Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-08-20

too dainty for the playing field. He
made up little malignant fictions about
the fellows and spread them abroad. He
staid at the school. however, till he was
IS. Then something happened. All this
I heard from a man who is a master
there. The head sent for him one morn
ing, and in five minutes he was fired
out of the front door hardly know
what he did. The head still says about
him that for the first and only time in
his life he came across human crea-
ture apparently without soul-without
a soul, he said. Queer thing to say
about boy, eh:'
Very queer"
"Then Master Sammy disappeared.
Two or three years later news came to
his native town that he had changed
his name and was at Oxford. 1t isn't
often that an Eastchester boy goes to
Oxford-they all go to Cambridge. !
suppose Sammy thought no one would
find him ont But his face is far too
lovely and his piety is far too ostenta-
tious. Other men kneel in church. He
fops and filings and sprawls. Other
1uSh bON, lutiE III liz
turns up his face under the strongest
light in the place. There was, however,
one Eastchester man at Oxford, and, of
course, he spotted Sam. He seems to
have reported the matter at home and
to have said nothing at Oxford. think
he went down immediately, SO that Sam
remained unchallanged.
HE must have presented q false bap-
tisln certificate, however. "
''Hc was equal to so simple thing.
l have myself seen the college register,
though at the time l did not know it
was false. He is entered as born in the
island Of Ceyion-fIius Edward Can
nington Leighan eenerosi ct ar,nigeri,
sen Of q gentleman, coffee planter-I
forget fer the mCmcnt the Latin for cof-
fee planter and island of Ccylon. Trap
ofane, is it? SO that he must, as you
say, have brought with him false bap.
tisin certificate. -
600 on. Your story, please"
"His mother, suppose. found money
for him. He always seemed to have
plenty. She died two or three years ago,
and 1 knew not what idea she had of
her sons real character. So much for
prelude. Now for my story. You know
or you don t hnOw-that l have al
ways. ever since l could write, been
trying my hand at verses
Your recent productions enable me
to understand so much. though of old
must say no ono would have believed
that you were going to blossom into a
poet.
just So Forr years ago wrote a
poem for the NcwdcSate-you know
there is rule that no poem will be re-
ceived if il is III the candidates hand.
writing. So when it was finished took
it to LcighaI-Iwas very chummy with
him ut the time. We used TO read Shelley
together and i5yron-he was very fond
CT certain bits i'll Don Juan in spite of
his spirituality-so took the thing, I
say, to LeigfaI and asked him to copy
it for me. -
Good hcavensr' The other man
started in his chair. lyon don't posi-
lively mean''-
You shall hear. He undertook to
copy it out for me. He made beautiful
copy. He can write as beautifully as he
can sing. We agreed upon Il motto, and
he undertook to send it in
"Oh"' the ether man gasped. "It
cannot be. Why, he brought me his
poem clearly written out and begged me
to copy it for him under promise Of Sc
crecy. And l Gid it, and it won the
prize
1T won the prize That is true. lie
was the first man who brought me the
news. And it was with my poem"
with yoCr poem? Wonderful! And
you sat down in patience and endured
it,
He came to me overwhelmed with
shame. He threw himself at my feet.
He knelt; he prayed He wrung his
hands. He said this, and he said that.
lie declared that he was ruined for life
unless l would forgive him and keep
silence. He said that he was poor and
friendless; that his only chance was to
distinguish himself; that the prize
would be of the greatest possible use to
him; that if l exposed him he would be
expelled. His whole career would be
blastcd.'
eyes. So it would doubtless.
And then he pointed ont that if I
charged him with the fact he should be
Obliged to defend himself tooth and
nail. No one, he said, would believe
that was poet, whereas everybody
knew that he professcd to be q lover Of
verse ut least. And now he had III his
desk the scraps and bits of the poem in
his own handwriting while | had moth
ing. l had not. III fact-I suDro.e he
had stolen them all from NV desk. l
had not scrap Of eviderce-rothing
brt my bare word. Well. you know the
rest. l gave in. and he recited splendid.
" what was called noble poem in a
most musical voice and wit, n most elo.
Guent delivery before the Princess of
Wales herself. On, it was magnificent
i stood in the gallery and enjoved it.
Iou may imagine how much | enioved
II. He looked every inch a poet. Every.
body said so. Do L look like pce::''
That is finer story than mine"
| said the other man. II will tall il.
however. under the same seal of secrecy.
You remember. perhaps, that there was
q good deal Of Unuleasanf,ecs <,,, .o,-,,,