Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-01-16

that his body was very sinai
even for his few years. And as we see
little or nothing Of one another ex'
cept our carefully clothed bodies, II
Is not strange that we mutually judge
of our size by them; that is, we dc
this unless we are very well acquaint'
ed, indeed. Doubtless, too, this Is best,
for how it would embarrass some OF
us il we were to be judged in another
way. Take, for instance, your papa's
friend, Mr.. Brown, the portly gentle,
man who visits at your house some
times, and who wears such a handsome
watch chain, and who talks about
stocks; or take Miss Wheezle, the tall
and stately lady who converses with
your ann about the latest fash
ions n says the minister's sermon
last Sunday was really sweet"-how
do you suppose they would feel IT,. by
some marvellous change Of size, this
world were to be judged by mind or
soul? But, bless your hearts! they
never think of such a thing, more than
the rest of us do; and so we all are
quite contented and cheerful.
1t may as well be admitted, too, that,
as his uncles and aunts said, the little
boy was such a strange child" His
Aunt Dora, who had five children of
her own, all so precisely like the other
human peas in the pod that if one had
rolled out it would have been difficult
30 designate exactly which one it was
his Aunt Dora, l say, even went so
Gar as to remark that, he was "the
strangest ever" but this assertion per-
maps should be considered a trlhe en-
phatic, for Aunt Dora underscOres the
words of her speech very much as she
does those of her letters.
But the little boy vas strange; this
must be conceded. For example, if O
made to him an assertion based ON an
assertion your father had made to you,
which was based on an assertion his
father had made to him, which was
based on al assertion his-but 1t Is
needless to carry the train of argu-
ment further, for about this time the
little boy would quite upset you by
remarking, Yes, but why" or, But
doesn't 1t SEEM" and then he would
ask all sorts of embarrassing ques-
tons; that is, questions of which un-
fortunately you had forgotten the an
swer. or course, it should be remem
bered that he was too young to I'M
derstand how much deeper than rea-
son is faith and how absolute should
be the confidence we place in the wis
dom of our grandfathers. However,
this has little to do with the story, eX-
cept as it tends to indicate what man
ner of child was our small hero.
The little boy was a great reader,
ent, that came to his small and some
times grimy hands We're absorbed by
him with complete impartiality. So,
much of his time he lived in the bright
Country of Imagination, where are
many wonderful things. Often his
mother would say to him: "Now, little
boy, you really must put your book
away, go out, and play in the sun
shine" Then he would put the book
to one side. take his bow and arrows,
and go to his ave. 1t was not much
of a cave, being, In fact, but n hollow
in a great oak just within the edge of
a wood; but he imagined that it's di-
mansions were tremendous and it's
secrecy complete, and so. as his mag
nation was as large as his body was
small, the cave" did quite well for
his purposes. He had drawn a dingy
cloth across the hole so as to conceal
1t from observation, and he used to
say to himself, as he approached the
"cave" and gave three distinct whis-
Ties to his coming to his faith
full servitors, that nobody would sus-
pect that the Mysterious Lord of the
Forest lived there; and, indeed, nobody
would. You would be surprised could
you know how often this retreat was
attacked by wicked bandits and how
frequently 1t was assailed by painted
savages, but II was defended with
great vigor and always came Off with
credit, and even glory, to itself and its
redoubtable master.
The little boy went to school, and for
some time he did not think much of his
teachers. They We're n trying lot, he
felt; always asking questions ncern
ing matters that were of no conse-
quence and insisting on answers that
were equally irrelevant to the real in
terests Of n boys life. His teachers
said that he read with expression. but
that they could not get him to take
an interest In his other studies. His
mother received this report with anx-
iety, and his Aunt Dora remarked that
she always had said so, although no