Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-05-31
The Light IN
the CleQrjn0
Bv IRVING BACHELLEP
Copyright 1917. The Bobbs-Merrin Co.

The next Sunday after thu
finished we had preachin1 &c
school house and / was eager
and wear my wonderful trors. z
Uncle Peabody said that bs 0 Sss
know whether his leg wonis Ia -,
cut or not through a whole -, -
In" His left leg was lama - ss
a wrench and panied him n lug
long in one position. IgrsatIv
Joyed this first public exhIblfic,' >. ],
my new trousers. / remember ~.
Ing In silence, as we sat down ~ ~.
Uncle Peabody's leg would ~
out. Later, when the long &c.
mad begun TO weary me, | ursv.s
that It would not sN
I decided that metin's war.
a successful form Of entertajnr,.-..
Indeed. Sunday was for ma : -
day. It was filled with sbsvss
and washing and reading ana !!
overwhelming silence. Unele D.
body always shaved after brsss
fast and then he would sit down !,
read the St. Lawrence RepuhIlc.s
Both occupations deprived him !,
terly OF his usefulness as an ms.
remember that l regarded n,
razor and the Republican AZ :,
worst enemies. The Republlrss
earned my keenest dislike. for !
always put my uncle to sleen al
soon ne would stretch out on n.
lounge and begin TO puff and sno,
and then Aunt Deel always ws,,
around on her tiptoes and ssa
sh-h! She spent the greater ps-
of the forenoon in her room wasS,
ing and changing her clothes an,
reading the Bible. How loudly M
clock licked that dayi How dss.
antly the cock crew! It seems,
as II he were making special effort,
to start up the life Of the farm
How shrill were the tree crickstsI
Often Shep and l would steal n
into the back lot trying TO scare IN
a squirrel and I would look lonr.
ingly down the valley, and comb
dimly see the roofs of tie houses
where there were other children. n
would gladly have made FRIENDS
with the Wills boy, but he would
have nothing to do with me, and
soon his people moved away. MI
uncle said that Mr.. Grimshaw bad
foreclosed their mortgage.
The fields were so still that II
wondered If the grass grew on Sun.
day. The laws of God and nature
seemed to be In conflict, for our
lives got out of order and some ons
of US always had a headache in ths
afternoon. 1t was apt to be UnclsI
Peabody, as had reason TO know,
for l always begged him to goI
swimmin' with me in the afternoon.
1t was beautiful summer morn.
ing as we drove down the hills and
from the summit of the last high
ridge we could see the smoke Of q
steamer looming over the St. Law.
renee and the big buildings OF Can
ton on the distant flats below u.s.
My heart beat fast when / reflected
that I should soon see Mr.. Wright
and the Dunkelbergs. / had lost a
little Of my interest In Sally. Still
| felt sure that when she saw my
new breeches she would conclude
that I was person not to be trihed
with.
When we got to Canton people
were focking to the big stone Pres.
byteriah church. We drove our
horses under the shed of the tavern
and Uncle Peabody brought them
water from the pump and fed them,
out of our own bag under the buggy
seat, before we went to the church
It was what they called "deS-
con meeting" I remember that Mr.
read from the Scriptures
Ind having explained that there was
10 minister in the village. read one
II Mr.. Edwards sermons, in the
course OF which I went to sleep on
he arm of my aunt She awoke ne
when the service had ended. and
whispered:
Come. we're goin' down to speak
o Mr.. Wright"
We saw Mr.. and Mrs. Horace
Ounkelberg in the aisle. who said
hat they would wait for US outside
he church.
remember that Mr.. Wright kiss
ID me and said:
Hello! Here's my boy in s new
)air o. trousersi"
Put yer hand in there" I said
proudly, as l took my own out o!
me of my pockets, and pointed the
way.
fCnntinnod torno--nwN