The midland journal., 1902-09-12

nothing very special in Rudolph's ill.,
terest in the emperor and Bismarck;
that he brought this same Unsuitable
curiosity, this same large, intelligent
comprehension of the existence of un-
comprehended causes, to other sub
jects.
Before noon 1 was enjoying quite a
delightful small excitement about the
child. What so thrilling as discovery,
and what discovery so thrilling as to
find mind? Rudolph came into two
more classes-one in spelling, where he
was recklessly and hopelessly rational
and consistent, and one struggling
with the tedium of long division, where
he was slow, patient and sorely af1ict-
ed. At noon my little brief authority
ended. left Rudolph plunging about
the playground in game of ''base,"
rather clumsy, something of butt in
the sport and perfectly hearty and
good natured.
Before he came to me in the after
noon l had learned something about
him. He was known among the men of
our household, l found, through his
habit of hanging around' where any
talk about the mines was going on, and,
oddly enough, because Of his notably
courteous ways at the postoffice and
the "store," places where the miners
were given to tacitly asserting their SUI
periority to all other classes. His IA
ther and mother were Germans, was
first told; but Jim, a small cousin, said
the father was "half Eyetalian" and
further informed me that Rudolph was
mo good" that he couldn't catch a
ball.
"But he's very nice and good ma
tured, isn't he?" I inquired, weakly
longing to hear only praises of my dis
covery.
My young man stared. "Yaw," he
drawled in uncomprehending derision
and disappeared around the corner Of
the porch on his hands.
l was sitting on the porch when Ru-
dolph came, a little awkward, but
withal much more pleased than shy,
stopping to wipe his bare feet on the
grass and before he was fairly under
the roof taking off his shapeless rag
of hat, with a bright smile of greet
ing. / had gathered together some old
illustrated papers of the time of the
Franco-Prussian war. He fell upon
them.
81 before one did see, long time. It
had picture of another emperor, Max
Macmillan? He that was killed, is it
not SO? How-how could that come
when he was emperor? Was he not the
biggest?"
Rudolph soon recognized the neces-
sity of limiting his field of research
and began to put me through a most
exhaustive examination on Franco
German politics. He did not find me
altogether satisfactory. My knowledge
was too superficial and too qualified.
He caught continually at main lines
of causation, which could be followed
only by going far afield.
"Why wished the French emperor to
f1ght" he finally asked, with a touch
of sternness, when 1 had tried to de-
scribe the diplomatic pretenses by
which the war was precipitated.
people thought that he was afraid
the French nation were getting tired Of
him, that they might begin to ask
again why he should be emperor, and
so he wanted to give them something
else to think about and to please them
by making them victorious"
| Rudolph pondered. "You know not
surely"
mo. OF course he would not say
things like that, nor would the men
who worked for him, even if they be-
lieved they knew his thoughts"
"It must be something that way, Is
it not? You think it would been better
he not try and be smart soY He sat