The Elbert County tribune., 1919-09-19
CHAPTER III.

Outii ne reacneO tne age OF Twelve
Georgie's education was domestic
process; tutors came to the house,
aDd those citizens who yearned for his
taking down often said "Just wait till
he has to go to public school; then
he'll get itP But at twelve George
was sent to private school in the
town, and there came from this small
! and independent institution no report,
or even rumor. of Georgie's getting
anything that he was thought to de-
serve; therefore the yearning still per-
sisted, though growing gaunt with
feeding upon itself.
The yearners were still yearning
when George at sixteen was sent
away to great prep school"
Now" they said brightly, "he'n get
It'll He'll find himself among boys Just
as important in their home town as he
is, and they'll knock the stufflng out
of him when he puts on his airs with
theml Oh. but that would be worth
something to seer They were mis-
taken, 1t appeared, for when Georgie
returned a few months later he still
seemed to have the same stuffing. He
had been deported by the authorities.
the ofrense being stated as "insolence
and profanity" In fact, he had given
the principal Of the school instruc-
tions almost identical with those for
merly objected to by the Rev. Malloch
Smith.
But he had not got his come-upance,
and those who counted upon 1t were
embittered by his appearance upon
the downtown streets driving a dog
cart at criminal speed, making pc
destrians retreat from the crossings,
and behaving himself as II he "ownef
the earth"
When Mr.. George ANDERSON Nina
fer came home for the holidays at
Christmastide In his sophomore year,
probably no great change had taken
place inside him. but his exterior was
visibly altered. Nothing about him
encouraged any hope that he had re-
ceived his come-upance; on the con-
trary, the yearners for that stroke of
Justice must yearn even more itch
ingly: the gilded youths manner had
become polite. but his politeness was
of kind which democratic people
1ound hard TO bear.-
Cards were out for a ball In his
honor. and this pageant of the ten
hntry was held in the ballroom of the
ANDERSON mansion the night after his
arrival. 1t was. as Mrs. Henry Frank
lin Foster said Of IsabePs wedding. "a
big Amberson-style thing" All "old
citizens" recognized as gentry received
rar deyf n Of n
ing descendants.
The orchestra and the caterer were
Drought from away. in the ANDERSON
manner. though this was really a ges-
ture-perhaps one more of habit than
of ostentation-for servitors of gayety
as proficient as these importations
were nowadays to be found in the
town. 1t was the. last of the great,
long-remembered dances that "every-
body talked about"-there were get
ting to be so many people In town that
no later than the next year there were
too many for everybody" to hear of
even such a ball as the Ambersons'.
George, white -gloved, with a garde-
nia in his buttonhole, stood with his
mother and the Major. empowered In
the big red-and-gold drawing room
downstairs. to receive" the guests;
and. standing thus together, the trio
offered a picturesque example of good
looks persistent through three gene
rations. The Major, his daughter and
his grandson were of type all Am
berson: tall. straight and regular. with
dark eyes, short noses, good chins
4
less than the grandson's. was one of
family amused condescension. There
was a difference. however The grand
sons unlined young face had nothing
to offer except this condescension
the grnndfather's had other things to
say. 1t was a handsome, worldly old