The Southern herald., 1911-05-19
The Son of His
Father


J0l4 hoAe was tne RrOpnelQr OF |
family grocery in 3 Connecticut
town much freQuented BY summer
visitors. Most any grocery may be
a family grocery. but most any man
could not be a John Hoke and have
son twenty-one years old and sagely
say to him;
Harold Hoke, within q fortnight
after you were born I was planning
your future. That was the reason !
named you Harold. You have grown
up. You know the canned goods
trade. You are an expert in butter
and eggs. You can mingle two sorts
Of the poorest coffee and bring forth
a blend Of Mocha and Java. There is
nothing further for you to learn in
the grocery trade. II Is for you to
marry money and set up as gentle
man. You have the name Harold to
begin with. That is half the battle.
Except during the morning and after
noon rush hours at the store you can
be looking around for a wife"
Harold Hoke knew his father to be
q successful business man and wise
adviser. He was a short young man
and a fat young man.. and had never
been In love. The grocery trade had
been too brisk for that He had In
herited his fathers assurance and
wisdom. and he also had q good opin-
ion Of himself. As soon as he had
had a little time to think things over
he came to the conclusion that get
ting married was going to be an easy
thing In his case. He wrote down
list Of all the marriageable girls in
the village and then began the work
Of elimination. For this or that rea-
son he erased name after name until
be had reached the end. He couldn't
throw himself away on any Of them.
The father soon got on to his per
plexities and then the sage advised
again;
MY son, with that name Of yours,
and taking you as you stand, you
should go further afeld. There are
a dozen young ladies summering all
around US. Some are the daughters
Of rich men. believe there are two
or three here from whose fathers in
New York we order tea, coffee and
sugar as we want It, and whose bills
are promptly met when due. In de
livering orders at the various houses
you must have met some of these
young ladies. 1t is now up to you tc
push the acquaintance. The grocery
trade is full Of cheek. and am
pleased to know that you have youl
share Of It,"
1t is one thing to stand behind tbs
counter Of a grocery and ask younl
lady from New York or Boston wheth
er she wants seedless or layer raj
sins, and speak about the dusty road
and the farmers wanting rain, an(
another to approach that young lad!
socially. For the first time in his lif'
Harold Hoke realized this. He hat
delivered many orders at house,
where they took summer boarders
but always to the cook at the bacl
door, and many Of said cooks ha'
Familiarity called him Harry an,
joked him on his shortness and hi
fatness. The thing must be got at Il
some way, however. His father wa
behind the movement and would e1
pect results, the same as when h
got stuck on tub of butter and sen
It to the house to be worked over an
sweetened up. Each day when tn
rush was over Harold dressed up an
walked about and made his appeal
ance at the postofiice. He raised hi
hat to a score of young ladies he ha
sold sweetmeats and canned hare
shell crabs to, and when they stare
at him in an icy way in reply b
could not exactly make it out, an
went away to see If by accident on
end Of his collar was trying to clim
over his head or he had got a spC
Of CRIME on his nose.
"You are too coy, my son--a bit tc
coy" chided the father as /
weighed out three and half pound
Of granulated sugar for a quartz
There's nothing in trade unless yc
push 1t. Same with falling in 10y
and getting married You must o
serve the social amenities. Go o,
and pay formal calls, Let 1t becon
known in an indirect way that yol
name is Harold, and that you have
a great extent retired from trade"
The next afternoon Harold maj
three calls at villas where they TOT
boarders. 1t took more than ohee
1t took the gall Of governme
mule. At the FIRST villa the landlad
who traded at another grocery
grocery which made no pretense
keeping its stock up and its pric
down-said that her house was fl
and she could take no more boardel
when Harold would have mingl
with the guests on the lawn s.
stared after him with SO much 81
picion in her eyes that he gave i
At the second place one Of the sci
h4~, a1I asLad fhA mi