The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20

sang And then be ran away from /
school that afternoon, and sang Cap |
tain Kidd, from a to lizard, in the full /
hearing OF the industrial hive" to the
very evident amusement of 1.-The work
ers." and the discontinue of the ruler
Of THE swarm"
The teacher called on the good min
lister that evening, and after a long
talk on the back porch. left late in the
1 dusk, wiping his eyes with one hand
and shaking the other very warmly
with che preacher And Tod slipped
noiselessly along the roof above them,
and slid down the other side, and
watched the teachers departure with
puzzled face.
Tod was at school next morning long
before the call of Books; in fact, so
early that he aVailed himself of his
Isolated situation to chalk the handle
Of the teachers pointer, to bore a gim-
let hole in the water bucket, to slip a
chip under one corner of the clock in
order to tilt it out of balance and
I time, and in many more ingenious
ways to contribute TO the coming trou-
bles of the day. The most audacious
/ act. however, was 10 climb above the
I teachers desk and paste a paper scrap
/ over a letter 20" in the old motto,
! BE good that had offered him it's
/ vain advice for years AS one by one
] tAAEoc lUCl lnc -coCuCl
notice through the day, the cu,prit
! braced himself for some disastroU.; is
! sue, but his only punishment was the
assured glance the teacher always
/ gave him. and the settled, yet forbear-
! ing. look of pain upon his face In
sheer daring Tod laughed aloud-a
/ hollow, hungry laugh that had no
mirth in it-but as suddenly subsidized
4 in close investigation of a problem in
menta. arithmetic when the teacher
I backed slowly toward his desk and
stood covertly awaiting further devel-
| opments But he was left again to
/ his own inclinations, after having,
/ with a brazen air of innocence, So
/ licited and gained the masters as
sistance in the solution of very knot
/ ty problem. which it is needless to say
/ he knew no more of than before.
Throughout the remainder of the day
| Tod was thoughtful, and was evidently
evolving in his mind a problem far
more serious than could be found in
books. OF his own accord, that even
| ing at the close of school, he stayed
in for some mysterious reason that
even his own deskmate could not COM
prehend. When, an hour later, this
latter worthy, from the old barn oppo-
site, watched Tod and the teacher.
hand in hand. come slowly down the
walk, he whispered to himself with
OdleQ DTedlu- w Hdl TIC uulA AOOA
up to, anyhow"
From that time Tod grew to be
deeper mystery than he could fathom,
inasmuch as some strange spirit of in
dustry fell upon him, and he became
a student.
Though a perverse fate had SEEM
ingly decreed that Tod should remain
a failure in all branches wherein most
school boys readily succeed. he rapidly
| advanced in reading; and in the
| declama tory art he soon acquired
fame that placed him high above the
reach of competitors.
Tod never cried when he got up to
speak" Tod never blanched, looked
silly. and hung down his head Tod
never mumbled in an unoertone. was
never at a loss to use his hands, nor
ever had his piece" so poorly mem
orized that he must hesitate with
awkward repetitions. to sit down at
Hast in wordless misery among the un-
feeling and derisive plaudits of the
school Tod. in a word, knew no such
word as fail when his turn was called
to entertain his hearers either with
the gallant story of the youthful
"Casabianca,' - THE Speech of Logan"
or "Catiline's Defiance" Let schOl-
ar be in training for the oiG-time eX-
ercises of Friday afternoon, and he
was told to speak out clear and full
not hang his head-not let his arms
hang down like empty sleeves, but TO
stand up like a king. look everybody
in the face, as though he were doing
something to be proud of-in short, to
take Tod for his model, and speak
out like a man.
When Tod failed to make his ap-
! pearance with his usual promptness
one Friday afternoon, and the last day
of the term, there was evidence OF gen
eral disappointment. Tod was to de-
liver an grafton written especially for
that occasion by the teacher The Wis
itors were all there-the school COM
, mittee and the minister, Tod's father.
who occupied Tod's desk alone when
Books was called. The teacher. with
his paIlid. careworn face. tiDtoed up
and down the aisles, bending OCCASION
aIly to ask a whispered question, and
I to let the look of anxious wonder
deepen on his face as the respectful
pupils shook their heads in silent re-
Spouse. But upon whispered col
. Ioduy with the minister his face bright
ened, as he learned that Tod was
practicing his grafton in the wood