Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-02-11

Oi hctcdty OF one OF the many mysteries OF
lie which will probably never be solved. AS
a mere baby his beauty EXCEPTIONAL his
ouryng lips, his finely cnisclcd nose his wide,
clear blue eyes, his good, broad brow, lis
Sunny hai7, all marked him in such sharp contrast to
the hcav-jowled and dulcycd parents that even they
themselves stood bit in Of him. and his mothers
pride in his beauty was married by a certain uncasness
that never entirely left her.
eyes, she admitted with a rcgretiul sigh "hc is
purify BIT I'm afraid he's most too purity for boy
"flnd o weakly, too, Jim Glow wou,d add with
growing dissatisfaction
With him, boy was 70 be regarded distinct
asset, valued exactly il proportion to his evidences OF
Drawn and he lonecd for sturdy for exactly ttc
reason that he cherished the lthei nbed colts
that scampercd about in the brook meadow In this he
was be disappointed for, to the Glow farmhouse,
pcrchcd down from the rocky roadside, there came no
more sons or daughters, and the boy, Henry,
grew up ii loneliness TO develop within him that
strange and dreaming fancy which made him OF
apparent worth
Hes lazy, that young 'un" jim decided in pro
found disgust while get the child wore pinaforcs; and
from that time the father took up the burden OF his
with such patience he might.
There denying that the boy was not at all
like other children Of the countryside.
'IIe ics sets there mopin and lookn' in hole and
never says word his mother complained ut jeS
pears like he amt got any git-up git to him at
sl"
And she was right Many, many times the rttlc
one sat behind the kitchen looking, looking, and iorn
ing words to mold his thought What it thar
he saw across the tiny valley not even he himself
could have told, but lie noted with rapt eagerncss the
passing Of every cccy cloud the sky he
ancifu in all its formations and his
dwclt in keen pleasure upon the deep gradations Of
shade and color in them He found calm delight, in
crcasng with his years in the changing hue OF the sky
itself. For him the great dome Of heaven was not
only blue. but it hundred blucs-the blue Of
Winter and the blue OF Summer, the blue Of morning
and the blue Of evening the blue o; midday and the
blue of night with all the varying shades between.
He found at the edge Of the brook day flower
exactly matching that days sky that until its
was passed and it had ceased to bloom, he to it
every day to compare it, building with infinite pains
little enclosure about it that the cattle might not trample
il and an odd fancy to him that little
hccL OF that great wonderful arch above had dropped
straight down to grow and bloom for him.
To Jim Glow the farm was 4 barren and unlovely
place, il in his mental grasp there such things
loneliness and uIoveliness. The road high here
and the house was built upon the rocky hillside that
sopcl down from the highway, that it should take
~ none OF the more fertile room in the hollow below ;
while, beyond the barren hills up again Oh the
whole farm, scarcely more than one-hird was pro-
ductve, and because It not all rich, oany bot
on-lad, such ne could never hope to possess, the
man dcssiscd it as his wife despiscd her house. 1t
Il tl4e uWG4lS 4Olb ue4Olc suNNcC-SN1 ~
been but = cabin down which led fight Of roughly
placed steps As the earlier generations Of CLOVIS
had needed more rooms they had added them at
tine and upon that shelving ground each addition
had been built at slightly different level, so that in
passing IRON any part Of the house to another part
there steps to so up steps TO SO down, making
lhs womans day OF unendng toll; and, while her
child was still Young, she became old from hard and
unccasng labor.
To The boy, however, the farm paradise, and
the brook that was OF value tbs father only il
irrigated his fields and watered his cattle, to TIC
10y a perpetual delight lie knew ard loved every
orc Of its quiet little pools it, steep noisy shadows il
swift CONSTRUCTED channels, its sandy bottoms where
tie water widcned in thin sparkling sheets it
every crook and bend clear down to the creek int
which, the boundary Of the farm. it or1pt:cd A
this point there formed deep, slow basin, where
leaves long and pointed drippcd, touching ;ho: ve-
tins IN the water: and sometimes willie he was watch
ing stcally snake would slip its thin blacl; lcngti
down from the oyorhanging branches and glide away
under the dark surface II lay here and gazcd lon
into the depth, there strange colors shifting
ard varying with tic changing light deep deep blue
ard browns and even reds, down where the dim fshc
moved
lie had strange fancy about the brook, too.
was an old, old friend but it was always racin
away to the rivers and the ocean, he et that it wa
always a stranger as we'll as a friend. Every tim
that he saw it he felt that he make It's acquain
ancc all again, for this water shat lie ha
never icfor.; while he yet quite li.tl
he used tc say Good morning" to it every day, am
lying down upon the bank with his face above it
ais favorc spot he would tell it all about himself an
,bout the clouds and the blue sky which it la>
Sccn.
So the boy grew until he thirteen, and his lis
less dreaming increased OF course, he worked
every creature upon that farm, whether twofooed {
:our-footed. must work but he lahored with curio
ireffccncy that made lin Glow hcart.sic(i lie w
GOOD father in and patient ono, but som
times, in striving to bring the boy into proper &c!
ton with his duty toward life, he became brutal