The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-08-02
Tod.
By James WFaifcOEssb RiEev.

Np W, dnyuOW
From that time Tod grew to be a
/ deeper mystery than he could fathom.
lnasmuch 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;tailure in all branches wherein most
school boys readily succeed, he rapidly
advanced in reading; and in the
declamatory art he soon acquired a
lame 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 undertone. was
never at g loss to use his hands. nor
/ ever had his piece" so poorly mem
orlzed that he must hesitate with
awkward repetitions to sit down at
! last 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 a schol-
ar be in training for the old-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 Dallid, careworn face. tiptoed up
and down the aisles, bending OCCASION
ally to ask whispered question, and
to let the look of anxious wonder
deepen on his face as the respectful
pupils shook their heads in silent re-
Spouse. But upon a whispered col
loquy with the minister his face bright
ened, as he learned that Tod was
practicing his grafton in the wood
house half an hour before the ringing
Of the BELL
A boy was sent to bring him, but re-
turned alone, to say that he had not
been able to find any trace of him.
"Oh, he'll be here in time enough"
said the teacher, alphabetically, to the
sad-faced minister: He's deeply inter
ested in his effort for this afternoon,
and I'm certain he wouldn't purposely
disappoint me-" The good man, in re-
ply, shook his head resignedly. with
prayerful flight of the eyes, indicative
Of long suffering and forbearance.
The opening services of singing and
prayer. No Tod.
First class in arithmetic called-ex-
amined. No Tod
Second class, ditto; still no Tod. Pri-
mary class in ditto, composed of little
twin sisters, aged 6, with very red hair
and very fair skin. and very short
dresses and very slim legs. Tod failed
to join his class.
The suffering minister was i'll at
ease. The exercise failed in some way
to appease the hunger of the soul with
In. He looked out of the open window
nervousiy, and watched a saucy little
sapsucker hopping up and down a
tree; first up one side and then down
the other, suddenly disappearing near
the roots, and as suddenly surprising
him with a mischievous pecking near
the top fork. He thought of his poor,
Maynard boy, with vague, vague
hope that he might yet, in some wise
ruling of a gracious Providence, escape
the gallows, and with a deep sigh
turned to the noisy quiet of the school
room; he did not even smile as he
took up Tod's geography, opened at
the boys latest work-a picture of the
state seal, where a stalwart pioneer
in his shirt sleeves hacked away at a
gnarled and stubborn looking tree,
without deigning to notice a stampeding
herd of buffalo that dashed by in most
alarming proximity. The nonchalance
of the sturdy yeoman was intensified
by Tod's graphic pen, which had
mounted each plunging monster with
a daring rider. holding slack bride
rein in one hand, and, with the other.
swinging a plug hat in the most ex-
ultant and defiant manner. This piece
of grotesque art and others equally
suggestive of the outcropping genius
of their author, were put YEARLY aside,
only serving, as it seemed, to deepen,
rather than dissolve the gloom en-
shrouding the good fathers face. And
so the exercises wore along till recess
came, and with it came the missing
Tod.
I'm in time, am I? Goodyl'' shout
ed Tod, jumping over a small boy who
had stopped to pick up a slate pencil |
and stopping abruptly in front of the
teachers desk.
why, Tod; what in the world"
Tod's features wore a proud, eXult-
ant smile though somewhat glamored
with a network of spiteful looking
and his eyes were more than |
usually bright although their lids |
were blue, and swollen to size that |
half concealed them. His head, held |
jauntiIy erect, suggested nothing but !
boyish spirit; but his hair, tousled be- |
yond all reason, with little wisps of it |
glued together with .clots of blood; his |
best clothes soiled and torn; a bruised |
and naked knee showing through d |
straight rent across one leg of his |
trousers. conveyed the idea of a re-
cent passage through some gauntlet Of |
disastrous fortune.
1t was nothing. Tod said, only on |
his way to school he had come upon |
a blind man who played the fiddle and |
sold lead pencils, and he boy who had |
been leading him had stolen something |
from him: and Tod had voluntarily |
started in pursuit of the fugitive. only
to overtake him after Il prolonged /
chase of more than a mile. And now
I'VE got you out o. town. said the Of
fender. wheeling suddenly upon him,
"In list meller YOUR head fer you!''
After a long pause, in which Tod's
face was hidden from the curious
group above him, as the teacher bent
above him at the back steps pouring
water on his head, he continued: /
Didn't think the little cuss was so
stout oh, I'm scratched up but you
ought to see him. And you ought to
hear him holler 'Nuffp End you ought
to see him hand over three boxes of
pens and them penholders and pencils
he stoPd. and a whole bunch o. en-
there's blood on some of 'em.
and the blind man said j could keep