Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1910-03-16
By Charles Garvice

I
to worry about ones dress, not to
wear gloves, to say nothing of boots.
and to be able to be as dirty as one
! liked without being called to account
for it. Jack, next to being a heather in
| the southern seas-are there any
heathens still, Jack, or have the mis-
sionaries converted them all?-the
best thing would be to be gypsy and
live in one of those smoky little vans
with the curtains to the windows and
the brooms and brushes outside!"
What rot you TALK"
so l do. We are not gypsiess Jack,
worse luck! We're respectable Chris
tians, and we've got to live as SIGH,
and that seems the trouble, don't it?
Now here are you
q wish to goodness you'd let me
alone"
mo, Jack" she retorts, with a fine
affectation of sorrowful candor. at
is the duty of every sister who pos
sesses a duffer for brother to give
that brother good counsel and advice,
and I'm engaged in it now" and she
shows her snow-white teeth in a
smile. "Here are you, just seventeen,
lanky-I beg your pardon, tall, l
meant-and well made, with even a
faint promise of a mustache-"
He laugh and kicks at the tomb
stone again, and she swings her leg
aside
well made, strong and-stupid.
The only thing you are fl for is the
army; but you can't get there, can
you? You can play cricket, and swim,
and ride, and do all sorts of things
that aren't of the least use in earning
money, but you can't pass an examina-
ton. not the simplest, nary one, can
you Jack?"
His silence and the manner in which
he throws the piece of moss over the
wall are answer enough.
You get plucked every time, don't
you? The good people who arrange
these things have come to the con
clusion that they want men with
brains in the army, and you-and L
haven't got as much brains as old
Goodall the gardener, have we? Why
a man should want brains to go and
.,,,.,o, ,,,.,,n ,c or TO be shot at, rather
beats me; but it IS SO, isn't It, Jack?
And-tlere you are, you know!'
Whats all this coming to?' he
groWlingly inquiries, not unnaturally.
land what are you driving att"
I'm not driving at anything. I'm
only putting the case plainly, and try
ing to cheer you up, Jack"
Cheer me up?'
Eyes. Nothing cheers one up sooner
than having the case stated plainly
she goes on with an arch glance; "and
in addition to being duffer, Jack, You
are also extravagant.'
Extravagant! like your cheek
Lorrie-"
do you? How nice of you! You
may kiss it, if you like, Jack" and
with assumed innocence she puts her
head sideways invitingly.
ooh, bother" he eXclaims. "You
know what l mean"
"Oh, / see; cheek is slang for i'm
haven't spent your quarters allow
pudence! Oh, no; you are not extrav-
agant-not by any means! You
ance, and got into debt, and lost
money to that odious chum of
yours"
who's slangy now? Chum! Let me
tell you, my child, that Guy Kendale
is anything but odious!"
He is odious to me-" she says, i'm
periously, her eyes flashing and a
dash of color coming into her cheeks
which makes the dark eyes look like
/ diamonds washed in dew. IF it hadn't
been for him you would have passed
this exam; you were always starting
off somewhere with him and getting in
to mischief instead of sticking to your
reading"
"A fellow can't live with his nos
glued to books"
"And then he CANDLES, and he al
ways manages to win"
"Oh, no, he doesn't; he lost pot
of money to Harry Treyanion the
other night"
At any rate, you always manage to
lose, which amounts to the same
thing. Jack, SO far as you are con-
cerned. Then, suppose he drinks"
L never saw Guy Kendale drunk
in my life
"a man who drinks needn't get
drunk. But didn't I hear father say
that he had heard there had been five
champagne suppers at the barracks in
one week?"
well, and if there were? What are
the fellows to do? It's beastly duh
life, Lorrie, can tell you: a fellow
must do something to amuse himself!"
"All right! Only Jack, it appears to
me-did you ever hear the story of the
china cup and the iron saucepan?'