The Brunswick daily news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1903-1906, 1903-10-04
Career of His Fathers Son.
BY L. PARRY TRUSc0TT.


Mrs. Hayes was undeniably widow,
known as "lone and lorn," for her hus-
band, of whom she had plainly stood in
considerable awe, before dying had
considerably bequeathed to her his
living image"-in slightly more man
ageable form. Like most women, Mrs.
Hayes was prone to concentration, es-
pecially in matters of the heart and
two so exactly alike might have proved
an embarras de richesse. But left with
only one, and that small one, she re-
established herself in her native vii
lage and contentedly applied herself to-
the washtub and the ironing board for
the maintenance of herself and the
little Johnnie until he should be of an
age to realize her great expectations of
him and prove himself the man his
father was.
Just about clever scholard, too"
explained Mrs. Hayes to any one who
cared to listen.
None of her friends and relations
had seen this wonderful man of hers
in the flesh; she had met him in Lon
don while in the service there, and had
only returned to the country at his
death. But they were not allowed to
forget him, and the tale of his numer-
Gus attainments was told and told
again. He had left only very few
pounds worth of furniture behind him;
but, according to his wife, he had been
most too clever" for money making
one of those men so topheavy with
brains that they cannot conveniently
stoop to pick up a mere weekly wage
And, then, he had died quite young, be-
fore he had been given his chance"
A common laborer, farm hand, keeps
himself from the time he is released
from school, but it is notorious that
men of talent take longer to start
themselves in independence; some
times the twenties see them still only
prise them with the task unaccom-
plished. Every one knows that brains
take longer to develop than industry
or at any rate, all Mrs. Hayes's in
Inmates knew it, having had the theory
set forth to them in homely language
many times. "And he never had his
chance, you understand me-" she would
end; was just snapped off like bud
as the frost catches"
But Johnnie, lucky boy, joined his
mothers robust constitution to his
fathers intellect, so she averred, and
the constitution, at any rate, seemed
quite in evidence And if they look
to see what his father looked like, let
them look at Johnnie, said his mother,
Ibis living pictured"
Judged thus by Johnnie, his father
seems to have had a sturdy, stumpy
figure, a round, blunt featured face,
powerful white teeth, shock of stub
by, sun bleached hair and prominent
light blue eyes that were wont to stare
unblinkingly during a conversation at
whatever object first met their gaze
all this added to a curious reluctance
to say word more than the absolutely
necessary. A common enough type in
that neighborhood, yet not even that
neighborhoods preconceived idea of
son of genius.
But, if any smiled, they were kindly
folk and took care to do ii only be-
hind the mothers back.
During JOhnnie's passage from a
heavy baby into healthy, hearty boy,
Mrs. Hayes was spared half the pangs
of motherhood. She gave away the last
of his petticoats without a sigh; with
her own hands, to an accompaniment
of smiles instead of tears, she cut close
che mop of hair which had always re-
fused to respond to her efforts to en-
tice it into curls. She was in such a
hurry for him to attain mans estate,
and to show forth to a wondering
world the heritage his father had left
him, that she hurried him with all her
might through his early years. John
ME never grew out of his clothes like
other boys. He was forced to turn them
up, the trousers half way to his knees,
and the sleeves to his elbows, before he
ways beyond patching before his limbs
overlook them. When he was five years
old she publicly announced her inten-
ton of calling him John" as weight
Ter and more fitting name. But he was
so Enthusiastically johnnie" that no one
could remember to follow her example,
and half her time she only managed to
end a sentence started too nimbly with
Johnnie that had Slipped out"
AS soon as he could toddle Johnnie
went to school, and continued to go
daily until the extreme limit of age
when schooling is compulsory on the
youth of England. Once laboriously es-
tablished in Standard" he showed
marked Discrimination to leave it. and
the utmost prodding never advanced
him beyond the borderland of the
fourth" But his mother blamed the
school and her want of means to send
him to better enc. not Johnnie. Of
course, what any yokel learned would
not be the learning to tempt her hus-
bands son. Johnnie received subtle
flattery from her instead of blows for
his slow progress. He met it, as he
met most things, with the impenetra-
BILE stare of his light blue eyes. His
opinion of himself would have inter-
ested good many people by this time,
but his silence remained unbroken on
that point as on SO many others.
There followed. the usual little diff
Guilty in fitting the village genius with
a means of earning livelihood. Mrs
Hayes refused to contemplate anything
whereby honest sweat" might be
caused to flow from her sons low, hair
matched brow. Most of the men about
her worked out OF doors, or at some
humble trade. and nothing of that
kind, she had decided years ago, would