Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-05-31
The Light IN
the C1eurjn0
By IRVING BACHELLER
Copyright 1917. The Bobbs-Merriu Co.

Tne next Sunday after thav
finished we had PREACHING Tsse
school house and | was easa- :. 1ns
and wear my wonderful trnrsso
Uncle Peabody said that be d..
know whether his leg would ~
out or not through a whoia 80. .s.a
IN" His left leg was lane 49,
a wrench and panied him N w ~
long In one position. I create 30 20
joyed this first public exhibitiS,s a !,
my new trousers. l remember pr.S
ing IN silence. as we sat down. ~,
uncle Peabody's leg would bo,S
out. Later, when the long ser- ,,v.s
had begun to weary me, I nrs-.S
that 1t would not 'Sl
I decided that metin's war. -,
successful form Of entertainrnsn,
Indeed, Sunday was for me : io..
day. It was filled with sb.,t ~
and washing and reading and -
overwhelming silence. Uncle De-.
body always shaved after hrssI
fast and then he would sit down =
read the st. Lawrence RepuhIle,S
Both occupations deprived him =,
terly OF his usefulness as an unris
l remember that l regarded ~
razor and the Republican "A No
worst enemies. The Repuhlicss
earned my keenest dislike. for !.
always put my uncle TO sleen az
soon ne would stretch out On IA
lounge and begin to puff and snors
and then Aunt Deel always went
around on her tiptoes ana ssH
sh-h! She spent the greater nav,
of the forenoon IN her room wash.
ing and changing her clothes ana
reading the Bible. How loudly tbA
clock licked that day! How dea.
antly the cock crew. It seemed
as If he were making special efforts
to start up the life OF the farm
How shrill were the tree c-icketsI
Often Shep and l would steal m
into the back lot trying TO scare nm
a squirrel and l would look long.
ingly down the valley, and could
dimly see the roofs Of tie houses
where there were other children
would gladly have made friends
with the Wills boy, but he would
have nothing to do with me, and
soon his people moved away. Nv
uncle said that Mr.. Grimshaw had
foreclosed their mortgage.
The fields were so still that
wondered IL 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 the
afternoon. 1t was apt to be Uncle
Peabody, as l had reason To know.
for l always begged him to 20
swimmin' with me in the afternoon.
1t was a 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 a
steamer looming over the ST. Law
renee and the big buildings of Can
ton on the distant fats below US
My heart beat fast when l reflected
that should soon see Mr.. Wright
and the Dunkelbergs. I had lost
little of my interest in Sally. Still
felt sure that when she saw my
new breeches she would conclude
that 1 was person not to be trihed
with.
When we got to Canton people
were f1ocking to the big stone Pres
byterian 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.
1t was what they called a idea
con meeting" remember that Mr.
read from the Scriptures,
md having explained that there was
no minister in the village, read one
IF Mr.. Edwards sermons, in the
course of which I went to sleep on
he arm of my aunt. She awoke me
when the service had ended. and
whispered:
Come, we're goin' down to speak
o Mr.. Wright"
We saw Mr.. and Mrs. Horace
Dunkelberg in the aisle. who said
hat they would wait for us outside
he church.
remember that Mr.. Wright kiss
ID me and said:
"Helloi Here's my boy in 3 new
pair o. trousers!"
Put yer hand in there" said
proudly, as / took my own out Of
me of my pockets, and pointed the
way.