Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1919-10-30


the moons Of Jupiter: he could mo-
possibly have conceived such an az.
ever coming to be his own; fiVs year
was the limit Of his thinking In time
Five years ago he had been a child
not yet fourteen; and those Ave year.
were an abyss. Five years hence he
would be almost twenty-fOur; what
the girls he knew called zone Of the
older men," He could imagine himself
at twenty-fOur, but beyond that his
powers staggered and refused the
task. He saw little essential differ
ence between thirty-eight and eighty.
eight, and his mother was to him not
woman but wholly a mother. The
woman, Isabel, was q stranger to her
son; as completely a stranger az II
he had never in his life seen her or
heard her voice. And II was tonight,
while he stood with her, receiving"
that he caught a dlsouieting glimpse
Of this stranger whom he thus feet
ingly encountered for the first time.
Youth cannot imagine romance
apart from youth. That is why the
roles Of the heroes and herOinOS Of
plays are given By the managers to
the most youthful actors they can find
among the competent Both middle
aged people and young people enjoy q
play about young lovers: but only
mIddle-aked people will tolerate a play
about mlddle-aged lovers; young
people will not come to see such q
play. because for them middle-aged
lovers are a Ioke-nOt a very funny
one. Therefore, TO bring both the
middle-aged people and the young
people into his house the manager
makes his romance as young as he
con. Youth will indeed be served, and
Its profound instinct is to be not only
scornfully amused but vaguely an
gered by middle-aged romance. So,
standing beside his mother, George
was disturbed by sudden impression,
coming upon him out of nowhere, so
far as he could detect, that her eyes
were brilliant, that she was graceful
and youthful-in a word that she was
Economically lovely.
He had one of those curious moments
that seem to have neither cause nor
any connection with actual things.
There was nothing in either her looks
or her manner to explain Georges I'M
comfortable feeling; and yet it in
creased, becoming suddenly vague
resentment, as if she had done some
thing unmOtherly to him.
The fantastic moment passed: and
even while it lasted he was doing his
duty, greeting two pretty girls with
whom he had grown up, as people say,
and warmly assuring them that he re-
membered them very weIl--an assur-
ance which might have surprised them
lin anybody but George Minaferl"
1t seemed unnecessary, since he had
spent many hours with them no longer
than the preceding August. They had
with them their parents and an uncle
from out of town; and George negli-
gently gave the parents the same as
surance he had given the daughters,
but murmured another form of greet
ing to the out-Of-town uncle, whom
he had never seen before. This per-
son George absently took note of as
"queer-loOlling duck" Undergradu
ates had not yet adopted bird" It |
was period previous to that in which |
a sophomore would have thought of
the Sharon girls uncle as a queer
looking bird" or perhaps, a funny
face bird" In Georges time every HUI
man male was to be defined at pleas-
1re as duck" but duck" was not
spoken with admiring affection, as in
Its former feminine use to signify a
'dear"-on the contrary, "duck" i'm
Piled the speakers personal detach-
nent and humorous superiority. An
Indifferent amusement was what
George felt when his mother. with
gentle emphasis, interrupted his in
-erchange Of courtesies with the
lleces to present him to the queer
ooking duck, their uncle. This en-
)hasis of Isabel's. though slight. en-
lbled George to perceive that she CON
ldered the queer-lOoklng duck a. per
'on of some Importance but 1t was
ar from enabling him to understand
Why. The duck parted his thick and
Ongish black hair on the side: his
lie was fOrgetful-looking thing. and
lis coat, though it fitted a good
nough middle-aged figure, no product
t this year, or of last year either.
observing only his questionable hair.
is preoccupied tie and his old coat
he Olympic George set him down as
queer-lOOking duck, and having thus
Ompleted his portrait took no inter
st in him.
The Sharon girls passed on, taking
ne queer-looking duck with them, and
ieorge became pink with mortifca-
on as his mother called his attention
white-bearded guest waiting to
bake his hand. This was Georges
feat-uncle, old John Minafer: it was
Id Johns boast that in spite of his
by marriage with the Am
ersOns he never had worn and never
Ould wear q swaIler-tail coat. Mem