Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-05
OH. r1QNEY!
sksgE %A@mor HRoner ~eesRsg
Author of "POILyanna"

Pennock Is already repentant and Is
pulling hard at his mothers leading
strings. for I was with Mellicent the
other day when we met the lad face to
nodded casually. but Pennock-he turned
all colors Of the rainbow with terror,
pleading, apology and assumed indiner-
ence all chasing each other across his
face. Dear. dear. but he was n sight
There is. too, another feature in the
case. II seems that new family by
the name Of Gaylord has come to town
and opened up the old Gaylord mansion.
Gaylord Is a son of old Peter Gaylord
and is a millionaire. They are making
quite a splurge in the way of balls and
liveried servants and motorcars, and the
town is agog with 1t all. There are
young people in the family. and espe-
cially there Is girl. Miss Pearl, whom.
report says, the Pennocks have selected
as being n suitable mate for Carl. At
all events, the Pennocks and the Gay
lords have struck up furious friend-
ship, and the young people of both fam
lilies are in the forefront Of innumerable
social affairs-in most of which Melli-
cent is left out.
so now you have 1.-THE whole story.
And next month comes to Mellicents s
father 100000. Do you wonder / say
the plot thickens?
"As for myself-you should see me |!
I eat whatever 1 like. (The man who
says health biscuit to me now gets
knocked down-and I've got the strength
to do II, tooO l can walk miles and
not know II. I've gained twenty pounds,
and I'm having the time of my life.
I'm even enjoying being genealogtst-
a little. I've about exhausted the re-
sources of Hillerton and have begun to
make trips to the neighboring towns.
| can even spend an afternoon In an old
cemetery copying dates from moss-grown
gravestones, and not entirely lose my
appetite for dinner-1 mean, supper.
was even congratulating myself that. l
was really quite genealogist when. the
other day, | met the real thing. Heav-
ems. Ned, that man had 14,472 dates at
his tongues end and he said them all
over to me. He knows the name or
every IAinke Che was a Blake) back to
the year one, how many children they
had (and they had some families then.
let me tell you y, and when they all
died, and why. I met him one morning
in a cemetery. I was hunting for a
certain stone and asked him question.
Heavens 1t was like setting match
to one of those Fourth-of-July flower
pot skyrocket affairs. That question was
the match that set him going, and there
after he was a gushing geyser of names
and dates. l never heard anything like
it.
He began at the Blaisdells,. but
skinned almost at once to the Blakes-
there were a lot of them near us. In nVe
minutes he had me dumb from sheer
stupefaction. In ten minutes he had
made a century run. and by noon he had
got to the Crusades. We went through
the Dark Ages very appropriately, wait
ing in an open tomb for thunderstorm
to pass. We had got to the year one
when I had to leave to drive back to
Hillerton. I've invited him to come to
see Father Duff. I thought I'd like to
have them meet. He knows lot about
the Duffs-a Blake married one, way
back somewhere. I'd like TO hear him
and Father Duff talk-or, rather Ia like
to hear him try to talk to Father Dur
Did / ever write you Father Dur $
opinion Of genealogists? l believe l did.
"I'm not seeing so much of Father
Duff these Gays. Now that it's grown
little cooler he spends most OF his time
in his favorite chair before the cookstove
in the kitchen
"Jove. what letter this is It should
be shipped by freight and read in sec
tions But I wanted you to know how
things are here. You can appreciate 1t
the more-when you come.
you're not forgetting, OF course, that
it's on the first day of November that
Stanley G. Fulton's envelope Of instruc-
tions is to be opened
"As ever yours,
JOHN SMITH"