The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-07-02

Polly Whiting was the happiest per.
sen In the world. for she was to 20
with Jaspar Slappey to the first picnic
Of the year. And you know. mother, !"
she exclaimed. delightedly. that
means that l shall be the May queen. "
When Ephraim Slappey, the butcher,
married Caroleen Carney, a foreigner
from Ireland and member OF a travel.
Ing theatrical company, everybody In
Bologee said that no good would come
OF 1t. Jaspar came of it. and then the
pretty, mismated woman died and
Ephraim. who had always been a God.
fearing man. though rather hard at
driving bargain. was left with this
queer child on his hands The little
Jaspar grew up in his fathers shop, a
gay, irresponsible child, devoted to
| the phlegmatic butcher. but no man.
| ner of help to him. Once. when he
was tiny boy, Ephraim sent him to
Geli:er meat to Lawyer Hale and Jas.
par fed the chops TO a stray cur. Law.
yer Hale. he insisted was fat and well.
fed, whereas the puppy was starving
Ephralm demonstrated and scolded.
and then forgave his son. He knew
1t was no way to bring up child, he
knew that he ought to whip Jaspar,
but he could not bring himself to
strike the boy. for Jaspar looked ex-
actly like his mother. CarOleen.
As Jaspar grew older 1t became the
hope Of Ephraim's life to see the sign
"Slappey & Son" above his butcher
shop. yet he co, not take the boy
into the business when he refused to
handle raw meat After much trou-
bled cogitation the butcher decided TO
break Jaspar fOrcibly of this squeam.
ishness. so he took him with him to
the slaughter pen. The calf that was
about to be veal was led out, and Jas.
Far draped himself about the crea.
lures neck. Pocahontas weeping for
John Smith was mild sight compared
with Jaspar Slappey pleading for that
calf. Ephraim. however. was oadurate.
the calf was killed and Jaspar tainted
away. The butcher was panic. strick-
en-; he carried the boy home in his
arms. and after that Jaspar had his
own way.
Jaspar's way was to be a poet, the
only poet in Bologee. When anybody
died or was married or was born in
the town Jaspar mounted Pegasus in
their behalf and produced touching
commentary In verse. Envious and
admiring friends had sought many
times to discover how he did It, but
the process, though simple, revealed
nothing. Jaspar would climb to his
fathers hayloft. sit there quietly a few
minutes. and after chewing up a guam.
tity OF hay intended for the horse-nOt
Pegasus. but old Dobbin-would evolve
poem. Many aspiring youths in
Bologee sat In lofts and chewed hay,
but nothing came of It. so everybody
knew that Jaspar was a born poet.
One Of Jaspar's poems had been
written to Polly on her graduation day.
and she had adored him ever since
The poem described her as the "ox.
eyed maiden" and. to Polly, that
seemed wonderfully appropriate from
the butchers son. She told Jaspar so
and he laughed until he nearly fell
out Of his chair, though Polly could
not see why. She could not under.
stand Jaspar. but she was immensely
proud Of him. for he was tall and
handsome. with violet eyes and curly
black hair. Moreover. he had the hap
piest knack Of making other people en-.
Joy themselves, and was always lead
er In the merrymaking. 1t was he
who planned the May pole dance each
year. and he who chose the queen. In
joyous anticipation Polly could already
feel that wreath Of roses resting on
her head.
| All the town was at the picnic, and
Polly and Jaspar were welcomed by
every group. They were in the midst
Of these greetings when suddenly Jas.
| Poa o'oppVu tdlhllS anu 1dTaWay
look came over his face. Polly FOL.
lowed his glance and saw two stran.
gers coming toward them. One was n
young man. a spick-and span Young
man, whose clothes and WAYS were
not Of Hologee. But IL was the girl NJ
his side that attracted Polly's atten.
ton. She was 4 wonderful. radiant
girl. with clinginc green dress and
a fioppy green hat that rested on n
shining mass of fluffy golden hair
Jaspar stared at her in mute adm;ra.
ton. and Polly in her rrimly starched
white dress felt awkward and urly
and lonely.
Evelyn Bibb was with TIRE stran.
gers. and she stopped minute 10 in.
troduce them They were her cousins
from the city. Marietta and Morgan
Bibb. Marietta spoke, smiled. then
swept on her conqucrinc path. bat as
she tloated by she carried Jaspar with
her. The little country girl was left
standing alone.
For few minutes Polly was too
heartbroken TO hide her misery be,
eyes kept following Jaspar. who
seemed TO have FORGOTTEN her pnti-e,v