Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1915-08-26
CHAPTER 4.
Retiring From the Show Bush

CHAPTER Il
Retiring From the Show Business.
ILENCB followed. Sam and PEN
rod, speIbound, gazed upon
~ Roderick Magsworth Bits, Jr.
So did Herman and verman.
Roddy's staggering lie had changed
the face Of things utterly. No one
questioned it; no one realized that It
was much too good to be true.
sRoddy," said Penrod In q voice
tremulous with hope. 'tRoddy, viii you
Join our shown
Roddy Joined
Even he could see that the offer i'm
Piled his being starred as the para
mount attraction Of a new order Of
things. It was obvious that he had
sWelled out suddenly, In the estimation
OF the other boys, to that Importance
which he had been taught to believe
his native gift and natural right The
sensation was pleasant. He had often.
been treated with effusion by grownup
callers and by acquaintances Of his
mother and sisters. He had heard la
dies speak Of him as charming and
that delightful child" and little girls
had sometimes shown him Difference,
but until this moment no boy had ever
allowed him for one moment to pre-
sumo ever to equality. Now, in a trice
he was not only admitted to comrade-
ship, but patiently valued as something
rare and sacred, to be acclaimed and
| pedestaled In fact, the very first
thing that Schofeld & Williams did
upon.
The m~isgfvings reused In Rodertck's
bosom by the subsequent activities of
the firm were not bothersome enough
to make him forego his prominence as
Exhibit A. He was not a "uuick
minded boy, and it was long and
much happened before he thoroughly
comprehended the causes Of his new
celebrity. He had a shadowy feeling
that If the affair came to be heard Of
at home it might not be liked, but, In
toxicated by the glamour and hustle
which surround a public character, he
made no protest On the contrary, he
entered whole hesrtedly into the prep
arations for the new show. Assuming,
with SANS assistance, a blue mustache
and sstdeburns,' he helped In the
painting Of q new poster, which, sup
planting the old one on the wall Of the
stable facing the cross street, screamed
bloody murder at the passers in that
rather populous thoroughfare:
SCHoFiELD & WILLIAMS
NEW BIG SHOW
RoDERiCK MAGSWoRTH BITS JR
ONLY LIVING NEPHEW
OF
RENA MAGSWORTH
THE FAMOS
MUDERESS GOING To BE HUNG
NEXT JULY KILLED EIGHT PEO-
PILE
PUT ARsiNECK IN THEIR MILK
ALSO
SHERMAN HERMAN AND VERMAN
THE MICHIGAN RATS DOG PART
ALLIGATOR DUKE THE GENUINE
INDIAN DOG ADMISSION i GENT Or
90 PINS SAME AS BEFORE Do NOT
MISS THIS CHANSE TO SED ROD
ERiCK
IONLY LIVING NEPHEW OF RENA
MAGSWORTH THE GREAT FAMOS
MUDERESS
GOING To BE
HUNG
Megaphones We're constructed out of
heavy wrapping paper, and Penrod,
Sam and Herman set out In different
directions, delivering xvocally the in
fammatory proclamatNn Of the poster
to a large section of the residential
quarter and leaving Roderick Mays
worth Bits, Jr., with Verman In the
! loft, shielded from all deadhead eyes.
Upon the return Of the heralds the
Schofeld & Williams military band
played d~eafeningly, and an awakened
public once more thrcnged to fill the
Golfers of the firm.
Prosperity smiled again. The very
first audience after the acquisition OF
Roderick was larger than the largest
of the morning. Master Bits, the only
exhibit placed upon a box, was a super
curio. All eyes fastened upon him and
remained, hungrily feasting, through
out Penrod's luminous Grafton.
But the glory Of one light must ever
be the d1mming Of another. We dwell
In a vale of seesaws, and cobwebs spin
fastest upon laurel. yerman, the tat
tooed wild boy, speaking only in his
native foreign languages, Verman the
gay yerman the caperer, capered no
more, he chuckled no MORE, he beck
oned no nor tapped his chest nor
wreathed bis idolatrous face In smiles.
Gone, all gone, were his little articles
for attracting the general attention to
himself. Gone was every engaging
mannerism which had endeared him to
the mercurial public. He squatted
against the wall and glowered at the
new sensation. It VAS the old story
the old, old story-of too much temper
ament. verman was suffering from;
n u. . y -