Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-07-27


rival rs . windmill man who had talke'
himself TO n standstill and wanted e
rest his lungs but sybil was not to %
deceived. She solved the mystery IN nv
| minutes one Of her melOdrnmatic heroei
| had arrived She had seen him on th'
I stage, and Of all her heroes he was th'
choice. He had killed the most outlaws
and saved the most maidens. On tht
three nights she had seen him act she
had felt his greatness so much that had
/ they been introduced she would certainly
| have tainted away with embarrassment
Farmer Taylor was troubled when he
learned who his boarder was, and the
wife shook her head and hoped that
trouble would not come Of IL. The daugh-
ter was delighted, but did not make the
situation known at once. In fact, she
was n bit disappointed Her hero didn't
wear Buffalo Bill hair nor carry an ar
senal Of guns and knives, nor toy with
n winchester. He wasn't posing against
cliffs nor shouting for the outlaws to
come on. The summer suit he wore had
seen better days and his straw hat had
not been feiuvenated while he waited AS
her hero of the stage she had supposed
that he lived on angels food or some-
thing equally dainty, and she felt bit
provoked when he sat down to fried pork
and other things and ate with the appe-
itte OF a hired man. Later on she found
that he smoked a pipe, and that holes
could be seen in his socks when he put
on his rundown slippers.
A real hero would have gone round
the country in search OF mad dogs to
XIII or highwaymen to arrest. Mr. De
Quincy did nothing of the sort. He sat
on the veranda and smoked, or lay un-
der the apple trees and snoozed, and
mad dogs and hlghwaymen had a good
time of II. He did rouse himself on an
occasion and, take pail to milk, but
he didn't have the bearing of a hero
and he didn't look a bit like one when
the COW kicked out and sent him sprawl
Ing He had shouldered a maiden and
walked backwards over bridge while
facing the desperate outlaws, but in
stead of shouldering the COW and cry
ing out: Back, We hounds of hell, or
l fire!' he had made a bee-llne for the
house. On the stage the gallop of his
horse had been heard behind the scenes
as he came dashing UP to the rescue,
and, though Sybil couldn't see him, she
imagined what a hero figure he cut One
day on the farm he mounted the old
gray mare for little exercise but the
moment she struck trot he was bounced
off, and complained of his back for two
days.
Tho second weeks board was due. but
Mr.. De Quincy didn't allude to It. Sybil
was to have the second 81 to buy a shirt
waist. In one way it seemed to her that
1t was beneath hero's dignity to speak
OF " In cash, but In another she wondered
II he was going to drop from his bed
room window some night and leave her
shoeless and waistless. She had decided
not to make herself known to him, but
there was yet some of the romance left
The father had been saving wood and
saying nothing, but when the time came
TO act he was on deck. He felt that one
good shock was all that was needed and
he prepared 1t. As he sat resting his
aching back after dinner, he remarked to
.he nero VINO had eaten as heartily as If
he had paid his board in advance:
BY the way, have you hunted for tho
nests of any medder larks YETI"
II have not" was the reply
Better go down In the medder where
you see that bush and the tall grass
around 1t. I've read a heap of poetry
about medder larl1s."
AT that Mr.. De Quincy stood up and
recited poem In which the meadow lark
was referred to In terms of highest |
eulogy, and then sat down and said that
rs soon as he was through smoking he |
would take a wander down to the hush |
ma investigate. He loved nature. That's |
"hy he was out I'm the country instead of |
putting In the weeks at the Waldorf He !
wanted TO get Just as close to nature as |
le could, except kicking cows and old |
gray mares. There was an artlficiaIity |
Ipout them that he did not like He had |
1eeh studying the trees. the grass, the |
corn and many other things |
ma now the meadow lark rising to greet |
ne newborn sun and trill her glad Law
should come under his observation. He
night have added that he had been
what to do when his board biII
reached the sum of $l2, but he refralned
de knew that heroes were always taken
;are of somehow. n
An hour later SYPHILIS hero was seen
heading for the meadow and the hush
ne looked about the bush in vain Nor
meadow lark or nest He was turning
lway In puzzled state of mind when he
sot lift that jumped him two feet high
ma made him yell out. His yell was moi
lerolc' Then the meadow larks began to
use up from the grass like the locusts of
1sypt. Other farmers would have called
hem humble bees, but Farmer Taylor
vas Dit careless in his choice of names.
lhose bees were hopping mad They |
vent TO business with a vim. They
Jumped DE Quincy straight up in the air.
lhey Jumped him sideways. They
umped him over the bush and the near
'st fence. They ran him up a hill and
'oross creek and all the time he was
umplng and running he was yelling.
Nhen he had jumped a second fence he
ound himself in field with a bull. and
ne bull couldn't let such an opportunity
,ass. He Joined in and gave chase, and
ne last seen of the hero he was dis
ppearing into the woods. He came not
aek' The third week was up within a
ay' ana his only baggage consisted of
Wo old shirts and pair of socks WhH
hould he return?
Kinder think ought to go up to tho
loods and look for that feller," observed
ne farmer at the supper table that eve
you'd better get the constable after
I'M nm ana make him pay his boardP' in
ignantly exclaimed Sybn
Copyright. 1915 by the
mcclure Newspaper Syndicatel