Hutchinson gazette., 1900-08-02
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! JIMMIEs COMMENCEMENT.

al importnnt and dlgnihed as though
they were really thihgOng OF thedreek
which wns supposed u Ill their minds,
instend of the visions of white gowns,
new suits and diplomas, whieh were
really fNutmg through their brains,
Even the primary children from lhe
lower school wele filled with Joy ana
half wild with excitement, while those
ia the Intermediate grades gave aud
took inyi[mllonH TO the commencement
entertainment and tried to appear ~
grown up NJ they felt,
Everyone was happy and excited
with one exception, And thNt eNcep'
hon was jimmie Gallignn, Jimmie
Was very fur from being happy,
40 be sure, he had worked MS way
through high school, as he had brave
ly SET out 10 do four years ngo, Ito
had worked hard, too, buthNt his books
and at DR.. Eutons stables, where ne
had earned his BOARD and the doctors
old clothes, and he had come oitthird
An his class, with honor OF the lAlln
oratlon, and special mention IN the
official report OI the clnss'
But now that the honors he had
Ionged for were his they were not 80
good as they had seemed TO him iour
years ago.
For one thing, he had no one to be
Droud of him. lie had heard Blllie
Jones and fremont Evans fathers
discussing their sons relative talents
and attainments down ut the village
htore. He had seen the JOY on the
face Of pretty Edna Taylor's uncle,
when he heard thut his little girl'
had won the honor of the vpledictory
and the relief on John Dentons when
he heard that hurum'scnrum Ted, ms
saucy Younger brother, had succeeded
in passing despite the adverse proph'
eeies OF the whole village, All these
Ehlnps had made him very sore az
heart. In all the world there was nol
n person who cared whether he sue
ceeded or not,
And thut was not all, either. There
wasn't Il soul who would send him
flowers,
The doctor had been very kind and
had given him new black suit lit'
the doctor was too prosnic to think
of flowers III cut him drendfully tC
think that he would be the only grad
unte who would not receive bunch
of flowers from the grnning usher'
when his Grafton was finished, ana hi'
last bow made.
1t was Ednn Taylor, the vaIedlctor
fun herself, who discovered the stnt'
of affairs. She had always had Il sol
spot in her heart for poor, bnshfu
Jimmie, ever since the dny he hue
first come to school, SIX years ago,
bnrcfooted, freckled-fuced boy OF IL
She had stood up for him then, ant
she had stood up for him ever since
and it did not take her long TO SCI
that something very much was Nh'
matter with Jimmie, and only ques
afon or two to discover the cause.
Shl talked iii over with her mothe
when she went home in the evening
and the next morning she left tn
house ut an unusually early hour, Il
the utter surprise Of the ncighbors
who could NOT understand why Edn
taylor wanted to go anywhere Mt thn
uncnrthly time.
She went first TO see Mrs. IIelder
Mrs Belden was Il very wealthy oil
lady. who lived in Il great, gloom.
house on the outskirts Of the village
and knew hardly any of the towns
pe9ple, with the exception Of the doc
tLr and the minister. She seemed :
love nothing on earth but her pc
poodle, u big black fellow, fat as h
could be, and the brightest dog in tn
town. But all his wits had not save
him from falling into The mill pom
the wear before, from which he wa
rescued by Jimmie GilligOn, who cul
Tied him, dripping but snucy, home
his mistress Ever since that day Mr.
Belden had deigned to nod to Jimmi,
thereby causing him to blush an
tumble whenever her staid old pha'
Son hove in sight
Edna stayed but few moments {
AIRS. Belden's, and she brenthed
great sigh of relief when she came OF
again, and went scurrying across tn
meadows to the little cottage wheI
lived the three sisters Pyni, nervor
but sweet old ladies, whom Jimm
had obliged upon more than one OF
casion.
When Edna came out of their doc
she was followed by three old ladie
all in row, and 1t was noted by the
nearest neighbors that they spenttl
whole OF the morning in their pret
garden, fussing with the big bed I
monthly roses that grew by the sout
fence. "Iust as IT," Mrs. Jones WI
heard to remark, they were tryin'
bribe them roses into bloomin' ahe'
o. time"
After that Edna had to go to schoc
bnt at noon she went to see Mr.
Gray, the minister's wife, who hi
Jimmie in her Sunday School class f
years, and whom Jimmie had wait
on faithfully at every Sunday Scho
picnic and church fair; and your
Mrs. Perkins. whose two-year-old 81
was possessed of many toys carved
Jimmie's fingers, and last but by !
means least, crippled Mr.. Farato
who had been heard to say that 18th
hoy is the only person In Treevil
who knows how to lift me witho
making me swear"
When Edna went home that mig
she looked less worried (and the co
sultation she held with her moth
over The Gishpan was evidently hig