The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-01-27
III.
Continued.

IL eS ~ oSSA oSAt5Sho, SNS
said. ITO have you back through all
your schoolboy time and at college
is so nice that 1 know 1 have been
'persuading you to make the most of
1t for my sake. But, Edward, you
must not humor me any more. I feel
that it is wasting your time"
"No," he said, when one has to
pick up ones thread it is best to do
1T thoroughly. This will all be of
service, every word of it."
"I see you mean to begin with a
retrospect" she criedy Frightening
again.
MOT so much as a retrospect" he
said with a twinge of conscience, !"but
ones early ideas, though they are
often absurd, are very suggestive"
"Oh, not absurd" she cried. It
wounded her to hear such a word ap-
piled to anything of his.
But little Tom had come home for
his holidays, which showed that it
settling down. They had taken pos
session of Easton in the end of. Au-
gust. Tom came home very manly
and grow up after his first half"
! at school. He was close upon eleven,
and he had a very high opinion OF
his own position and prospects. His
school was a large preparatory one,
where things were done as much as
possible on the model of Elton, which
was the goal of all the little boys
ambition. 1t was a little disappoint-
ing after the first genuine moment of
pleasure in com;"g home, and the
ecstatic n Of being a very great
man to little Janet, to find that after
all Janet was only a little girl and
did not understand the half of what
he told her. He felt the want of
male society very much on the sec
ond day, and to think that there
would not be,a fellow to speak to for
a whole month damped the delightful
prospect of being his own master for
that time, which had smiled so much
upon him. Janet, it is scarcely neces-
sary to say, gave a %boundless faith to
her brother, and listened to the tale
of his achievements, and of what the
fellows did, with an interest unal-
loyed by criticism. Her mouth and
her eyes were full Of a round o! of
wonder and admiration. She never
tired Of hearing of the feats and the
scrapes and the heroic incidents of
school. To dazzle her so completely
was something; but a mind accus-
toned to the company of the nobler
sex 'soon made it apparent that he was
bored.
There's a lot of houses about" he
said. Aren't there any fellows down
there, or there"-he pointed to dis
tant roofs and groups of chimneys
appearing at intervals from among
the leafess trees-'"that n could
speak to? It's awfully dull here after
knowing so many at school,"
There are some children at the
white house with the blue roof" said
Janet, "but they're not good enough,
nurse says; and I don't know nobody
to play WHY'S" the little girl added
rather wistfully-the made all her
"th's" into "y's" still-"I only take
walks"
"Children!" said Tom contemptu-
"ously. II wasn't asking about chill
dren. I mean fellows at school. If
they're at a good school they're good
enough. I'll soon find out. When a
fellow has been out in the world, and
goes to school, you don't suppose he
minds what Nurse says"
"Oh, but nurse says a great, great
many yings," said Janet. "She says
Easton's a little poking house, and
that we should be in, our W family
aplace. What's a family place? Do
you know? 1t is something fayer is
buried in" the little girl added after
a moment, with a little thrill of SOL
emnity. Tom burst into a laugh in
the pleasure of his superior knowl-
edge.
You are a little ass, Jan! Of
course i know. The family place is a
grand one, with a big tower and a flag
ON 1T when I'm at home-like the
Queen at Windsor! The worst is I'm
at home; but I shall be when
I'm big, and then shan't we have
times! I've told a lot of fellows. I'll
have them up%to my place in Scotland
for the shooting, don't you know"
Janet only gave him "a look out of
her large light eyes. Girls don't
shoot" she said. ~ don't want to be
at your shooting. Tom, do you re-
member fayer? He's buried there"
"Oh, humbug! he's buried in the
c~hurchyard, where all the dead peo-
pie are buried. OF course I remember
him. What's that got to do with it?
I remember having a ride on his big
black mare, such a big tail beast, and
nobody viii ride him except me and
him, you know. He was behind when
] rode him, and she carried us both
as easy as a lamb. Old Duncan told
me so-as easy Is a lamb-because
boy cried, with the color mounting up
into his cheeks.
He began to switch the chairs with
a little cane he had in his hand, and
babe them to get on" and gee up"
to Janet's considerable disturbance,
for she had already learned that a
boys boots were apt to be muddy, and
that chairs covered with brocade and
carved and gilded were not meant
to- be ridden or to gee-uD.