Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1907-08-08
BACK TO LONG AGO
oLp-TiME SCENE RECALLED BY
Mr.. PARokEYAL.
And Understanding, He No Longer
Felt Aserieved That He Had Sac
rificed His Evening Smoke
Willing Victim.

zone evening at dinner in the lat
ter part OF May" said Mr.. Parokeyal,
the wife asked me II wouldn't like
to go to the MAY services at church
that evening-with her, OF course.
caught her exchanging glance
across the table with our eldest boy,
a tyke of ten, when she made the
suggestion TO me. Therefore said
to myself right away, 1t was put UP
JOB.
But there / was. No way to get
out of it. | thought bit aggrievedly
of the comfortable, lolling smokes I'd
miss II | went, and | experienced just
a teenchy touch of resentment over
the rather smooth and serene way
was being chiseled out of EN-. But
there was no way out,
"Why, certainly mother, I'll go
glad TO-, said ], as hearty as | could
make it, and then again | caught that
significant exchange of glances be-
tween the boy and his mother, just
as if they'd achieved some kind OF
victory or other.
"Well. the boy executed his usual
disappearance soon after dinner, and
then, allowing me to burn up just
one cigar, my wife began TO hustle
and hustle me around, and presently
we we're on our way to the May serv-
ices. had TO grin bit sheepishly
as we drew nigh the portal
Fine work for you, little lady,
said ! to the boys mother. Do you
know how many years it's been
since l attended May evening sery-
ices?'
"'Please don't tell me- said she.
4 don't want to hear. And don't ever
say anything like that before the chill
dred-you know how they notice
these chance remarks sand with that
we were inside the cool, fragrant
church and on our way up the center
aisle to the pew
well, well, what a long
stretch of years that fragrance
took me back across-that min
gled fragrance of roses and
drifting incense. Noticed 1t the min
ute set foot within the church
first the smell of the roses that were
heaped up on the main altar and on
the side altar, and then, as we got in
side, that other aroma of the incense.
| declare that those two fused frag-
rances-and they go mighty well to-
gether, if you've ever noticed-just
clean picked me up and set me back
on the road good 80 years. and
good bit of that road right hard going
at that.
THE wife and ! sat down In the
pew, and | was listening to some OF
the old familiar May evening music,
full Of dim "reminiscences, when the
mother gave me a slight nudge.
Il turned and looked at her, and
her eyes were shining mighty bright,
sure enough. And she was nodding
in the direction of the altar. thought
that she meant that she wanted me
to stop looking around at the decora-
tions and things and to pay attention
to what was going on at the altar,
and so / followed her gaze.
well, then | understood the mean
ing of that put up job between the
boy and his mother.
For there was the boy on the altar
in surplice and cassock at the right
hand of the priest, at that. | under
stood, all right.
when / turned to her again her
eyes were still shining away like as If
theyd-but, when it comes TO that,
couldn't see her very well myself, for
it all came a-romping back TO me in an
instant that she looked just exactly,
for all the world, like my own little
mother had looked, away back yonder
over the craggy path of the years.
when she'd seen me diked out in cas-
sock and surplice for the first time
for all the world and to the life! Same
shining, starry eyes, same trembling
around the corner OF the mouth,
same speaking pride of the features
the JOY of the mother-woman when
she sees one of her own taking part
for the first time in a rite at any kind
of shrine!
That's why she'd got me out of my
armchair to attend the May evening
services. The conspiracy between her
and the boy stood revealed. But /
didn't feel aggrieved about those sac.
riflced smokes any longer!"