The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1911-07-21
BEING
INSPECTED
By HENRY c. WILLING
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.

In college we were divided into good,
indifferently good and bad. regret to
say that was of the third class-bad
The badness in college boys is usually
but a superiority Of health youth and
spirits, and when Iook back upon my
self at that period / see simply boy
passing into manhood
AS soon as was graduated sought
the freedom of the wild west Ranch
ing was my vocation and cowboys
were my associates. The only thing
that can remember creditable to my
self while a rancher was falling in
love with Eleanor WarGeld. visitor
at a neighboring ranch. This occur
red during my first year in the west
and some time before / had been
transformed from the grub. youth, in
to the superior being. man. Miss War
field returned my proffered affection
and consented to be my wife. but on
one condition. l must be approved by
her uncle. He was rich. and. being a
bachelor. she was to be his heir. New
ertheless she was sure that if she mar
ried man displeasing to him he
would leave his property elsewhere.
My fiancee, having finished her visit.
left for the east. She was to announce
her enga cement to her uncle and Gre
ate as favorable an impression with
regard to me as possible. Then. the
way having been made smooth. was
TO go east myself and present myself
for inspection.
Miss Warfeld wrote me some time
after her arrival that she had inform
ed her uncle of her engagement. She
was not OverhOpeful in the matter, for
he had asked number of questions as
to my antecedents which she knew very
well would not please a critical old
gentleman who had never sown his
wild oats and whose ideas Of a hus
band for his niece inclined to the cer.
ical profession. What troubled Eleanor
was that he asked at what college l |
had studied, and from my career at the |
Al
her she was quite sure he would hear
no good of me- She was agreeably |
disappointed in this, however, for the |
faculty spoke very well of me, cir
cumstance which surprised me and led |
me to believe that these gentlemen
consider unmeritorious students more |
needful of encomiums than those who |
are meritorious. At any rate, have |
faults as graduate than they were to
me as student.
When the time came for my inspec-
ton | wrote my fiancee, giving her the |
day and train on which l would ar
rive. On the way fell in with an old |
gentleman who was the only person
on the train | cared to talk to and |
whom | engaged in conversation. He |
was one of those men who have more
sympathy with young people than
those of their own age. He talked
horse, and l was delighted to talk
horse with him. He smoked to excess
and drank whenever it pleased him to
do so. We hadn't been together half
an hour before he brought out a flask.
cigars and cards. / was not personally
averse to any one of the three and pre-
ferred them together. Having i'm
bibed and lighted weeds, we proceed
ed to play. l found the gentleman the
best eucher player | had ever met.
Possibly my reason for so considering
him was because before we reached
our destination he had taken out of me
all the money l had brought with me
for expenses.
WELL l said, I'm cleaned out"
Come to my bank tomorrow MORN
ing" he said. land III cash a draft for
you"
Since | needed money from the start,
the first thing l did after my arrival
was to call at the old gentleman's
bank. I found him a very different
person there from the man with whom
| had travelled. He was dignity itself.
He cashed my draft without the slight
est reference to the manner in which
we had whiled away the time on the
train, asked few civil questions and
dismissed me with the remark that
this was his busy day.
felt trihe groggy, and I feared l
looked groggy. Therefore 1 took a
long nap, deferring my call on my
fiancee till evening. was anxious to
see Eleanor, but l feared to present q
dissipated appearance to her uncle.
At 4 o'clock l took Turkish bath,
1ined, and at 8, quite freshened, l rang ;
the doorbell at the Warields. Eleanor
received me lovingly. of course, and
told me that the account the profess d,
'ors had given of me at college had :
made her quite hopeful After chat
ing for some time she led me into the ;
library to be inspected An old gentle :
nan rose from an easy chair, and
we'll, l was appalled,. +
He was my fellow traveller.
He told me to sit down. Then he n
aid that instead of making the in Y
pection of me in his home he had
zone west for the purpose of seeing
What I really was by taking me Off my
'uard. He was very well satisfied
With me and considered me a much i5
letter man than l had been represent
d by the professors under whom I u
lad studied, cor, rather, had not stud st
ed" he added ~
What did they say of me?" asked. m
1.-THE reputation you left at college IN
vas far better than the one left my &c
elf. I don't belong to a studious fam ca
y myself, and l doubt if you do. l D
discovered on our trip that you are