night; il worried him duriu
his visiting and mission work spoilt hi
rest and occasionally obtruled itse
upon him in the pulpit Even the abser
minded Mr.. Straightway at length II,
ticed that his curate's mind vas Ill /
ease, and one day he went 50 f,Er as TO il
quire the cause. Tom stamIhered OF
something about being out of sorts, an
ventured to hint that he thought day
holiday would do him good
when ] was your age. Mr. Baxter,
never wanted holiday, rfplicd a
austere vicar; "but you are cp ttainly ~
looking well Let me see today is d
cath of June. In about fortnight
think | can arrange a day for you 81
the 18th Of July"
Cant it be managed week sooner
queried Tom, desperately, FOL the vi
versity match was fixed for the 4th.
quite impossible. fear, said {
vicar, decisively, for he was terril
martinez with his curatcs. So, with
wave Of his hand. he dismissed the 81
feet, and Tom knew that further app,
was useless.
Its rather too bad" grllmbled
Baxter, as he walked home to his huml
lodgings but it is no usd talking
him about cricket he doesn't know
from a ball" And with heavy he;
he tried 10 resign himself ID the inc
table.
But two days later rcuInstance
Cured which entirely routed Toms y
tuous resolutions. A letter arrived
the reverend gentleman 8 lodgings viii
was couched in the following terms:
HEATnoorE Hale IoassHfRI
Dearest ToN-Wc arr actually coming 70 tor
Only for two days, though; and we gning
Lords to the match Uncle has got d
there. block OF course shall never for;
you Il YOU don't and me, sn we,inese
afternoon No GO TO Essex TO stay eith the Z
vertonR so this Is our only chance of meeting
come; In terrible haste Yours ylngly,
ALIci
From the foregoing il may be gather
that Miss Alice Heathcote and Mr.. I,
Baxter were on tolerably intimate tern
As matter OF fact they ha 4 been
gagged for six months, during which Ia
they had very rarely met Bakers ?,
pie were well off, and lac had|a very ri
uncle, among whose possessions was
excellent family living. destined in t
future for Tom and his bride Bur I
uncle was a stern and conscientious e
tleman. and he was deteTm med, beft
he definitely agreed TO give Tom the
cancy-when II occurred-tb see wi
that young gentleman was made of. A
this was why Baxter had b1aen sent
help Mr.. Straightway in the East In
why he worked so hard IN the parish. a
why he was so desperately anxious
stand high in his Wears opin on,
When Tom read the letter bis first i
pulse, unclerical though it y lay appel
was to use strong language. But
restrained himself and fell 10 Think
over the various means Of esc aping FRI
his duties, A fresh appeal to
Straightway he knew 10 he hopele
That worthy ascetie did mol only 10
upon cricket US frivolous Wa ste of tin
but he was q strong advocate Of the &C
bacy Of tie clergy. Moreover, 10y mere
asking the question Tom might utTe
him, and this be certainly could 4
afford 10 do under the cirtumstanc
There was nothing for it then but pho
fraud. and although Toms conseien
rebelled againt the idea Of dhceiying !
vicar, who trusted him implicitly,
Il 4.