The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-10-27

in his loud existence when he forgot his
lungs-moments of mutual ecstasy for
his parents, when he was simply ado--
able. and good" and "gaa'd" enchant-
ingly. and smiled-oh. yes! really
smiled-right at his mother.
They never referred now to the time
when they had thought him-well. not
exactly handsome. He had such lovely
blue-gray' eyes. and his nose had been
Roman from the start. anyway. He
was the only baby like himself in town,
and they felt truly sorry for all the
other people whose babies had pug
noses. wobbly eyes. and a general air
of mental vacancy.
Just listen, Douglas!" exclaimed
Mrs. Bell. one evening about ten
O'Clock. when her husband came in
from the prayer meeting. "It's really
remarkable. 1 feel sure he's going to
talk very young. You'd just think he'd
been practicing vowel sounds the whole
evening"
They went in and w%orshiped at his
shrine becomingly; but in the chill
night watches when prolonged and
vigorous exercise is apt to pail upon
the frame. Mr.. Bell said, in a tone
which hordered on irreverence:
Il u say, Betty. I think he's kind
Of OVERRIDING this thing. l wish he'd
give the vowels and me a rest, or. at
any rate, tune up On the consonants
for a change"
But. of course. the baby, who no
doubt felt himself charged with the
training and development of these two
very young people. kept up the game.
from pure love of the sport apparent
ly. until il was nearly breakfast-time,
when he refreshed himself with a brief
but hearty nap. And then he began
again:
You see. dear. it's like this" said
Mrs. Bell, cleverly getting in a little
rush of words whenever there was a
momentary gap in the volume of
sound on her lap. Our child has evil
IDENTIFY got Avery intense nature
that's how he can get along with so
little-sleep. for-for whenever he does
sleep-he sleeps all Over. you know,
just like a perfect human being
should: he throws his whole nature
into whatever he's doing"
Il wouldn't mind that. Betty. if he
didn't insist upon throwing mine in
too" said Mr.. Bell. gloomily. And then
they both laughed. which was a mis-
take. for the baby interpreted it as a
rivalry of his efforts. and strengthened
his note accordingly.
BY nature and training Mrs. Bell was
both religious and clean. but after the
advent of this boy with his vocal out
fit she hardly ever got a chance to
say more than half a prayer at a time,
or to take more than a third of a bath
at a sitting. for against godliness and
cleanliness. the baby had equally
strong conscientious scruples, it
seemed.
I'm sure it must be weeks since I
washed my left foot" she sighed. in de-
spair at last. Il always forget and be-
gin with my right. and he seems to
know by instinct just when I've fin
ished it. You'd think he was dying"
Before her marriage Mrs. Bell had
been an adept in all the wisdom of
the moderns on the subject of "child
culture" She was confident. then,
that she had an exact formula for the
development of their little angel-seed
souls into beatific effervescences. She
had written an article entitled "A Lit
tie Child Shall Lead Them" which had
been widely commented upon. with
unanimous praise for its remarkable
into the child spirit She re-
it sometimes now but with |
out JOY. for her actual experience with
a child in the raw concrete had led her
to some conclusions of which the arti-
Gle in question had been strikingly in
Oh. yes. her little Laurie
led" them. but certainly not along the
route she had in her mind when her
facile pen sketched so glowingly the
spiritual heights up which rushed the
and the parent in the train of
pedagogical child.
Still. perhaps. it was just as wellthat
she had gained glory by writing 1t
she was sure she knew all about
Il: she would never be in a position to
again.