Evening star., 1917-06-03
7HE worst boy in town" (pop-
ulation D5ooo) emerged hast
lily from the kitchen door of

E7HE worst boy in town" (pop-
ulation 125,00o) emerged hast
lily from the kitchen door of
q his fathers house one scented
morning in apple blossom time. His
pockets bulged abnormally; SO did his
cheeks, and he swallowed with diff
Guilty.
A threatening mop. welded by a
cook-like arm in a checkered sleeve.
followed him through the doorway, and
he was preceded by a small. hurried.
wistful dog with a warm doughnut in
his mouth. The kitchen door slammed
petulantly, inclosing the sore voice
Of the cook, whereupon Penrod Scho-
field and Duke seated themselves upon
the pleasant sward and Immediately
consumed the spoils of their raid.
From the cross-street which formed
the side boundary of the Schofield's 8
ample yard came a jingle of harness
and the cadenced clatter of a pair of
trotting horses, and Penrod, looking
up. beheld the passing of a fat ac-
quaintance. torpid amid the conserva-
tive splendors of a rather old-fash-
ioned victoria.
This was Roderick Magsworth Bits,
5r., a fellow sufferer at the Friday
afternoon dancing class, but other.
sheltered lad, tutored privately and
preserved against the coarsening infiu-
ences of rude comradeship and miscsl-
laneous information Heavily over
grown in all physical dimensions, vir-
tuous and placid. this cloistered NUT
ton was wholly uninteresting to Pen
rod Schofield. Nevertheless. Roderick
Magsworth Bits: jr.. was parsonage
on account OF the importance of the
Magsworth Bits family, and it was Pen
rods destiny to increase Roderick's s
celebrity far, far beyond its present aris-
tocratic limitations.
The Magsworth Bittses were impor-
tant because they were impressive; /;
there was no other reason. And they
were Impressive because they believed
themselves important The adults Of
the family were impre gnably formal;
they dressed with reticent elegance.
and wore the same nose and the same
expressfon-an expression which indi-
Gated that they knew something ex-
quisite and sacred which other people
could never know. Other people in
tertous1y fgnoble and to become secret
ly uneasy about ancestors. gloves and
pronunciation.
In fact, this painful family had for
years terrorized the community, though
the community had never realized that
1t was terrorized. and invariably spoke
of the family as the most charming
circle in town" BY common consent.
Mrs Roderick MagSworth Bits off,
ciated as the supreme model as well as
critic-in-chief Of morals and deport-
ment for all the unlucky people pros
porous enough to be elevated to her
acquaintance.
Magsworth was the important part of
the name. Mrs. Roderick Magsworth
Bits was Magsworth born. herself.
and the Magsworth crest Tower coro-
worth Bits note paper. but was on
the china, on the table linen, on the
chimneypieces, on the opaque glass of
the front door. on the victoria, and on
the harness. though omitted from the
garden hose and the lawn mower.
Naturally, no sensible person dreamed
Of connecting that illustrious crest
with the unfortunate and notorious
Rena Magsworth. whose name had
grown. week by week. into larger and
larger type upon the front pages of
newspapers, owing to the gradually
Increasing public and official belief
that she had poisoned family Of eight.
However, the statement that no sensi-
BILE person could have connected the
Magsworth Bits family with the ar
senical Rena, takes no account Of Pen
rod Schofield.
Penrod never missed a murder. a
hanging or an electrocution in the
newspapers; he knew almost as much
about Rena Magsworth as her jury
men did. though they sat in a court
room 200 miles away. and he had it
in mind-so frank he was-to ask
Roderick Magsworth Bits, jr.. If the
murderess happened to be relative.
The present encounter. being merely
one of apathetic greeting. did not af-
ford the opportunity. Penrod took off
his cap. Roderick. seated between his
mother and one of his grown-up sis-
ters. nodded sluggishly. but neither
Mrs. Magsworth Bits nor her daughter
acknowledged the salutation 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 can be cut effectually
as a man. and this one was chilled to
a low temperature.
The resilient spirits of youth, how
ever. presently revived. Della, the
cook, depositing upon the back porch
a large rat trap from the cellar. the
prison of four live rats awaiting exc
cutfon.
Penrod at once took possession, re-
firing to the empty stable, where he
installed the rats in small wooden
box. with a sheet of broken window
CLASSIFIED down by a brickbat-over
the top. Thus the symptoms of their