The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-24
Stafky & Co. s
School.
Talk with the Little Red Sergeant
who KipIing Has Made Immortal.
NY HELEN DAWES BROWN.

"Yiss." says my Devonishe drivler,
'yiss, yonder's wheer Kipling survived
his tonne" He pointed his whip toward
a terrace of bow-windowed houses, and
kept on pointing till 1 read aloud for his
satisfaction the words upon the front:
United Services College" yes" 1 re-
peated that is where Stalky & Co., serv-
ed their time, too" The buildings were
commonplace, brownish-grayish in color,
and insignificant in architecture. They
stood high above the road, with a noble
command of the sea. For this was West
ward, He, on the North Devon coast, and
I had driven over from Bideford partly
in honor of Charles Kingsley. chiefly in
honor of Rudyard Kipling. Westward, Efo
Is that dsmallest of spots. an unsuccess-
full watering place; and Kingsley College,
next neighbor to Stalky's is that forlornest
of ruins, an abandoned school
My visit fell in the dead vast and mid
die of the summer vacation. A school
in summer has silence of its own-si-
lence audible, like darkness visible. To
my Imagination the place was filled with
the absence of the school boys there and
rang with the silence of their war drum.
l followed the graveled path. to the door,
DuL ndIuly expected enter, IOr am the
deprecating, retreating American when
on my travels. At the entrance appeared
little man. red-haired. red-faced, very
straight in the back, stiffened from head
to foot with authority.
Would II be possible for me to step
inside the door," said I. turning away.
He thought not. 1 quite understood
and drew back from the doorway.
II could show you is study. at the top
o. the stair" said the man of authority
Number five e called it. Number three
hit is. That was the way e changed
things. That door was Mr.. Prout 8, is
name not bein' Prout however, though
beginnin' with a P. He changed every
name except the cooks. He put us all
in"
And you. too, are in the book?"
"Yiss." he answered shyly; "I'm-well
I'm the little red sergeant. They called
me Foxibus. 'Es put me in is stories
three times. I wrote i'm letter: l said
ed better take me hoff the stage. and
e answered me letter-Pve it in my
pocket now. 1 couldn't read II to you,
though I'd like to- 1t bein 50 intimate"
Could Beetle but have seen the proud,
fond touch Foxibus gave his letter.
'Ere's the study that all the lads are
wantin' now"
II was study that had seen service.
Indeed from end to end, Stalky's school
VI
cation as 1 have ever visited.
There was not much to see in study,
Number five; there was a great deal to
think. The little red sergeants remn-
iscences of Beetle shall wait till Mr.. Kip.
ling's biography is written-may the day
be far distant.
e was little racal," says Foxibus,
affectionately; "'e gave me a deal o.
trouble, that te did" and the little man
says It as If 1t were the thing in oil his
life he was Droudest of
I'm 'avin' to wear spectacles made It
awkward in fight" and up rose before
me the poet Beetle, spectacles uended
with an old boot lace, as on page forty
six.
Foxibus, unbent, tried no more disci-
pline upon me, but led me over the house
with great geniality and thoroughness.
even throwing open the bath room door
that might see where the lads showed
each other their wales" and even con-
Quoting me to Richards sanctum, where
that worthy BACKED the boots
"And 'ere's where l drilled EN-" show
ing the gymnasium, scene of "The Flag
of their Country"
And 'eres where the cat"
Eyes, I remember" ! said quickly.
II could tell you the truth of that
story"
But made an immediate remark about
the sea, which filled every window with
a blue expanse.
Foxibus led me through form rooms
dormitories. dining rooms, wholesome
with the bright, keen oceNn air, and cheer
full with their wide, free outlook All
was plain and simple 10 baroness a prep
aration for camps and barracks Here