Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-25

privileged to inspect his room, l found
it redolent of an atmosphere of highly
commendable application. His writ
ing table was a model of neatness, and
his store of legal treatises impressed
one vastly. That no one, not even
Hetty Carpenter, ever saw the room
without remarking the open volume of
THE Law of Torts," with it's numer-
Gus pages painstakingly spaced by
slips of paper by way of bookmarks.
is an attested fact. That it was al
ways the same volume is less widely
known.
Less directly-that is to say, via my
window learned of him compen-
diously from sources which would
have been anonymous but for my long
acquaintance with the, voices Of the
townspeople. l write these pages at
my desk at home and, if truths to be
told, somewhat surreptitiously. But
with these voices ringing in my MEM
ory's ear l seemed still to be sitting at
my eTSlWlllle uSSh ny thS "htNO"'
looking out over Courthouse square,
chewing the rubber heel of my pencil
the while / listen.
Immediately opposite, on the far
side of the square, the courthouse
rises proudly in all the majesty of its
columned front and clapboarded sides.
Farther along there's the Methodist
church, very severe, with its rows of
sheds on one side for the teams of the
more rural members. Behind them all
bulk our hills, dim and purple against
the overwhelming blue of the sky. It's
very quiet. There are few sounds and
those few most familiar-the raucous
warcry of a rooster somewhere on the
outskirts of town, an intermittent
thudding of hoofs in the inch deep
dust of the roadway, Miles Stetson
wringing faint but genuine shrieks of
agony from his cornet in a room be-
hind the opera house on the next
street, periodically a shuttle of feet on
the sidewalk below, less frequently the
whine of the swinging doors at
Schwartz's place and above it all per-
haps the shrill but not unpleasant ac-
cents of Angie Tuthill as she pauses
on the threshold downstairs and in
jects surprising information into the
nothing reluctant ears of Name Gar
rison:
Hes got six suits of clothes, three
for summer and three for winter, and
two others to wear to parties. one reg
ular full dress suit and another with
out any tails on the coat that he told
Miss Carpenter was a dinner coat, but
Roland Barnette says he must We
meant a tuxedo, because nobody
wears that kind of clothes except at
night, so how could it be a dinner
coat? And Miss Carpenter told ma
he's got twelve striped shirts and eight
white ones and dozens of silk socks
and two dozen neckties and handker-
chiefs till YOU can't count and
Name punctuates this mOnologue
with a regular and eXcusable My
land" and the young voices fade
away into the midsummer afternoon
quiet. | am free to resume my inter-
The atmosphere is sopnriferous, hardly
conducive to editorial inspiration, and
| find the cOmmingled flaVOrS of red
cedar. glue and rubber quite nourish-
ing.
Presently DR.. Mortimer, the minis
ter. comes down the street in COM
pany with his deacon, Blinky Lock
wood. They are discussing some one
in subdued tones, but l catch refer
ences to a worthy young man and the
vacancy in the choir.
Josie Lockwood rustles into hearing
with Bessie Gabriel in tow. Josie is
rafting vOlubly. but with a hint OF
the confidential in her tone. She in
sists that "of course | never let on
but every time we meet can just fee
him looking and
Bessie interpoSes. why. Tracey Tan
ners just crazy for fear he'll TAX" on
with Angie"
| can see JOsie's head toss at this
Il bet he don't know what Angie Tut
hill looks like. That's too absurd
Absurd" is Josie's newest word. It's
very good word. too, but sometimes
fear she will wear it threadhare. II
closes her remarks as the two girls
dart into the postoffice. and there is
peace for a time; then they emerge
gigglmg. and | heard Josie declare: I'd
get Roland Barnette To do it. but he's
50 jealous. He makes me tired"