Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1900-03-01
W. ~ ". ~. ". ~ ~. ". ".
! B0YH00D DAYS !
Il By Kenneth F. Harris.
"
~ SIS 1IS 1IS 7IS7lSSlS7IS NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
IN I'D you ever revisit boyhood's

the light and then set it down on the
table beside him.
what is it?'' Intercepted the sash
factory owner, anNiously. with refer
ence to the glass. IF there's any
thing wrong with it have him take it
back"
Nothing at all; it's all right. I've
got in the habit of looking in that
way at amy liquid I'm about to turn
into myself, in much the same way
as some women are said to look under
a bed before they trust themselves
in it. l don't expect to find anything.
Its mere form, but l invariably do
it. Maybe it's the esthetic pleasure
derived from the Utilization Of the col
Or sense"
Seems to me that's pretty Steep"
remarked the satisfactory owner.
SIT isn't anything to some | get off, -
said the civil engineer. Say, don't
you remember the JOY of looking
through a piece Of colored glass when
you were kid? ] had a prism from
a chandelier when / was about ten
years old, and that was about the only
thing they could never get me to
trade. We had little greenhouse in
the back yard that had a door with a
large red center pane and little blue
corner panes. and Id spend hours in
there just looking at the landscape
through the red gass-taking d rose
colored view of life. | was walking
along Clark street the other day and
saw window with red glass. 1t was
in a saloon, but for a minute | seemed
to smell rose geraniums and warm leaf
mold. and was back again in the
little old greenhouse scraping the
paint blisters from that door with a
piece of broken flower pot
Those were happy days. if we only
knew it," observed the satisfactory
owner, pensively; 1.-THE happiest in our
lives. if we only knew it. We were in
nocent then. unspoiled and unspotted
by the sordid passions of later years.
uncalloused by the unremitting strife
OF a-well, you catch my meaning,
anyway"
81 guess l do. but at the same time
don't agree with YOU" said the civil
engineer. This is probably the hap
picst period i'll our lives, if we only
knew it. Looking back. and taking
disEassionate view in so doing"
'A view unIimmed by the soft
pearly haze of fond remembrance"
suggested the sash factory owner
Il guess so--or words to that effect"
said the civil engineer. impatently 81
what was saying when YOU inter-
rupted me? Oh. yes. ! say. looking
back. can see that my days were full
OF grief. | had brother two years
Older than | was. and | had to wear his
clothes when he grew out OF them.
and he could lick me. and he didn't
overlook that circumstances | had to
work like a mailer for any money
got. Just the same as | do now. only
more so. and | never could come any
where as near getting what | wanted
for what had as | can now. remem-
Der saving up for two months to buy
me Il pair of skates and the first time
! went down to the ice with them they
broke. DO you think Id feel half as
bad if l was sold up tomorrow and
had to begin over again? Not much
l wouldn't. If get broke know how
can make a raise but | didn't know
where | could get another pair of
skates. Same way when | PLAYED
hockey two days and they kept me at
home the day the circus was in town.
There isn't amy sort OF pearly haze that
is going to dim the recollection of my
emotions when | heard the band play
and couldn't as much as get glimpse
OF the procession from my bedroom
window. Can't | feel my eyes swollen
now and the lump in my throat and
the fever in my face and the snut11es in
my nose? 1t isn't the cares of to-day
that is bringing the gray hairs and
the anxious wrinkles. Its the half
forgotten sorrows Of childhood. the
pain and the blank despair of those
golden days just getting in their
work"
ut seems to me that you are looking
at the seamy side" said the sashfac-
tory owner as the civil engineer
paused to look through the glass
again. Il suppose you saw the cir
Gus some time or other You had
some fun. didn't you?"
81 never had a good time that | can
remember that didn't get an all
fired whaling for it," replied the civil
engineer. The better the time. the
worse the lambastin@"
81 wouldn't wonder if Your idea OF
good time was to perpetrate some
.McAnness boy can be guilty Of
"Nou are right enough there. I'm
NOT going to try to disguise that fact.
When ! happen to think what COM
mitted between the ages of five and
fifteen I'm at a loss to figure out how
j escaped a meteoric career of crime.
I've disappointed lots of good people.
l want to tel you. All the same. if
had Kid that promised anything like
did I'd consult Il good. safe medical
man as to the means of putting him
quietly and painiessIy out of mischief.
Talk about being unsrotted! ! was
spots all over. llao more than all
four suits in the Deck
s'i'hpv ni,, all ,,EnaI ,,+ ,,+ ~,