Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-04-22


10 see. But the result OF all this was
beautiful and unending family quar-
rel In which I was the bone of con-
tention
No, my home life was not happy. l
smile to myself as write the phrase.
Home life. Home, I had no home in
the modern sense OF the term. NV
home was an association. not a habi
tation. I lived In my mothers care.
not IN house. And nv mother lived
anywhere. so long as when night came
she was above the ground
My mother was old fashioned. She
still chung to her trees. 1t is true. the
more progressive members Of our horde
lived in the caves above the river. But
my mother was suspicious and unpro-
gressive. The trees were good enough
for her OF course. we had one par
ticular tree in which we usually roost-
ed. though we often roasted in other
trees when nightfall caught us. In
convenient fork was sort Of rude
platform Of twigs and branches and
creeping things. 1t was more like a
huge bird nest than anything else,
though II was a thousand times cruder
in the weaving than any bird nest
But 1t had one feature that | have
never seen attached to any bird nest
namely. roof
Oh. not roof such as modern man
makes Nor a roof such as Is made by
the lowest aborigines of today. It was
infinitely more clumsy than the clum-
siest handiwork Of man-of man as we
know him. 1t was put together in
casual, heller SHELTER sort of way. Above
the fork Of the tree whereon We rested
was pile of dead branches and brush
Four or FIVE adjacent forks held what
| may term the various ridgepoles.
These were merely stout sticks an inch
or so in diameter. On them rested the
brush and branches. These seemed to
have been tossed on almost aimlessly.
There was no attempt at thatching.
And I must confess that the roof leak
ed miserably in heavy rain.
But the Chatterer. He made home
life a burden for both my mother and
me. and by home life | mean not the
leaky nest in the tree, but the group
life Of the three Of us. He was most
delicious In his persecution Of me-
That was the one purpose to which he
held steadfastly for longer than five
: mother was less eager In her defense
of me- | think what of the continuous
rows raised by the Chatterer that
| must have become a nuisance to her:
At any rate the situation went from
| bad to worse so rapidly that l should
soon of my own volition have left
home. But the satisfaction Of per-
| forming so independent an act was de-
MED me. Before ] was ready to go
was thrown out. And mean this lit
| orally.
The opportunity came to the Chat
! terer one day when / was alone in the
nest My mother and the Chatterer
| had gone away together toward the
| BURBERRY swamp. He must have plan
ned the whole thing, for ! heard him
returning alone through the forest
roaring with self induced rage as he
! came. Like all the men Of our horde
when they were angry or were trying
! to make themselves angry, he stopped
7 now and again to hammer on his chest
with his fist.
| I realized the helplessness Of my sit.
uation and crouched trembling In the
nest. The Chatterer came directly to
the tree-I remember it was an oak
ireland began to climb up. And he
never ceased for moment from his
Internal row. AS / have said, our Ian
guage was extremely meager. and he
must have strained it by the variety OF
ways in which he informed me Of his
undying hatred of me and of his in
tention there and then to have 1t out
| with me.
As he climbed to the fork fed out
the great horizontal limb. He followed
me, and out went. farther ant
farther. At last was out amongst the
small twigs and leaves. The Chatterel
was ever a coward, and greater always
than any anger he ever worked up wal
| his caution. He was afraid to follow
me out amongst the leaves and twlgs
For that matter. his greater weigh
would have crashed him through tn.
foliage before he could have got to me
But II was not necessary for him t
reach me. and well he knew IT, thu
scoundrel. With a malevolent express
sion on his face, his beady eyes CLEAN
ing with cruel intelligence. he begaI
lettering Teeteringi-and with M
out on the very edge OF the bough
clutching at the twigs that broke con
tinually with my weight. Twenty fee
beneath me was the earth.
Wildly and more wildly he teetered
grinning at me his gloating hatred
Then came the end. All four hold
broke at the same time. and l fell bacl
downward, looking up at him, m.
hands and feet still clutching tn
broken twigs Luckily there were n
wild pigs under me. and my fall wa
| broken by the tough and spring.
bushes.
Usually my falls destroy my dreams
the nervous shock being sufficient +
bridge the Thousand centuries in an In
slant and hurl me wide awake into m.
little bed, where perchance lie sweat
ing and trembling and hear the cuckoo
clock calling the hour in the hall. Blu
this dream OF my leaving home I hav