Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-03-04

general ouncil at Boston. which. how
ever, had not been of sufficient mo-
ment to abstract him from Corinth.
He listened to Mrs. Blagden's confess
sion, then called in his wife for a three
sided consultation in which the clerical
pa1r agreed to everything advanced by
their best-paying parishioner; and
later on, proposed that she give him
until the next Thursday evening to
consider the case.
After inviting the minister and his
wife to dine with her on the coming
Thursday. Mrs. Blagden felt somewhat
easier in her mind. She felt, somehow,
that God would step into the breach.
To the best of her recollection He had
never failed her-that is to say, He
had not failed her since she came to
Corinth. Sometimes she looked back
upon her dancing days in New York,
n wondered if they were real They
must have been, for she had succeeded
in getting Horace's consent to let
Chetywnd attend dancing school. 1t
was for the sole purpose. | believe. of
making him graceful.
The old seaman who kept the upper
road gate to the grounds belonging to
the home on the point was Eric's par
tlcular friend n crony. The ancient
was rather chary about letting chill
dfen inside the grounds unless accom-
1@ittN' ~ f'1i CIttS u StS. Tie lltlu
grown, however, to like the manly,
straightforward little Midthorne boy
and his pretty, baby-faced sister. They
were always welcome. Other children
footed at him when he refused them
admission. Eric had said to him once.
on being turned away:
I'm sorry, major. Perhaps if l come
again some other day you'll let me in
to watch the squirrels. Good day, sir"
There were three things in this very
tactful speech that operated in Eric's
favor. First. the politeness of it; sec
ond, the usefulness of it; third, the
grandeur of it. Jabez Carr had been
a captains mate, it is true. but he had
never been by way of acquiring such a
magnificent title as major" 1t oc-
Cured to him at once that the boy was
not of Corinth. No Corinth lad would
have called him a major. He remem-
bered that the southland is full of ma
jors. 1t was not for a small boy to
know that the sea does not produce
majors.
So Jabez said, ~relenting a bit: "You
come from the south. don't you.
sonny?'
Yes, sir" said Eric. q was born in
Georgia"
Il thought So" said Jabez.
Il am MIR. Blagden's nephew, and this
is my sister, Mary Mary courtseyed
to the old sailorman.
Il love squirrels" said she.
Come around tomorrow" said ia
bez genially.
THANK you, major cried Eric.
Than you, major" piped Mary.
ina was the beginning of "a FRIEND.
snip that grew to something akin to
devotion. Jabez experienced a great
deal of trouble at first in subduing a
natural inclination to nautical eXple-
tives, harmless before the mast, but
very mnrh ONT nf p1oI,a in tJ,o
of a young person in pinafores. He was
surprised to find how readily his verbs
submitted to the new influences, al
though he would have been surprised
to have heard them described as verbs.
The two children stole away fire.
quently after school hours, or during
the protracted summer vacation, to
pay SLY visits to the delighted old mar
iner. He repaid them out of the
stores of an unbounded imagination.
His tales of the sea-: his hair-raising
encounters with pirates. cannibals,
wreckes and %rescues; his wonderful
experiences in snatching beauteous
young ladies Gall of whom were
OF the nobility, from infamous buc-
cancers; his life in the very island
tina Robinson Crusoe inhabited;
his descents to the bottom of the
sea In quest of Davy Jones;
his-but why go on? Jabez possessed
an imagination far superior to mine.
In fact, he never knew until then lust
how magnificent it was, and he was
very greatly pleased with himself. He
used to lie awake nights, thinking up"
lies for their delectation, and her he
would have to remain unusually wide
awake during the daytime to avoid
contradictions. Eric had caught him up
sharply in enc or two of his earlier
lapses, and he experienced a sense of
deep humiliation on finding himself so
defective.
His gravest slip was in regard to
an almost simultaneous action under
Lord Nelson at Trafalgar and Admira
Farragut at Mobile. He was at once
forced into a deep wonder and an un-
easy respect for Eric's knowledge of
history. Moreover, was one day CON
founded by the boys damning declar-
alton that he must be nearly two hun
dred years old to have Engaged in all
of the transactions mentioned.
1t WAS to old Jabez that Eric went
after waiting in vain for a renewal Of
Mrs. Blagden's attack on his fathers
honour. On the afternoon of the day
that the minister and his wife were
to dine with them, the boy decided to
make specific inquiries of the old sea-
man.
He Went about it n~ervously, but de.
terminedly.
"Uncle Jabe," he began, after pro-
curing the old mans pipe and tobacco
from the shelf In the watch house, did
you know my mother?"