Abbeville progress., 1916-11-18

counselor al law, as his sign read, was,
for many reasons, Il fortunate man.
For many other reasons hr WAS not.
lie was chiefly fortunate in being, as
certain opponents often strove wither
ingIy to designate him, the son OF his
father since thar sound old gentle
mmn was the wrnlthieSt farmer in that
section, with hut one son and heir to
Supplant EiII, in time, in the role of
county god" and happy perpetuate
the pr0uder title of 'the biggest tax
payer on the assessment list Aud
this fact, to-, fortunate as it would
seem, was doubtless the indirect occa-
sion Of lih,rr1 percentage Of all
Johns r.iSfortuneS. From his earliest
school days in the little town ny 70
his tardy graduation from a distant
college. the influence of his fathers
wealth invited lis pr0CrastinatiGn, hu
rgCrcG its results. encouraged the lax
ity of his urhiticu, "aLd even now"
as John used, in bitter irony, TO Put IT,
1t is ajdn- aud abettiug IIc in the
0StCRsible practice of Eiy chCsc0 pro
fcSsiOn, Il listlcSS, uiuIlosS undeter-
wincd man of forty and Il confirmed
bachelor at that" At the uttcruucr
81 his cifdcprcciatius statement,
John generally jorE"l his legs down
from the top of his desk; and rising
md kicking his chair back to IN" wall
he would stump around his filtered Of
ice TN the manila c9rFet SteaIacd
with dust. Then he would wildly
break away. seeking refuge either in
the open street. or in his room ut the
oid-time tavern. The Eagle house,
where" H. would say, u have lodged
and BOARDED | de- solcnnlv assevcratc,
for long, unbrOlcn, middle-agcd cter-
nifty Of ten years. and car yet assert,
III the words Of the more fortunately
dying Webster. that Il still liven"
Extravagantly Satirical as he was at
times. John had always an indetnable
GrOiicry about hin that made him
agreeable company to his frieats. at
least; and such IN admiring friend he
had constantly at hand ia the person
of Eert hatLeS. Both were BohemianS
ia natural tendency, and, though John
was far in B"rt's advance in point of
age, he found the young man Just the
Kind of Il fellow to have around; ;"
while Bert, IT, rurn. he'll his senior in
yrrfCUnd cSt,er.--looked ur 10 hi;a. in
TACT. and even iG lis ecccntricirieS
strOve to pattern himself after him. |
And so it was when summer days |
were duii ard tedious those tw0 could I
isnSF and done thr rourS away TO !
gat!Ier; anc wbe' jhe nights were {
lH.g ard dark. Huf deep. and Nnauti- J
SUI, they cJHld Crift lut III the noon /
light cf the stars, and with THE soft /
c0mplainin" flute" and "warhIirg lutte"
lay the pipes as John would say. for |
their enduring popularity with the |
girls And it was Immediately sub |
seqHe2t 10 0Ge Of these romantic eX- |
cursions, when the Eelated pair, at two !
o'clock in tie morning. had skulked |
W side stairway Of the old hotel, |
and gained JakE's room, with Eothirg |
more serious happening than Bert fall |
ing over trunk ana smashing his |
guitar-juSt after such a night of rO- |
nance and adventure it was that, in
the secluSioE Cf Johns room, Cert had |
something of especial import to com
i:.unicate.
Mack" hr said as that worthy
anathcrl?ti2ci Il spitefui match. and
then sucked lis finger.
'BIast the all-tred OIL torch - said
.Ichr, wrestling with the laup-tluc, and
tur.iLg on welcome flame at last |
Well. you said Mack" Why do0't you
20 Cn? Ani don't bawl at the top of
your lungs. either. You've already sue
ceedcd in waking every hoardcr in the
hOu"e with that guitar, and you want |
TO make amends now by letting them
20 to slecep agaiR!'
''But my dear fellow" said Bert with
forced calI4GesS. ''you're the fellow
that's making all the nciSe-and--"
"Why, you bowling dervish - inter |
rupted JOIN, with feigned air of
pleased surprise and admiration. "But |
lets drop controversy. Throw the |
fragments Of your guitar in the wood |
box there, ard proceed with the open !
ing proposition"
'What l was going to say was this"
said Bert, with half-desperate enun- |
cation; Tn getting tired Of this way |
at living - clean, dead-tired, and |
tagged out, and sick of the whole arti- |
ficial business
"Oh, yes" exclaimed John. with a |
towering diSdaI8, you needn'; go any |
further! | know JUST what malady is |
throttling YOU. It's reform-refOrm |
You're going to turn over a new leaf |
and all that, and sign the pledge. and |
quit cigars, and 90 To work, and pay |
your debts, and gravitate back into |
Sunday-ScEoOl, where you can make |
1--we To the preachers daughter under |
IRE guiSe of religion, and deSecrate |
the Sanctity of the innermoSt pale of !
the church by confessions at class OF |
your thorough conversionr Oh, you're |
going to"
NO, but I'm going to do nothing of |
the Sort" interrupted Bert reSentfully.
What mean--if you'll let me finish
~. I'm getting too old to be eternally |
undignifying myself with this singing |
midnight strains under BonnybeHS |
miow-panes.' and too old TO be keep !