Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-06-25

tice Of his sisters than II they had beon
% many sand hoppers disporting them
selves among the kelp f, wa . some
what thickset, broad shouldered boy,
with q homely, freckled face and Light
blue, Inexpensive eyeA He did not look
exactly stupid, but coarse Abered and
unimpressionable. There was q good deal
Of quiet observation In his glance, and
his straight. close shutting month de-
noted determination and stnhbosu self
suficiency. He was In that semisavage
condition Of boyhood when girls aeem
particularly distasteful and all the,
finer instincts blunted. He was fond OF
fishing, had pigeons and rabbits BY the
hundreds, and kept up . 6ourishing
trade In these commodities with Ill the
boys In the neighborhood. He had .
natural tendency Tor rudeness in speech
and manner, looked with plying n.
tempt upon the ref1nements Of his home,
which seemed incompatible with trpe
manhood, and initiated TO the best Of
his ability the groom Nils. who wore
no ~suspenders. but gave his trousers .
hitch whenever they threatened TO slide
down upon his hips. All that Nils did
and said seemed to Frits admirable,
while all that his parents and sisters
said and did was regarded with suspi-
cion until It had received Nils' approv-
al, of which Nils it must be admitted,
was not lavish.
Fritz, as he saw the steamer make .
long detour before It glided mp to the
pier, watched with . quiet fascination
all that went ON on board and knew,
toe. the significance Of each command.
He then remembered that the new Gu
rate who was to be his tutor was expect.
ed by this boat, and not wishing to COM
promise his dignity BY seeming eager
to make this gentleman's acquaintance
he turned slowly ON his heel and M
tered up toward the stables. whence he
still had q fair view Of the ford. He
had formed Q very u~n3ayorable opinion
Of Mr.. Falck-Arst, because he wa .
clergyman, and, secondly, because he uu-
derstoOd that he was musical. And Of
all efeminate arts music was to Fritz
the most imbecile and incompreheusi.
BILE. He had heard the endless discus.
sion which had preceded the SELECTION
Of MI. Falck out Of the number Of can.
didates who had responded to the pas.
tors advertisement. The pastor loved
music a. he loved nothing else and
played an excellent first violin. His two
eldest daughters, Hulda and Magda.
played the piano. and the former had.
moreover, q magnificent voice. Occa-
sionally Mr.. Kofod, the sheriff, who
lived across the ford. would be induced
to come e and play the second violin
In the pastors Wednesday evening quar-
tets, but the trouble with the sheriff
was that he never could BE- made 70
practice, and he spoiled the finest pas
sages Of Haydn and Beethoven BY HE
wretched Dangling. And the pastor had
such = sensitive a that he invariably
stopped the whole performance and ex-
postulated with his guest when he
played out Of tune, whereupon the eher-
in. who was an irascible gentleman,
took offense and sometimes departed IN
high dudgeon. It was, truth to tell, in
no small measure due to Mr.. Kofod's
poor ear and uncertain temper that Nj.
Brinckman had at last yielded TO his
wife's ~entreaties and concluded to en-.
gage o curate. II the sheriff had been
more amiable or played q better $50
ond violin, he would have got ON Ton
many 9 year without one. But the
Wednesday evening Q~uartets were his
chief delight, and when the idea had
been artfully suggested that he might
obtain q musical curate who would
make the sheriff superfluous his finap-
cial scruples evaporated, and he walked
unsuspiciously into his trap. The 3D.
vertisement which he inserted in the
weekly devoted to ecclesiastical inter
ests vas . curiosity OF its kind and
created q great deal Of merrimenk Il
read az follows:
"A well recommended theological
candidate, Of good character and abili-
~, who play . good second violin,
can obtain q position a. curate by ap-
plying TO K K K"
But five responses were received, from
which circumstance the pastor had no
choice but to conclude that . good char
acter and . good second violin were, Il
not incompatible, at all events an ex-
tremely rare combination. Two Of the
respondents were married and were
therefore out OF the question, and two
Of the remaining mes proved o. inquiry
to be morally Questionable. One was
said to drink, and the other had Q stain
of some sort upon his character. M.
Falck was, therefore. the only ~ left
who was available. Besides preaching g
the M church and assisting the Pcs
tor In his work he had agreed 70 give
Fritz lessons in Latin, and Frit2 who
had been informed Of the arrangement
had therefore good grounds for hi dis
like.
CHAPTER n.
The arrival Of the steamer wa the
n great excitement which broke the
m~onotony Of life ut the parsonage. The
family would have been ON the pier In
force y e II no one had been expected
The servant maids. some with arms