The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-27

poy OF I2-raSSed, put clean ana Wen
groomed, and somehow, his rags didB' / I
| sit heavy on his soul" to the intoxicating
OF undue humility, for before the first
school-day was over he had licked the
for making some ''profane and facetious
remarks as Nasty would say, on the cut
marks" as Nasty would say, on the cut
and quality of his (Johnny Brown's) trou I
serS and Jacket The fact that the meT- |
chants boy was q year his senior, and
the bully of the school, ait once made |
young Johnny Loved, feared ard respect
Cd, by his mates-a condition some philos- !
CIPHER pronounces the most desirable one
possible in this vale of tears. At all !
events, Johnny's ragged jacket didn't o5- |
tracise him in the school: and on the play |
ground a certain indefinite quality of
leadership asserted itself. but in so pleas |
ant and Jolly a way that very few felt
called upon to make head against it.
Then, Johnny Brown had peculiar and
original way of mastering his schoolbooks
that was rather remarkable in DulltoWn.
( FOR 1t had been customary there, as else
ers to punch EN- up, as the directorSl
/ expressed it; and they had got so used To
! the punching-up process, and had CONSTR
cred it so gOOd-natured on their part to-
wards their teachers to learn at all even
with all the encoura cement those unfortu-
mates could give them that they looked
/ on Johnnys voluntary learning CT a les
son as little less that fiat burglary -
and some Of the boldest took occasion to
demonstrate with him for trucking 50
much to 'old Whackem,' the MASTER But
]
on NEST matters. Besides, he had a little
mother at home whom he cared more 10
please than all the people of DulltownI
cosnbined: and this unreasonable little
body had, desoite her poverty, presumed
! to entertain hopes and ambitions for her
curly headed boy that would have shocked
the placid brains of her neighhors almost
into mental activity had they known
them And at the base of her plans in |
the boys behalf lay a thorough education
She knew that this, of all earthly attain |
Z If9ntE. 1g the lpNrallnT Of n
distinctions, the greatest help for poverty
TO rise to rank and affluence; and She a |
poor mediterranean, and, on occasion, al
WaSh-YToman, had the audacity to hope
lWithin her own bosom) for such q, career
for Johnny as would have surprised, and,
indeed, ill-pleased, some of her patrons to
whom he brought home budgets of work
done by his Woodworking mother.
But We will skip five years in our mar
1atiVe, only stopping to observe that curl
hero Johnny Brown, had in that growing.
period, shot up from a sturdy, curly-head-
ed urchln OF j, to rather tail, awkward
ycungster OF IL, as self-reliant, but much
more bashtul, than on the day he entered
SchoOl at DuNtoWn. 1t was his good luck
that the school was presided over during
! those years by a really capable teacher
VINO accepted Johns unusual capacity as
relIet from the pond of med.OCrity il !
Whlcn ne was condemned TO paddle. and
hao extended the range of his studies
much beyond the usual limits OF a dis
trIct school. To compensate for this out
D
the professor s. garden, chopped wood
Tor MIN winters, and generally paid back
IN such currency as he had in hand for
/ Inc loan or DOCKS mostly mathematical
and of practical value to a young man
who had IT in view to make his brains
heip his hands. Fer John was what is
cGI!ed handy lad with tools; and What
he lost in the opinion Of the DulItown folk
/ on the score of being a crank about 'booll
larnin', he partly redeemed by his skill
! in making a bob-sled or repairing his
mothers fences and sheds And
! the last day Of school, ii We viii listen to-
little talk as ne is packing up his books
TO leave the old schoolhouse forever, we
/ may gamer something Of the true in
Wardness" of the boy and future man.
from his conversation with a schoolmat2I
nearly as old as himself, but certainly a
/ thousand times prettier. She IS the young
/ est daughter Of The aforesaid rich man of
/ the village, and we will call her Mary Van
Gould, which is not a bit like her real
name, but hath moneyed sound to it.
and will pass as well as another.
We'll, John she is saying, Il suppose
today ends your school-days among us,
rather suspicious downcasting of a pair
/ OF telltale eyes which the owner is deter
mined shall tell nothing.
Yes. Miss Van Gould,'' John replies. ~
guess III have to quit studying and 90 to
work should have done so a year ago,
/ tut mother wanted me to finish up sur
/ Veying and t1gonometry; and 1 was weak
enough, besides. to hate TO leave the
! school for more reasons than one" n
sheepishly added. If he had been a LITTLE
! 6olqer-eyed. he might have seen a little
( flush and pleased smile On Marys face as
/ she suddenly turned away to pick up q
book she didn't want a bit. But just then
he, too, was biushing, ard as anxious to
moe ms confusion as the LADY; so no harm
came of it.
But, usual. the lady recovered her
self first. And what's YOUR programme
neNt john she asked, with an attempt
ed lndiference in her tone that wasn't q
very brilliant success; for a suspicious
moisture in her eyes made her turn round
again to hunt for another book. ooh. iei
what would Mrs. Grundy of DuIltoyyn, or
what would her stately father the gold
specialized, dignified eX-banker and pres
ent millionaire, have thought to have
But nobody saw it, and as I said before.
nc harm was done. And John went on
blundeTingly to tell that he hoped to OBJ
tam employment in 9. machine shop in p
:. Heighboring city. He had thought of going
> 10 college; but lack OF means, and a de-
sire to help the folks at home q little. had
determined him TO seek paving work with
sucn chance of promotion as he might de-
serve. Il have taxed my mothers Slender
purse too long, he said; though every
pcdy knew he had helped her. every way
he could, and only continued in school so
long at her urgent prayer; "and now"
SAID he, Il feel like trying my fate and
seeing seer s, whether there is anything in me
"Oh, john, I'm sure there isr' the girl
answered eagerly, and then blushing at
= her own forward defence. And she
continued, you may be sure that-that
You have friends here who viii pray
who will heartily wish you all success.
ana believe IN You to the end
Now, If John had been a little more
forward, and pressed things skilfully. he
might, in that girls impressihle mood
have got something more explicit; but
nothing was farther from his hopes and
WISHES, he was a poor boy, with his
place in the world to make. He had
nothlng 10 offer. The pretty girl before
him, generous and kindly as she was, was
as far separated from him as the anti
podes: He had helped her in her lessons,
Schoolboy fashion: he had on one olCa-
sion, stood between. her ard consider
able danger, when a herd of Texas steers
were charging through the street where
she was walking to school \ thing he
thought little of, as, stick in hand, he
got between her AMI vicious steer thpr
. developed hostile Intentions toward her
red shawl. But when q sound lex IN the
horns with a good shiilelah'' had
changed the brIte's mind and sent him
after the rest of the herI, Mary, pale as
death, looked on the handsome young
ster as a real hero. Well, perhaps he
was, as heroes go; but heroes of ro-
nance are not generally painted in shirt
sleeves, with a torn straw hat on their
heads and in patched trousers. No. she
must have been mistaken. Yet the silly
girl couldn't get it out of her mind (and
hearD, that he was hero; and school
girls take TO heroes as ducks to water,
as all the world knows.
Well John and Mary parted there, with
q. hand-shake and a. good-by, as hun
l dreds of Johns and Marys have
: and will; and Mary went home
to her fathers elegant mansion
TO dream OF heroes and stout boys
with sticks in their hands, standing be
tween her and danger. and then OF tan,
bashful youths with unnlistakable
sprouting rnustadhios and handsome eyes,
Under a -e rather fluffy hat. "a. And John John
went out into the big world with a brave