Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-03-03

a great, hungry for his aunt
to repeat her TRADE. He waited for
fresh taunts from Chetwynd-he even
invited them. with Il SubtlcneSS sur
prisinS in one so young.
But they were frightened. they Were
wary. Mrs. Blagden. in her haste, had
spoken without consulting the master.
Horace had told her often that when
the roper time came, in his opinion,
he would tell the children the story of
their misguided parents. She realized
that she had gone far beyond her
rights in robbing him of the privilege.
She was not sorry. for Eric. The
haunting. ever alert question in the
boys dark eyes made nj impression on
her. She had lived too long in the
gray house on the hill for tina Be
sides. he had thrown Il stone at Chet-
wynd And more than that. the boys
who came up to play always asked for
Eric, not Chetwynd. She could not
understand it in them. She secretly
resented the preference.
Several days after her unfortunate
slip. She went to her pastor for advice.
She had not slept we'll. She was afraid
that Eric might go to his uncle for the
truth. The Rev. DIR. P%resbrey, of the
First Congregational church, of Cor
NTH, was Il good man. an immaculate
Christian, a traveller who had not even
glanced beyond the confines of the mar
row path. He had lived in Corinth for
so years. since the day of his birth. and
once had done something notable in the
general council 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
pair agreed to everything advanced by
their best-paying p%arishioner; 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 mine 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,
and wondered if they We're 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 nar-
> SaAo &iOIS. IC IC1GI
was rather chary about letting chill
dren inside the grounds unless accom-
panied by parents OF nurses. He a
grown, however, to like the manly
straightforward little Midthorne boy
and his pretty, baby-faced sister. They
hooted at him when he refused them
admission. Eric had said to him once.
on being turned away:
I'm sorry, major. Perhaps if I come
again some other day you'll let me in
to watch the squirrels. Good day, sir"
There We're three things in hi very
tactful speech that operated in Eric's
1avor. First, the %politeness of it; Sec
nd. 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
nave 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?"
Georgia."
II thought So" said Jabez.
II am MIR. Blagden's nephew, and this
is my sister, Mary Mary courtseyed
to the old sailorman.
Il o v SQUIRRELS" said she.
Come around tomorrow" said Ja-
bez genially.
Thank you, major" cried Eric.
THANK you. major piped Mary.
That was the beginning of a friend
hip that grew to something akin to
devotion. Jabez experienced a great
deal of trouble at first in subduing q
natural inclination to nautical exple-
t1ves, before the mast, but
very much out of place in the presence
OF a young person in %pinafores. He was
surprised to find how readily his verbs
submitted to the new influences. all
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
pay SLY visits to the delighted old mar
liner He repaid them out Of the
stores Of an u%nbounded Imagination.
His tales of h sea: his Embarrassing
encounters with pirates, cannibals.
sharks and "h'ants;" his countless
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
that 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 knew until then Just
how magnificent 1t was. and he was
very greatly pleased with himself. He
used to lie awake nights, thinking up"
lies for their de%lectation. and then he
would have to remain unusually wide
l awake during tho 6avfiDno fn oxoid
contradictions. Eric a caught him up
sharply in enc or two of his earlier
lapses. and he experienced a sense of
deep humiliation on finding himself SO