The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1903-09-11
The Diplomacy
-
<*Of Grandma.
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BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,

RANDMA was person Of decided
II character From the first Stephen
Ward lad been her fayorite grandchild.
and She had never taken any pains to
conceal her Partially for the sturdy
lad.,:~ His sister Eleanor Was bk faI th{
prettier bAbg, the nj ore attractive hs
child, ana tile gre4ter~tredit 4oAtht
family during her teens; but Stephen, >.
although the lad himself was slow to
discover the fact, had found HID some
whatdificult way (tGhls grand mothers
loyal heart. BY the time Stephen was
II there VAS q rie,nss ptN efRst ttrRnd3
ship between the bright old lady and
the AWKWARD 10y.
Mrs .Wagd, .sts1hep,s mstheS had,
had sseveral sisters, but no brothers.
She had lost two little girls before
Stephens birth, and she had once been
a LITTLE girii herseaf}a SHeJ rha61Bsaspad
was a sweet, tender-hearted, selfsacri-
ficing mother, and Of course sshe loved
Stephen; but she could not always see
things from the boys point of view.
Try aas she might, she could not i'm
agine herself 17-year-old boy.
Grandma Ward, on the other hand,
was sthe mother of large family of
boys; AS child she had had no play
mates but her own four brothers. With
lhemt she had climbed trees, played ball,
piled, wood and torna her, 81 othess .and
was none the Morse for it. in ..her~old
age. Few women have it in them to
understand hoy natUfte 4sas sG(randnnsatz
Ward.
1t was this sympathetic grandmother
who /: caught Stephen preparing ito:
smoke his first-and last-pipe Wisely
refraining from any reproaches, the.
astute old lady, showed him how To;
pack the tobacco into the bowl, hero:
lcally; sat beside him in the>reeking at:
mosphere of the barn, where the cpl
Iode took place, and remained with him
to the bitter end. How bitter. the end
was only Stephen and his grandmother
ever knew. From that time forth
Stephen trusted his grandmother with
secrets that another boy would have
kept securely locked within his own
bosom.
The lad loved the woods and the
water to very unusual degree. He
knew. the habits of the birds; he could
swim like fish in the waters of Lake
Superb Or; he could distinguish between
spruce and balsam, hemlock and jack
pine, soft maple and hard maple.
Moreover, he was honest, sweet
tempered and obliging. But in spite OF
these good traits his parents and his
teachers found him at one time a diff
cult problem.
Stephen hated school. His young
sister ! easily overlook him, logged
along ibeside him for week or two,
and then left him far behind on the
path Of knowledge.
Stephen's only ambition" one of his
teachers reported, lis to escape with
the others at four o'clock. When he
isn't looking out Of the window he is
watching the clock, or drawing maps
of thealumber roads north of town."
''Isnst there a single study that he
takes 4 little interest in?" asked Mrs.
Ward 80:
ut = possible he might shine In the
KINDERGARTEN department" was the
teacheA' S reply, for found 27 kinds Of
leavesDn his desk the other day. But
seriou& ", Mrs. Ward, I'm Phaid Ste
phen Y Il never get out 9f4e jtes@an,
class. aHe seems to be anchored right
there. I It's wopden to ne that be-
ever q so far. ''Hfg Ypdfhgk really
"'" "as r IS aaa ptt s'76a special, ar
ranged Pnt,' said Mrs Ward "Profes-
sor Pd kins thought it might be bet
and make up later. Perhaps he'll be