The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-10-31
PADDY'S PROBATION.
By WILLIAM d

!
He won his squire by enduring pa
tiently and successfully such tests and
trials as would have discouraged many
a brave knight of old. In fact, had
Paddy lived in the days when a stout
heart and a strong arm We're the two
best cards in the game of life, he would
have been the king of Ireland at least.
Pat put in his first appearance early
in the spring of 1ss-, the year the
track was rebuilt. He was just over,
and well 1 remember how he looked in
his moleskin trousers and rough coat,
with the queer hat on his head, and
the odd little neckcloth tied tight
around his neck. He stood close TO six
feet, was well put together; his hair
was carroty, his face red and freckled,
and his eyes were small, and blue, and
bright. He was engaged as a dag
.laborer, wheeling dirt, shoveling, rak-
ing, and 1 know not what else; but busy
he was from seven o'clock in the morn
ing until six at night. He did the work
of two men, for he had not learned, like
the others, the knack of loafing grace
fully.
Indeed, 1 think Paddy would have
been contented to nave continued as he
was to the age of 20, for the pay seemed
fabulous to him, and he was living in a
shower of Injuries, with meat every
day, and a palatial room, eight by ten,
in which to spend his nights and Sun
days.
But unfortunately the labor of track
making would not last forever; one-by
one the men were discharged, until by
the first of May there were only a half
dozen left, Paddy among them, and
they were expecting to be paid off in a
couple of weeks, or sooner.
Now there was something about the
atmosphere of the college grounds, and
particularly the cinder-path, that
suited Paddy's constitution wonderful
ly, and when it reached his ears that
one man would probably be retained
for regular work until winter, and per-
haps a snug berth in the gymnasium
might follow, he made up his mind to
have that job.
I am not sure that he male a VOW, as
would a knight of the fourteenth
century; but he did the same thing in
his own way. and resolved, come what
might, il mortal man might compass
it. no labor or trial would he avoid, 10
care would he neglect, until that JOB
was his.
He began by ingratiating himself
with every man who wore a running
.shoe-not q difficult task, for they all
liked him, and found in his words and
acts a never-failing sources of amuse-
ment. He had also that rare tact which
makes al. Irish gentleman the mos
fascinating Oh earth. With Paddy it
showed itself in a never-failing good
nature, a ready hand, and a wonderful
faculty for remembering names and
faces.
The bows soon found out which way
his ambition pointed. that he was Ell
tirely devoted to it, and a gay life they
led him forthwith.
1t was on a Saturday night, when l
had nearly made up my mind to give
him a trial, that Paddy had his expert
,ence with the "ghostly hurdler," his
last and browning tesla testthat made
nothing of all that had preceded, and
that tried Paddy's soul almost to the
limits of it's endurance. Indeed, the
rough horse play and physical trials
through which Paddy went l more
than half believe he enjoyed as well as
the boys, and he probably Numbered
into traps which he clearly saw, n
did not care TO avoid, if they gave any
body any satisfaction.
But with all Pats courage he was as
arrant a coward as ever breathed when
the powers of the unknown world were
.arraved against him. He believed most
firmly in banshees, spooks, goblins,
and little people. Now he was to be
assailed where his soul was weakest.
l was at work in my little office at the
gymnasium, making out some physical
development charts-a tedious task
which | did not enjoy, and was anxious
to finish. The clock had struck nine,
ten, and eleven since l had taken my
seat at the desk, and the minute-hand
was swinging round the track to II,
like a tired runner on his last lap. The
charts showed the usual small percent
age of well-developed bodies, some with
no development at all, and the larger
part entirely out of proportion. In some
cases the unbalanced proportions APP
preached deformities, as in the chart of
a freshman by the name of Mason. His
height was but a little over six feet, yet
his leg measurement was astonishing,
lettering any record in my book by
nearly two inches. This extraordinary
length of leg was of course taken from
the body, which was like that of a boy
of ~, and upon his first appearance on
the track he was given the very APP
propriate alias of 1.-TWO Pieces" He
certainly had appeared when running
as if there was not much more in the
game than an unattached pair of legs,
and with one more would ave been the
complete picture of the well-known
heraldic device appropriated by the
Isle of Man.
1.-Two Pieces" like many another
freshman, had suffered an extremely
dangerous attack of athletic fever,
choosing the high hurdles for his
special efforts. But although he could
almost step them in his stride, without
any lift at all, he was so deathly slow