The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-03-18

holding your tongue" said Mr.. Blagden
quite severely. When he spoke in that
tone OF voice, Chetwynd always sub
sided. "As I was saying, Presbrey. we
may as well defer in the cas- Of Mary
IN the Fisk Of being too late"
I ct fancy no harm can come to her
for some years. She IS 9, I believe"
said Mr.. Presbrey.
Nine said Mr.. Blagden, last
"of course. the seed is there" unused
"or course" agreed three voices. al
most In unison.
Eric Is developing very marked
traits that-er. ahem!-You might say
they are quite ominous," said Mr..
Blagden. He a a temper and a ten
dency to let go Of it without any eff
fort at self restraint. / regret to say
that he has formed the habit of throw
ing stones at Chetwynd-frequently, so
my boy informs me, when his back 10
turned. That trait, believe rae, Is dis
tinctly hereditary. It isn't necessary,
I'm sure, for me to go into the private
history Of his father. Suffice It to say,
he was a man Of violent temper, with a
disposition to-er, ahem-to shed blood.
l regret to d that the children's
mother also took a lawless view of the
proprieties. 1t is our duty to paint h
picture as strongly, as vigorously as
we can for Eric's a He must be
made to see the handwriting on the
wall. He must be warned in time. We
may be able to check or divert b
evil tendencies that accrue to him by
nature"
I'm other words" said Mr.. Presbrey,
W must obstruct nature. I quite I'M
derstand. my dear Mr.. Blagden."
Precisely" agreed Horace.
w should pray for the poor boy"
began Mrs. Presbrey. Mr.. Blagden
held up his hand and shook his head.
with q deprecatory smile. He was still
vaguely conscious Of a remote period
In his life when his admiration for Julia
Crowden rose almost to the Importance
OF love. That was when he was Is and
she was 20. He vas now 45, and she
had been the wife of his pastor for 10
years. He never looked at her with
out experiencing a sort of speculative
wonder, very faint, very vague and
plainly reminiscent
The time for prayer has passed" he
protested. I'VE must use a little COM
mon sense now" He fastened to set
stand me, Julia. So many Of my pray
ers have been answered that I, least
OF all. should deny the efficacy OF
prayer. / will say, however, that my
prayers have always been supplement-
ed by a certain amount OF purely hu-
man e~ndeavor." He was unconscious
ly humorous, despite his serious mien.
What 1 mean is this: We can't help
Eric with prayer unless we are able to
secure his cooperation. We can't OBJ
tain that without first telling him
what its all about. Do o get my
m~eaning?"
1T Is perfectly clear" said Mr.. Pres
brey, folding his napkin with grave
preciscion, so that the initial "B" re-
mained in view. V.
Perfectly" his wife agreed.
What would you suggest?" asked
Mrs. Blagden.
Mr.. Presbrey was tactful. He lev
elled his gaze upon a huge Delft platter
on the plate rail above Mrs. Blagden's
prim coiffure, and pondered. He pom
dered long enough to permit his diplo-
macy to bring results. The effort was
successful. Mr.. BIagden offered the
suggestion.
II suppose we'd better have Eric I'm
the library at once. Ring for Martha,
please" He directed the request to his
wife, who at once tangled the little sill
yer hand bell hat stood beside the
warsaw candlestick. Martha" said he,
when TIE ancient domestic appeared
in the door, send Master Eric to the
library at once"
So far as Horace was concerned, the
conference was over. 1t YVES now time
for action.
"Eric's gone to bed SIR" announced
Martha.
ut isn't his bedtime" said Mrs. BIag-
den sternly.
mo. ma'am, but he said his face was
hurting him So"
His face?" demanded Mr.. Blagden,
who had not heard Of the encounter in
the arbor.
HE said he fell OFF the fence and
bruised 1t, SIR" said Martha, who
would not have repeated a lie for the
world.
Mrs. Blagden cleared her throat un-
easily. Her first impulse was TO re-
main silent, but, on second thoughts,
she saw a chance to discredit the bow in
the eyes of his uncle. She knew that
Horace detested a lie.
Fell off the fence?" she exclaimed.
He did nothing Of the sort. He at
tackled Chetwyrd. who was compelled
TO thrash him soundly. Now, why
should he tell such a lie as THAR"
Mr.. Blagden possessed a sense Of jus-
ttce. You are much larger than Eric,
Chetwynd," he said. turning a bit red
in h face.
He threw a brick ut me. I punched
him in self defense" said his son, after
a scowl OF amazement at his mother.
You may go. Martha" said Mr..
Bladgen, for once a bit COMPOUNDED.
But stay. II he isn't asleep. tell him
to get up and come down at once"
Pound hard on the door before You
esk him X he's asleep" advised the re-
~sourceful Chetwynd.