Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1915-08-12
VIII.
The Two Families.

he waste ask Roderick Magsworth
Bits, Jr., If the murderess happened
to be a relative.
The present encounter, being merely
one Of apathedc greeting, did not af-
ford the opportunity. Penrod took Off
his cap, and Roderick, seated between
his mother and@one OF his grownup
sisters, nodded sluggishly, but neither
Mrs. Magsworth Bits nor her daugh-
ter acknowledged the s~alutation OF the
boy In the yard. They disapproved OF
him as a person of little consequence,
and that little bad. Snubbed, Penrod
thoughtfully restored his cap to his
head. A boy a be cut as e%ffectually
as a man, and this n was chilled to
low temperature. He wondered IL
they despised him because they had
seen a last fragment OF doughnut in
his hand; then he thought that per-
haps 1t was Duke who had disgraced
him. Duke was certainly no fashion
able looking dog.
The resilient spirits OF youth, how
ever, presently revived, and, discover
ing a spider upon one knee and a bee
tie simultaneously upon the other, Pen
rod forgot Mrs. Roderick Magsworth
Bits in the course OF some experi
ments infringing upon the domain Of
Dr.. CarreL Penrod's efforts, with the
aid Of a pin, TO effect a t~ransference Of.
living organism were unsuccessful, but
he convinced himself forever that a
spider cannot walk with a beetles
legs. Della then enhanced geological
interest by depositing upon the back
porch a large rat trap from the cellar,
the prison Of four live rats awaiting
execution.
Penrod at once took possession, retir-
ing to the empty stable, where be In
stalled the rats In a small wooden box
with a sheet Of broken window glass,
held down by a brickbat, over the top.
Thus the symptoms Of their agitation
when the box was shaken or hammer
ed upon could be studied OF leisure.
Altogether this Saturday was starting
splendidly.
After a time the students attention
was withdrawn from his specimens by
a peculiar smell, which, being follow
ed up by n system of selective shifting,
proved to be an emnation leaking into
the stable from the alley. He opened
the back door.
Across the alley was a cottage which
q thrifty naghbor had built on the
rear line Of his lot and rented to ne
groes, and the fact that a negro family
was now in process Of knowing I'M
was manifested by the presence Of a
thin mule and a ramshaekle wagon,
the latter laden with the semblance Of
a stove and a few other unpretentious
household articles.
A very small darby boy stood near
the mule. In his hand was a rusty
chain, and at the end Of the chain the
delighted Penrod perceived the source
of the special smell he was tracing-a
large raccoon. Duke, who had shown
not the slightest interest In the rats,
set up a frantic barking and simulated
a ravening assault upon the strange
animal, It was only a bit of acting,
however, for Duke was an old dog,
had suffered much and desired no III
necessary sorrow, wherefore he con-
fined his demonstrations to alarums
and excursions and presently sat down
at d distance and expressed himself by
intermittent threatenings In q quayar'
ing falsetto.
Whats that coon's nanle?" asked
Penrod, intending no discourtesy.
@Aim gommo mame,n said the small
darby.
.What?'
Aim gommo mame.n
s1Vhat?n
The small darby looked annoyed.
.Aim gommo name, I hell you" ht
said impatiently.
Penrod conceived that insult was In.
tended
Whats the matter of your" he de
manded, advancing. You get fresh
with me and FTP
.Hynh, white boy. a coiored youth
Of Penrod's own age appeared In the
doorway OF the cottage. You let at
brothuh mine alone. He ain do moth
In to you
well, why can't he answer.
she can't. He can't talk no bettea'n
what he was talkin,. He tongue tie"
ssOhl,, satd Penrod, modified; then,
obeying an impulse SO universally
aroused In the hunlan breast under
like circumstances that 1t has become
4 arfi,. I,n frrnnd ~ fha n fifcfad one.