The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-12-25
THE SCRATCH PAD
BY THOMAS EWING DA5NEY.
MERRY cHRIsTMAs.

WErNf1H HtrNCs
A little wagon-red and green; sure
ly there never was such a wagon, and
the boys eyes grew great as the re-
splendent vision impinged upon his
consciousness-not all at once fortu-
nately, for great joy often kills, but
by degrees And heaped around it all /
sorts of things-for he was an only /
child-and loaded down with fireworks. |
Dropsical torpedoes, 20-ball Roman |
candles, flower pots, spin wheel, and |
whole bundle of firecrackers. A |
bundle-khink of it, He had often |
dreamed about bundle and wondered |
whether there was such a thing. He |
never could hope to shoot them off
single-handed--he must have all the |
neighbors help in this orgy of pyro-
technics But what enormous posi- |
bilities lay in that wagon With this
glorious means of locomotion, he need
never walk again-except for a change!
And he could carry away all the rub
| bish, and when he got the back yard
cleaned up, he might go in for city
contracting, or join an emigrant strain
out vest And mother and father
standing in the doorway, with such a
| happy smile, or was it sad?
| A bicyclei With a whoop that almost
| threw into panic, Emma, the cook.
| deep in the matutinal mystery of cof-
fee, he acclaimed the discovery. He
| tried to thank Them, but a lum kept
coming into his throat. However, he
made out, after a fashion-just what
he wanted, to go to school and run
errands. Just listen to those pedals
hum when spun with eager forefin-
| ger; and that monkey wrehchk there
never had been a pump that developed
anything like the pressure of this one;
and had anybody ever heard such a
compelling BORN? Then no! for a ride
to the end of the earth-hang break
fast-if not new worlds to conquer, at
| least new saddle to bestride!
| A set of Mark Twain!-Olive and
l gold, symbolical Of the rich contents
| and exhaling the indescribable per-
| fume of new booksi Long hours he
sat among them in his room at col
lege-for his roommate and most of
| his friends had gone home for the
| holidays-and as the snow fell caress-
ingly down outside, browsed through
| their wonderful pages. He remember
ed how. as a little boy, just in pants.
and but imperfect1y understanding Ian
guage, he had once entered a. room
| where some grown-up was reading
aloud something about a boy and
raft on a great river. He hated read
ing aloud-what did people want to
| have noises made at them for any,
| way ?-and his heart grew bitter at
| the thought of certain interminable
| sermons. But something seemed to
| grip him just as he was about to
bounce Indignantly out of the room.
And with increasing wonder, he heard
| about great storm and dead rattle
| snake that came alive and bit some
body, and house floating down the
river and the boy rowing out to it in
a skiff with colored man, who for
some reason kept him from looking in
at the window. And there the reading
endedt For ten years the boy wondered
what happened to that boy in the skiff
and whether he went to live in the
house-he didn't know the name of. the
! book or how to ask for it, but he knew
he would never be happy until he
found it. So he hunted, hunted, hunt
ed. And one day he picked a book
up, quite by chance, and before he
had read a dozen lines, he had a pro-
phetic feeling; he read and read and
read until his heart almost burst as he
re- discovered that wonderful ragged
boy, snake and river and floating shan
ty and all-and lots and lots besides
such funny name, Huck Finn! Since
then the lad, growing into manhood,
had read Mark Twain's books many
times-each time finding something
new and hopeful in them-now he was
to have them with him always.
Heaven knew what it was for! A
creation of colored squares of paper
and small pieces of soda water straw
interstrung on a piece of blue cord
, a foot or so hong; but it was the baby's
: | first Christmas present to him-made
| by her own self, the result OF some
: astonishing maneuvers, in kindergar-
| | ten, with pair of blunt scissors, with
, Isuch moral assistance as sticking the
tongue out, in an ecstacy Of art, might
be expected to afford.
And the future-sitting at the fire.
: side, hand in hand with Her who had
helped him over so many of the rough
l places of life, watching their children
2 grow up again in their grandchildren
and happier now than ever before ii
l helping the happiness of Others,
4