The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-18
Aiming High.
BY LucIus BgR1oN.s

BY LJClUS BGR1ON-i
 Copyright. 1909. by Daily story Pub. Co.) If Phil had thrown a bomb into the mid de of the rag-carpeted floor inc could. not have surprised his mother more. But he stuck to it. i'-sa-~
 "Yes, mother. that is the only girl
 his head back and looking down at the
 work worn little woman with eyes from
 which gleamed all the deterpiinatfop or
 the sons of the land of dikeS and Rem-
 brandts And l am goin' to marry her
 some day. There ain't no two ways
 about that"
 "Phil, boy. you are foolish" replied the
 woman. who had recovered her compos-
 ure somewhat, but still yisibly startled
 and shocked. 'She aint one of our kind.
 Her people live in fine house in the
 city and wear fine clothes and eat meat three times q day. They are quality
 folks. When she grows up to be young
 lady she won't look at a barefooted far.
 mer boy like you, with rough hands and
 no schooln'."
 T don't care for all them things re-
 piled the lad. defiantly. "I will marry
 her some day. will not be barefooted
 farmer boy. l will get into their class somehow" .s '
 The mother smiled softly and shook her head. She knew enough of the world and it's ways to appreciate the position
 
 iettered boy.
 There had been little of joy or hope in | the boyhood of Phil Doran. but plenty Of sen-denial and toil. It had been a hard 1 struggle for the widowed mother to keep | the family together and fill the mouths 1 with the plsincst food. When the father l had died just as he had begun to get a start in the land of his adoption, he had | left only the little farm whose scant acres were not the most fertile-and the worst of it was, not entirely paid for. The wife. recently transplanted from the old country. was i'll equipped to cope with the situatlon-all but for her sturdy industry. her rigid economy and her single hearted purpose. But she had grappIed with the problem with all the patient perseverance of her race and had kept the wolf from farm. It had been a hard struggle-al- most forlorn--and to keep head above wa l ter 1t had been necess ary to use all the
 strength of Phl's young limbs from the time he could barely toddle.
 Most of their income was derived from raising garden truck and peddling 1t In | the city. and the days were. all too short to care for the growing things and mar | ket them. Seldom, indeed. was Phil in | bed after 2 o'clock in the morning. and seldom were the evening chores done so | that he could seek his cot before 9 clock.
 He had been faithful and sturdy. and I with the help of the younger children | she had been able to get along and pay l of the mortgage. |,
 The first bit of sunshine which had | come into Phil's life had been this day when brown-eyed Susan Hunter had | come out into the country to spend the | day. The Hunters were good customers ] of the widow Doran and while delivering
 her wares one day she had seen little 1 Susan and remarked her pale face and
 told her mother that day in the country l would put new color into her cheeks. The
 result was that it was arranged that Mrs.
 Hunter should bring the, girl to the Do ran farm for days outing in the coun- 1 try air And Phil had been detailed to show her all the mysteries of field and farm and barn and sty. It had been the | first real holiday the boy had ever known | and 1t had cost the widow a deal of plan | ming to arrange 1t. But the Hunters were l profitable customers and the widow count 1 cd the incident of great advantage Her surprise at Phil's calm announce ment that evening that he proposed to | marry the dainty little patreian' can he | ina gined. And the boy never wavered in | his resolution. It became the domlnant | motive of his young life. HIS wnoie scheme of existence changed He began | to pick LID in some mysterious way lt- | tie learning. He could barely spell out l a few words in print, but on the rideS 1 to and from the caty .he now always car | ried a newspaper generally an old onel | or an almanac. which absorbed all his l energies Whenever he had to. wait Tor anybody moment out from his pocket l came pamphlet or paper. ne ndu | learned to write his name and a few words necessary for the transaction of | the simple business. Now he eagerly grasped every opportunity to use the ntue | he knew and to add to his skill and | knowledge From mere scrawls his letters became firm and legible. He sought con; l tact with people in the city and absorbed their manner of thought and action.
 It was not until winter that he made
 a radical move. Then one day he said | to his mother:
 "Byron & King will give me job at
 s25 a month driving a delivery wagon. l 1 am going to do 1t for this winter any way. There ain't so much work In the
 winter and John is old enough now to do most all my work. Cornelia is big enough | to help you more and Paul can do lot
 of things did when was seven. You | kin git along fer the winter and meppy
 by that time I'll be gittin' enough to | send you money enough to make up Tor my not bein here. MT. Byron said If did well they would hire me fer a clerk
 after a while and I'd git more wages"