Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-01-10


woman considered by the best Ham
bletons as far too frank and worldly
minded-informed the family that
King Fergus was as much a myth as
Dido. and innocently brought forth
printed facts to corroborate her state
ment. One of the ladies' Hambleton
crushed Mrs. Van Camp by stating.
in tone of deep personal conviction.
with her cap awry. $50 much the
worse for Dido!"
A salient strength persisted in the
Hambletons-a strength which re-
tanned its character in spite of Cross
currents. The Hambleton tone and
the Hambleton ideas retained their
family color. and became. whether
worthily or not. part of the Ham
bleton pride. More than one son had
lost his health or entire fortune.
which was apt not to be large. in at
tempts to carry on a country place.
"a Hambleton trait!" they chuckled.
with as much satisfaction as they con-
sidered 1t good form to exhibit. In
Lynn. where family pride did not
bring in large returns, this phrase be-
came almost synonymous with genteel
foolishness.
The Van Camp fortune, which came
near but never actually into the fam
lily. was generally understood to have
been made in shoes. though in reality
1t was drugs.
People say shoes the minute they
hear the word Lynn. and I'm tired of
explaining" Mrs. Van Camp put 1t.
hn t. fhn
cessful druggist. and could afford. II
anybody could. to be supercilious
toward trade. But she wasn't. even
after twenty years of somewhat rest
less submission to the Hambleton
yoke. And It was she who. during
her last visit to the family strong
hold. help up before the young James
the advantages of commercial ca
reer.
You're a nice boy, Jimsy. and I
can't see you turned into a poor law
yer. You're not hard-headed enough
to be a good one. AS for being a min
lister. well-no. Go into business. dear
boy. something substantial. and you'll
live to thank your stars"
Jimsy received this advice at the
time with small enthusiasm. and res
ervation Of criticism that was a credit
to his manners. at least. But the
time came when he leaned on it.
Her own child. however. Mrs. Van
Camp encouraged to a profession from
the first. "Aleck isn't smart enough
for business. but he may do some
thing as a student" was Mrs. Van
Camps somewhat trying explanation:
and Aleck did do something as a stu
dent Extremely impatient with any
exhibition of laziness. the mother de-
manded good accounting of her sons
time. Aleck and Jim. who were born
in the same year. ran more or less
side by side until the end of college
They struggled together in sports
and In arguments. rushed" the same
girl In turn or simultaneously, and
spent their long vacations cruising
up and down the Maine coast in a
thirty-foot sail-boat. Once they made
a more ambitious journey all the way
to Yarmouth and the Bay of Fundy In
a good-sized fishing-smack.
But when college was done. their
ways separated. Mrs. Van Camp. In
the prime of her unusual faculties.
having decorated the Hambleton
'scutcheon like n gay cockade stuck
airily up into the breeze. She had
no part nor lot in the family pride.
but understood 1t, perhaps. better
than the Hambletons themselves. Her
crime was that she played with 1t.
Aleck, full-fedged biologist. went
to the Little Hebrides to work out
his fresh and salad theory concern
ing the nerve system of the clam.
James. third son of John and Edith
Hambleton of Lynn, had his eyes
thoroughly opened in the three months
after Commencement by considera-
tion of the family situation. 1t seemed
to him that from babyhood he had
been burningly conscious of the pinch
ing and skimping necessary to main
tain the family pride. The two older
brothers were exempt from the
scorching process. the eldest being
the family darling and the second a
genius. Neither one could nationally
be expected. 'just at present" to
take up the family accounts and make
the income square up with even a
decently generous outgo. And there
were the girls yet to be educated.
Jim had no special talent to bless
himself with. either In art or science.
He was inordinately fond of the sea,
but that did not help him In choosing
a career. He had good taste in books
and some little skill in music. He
was, indeed, thrall to the human voice.
especially to the low voice in woman,
and he was that best of all critics.
a good listener. His greatest riches,
as well as his greatest charm. lay in
a spirit of invincible youth: but he
was no genius. no one perceived that
more clearly than himself