Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-04-10
THE HORRIBLE EX-
AMPLE OF DEXTER
HENDERSON D D 3 3
" JOHN H. RAFFERTY,

! the use OF DtluR 4 hubul udAINt uhAN's
yon can corner and capture that neb-
ulous but brilliant treasure that is
so hard to seize in a big, vulgar city
-"social standing" How much east
er il is to be zone of our best fami-
! lies" in Treesomehurst than in Chi
cago. And how much more certain
/ is ones tenure of aristocracy there
than in the city All you have to do
is 10 disassuciate yourself from
trades people, belong" to things, OBJ
serve the Sabbath, and play whist
with some show of human intelli-
/ gonce.
Having failed to carry out these
/ simple directions Dexter Henderson
fell from grace with the elite Of
Bonnie Terre in spite Of the lofty po-
sition in society long maintained by
the rest of the Henderson family,
| Col Henderson, a southern gentle
man of a somewhat Puritanical turn
of mind, who could not afford to send
Dexter to college, agreed with some
misgiyings to allow him course in
! the manual training school. That
finished. the lusty young fellow
begged for his fathers permission
and influence to get a place for him
in some railroad machine shop. The
colonel got red as a turkey gobbler
at the mere suggestion and gave DeX-
ter to understand that the vulgarity
Of his ambition was a thorn in the
tender side Of his aristocratic sire.
In fault of better occupation the
youth then fell into the idle ways of
the suburban village, than which
there is no surer route to damnation.
| He preferred quoits to whist, he
played football on Sunday with an
eleven from the glass works, he was
on speaking terms with every servant
girl in Bonnie Terre, and to crown
all he was shameless enough to put
on leather apron at Bull Dolan's
blacksmith shop and work there
whenever the notion struck him,
Dolan said the lad was a good smith,
but Col. Henderson furiously chewed
the ends of his white mustache and
thought Of the lion that had whelped
a wolf. But Dexter pursued his sean.
dalous part unterrifed, He matched
cocks with the village drunkard,
pulled OFF, boxing bouts in the Hen
derson barn, went fishing with Squin-
ty Jones, the barber, and stole kiss
from Harbine's pretty nurse maid in
plain view of half a dozen prominent
citizens.
The colonel first cut off Dexter's
money allowance, then quit speaking
to him, and finally ordered him off
the place. That fixed forever the
young mans standing" in Bonne
Terre, and he was in a fair way to
be ostracized by the unanimous re-
spectacle element when the Spanish
war broke out. Then he did what all
well-established scapegraces are nat
urally expected to do he enlisted
When the colonel heard the glad It'd
iugs he hustled into his study.
locked the door and (no. he didn't
shed any tears) he got down his bot
tie Of Scotch and "hit it, for three
cheers.
Dexter, having no mother TO grieve
over him. and his two elder sisters
being married into the most excIu-
Size society of Bonnie Terre. spent
little time over his adicus. He lin
gered longest with old Bull Dnlan. to
whom, with gentle solicitude, he com
mitted his briudle bull terrier.
squinty Jones, proud Of the conf
dence, became the custodian of Dex-
ter's fighting chickens. The crowd
that saw him off on the train was
not made up Of the select of the VIII
lage, but as he waved them good by
young Henderson 1.-THE unnatural yuI-
garian) actually felt a lump in his
throat and a twist in his heart
strings.
There ought to be a lot Of stuff
70 put in here about how Dexter Hem
derson distinguished himself in the
war, how he charged mp SAN Juan
hin and earned his shoulder-straps at
Picking in the Chinese invasion. But
the trouble is he didn't do anv of
those things. He Just went away and
was never heard Of for nearly four
years. Then one fine morning last
spring he hoped of the train at
Bonnie Terre, roared hellos at every
body in sight, and with a squad Of
admirers al his heels marched up the
street TO Dolan's blacksmith shop.
Brown and bearded as a Calmuck
Tartar broader healthier. happier
than ever, dressed in his dirty khaki.
and with nothing better than a SER
geant's stripes and an honorable dis
charge from the army TO show that
he had been at the front, Dexter yet