Rocky Ford enterprise., 1902-05-30
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= The Mountain of TRANSPORTATION -
BY FREDERICK HALL. r
~ ias, Daily ystryP Co II
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By FREDERICK HALL.


Dwight Van Vert was not deformed
In any way. and yet he was fearfuily
and wonderfully made-there was no
denying that. His luxuriant crop OF
nAme-hued hair took on quite without
culture. indeed despite all culture. the
contour OF full-blown prize chrysan-
themum, from an archipelago OF
freckles resembling a sepia map nj
Oceanica. His nose rose like the
tower Of Lebanon that iooketh toward
Damascus. To right and left a spread
Ing ear tapped defiance to any threat
ening head wind and this was but the
cupola. 80 to speak. for an assortment
OF legs and arms that had apparently
been selected quite at random from
pile OF left-overs In some forgotten
corner OF the creators workshop. AL
of which description Is grossly exas-
gerated, OF course, but In no way mis-
leading. for found out long ago that
In portraylng Van It was absolutely
necessary to exasgerate in order to
make one realize how far from beau
tIful he was.
From the day no entered school he
was the legitimate prey OF tease and
bully. ! suppose It was hard on van
at first. for ut home his mother had
not called him Br!cktop nor his father
taunted him with the upward tilt OF
HIS nose, but he took II all with
stoIcal heroism. thrashed whom ho
could, diverted whom he could. helped
some with their lessons and bribed
others by judicious outlay OF his spend
ing money until. at graduation. he was
a. popular as any fellow In the class.
howbeIt us far from handsome rs when
. little tad OF six.
At college he came out at tho head
Of his class. He took year In Eu-
rope after that: then he came home.
went In with his father and fell In
love with Grace Serene.
OF course. hc foil In love with Grace.
Grace had nose Phidins could not
have bettcrcd, n complexion like the
blending OF the wild rose and tho lily
of the valley. figure TINT was tho
glory OF n tailor-mnde and tho apo
thcosis OF ball gown. hair she could
let fall In lustrous billows to her feet.
eyes so big and brown and deep II
made you dizzy to look into them. u
was simply hcartbreakins to contcm-
plate. and all the moro SO when tho
victim was n personal friend.
Van never took mo Into his eonn-
dcncc. but suspect Grace had figured
In his plans ever since his first day Mt
school. when she had asked to have
her seat changed because Il made her
feel SO bad to look at that little Van
Vert boy" Anyway. h, Ind always
done things for her: written to her.
sent her presents. and now he went 1t
II deliberately to pay her every cour-
tcous nttcation affection could suggest
or money furnish means for.
II you have ever done anything In
vivisection, you remember how you
felt the first timc you saw live AMI
NAL cut to pieces. II is not pleasant
sensation. but with some OF us II cnmo
to be almost chronic while We watched
Vans courtship drag out It's sickcning
length.
He was such q good fellow and she
such n nice girl. To pour his soul out
In her service md yet never bore her
seemed to have become the purpose of
his life: to let him know the truth and
yet spare him all she could seemed to
be hers.
Grace and her mother spent the sum-
mer at tho lakes. and SO did Van. In
the latter part OF November she went
into tho city on her aunts invitation.
and Immediately Vans business took
him In Mt least rs often as once week.
When she returned carly in February.
and Van was us attentive rs ever.
knew that that blindness-o busi-
ness (man's love) Is n true story. for
Van never seemed to realize that she
had been running away from him. and
the whole miserable thing was worse
tangled than ever. because We saw that
she had got to strike hard. which was
not going to be pleasant for her. anh
Van was going to be cut up to beat
everything.
1t was up in my room one night in
March that Ken and Trenchard and
got to talking 1t over. We had heard
q rumor that Grace and her mother
were going to Europe, and we knew
that meant one OF two things-either
Van would be reckless and get his
quietus right away or else, on some
cooked up excuse or other he would
follow them.
"of course" said Ken. as he gave
vicious pull at his cigar. there's no
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