The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1909-03-26
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The Power of a Belief.
By Alta Brunt Sembower.
@5@59595959595@59595 95919595g

| Jack was unusually snail-like about
going to school that morning. 1t was
not, however, as the poets have II, MS
| feet that were reluctant Indeed, II
long habit had not kept them STEADY
in the direction of the schoolnouse
Jacks spirit would have run away WIN
them dozen times into the wilderness.
1t was not that the wilderness-to VIII,
Pixies Woods-was specially green anu
inviting, with the tips Of its branches
waving over the hill at the edge OF the
village. 1t was not that the llst Oh
problems on his slate was long ana I'M
solved nor that today marked OH only
half Of the week which he was con-
demned to spend in exile on the front
seat" 1t was none of these inevitable
and everlasting trials that go to make
up the cynicism of boyhood that Was
troubling Jack. 1t was matter more
personal and more lively in interest
Jack was down for an affair OF honoE
at the morning recess" and there
were attendant circumstances Whlch re-
quired bordering about. Jack, IKE the
| true soldier, was going to battle Win a
fear in his heart. He passed the httle
boys in the school yard without MS
usual signs of condensation, ana only
remembered his position as head OF the
second floor in time to perform few
gymnastics on the stairs for the bene-
fit of one small admirer who had fol-
| lowed him inside. He hung up mis-
cap in the cloak-room with a precision
vainly sought for by home training,
and produced mainly by the induce
ment of some other boys hat on the
highest nail, inviting disturbance. FL
nally, after some little shutting at the
door and a loud ''hem" or two to Billy
Boyd on the back row, Jack walked
in with careful swagger designed TO
show his extreme indifference to his
seat near the throne. Before reachlng
it he had time for a quick survey OF the
room Among the apparently unnoted
things there was swift picture OF
Mirabel Grays black braids dangling
in the aisle, and the head attached to
them very near another head, sleek,
we'll combed, and boyish-both bent
together intentiy over book. For the
first time since his challenge of the
day before Jack longed for the hour to
draw nigh.
Jacks appointment was the out
| growth OF sentiment, and as such was
of interest to the whole community. It
was not that the antagonist-to-be was
new boy. That was matter that
couldn't be helped, and after few
encounters with individual boys could
be set right. But when the new boy
came in with such heavy odds on his
side, with shield as it were, which
protected him from even wordy blows
much less a contest to see whose fists
were best-then all Cloverly Village
put on its thinking cap. The new boy
was an orphan. Now, in Cloverly Viii
lage-perhaps in all the boy-world
there is something of the feeling-the
boys had superstition about orphans.
They always thought of the word with
a big o, and they spread the news the
night of the arrival with the same
preparations for defence that would
have hailed the coming Of genuine
Fiji-Islander with all his tribal tricks
of war. The savage, indeed, would
have been more acceptable, for at least
one might hit him back. But the law
of the hoy world said that a fellow
must endure all things-nearly--f
am orphan. Perhaps the feeling was
due to private Biblical lectures given
the inheritance of the influence of man
by big sisters or maiden aunts, or to
the inheritance of the influence OF
many thousand such lectures given by
big sisters or maiden aunts to gener-
ations of boys long gone-lectures
pooh-poohed at the time of their giving
but pondered upon secretly afterwards
and handed down to the next genera
ton of boys in the form of a little
stronger instructive tendency to avcsd
laying hands on an orphan. AT any
rate, the feeling was there, and the
boys stood aloof, sparing the rod, but
taking out the wickedness of their ma
lures by hating the Orphan heartily for
misdemeanors and misfortunes alike
Such a hatred is uncomfortable for the
victim of it, of course. but it doesE't
actively interfere with business. Il
doesn't take the new boy long to fine