The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15

wish a more fascinating one; but Pen dennis is an exacting fellow. lie VIII not sit in a hammock with one and prattle amusingly for sleepy summer hour. He demands ones whole time and a great deal of it.
 K XR. JOHN PENDENNIs was lit MI tle quiet old gentleman, ex- l ! tremely mild and genteel, who had amassed a very modest competency by combining the vacations of apothe- cary and surgeon in humble little shop graced by the sign Of glit pestle. When the time came when ne could retire he gladly and completely forgot that he had ever sold brown paper plasters, and realized his life dream of becoming a gentleman.
 He bought little estate in the vil- lage of Clavering, which he called Fairoaks. It was separated by lit tie riyer from what was left of the plantations and woods of the great Clavering family's park.
 Here Mr. Pendennis installed his young wife, who had been Miss Helen Thistlewood. a very distant and very poor relative and dependent Of the noble house of Bareacres.
 The disappearance of the Pendennis of the pestle from Bath ushered into Claver- ing the Pendennis of Fairoaks. where they come from heaven knows, but pres entiv 2 whole range of Pendennis por- traits hung round the dining room-Roger Pendennis of Agincourt, Arthur Penden- his of Crecv. General Pendennis of Blen- helm.
 Bv the time little Arthur Pendenns was eight years old all these and stlll otner Pendennises of the past were as real u the family as the gilt pestle was unreal. Although Johns income of only about e5O0 hounds a year did not permit him to live with the great folk of the country, he managed to get good deal or the odor of genteel life. If the Pendennises were not the roses, they lived near the roses, as it were. as he now called himself. to the great ,vorId of London and the fashions was his brother, Major Pendennis He brought the last news of the nobility ana or tne clubs of which he was chief ornament. The major had slid out after long sefVice in India and New South Wales and gone m half pay. He was desperately poor, b,,+ tbe number of crested and coroneted ,nvitations to great houses that lay on his fayorite table in the club every morn inc drove the less fortunate ioHers oi high society to desperation
 The young fellows loved to Walk wi,n him. for he touched his hat to everypooy and every other man he knew was ~. If there was any question about etiquette, nedieree or precedence Pendennis was the man to whom everybody appeared.
 His coat. his white gloves. his whlskeis, his very cane were perfect. Seeihs nm from a distance one would take nm to De thirty. It was only close lnspectioh .ia ' ravealed the crows feet around the some s,,,at dimn,iny eyes of his handsome mot ,,ad face and the entirely artificial char- acter of his fine head of brown mar. e Maior Pendennis was much prouuer oi his brother the Squire or faiioans' ,aa+ cd ha aver had been of his brother the hisu- teal practitioner of Bath, and ne was ue. s,, lighted beyond measure to ,,,at, pe,H fors nenhew growing up in such coiipieee loi l., .rstfulnass of the shop that everypouy III S1s,,arino called him the Prince or fair- oaks. aa hin, in his rovsl temper. His mother was one those affectionate, selfless creatures S,,o S,,o ara made to give their all to otheis. a, Sae are iiau 'sa tboueht of her husband with
 .we,,l reverence The Ma1or was a s,ar,, pavard among majors to her' Sne ,,nrsbinned the Prince with an ardor 'iia' ha accented coolly as Princes snouiu;
 pendsnnis was 16 when his father uieo. Tn the moment of his griel, anu as e .r,hraced his mother and tenderiy con. snieS her. he could not help but 1eei Una ,,, ha was chief and lord. and that ne 2 ..,o',,dn,t stand the bullying at schooi VI, Iorper. but should have 1t all noh- days In the future. The major was TOT s,,s going back But Pen adroitiy con. .,aya5 tn his mother hint as to wnal
 w,id. dangerous place. Greyfriars was ard the timid soul at once acceueo uo his desire. roaa ber
 pen got a very good mare and rode ,ler
 e,,a,tlv well across country. He pe- came d very good judge ol cla,e.. @ ta. ar did not neglect his studies aitogether. ao. Mr smirke, the curate plea over lro.i. .i, Clavering daily on a niii'uou poA' ana read the poets w. nlh .
 Den zealously avoided all DOCKS tnat ,,,,aht hv chance fall into a school course; i,,,t ha devoured all others and his mind hscame of a gloomy Byronic cast. lie proke out in the Poets Corner or the Soup.y Chronicle with tremendous verses oii, ,,..' AS s,ze Meetings, Tears. Love and Pontlcs. He wrote tragedies in whlch eVerypous was killed. . aa
 One day he rode into Chatteris 10 ae- liver fiery poem for the next week naner. and in the stableyard or the mn beheld a grand black tandem witn scar let wheels, whose owner was hapi'eo III scarlet green and white glory that made 1t difficult to say whether he was prize- fighter on a holiday or coachman Tn gala dress
 1n this splendid creature Pendennis rec