Evening star., 1917-05-06

Clara's private affairs: I'm asking you
If you have ANYTHING to say which
would palliate-
That's what I'm tryin' to tell YOU
you'd jest only let me. When Aunt
Clara and her little baby daughter got
to our house last night"
You say Mrs. Fairy is visiting your
mother?"
''Yesm-not jest visiting-you see.
she had to come. Well. of course, little
baby Clara. she was so bruised up and
mauled where he'd been hittin' her
with his came
You mean that your uncle had done
such thing as that exclaimed Miss
Spence. suddenly disarmed by this
scandal.
"Yes'm. and mamma and Margaret
had to sit up all night nursin' little
Clara-and Aunt Clara was in such a
state somebody had to keep talkin' to
her. and there wasn't anybody but me
to do 1t. so L"
But where was your fatherr' she
cried.
'Ma'am?"
Where was your father while"
oh-papa?' Penrod paused, reflect
ed. then frightened. why. he was
down at the train. waitin' to see IL
Uncle John would try to follow 'em and
make 'em come home SOS he could per-
secute 'em some more. l wanted to do
that. but they said If he did come 1
De StTOnS enough TO nOiQ MIN.
and" The brave lad paused again,
modestly. Miss Spenoe's expression was
encouraging. Her eyes were wide with
establishment, and there may have been
In them. also. the mingled beginnings
of admiration and self-reproach. PEN
rod. warming to his work, felt safer
every moment.
And So" he continued. Il had to cit
up with Aunt Clara She had some
pretty big bruises too, and T had to"
tor?"
"Oh. they didn't want any doctor"
exclaimed the inspired realist promptly.
They don't want anybody to hear about
1t because Uncle John might reform
knew he'd been drunkard and whipped
his wife and baby daughter?"
"Oh!' said Miss Spence.
You see. he used to be upright as
anybody" he went on, explanatively.
1T all begun
Began, Penrod."
''Yes'm. 1t all commenced from the
first day he let those travelling men
coax him into the saloon" Penrod mar
rated the downfall of his Uncle John at
length. In detail he was nothing short
of plethoric: and incident followed in
cident. sketched with such viyidness
such abundance of color and such YER
similftude to drunkard's life as a
drunkard's life should be, that. had
Miss Spence possessed the rather chill
ing attributes of William j. Burns him.
self. the last trace of skepticism must
have vanished from her mind. Besides,
there are two things that will be be-
lieved of any man whatsoever, and one
of them is that he has taken to drink
N a vir1p
picture which, with simple but eloquent
words, the virtuous Penrod set before
his teacher.
His eloquence increased with what it
fed on; and with the eloquence so
with self-reproach in the gentle bosom
of the teacher.
The surprising thing about struc-
ture such as Penrod was erecting is
is. and the more ornamentation it will
stand. Gifted boys have this faculty of
building maSnificence upon cobwebs-
and Penrod was gifted. Under the spell
Spence gazed more and more sweetly
upon the prodigy of spiritual beauty
and goodness before her. until at last.
when Penrod came to the explanation
of his lust thinking" she was forced
to turn her head away.
You mean. dear" she said. gently.
that you were all worn out and hardly
knew what you were saying"
And you were thinking about all
those dreadful things so hard that you
forgot where you were?"
II was thinking" he said. simply.
''how to save Uncle John"
And the end of IT for this mighty boy
was that the teacher kissed him.
The returning students that after
oil zhs k,x