Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-08-27
The Diplomacy
of Grandma.

BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN.

Woo PClpOh VI uCSluCu
u character. From the first Stephen
Ward had been her favorite grandchild.
and she had never taken any pains to
conceal her Partially for the sturdy
lad. His sister Eleanor was by far the
prettier baby, the more attractive as a
child, and the greater credit to the
family during her teens; but Stephen,
although the lad himself a slow to
discover the fact, had found the some
what difficult way to his grandmother's
loyal heart. By the time Stephen was
II there was a curious bond of friend
ship between the bright old lady and
the awkward boy.
Mrs. Ward, Stephens mother, had
had several sisters, but no brothers.
She had lost two little girls before
Stephens birth, and she had once been
a little girl herself. She understood
girls, and preferred them to boys. She
was a sweet, tender-hearted, self-sacri-
ficing mother, and of course she loved
things from the boys point of view.
Try as she might, she could not i'm
agine herself a 17-year-old boy.
Grandma Ward, on the other hand,
was the mother of a large family of
boys. AS a child she had had no play
mates but her own four brothers. With
them she had climbed trees, played ball,
piled wood and torn her clothes, and
was none the worse for it in her old
age. Few mi have it in them to
understand boy nature as Grandma
Ward.
1t was this sympathetic grandmother
who caught Stephen preparing to
smoke his first-and l%ast-pipe. Wisely
refraining from any r%eproaches, the
astute old lady showed him how to
pack the tobacco into the bowl, hero
ically sat beside him in the reeking at
mosphere of the barn, where the cpl
sode 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 a very unusual degree. He
knew the habits of the birds; he could
swim like a fish in the waters Of Lake
Superior; he could distinguish between
spruce and balsam, hemlock and jack
.soo e>ft ,,oor1o onI horI yoon1a
Moreover, he was honest, sweet
tempered and obliging. But in spite OF
these good traits his parents and his
teachers found him at M time a diff
cult problem.
Stephen hated school. His young
sister easily overlook him, logged
along beside him for a week or two
and then left him far behind on the
path Of knowledge.
stephens only ambition" n 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 the lumber roads north of town."
isn't there a single study that he
takes a little interest in?" asked Mrs
Ward, ~anxiously.
ut is possible he might shine in the
kindergarten department" was the
teachers reply, 'for l found 81 kinds o.
leaves in his desk the other day. Bur
seriously, Mrs. Ward, I'm afraid Ste
phen will never get out of the freshman
class. He seerNs to be anchored righ'
there. It's a wonder to me that hi
ever got so fer. His spelling is reall,
atrocious and his algebra"
HE was promoted by special ar
rangement," said Mrs. Ward. "Profes
sor Perkins thought it might be bet
ter for him to skip the eighth grad
and make up later. Perhaps he'll b.
more interested when he gets to thu
botany class
"He'll lever get there" said the dis
couraged teacher. "There are too man.
other things that come before botany.
Besides being slow, Stephen was cas-
lily the biggest boy in his grade. HI
had caught up to his hands and feet
although there had been a time whel
these growing members seemed all GU
OF proportion to his body.
lie grew sensitive as well as tall, am
finally he announced that he would no
20 to school another day.
"Ill do anything else you want m
to-" said Stephen, sitting in solemn