The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-02-25
CHAPTER l.
CHILDREN IN THE GIANTS
CASTLE.


overlooking the town. They called Il
The Giants Castle" Not because n
was inhabited by creature of unusua
stature or one Of prodigious strength
but because childish fancy Is so prone
to identify visible aspects with those
inspired by the imagination. The house
profoundly insistent In its dominance
Of the youthful vision, was not far re
moved from that which their tender
inteliects were pleased to consider Q
fitting abode for certain stupendouI
personages, whose acquaintance they
had made, as have all other children
whose education has not been stunteC
by cross and unfeeling parents
through the medium of fairy books and
weary nurse maids tales. Their small
but vivid imaginations seized upon the
prim and unusually peaceful abode as
a perfect Illustration OF what an ogre's
castle ought To be, and no amount Of
persuasion In the shape Of realism
could dull that impression until they
outgrew the delights and fears of nur.
sery literature.
The fact that two very small chill.
dren lived in The Giants Castle
quite without fear Of being devoured by
the master thereof. initiated not 8
whit against the Juvenile fancy OF
Corfnth- by-the-Sea Notwithstanding
liberal playground and Sunday school as
ISOLATION.
The real occupants Of the house were
not taken into account. II they had
been, there would have been no excuse
for the name. II pleased the very young
to imagine that there were other and
more horrific creatures lurking behind
the grey, weatherstained walls; II
pleased them to believe that each Of the
square little windows in the cupola
represented a peephole through which
a ferocious giant peered in quest Of the
well known 'Englishmun." And so
they lived in a delicious dread Of the
ogre and yet romped with the two
small denizens about the yard and
through the rooms-(when opportunity
in the shape of an invitation to come
up and play" presented itself. All OF
which goes to prove that nursery tales
are terrifying only when one has gone
to bed and is left alone in the dark.
As matter Of fact, the people who
lived in the big grey house, from mas
ter to servant. were as mortal as NOR
tai could be. To be quite precise, the
master himself was very superior
sort OF mortal in that he set himself
up as an example for all other mon
70 be patterned after. That so few Of
his gender succeeded in coming quite
up to the standard was not so much q
disappointment to him as 1t was a sat
isfaction to them.
Mr., Blagden was most exemplary
man, AS to virtue and morality he was
q giant. Yet, while he was respected
he was not feared. No one fears a
truly good man. II the town in which
Mr.. Blagden lived had been a trifle
larger than 1t actually was in the mat
ter OF population 1t is quite likely he
would not have been respected. But II
was a small town, and the good are al
ways respected IN small towns. The
paths are narrow there, and they are
very straight. 1t Is a simple process
you might say, to be moral and upright
when the paths are so narrow that one
Is obliged to pursue a straight course
or suffer the consequences of a bump
against his neighbours wall, which in
variably Is built close up to the path
and has many eyes as we'll as ears.
When say that everyone In Corinth-
by-the-Sea respected Mr.. Blagden, my
assertion should be taken with a grain
of salt Respect has its degrees, and
Corinth had its analysts. Down along
the water front there were drinking
places, and in them were profane phil
osophers who maintained that Mr.
Blagden was no better than other men
II one could get beneath his skin. Un-
expectedly, of course. But, If you got
beyond the drinking places, adjacent
to which the paths were necessarily
crooked and not all restricted, you
speedily would be set straight again rs
to Mr.. Blagden's real standing in the
community. The doubts were confined
TO certain unregenerate men called
sailors, and everyone knows that a
sailor sees nothing good in lahdsman,
He never has, and he never will. We
may. therefore. take It for granted,
despite the windy opinions of those
vttuperative seadogs, that Mr.. Blagden
deserved the high esteem In which he
was held by the people Of Corinth.
Besides, what is more to the point,
the sailormen were not citizens of Cor
NTH, but inhabitants Of the Seamen's
Home situated in the nearby village OF
TodVille.
TodvilIe was what you might describe
as a suburb Of Corinth. It pleased the
Corinthians to speak Of 1t as a suburb
the bosom Of the municipality, they
failed to regard Todville in the same
charitable light. Among themselves,
they looked upon the village with con-
siderable scorn and q great deal OF
aversion. 1t was like a growth upon
the smooth, placid countenance OF Cor
NTH.
There may have been very excellent
reason for this uncharitable attitude
NTH. Todville was in the path Of ex-
pansion. ] do not mean to say that the
village, which chung like a barnaclo
to the side Of its big sister, was in any
sense q restriction to the commercial
or material growth Of Corinth. Not at
all. 1t stood in the way OF civic pride,
principally because it occupied the
most picturesque spot of ground to be
found anywhere along the coast for
miles around. Inasmuch as II was with
in 10 minutes walk Of the most fash
ionable and exclusive residence district
OF Corinth. and because it was In itself
q mean and humble witness to the
progress OF the splendor 1t halted. Tod
Vile was a despised spot. though COW
eted, With Todville and its half hun
dred shanties out of the way, Corinth
would have been able to spread Its
gathered plumes, and fly out from Its
crowded nest to settle down upon a
new and coveted stretch Of earth, there
70 prink and pout with all the arrog-
ance Of a peacock, while the world
passed by and envied.
But mean little Todville stood in the
way. The charmed point that ran out
into the sea, lofty and ironic, with It's
magnificent view up and down the
coast, from whose heights one could
stare in pity across and beyond the
very submits of naughty Corinth-the
grasp OF those who most desired its
beauty. 1t belonged to a very close
corporation OF philanthropists to whom
tho comfort Of ANTICIPATED sallormen
was Of more consequence than the con
ISOLATION Of ambitious jewellers In pal
aces -.. .'F
Years before, when corinth was not