Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-07-05
CHAPTER !.
What's In a Namef

saints striving to consume one an.
other in one body, angels and har.
pies; but ofttfmes, quite the contrary
to being a curse, these two warning
temperaments become a mans ulti.
mate blessing: as in the case Of
George P. A. Jones, of Mortimer &
Jones, the great metropolitan Oriental
rug and carpet company, all Of which
has a dignified, sonorous sound.
George was divided within himself.
This he would not have confessed
even into the trusted if battered ear
Of the Egyptian Sphynx. There was,
however, no demon-angel sparring for
points in Georges soul. The difficulty
might be set forth in this manner:
On one side stood inherent common
sense; on the other, a boundless, ro-
seate imagination which was like
wise inherent-a kind of Quixote mag.
ination Of suitable modern pattern.
This alter ego terrified him whenever
it raised its strangely beautiful head
and shouldered aside his guardian
angel (icr that's what common sense
is, argue to what end you will and
pleaded in that luminous rhetoric I'M
der the spell Of which our old friend
Sancho often fell asleep.
P. A., as they called him behind the
counters, was but twenty-eight, and if
he was vice-president in his late IA
theirs shoes he didn't wabble round
in them to any great extent. In a
crowd he was not noticeable; he
didn't stand head and shoulders above
his fellOw-men, nor would he have
been mistaken by near-sighted per-
sons, the myopes, for the Vatican's
Apollo in the flesh. He was of me-
dium height, beardless, slender, but
tough and wiry and enduring. You
may see his prototype on the streets
a dozen times a day, and you may
also pass him without turning round
for a second view. Young men like
P. A. must be intimately known to
be admired; you did not throw your
arm across his neck, first-off. His
hair was brown and closely clipped
about head that would have gained
the attention of the phrenologist, II
not that Of the casual passer-by. His
bumps, in the phraseology Of that
science, were good ones. For the rest,
he observed the world through a pair
Of kindly, shy, blue eyes.
Young girls, myopic through igno.
rance or Stiffness, seeing nothing be-
yond what the eyes see, seldom gave
him second inspection; for he did
not know how to make himself at
tractive, and was MORALLY afraid Of
the opposite, or opposing sex. He
could bullyrag a sheik out Of his cam.
els saddle-bags, but petticoats and
lace parasols and small 0xfords had
the same effect upon him that the
prodding stick Of a small boy has
upon retiring turtle. But many a
worldly-wise woman, drawing out with
tact and kindness the truly beautiful
thoughts Of this young mans soul
sadly demanded Of fate why sweet
clean boy like this one had not been
sent to her in her youth. You see
the worldly-wise woman knows that
1t is invariably the lay-fgure and not
Prince Charming that a woman mar
ries, and that matrimony is blind
mans buff in grown-ups.
Many of US lay the blame upon oul
parents. We shift the burden Of won
dering why We have this fault and
lack that grace to the shoulders Of
our immediate forbears. We 90 tC
the Office each morning denying that
we have any responsibility; We LET
the boss do the worrying. But George
never went prospecting in his soul fol
any such dross philosophy. He wa:
grateful for having had so beautiful
mother; proud of having had SC
honest a sire; and if either OF them
had endued him with false weights he
did his best to even up the balance.
The mother had been as romantic
as any heroine out of Mrs. Radcliff'S
novels, while the father had owned
to as much romance as one generally
finds in thorough business man
which is practically none at all. The
very name itself is bulwark against
the intrusions Of romance. One car
not lift the imagination to the pros
pect Of picturing a Jones in rufiet
and highboots, pinking a varlet in the
midriff. 1t smells Of sugar-barrels ant
cotton-bales, Of steamships and rail
roads, of stolid routine in the Office
and Of placid concern over the dali!
news under the evening lamp.
Mrs. Jones, lovely, lettered yet no
worldly, had dreamed Of her boy
bayed and decorated, marrying thu
most distinguished woman in an Eu
rope, whoever she might be. Mr.
Jones had had no dreams at all. ant
had put the boy to work in the ship
ping department a little while aftel
the college threshold had been crossed
outward bound. The mother. whil'