Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-02-24
CHILDREN IN THE GIANTS
CASTLE.
p l.

THE Giants Castle" Not because it
was nina by a creature OF unusual
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
lntellects We're pleased to consider a
fitting abode for certain ~stupendous
~personages, whose acquaintance they
had made. as have all other children
whose education has not been stunted
by cross and unfeeling parents
through the Medium of fairy books and
weary nurse maids tales. Their small
but vivid imaginations seized upon the
prlm 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 a
whit against the Juvenile fancy of
Corinth-by-the-Sea. Notwithstanding
liberal playground and Sunday school as
ISOLATION.
The real occupants of the house were
not taken n account If they had
been. there would have been no excuse
for the name. 1t pleased the very young
to imagine that there We're other and
more horrific creatures lurking behind
the grey. weatherstained walls: it
pleased them to believe that each of the
square little windows in the cupo,a
represented a peephole through which
q 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 a 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 a Very superior
sort Of mortal. in that he set himself
up as an example for all other men
to be patterned after. That so few of
his gender succeeded in coming quite
up to the standard was not so much a
disappointment to him as 1t was a sat
~isfaction to them.
Mr.. Blagden was a most exemplary
man. AS to virtue and morality he was
a 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 beer a trifle
larger than it actually was in the mat
ter OF population it is quite likely he
would not have been respected. But 1T
was a small town, n the good are al
ays 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 thai 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 yes 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
or SAT-. Respect has it's degrees. and
Cortnth had its analysts. Down along
water front there We're drinking
places. and in them were profane phil
osophers who maintained that Mr..
Blagden was no better than other men
II n could get beneath his skin. I'm
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 as
to Mr.. Blagden's real standing in the
community. The doubts We're confined
to certain unregenerate men called
sailors, and everyone knows that a
sailor sees nothing good in a landsman.
He never has. and he never will. We
may. therefore. take II for granted,
despite the windy opinions of those
v~ftuperative seadogs, that Mr.. Blagden
deserved the high esteem in which he
was held by the people of Corinth.
Besides. hat is more to the point.
the sailormen were not citizens of Cor
NTH, but inhabitants Of the Scamen's
Home situated In the nearby village Of
Todville.
TOdville was what you might describe
as a suburb OF Corinth. 1t pleased the
when abroad in the land. Al home, in
he 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 a great deal Of
aversion. 1t was like q growth upon
the smooth, placid c~ountenance OF Cor
NTH.
There may have been very excellent
reason for this uncharitabie attitude
on the part Of the SNUG citizens OF Cor.
NTH. T0dviIle was In the path OF cx-
village, which chung Ike q b%arnacle
to the side Of It's big sister. was In any
sense q restriction to the commercial
or material growth OF COrinth. Not at
all. It stood in the way of civic pride.
principally because 1t occupied the
most picturesque spot OF ground TO be
found anywhere aIOng h for
miles around. Inasmuch AZ IL was with
in 10 minutes walk Of the most fash
ionablo and exclusive residence district
OF Corinth. and because II vas in Itself
Z mean and humble witness to the
progress OF the splendor Il halted. Tod
VILE was = despteed spot. though v
eted. With Todvllls and IT. half hun
dred shanties out OF the way, CorjntIi
Suffered plumes. ana NJ out from ito