Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1902-01-14
AMUSING ARCHIBALD


had eZpia .s.t 4 matters II -es--a--,s'.3A
is one Of i.e,itaa'S mcst ring - o-te
that II you c..3nog "a q ta2E
Archibald il is yoa " .so are ssap.4. las
he who i 10 y9Us.
lit is wonderful of you, Gerald
dear"
.-NonscnSe. I-g,.tsa. lie Is quite q,
enough to he a { U.pau.ou = A.s f.
ther'
A vague !oa,- sctflcd in Letitia's hlus
eyes. reminded her the cab AZ tn
door. and size trI. w&5le / held Arch
bald up al the window II wave. H
did not CRY IT all. Archibald is a veT
self controlled child. Iie has my ten
permanent in that. He stood on a char
in his coarse white linen sln0c&. h:
small PINK face selCmnly set. his blu
eyes wide ana dreaming. like his moth
er's | felt bit nervous. | get the
feeling even with Letitia sometimes
that though she is there she is some
where verE far of.
You draw he a gak an tell me
about EN- he commanded suddenly.
turning upon me eyes that mischief
makes three shades darker.
do not draw much. but l recollected
how easy it is To please small children
and took ont my pencil. What bother
ed me was not being able to call TO
mind what yak was. Natural his
tory is a subject neglected as boy:
collected stamps. I.etitia would have
known. of course. She is. like all the
charmingest women. totally uneducat-
ed in the school sense of the term A
native ignorance starred with fantasy.
perception. observation and intuition
makes her at once the cleverest and
most incalculabIe converse tionalist.
She'd have known all about gaks,
Archibald danced very quickly at my
elbow. and il clustered me.
''They so screamin' about in the
trees" he shouted. waving his arm rs
though he saw them in the region OF
the frieZe.
HIM. Couldn't he that extinct bird,
then, the aux of course-no Well. my
eye fell on a Japanese fire screen. and
/ shamcIessly and secretly adapted a
stork from it.
THAT it:' | gave the leaf of my
pocketbook to Archibald His upper
lip. the re,ldest. finest curved lip ever
saw. twisted into wonderful shapes as
he squealcd with joy.
what does il say when it wakes:"
when il Wakes
when it wakes"
81 hear. sonny. | hear but
Archibald has astonishing tact. You
draw me Il ship salin' for far away"
Sensible of a reprieve. outlined rap
Idly vessel of heraldic simplicity.
want II fwag on it,
added a pennant. SimpkinS. who
got into the Royal Solent Yacht club
the year we We're at Cowes, always
seemed to have a pennant in his peck
ct. so | know Il pennant
The funniest gurgle arose from Arch
ibald.
"'At's not a blue de peter. Ships
sailin' for far away fwy the blue de
peter
Momentarily baffied by this nautical
pedantry. my hands diyed into my
pockets. and my wandering fingers en-
countered a thre~penny bit. 1t is a
convention in our family not to spend
threepenny bits. They are saved up
for Archibald. Letitia calls this 1.-The
drag on the wheel As his fat hand
closed on the coin he forgot the blue
pink face crumple and his mouth be-
come square.
Il don't want the Marquish of Lon
don to have en-. He might shake Ell
out of he's money box he walled
piercingly.
Archibaid's first experience Of a mon
ey box was toy one which leaked
Saturday pennies all over the garden.
''If he cries. ring for cook" had been
Letitia's last words from the cab. But
1 prefer TO reason With the child He
has Il strange appreciation of reason.
Here again | trace nay own character.
Letitia reasons. but in way no one
can follow save by the light of faith.
Mother says if l let en- keep mine
for littel while e marquish II give
me some of e's thripley bits" Archi-
bald explained doubtfully
Now | regard this threepenny bit
business as an out and out failure of
Letitia's theory that everything can be
explained to the child.
She has not made clear the working
OF the postoffice savings bank. and she
has imbued Archiba Id with profound
mistrust of the Marquis of Londonder-
~ which may cling to him through
life.
Cooks appearance with tea diverted
Archibald's mind from dwelling on the
nature of his securities
Il muslin leave my cwusts,'' he re
marked in voice which showed that
he was quoting nurse, and he built
them carefully around the rim of his
plate. THE little fwushes never do
The little fwushes opens 'eir mouths
an shuts cir eyes when Mrs. Fwush
feeds en-" Archibald punctuated with
mouthfuls of trawberry sandwiches
and milk. IF she gives en- capper-
pillar. 'ey are pweased. an If she gives
en- a cwusty beetle 'ey never put en-
out