Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1913-01-15

TO his dormitory decorated mot in
accord with the fond hopes Of his
mother) with q swollen ear, or q
ruddy proboscis, or a green-brown
eye. There was a limit, and when
they stepped over that. why, he pro
ceeded to the best OF his ability to
solve the difficulty with his fists.
George was no milksop; but Percival
Algernon would have been the Old
Man OF the Sea on broader shoulders
than his. He dimly realized that had
he been named George Henry William
Jones his sun would have been many
diameters larger. There was a splen-
did quality Of pluck under his appar-
ent umidity. and he stuck doggedly
TO IL. He never wrote homo and COM
planned. What was good enough for
his mother was good enough for him
II seemed just an ordinary matter
Of routine for him to pick UP French
and German verbs. He was far from
being brilliant. but he was sensitive
and his memory was sound. Since
his mothers ambition was to see him
an accomplished linguist. he applied
himself to the task as II everything
in the world depended upon it, just
as he knew that when tho time came
he would apply himself as thoroughly
to the question OF rugs and carpets.
Under all this filial loyalty ran the
pure strain of golden romance, side
by side with the lesser metal OF prac-
ticality. When he began to read the
masters he preferred their romances
to their novels. He even wrote poetry
In secret, and when his mother discov-
cred the fact she cried over the senti-
mental verses. The father had to be
told. He laughed and declared that
the boy would some day develop into
a good writer Of advertisements. This
quiet laughter. unburdened as II was
with ridicule, was enough to set
Georges muse a-winging. and she
never came back.
After leaving college he was given
a modest letter OF credit and told to
&C where he pleased for n whole year.
George started out at once in quest
OF the Holy Grail, and there are more
roads TO that than there are to Rome
One may be reasonably sure OF get
ting into Rome, whereas the Holy
Grail diversified, variable. innumer-
able) Is always the exact sum of a
bunch OF hay hanging before old Dob
bins noee. Nevertheless. George gal
loped his fancies with loose rein He
haunted romance. burrowed and
plowed for It; and never his spade
changed musically against the hidden
treasure, never a forlorn beauty In
| distress, not so much as chapter one
nj OIL L.
cling first page. George lost some con-
| ndence.
Two or threo times a woman looked
into the young mans mind, and in his
guilelessness they effected sundry
holes in his letter OF credit. but left
his soul singularly untouched. The
red corpuscle. his fathers gift. though
1t lay dormant. subconscioCsly erected
barriers. He was innocent, but no was
no fool. That one year taught him
the lesson. rather cheaply, too. II
there was any romance in life, It came
unlimited. and II courted and sought
was as quick on the wing as that erst-
while poesy must.
The year passed. and while he had
not wholly given up the quest, the
practical George agreed with the ro-
mantle Percival TO shelve st indef-
nitely. He returned TO New York
with thirty-two pounds sterling out OF
the original thousand. a fact that reju-
venated his paternal parent by some
ten years.
Jane. that boy IL all right. Perci-
val Algernon could not kill boy like
that"
DO you mean 20 infer that 10 ever
could?" Sometimes a qualm wrinkled
her conscience. Her mothers heart
told her that her son ought not to be
shy and bashfUl, that It was not In
the nature Of his blood TO suspect
ridicule where there was none. Per
haps she had handicapped him with
those names; but II waG too late now
to admit Of this. and Useless. since
II would not have remedied the evil.
Jones hemmed and hawed for a
space. mo" no answered; but
was afraid he might try TO live up
TO II; md no Percival Algernon who
lived uDto II could put his nose down
70 a Shah Abbas and tell how many
knots II had 70 the square inch. IN
start him IN on the Job tomorrow.
Whereupbn the mother sat back
dreamily. Now, where was the gfri
worthy Of ller boy? Monumental ques-
ton. besettipg every mother, from Eve
down, Eve, ghoss trials in this dirso-
ton must b.Sve been heartrendingi
George loil tho cellar IN due time.
and after that he went up the ladder
In bounds. on bis own merit. mind
you, for bis It per never stirred
hand 10 boostAi n. He took the In
tersst In rugsEhaA turns a buyer into
a collector; I beSamS AJfascinating
pleasure Tattt er than k6sinesa. He
became InvIAabIs 70 house. and