The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-07-11


l spoke warmly of my young friend,
and Uncle Onesimus beamed with de-
light and opened his whole heart to me.
Mark my words he said, that boy'll
be great man some day, and you'll
live to see il, If / DON'T
He unlocked drawer and showed me
us contents. There were all Clayton's
! letters, beginning with the first He
chuckled over some of it's childish phrases
repeated references to a box of figs
amused him immensely. Then he parad-
ed before me all the boys school reports,
pointing with triumphant fingers 10 the
Good and ''V. Good" which indicated
satisfaction with Clayton's progress in
classics.
Why, he can read Greek just as easy
as the newspapers" the old man said
radantly. There's nothing that boy
can't do If he gives his mind to IT.
Clayton was at this time a Cambridge.
he had won a small open scholarship
at entrance, and the old man referred to
this enthusiastically.
He beat them alw he said. rubbing
his hands with delight. There were
seven competitors. but he beat them ALI
All. you and l know what he is, don't
we, Mr.. Baywick? ?"
When met Clayton next-it was at the
beginning OF the Long, saw that he
had developed into something ofNa dandy
or rather into that interesting class Of
adolescent which combines the qualities
OF the dandy and the prig. He pas ad a
good many supercllious judgments on mat
/ tiers artistic and literary. but had also
strong admirations and was very de-
| cided In both sets OF views. And after
good deal of such talk he found an OPP
portunity to wonder that I was so careless
! about the fit OF my clothes. He offered
| to recommend me 10 Poole. and named
| with deep respect a famous halter and
! a fashionable maker Of shirts. The con-
| versation shifted round TO Uncle Onesi-
mus and Clayton spoke warmly of the
| old man.
Hes very good to me- ne said. pays
my bills every now and then out of his
own pocket, YOU know, when l oyerstep
! my allowance"
The last word stirred my curiosity
Well Clayton responded Il don't
exactly know how l stand financially.
| Uncle Onesimus Is my guardian, Il seems.
| My father left him sole executor. ] sup
| pose we shall have a clearing up Of ac-
| counts some time"
During the rest OF Clayton's residence
at Cambridge 1 heard a good deal about
| him from Uncle Onesimus. The old man
would sometimes come round 10 my
chambers to give me some news of his
favorite. or to show me "A letter he had
received. These letters were the delight
! OF his heart lie pointed out references
70 some Of Clayton's distinguished
| friends. Lord Rippingdon and the eldest
| son Of a famous painter.
He mixes with the best" the old man
said triumphantly
His pride in his young friend swelled
| beyond bounds when a number OF the
"Granta" contained some lines Of verse
which Clayton had produced. Twelve
| lines of passable poetry, but Uncle
Onesimus saw I'm them the promise Of
new star I'm the armament
very likely it'u be poetry he'll take
to-" he said; very likely. though when
| he goes about so much with Lord Rip
| pingdon | thing it'll be politics, and then
| perhaps knowing Sir Everard and being
! such a friend 10 his son will make him
| turn TO painting. But he shall choose
/ just what he likes, and he sha be
| hampcred by want of money at the
start"
] hadn't such a high opinion as Uncle
| Onesimus had Of Clayton's performance
| In the "Granta"-perhaps because
/ thought / could have made better verses
| myself-but l managed to praise them
| pretty literally and without any evident
| insincerity. This encouraged Uncle
| Onesimus to open his heart still further
and he took from his pocketbook sheet
Of note paper. 1t contained some verses
written by Clayton many years before.
when he was first at school. u COM
| memorate a birthday of the old man.
| They formed an acrostic on the name
| "Onesimus" and We're very fair verses
| for a boy Of twelve. Uncle Onesimus
gazed at them fondly
If he takes to poetry" he said. "and
| becomes great poet. people will be glad
| enough to see the first verses he ever
wrote. And they'll wonder who 'Ones!-
mus was. The name isn't common"
Some time after this. calling on Uncle
| Onesimus. l found him hard at work on
| all the red library Of Baedeker with
| big map of Europe spread out before him.
Il am making out a plan for a tour. ."
| he said. Harry and | are going TO
1 oh ffs,e
mean TO see great deal. You know"
| he went on more slowly, II haven't seen
so much Of the boy lately IL wouldn't
/ do for me TO go down to Cambridge.
| should interrupt his studies, and then
| there are the reading parties In the sum-
mer. But we've fixed IL up between us
| that by and by when he leaves Cambridge
| we're to have a long holiday together
and I'm going to show him Europe
| This was more than year beforehand
/ but the old man began to devote q great
! deal Of time TO looking up routes and
studying all the decentralization Of
| foreign cities. He spoke on the subject
TO me now and then, as the skeleton plan
got made out and the outline began 10
| be filled in
IT'S not an easy one" he said once ito
make everything 1t in just right. Per-
haps we shall be nearer two years than
| one, as we shall want to see everything"
Clayton alluded to the tour himself
on a chance visit he paid me.
Il think il won't be bad" he said
you know" he added. some men
wouldn't like trotting round with a
negro. But I'm quite above these preju-
dices. Only where other people are con-
cerned, you know. one has TO be a bit
careful. II wouldn't have done TO have
had him at cur reading parties He
wouldn't have been comfortable
Are you quite comfortable" / quoted
recalling our first holiday with Uncle
Onesimus.
Clayton laughed at the Renaissance.
I'VE. did enjoy ourselves then" he
said; "at least, 1 did. The old man has
| been very good to me all along. But do
you know l can't get any proper accounts
out of him. He always puts me off. And
what makes 1T rather queer is that
haven't a single relation in the world
| that 1 know. My father quarreled with
his family, or they did with him, and so
I've never seen any of them"
We fell to talking Of the examinations,
then not far off, and Clayton confessed
that he hadn't worked very hard at
Cambridge and that the reading parties
hadn't amounted to much.
''They were too jolly to do much work
| in, you know he said. Il must try and
get a first somehow" he added, "or
Uncle Onesimus will be disappointed.
think he expects TO see me somewhere
near the top OF the list"
Clayton's tone was very confident, but
when the classical tripos list was pub
lished, he was in the second class and
not too near the top. Uncle Onesimus,
however, did not show any signs of dis
appointment. Perhaps he was consoled
I by a speech which his favorlte had made