The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1919-10-09
CHAPTER II.
THE rRAIL or TILE SHOES.


David Noel, by his chosen people and
by others, but few of the chroniclers
look farther back than his 18th or Goth
yea 1t was hen that his figure be-
gan to move before the public vision
frorl which it has never since with
drawn. Yet the years between the
gift of the LITTLE shoes aid his return
to New Yor at IL were those Of deep
est change in him. They. perhaps,
fixed what he was to lie
David mad his first trip down the
coast. on the Maya Girl, as a useful
pet rather than a serious employe. He
was so very small and thin, SO in
tensely earnest and uncannily acute.
that he vas almost embarrassing to
the good naturoa men about him, He
insisted Upon being hard working, and
he learned with avidity. He wanted
to stay on the Maya Girl; indeed, he
was secretly superstitious about her
good luck for him ever since the eve
ming he came to her wharf in wistful
Inquiry INC found she had locked that
very day. 1t really seemed that she
Auu Sosilc " MN, plIl dL lhc u ~
moment when he was able to go with
her. His sailor had remembered him.
too; and bribed a Chinese boy to de-
sert that David might have his oppor-
tunity. The sailor had not yet been
ashore to dispose of his wages in
riotous living. and had aided the boy in
the wise outlay Of his own money.
TN1.;lnII,v 3d. --;kl A.. N6~,1
Girl, in David's judgment.
Am l gettin' enough done?" was
his most frequent query during thu
first weeks. Am IT'
And the answer was always an as
sent. David had never read sea tales
of the abuse of cabin boys, and was
quite w Of how his experience
c~ontradicted tradition. He merely en-
joyed the fact Of kind treatment.
When the south began to open be-
fore him, there stirred in David Noel
the seed of that strong love which was
to grow, Llama like, and bind him by
green tcndrils to the tropics. From
the biting cold which his body loathed
In every shrinking fiber, the ship
slipped down the coasts into a warmth
! nothing his experience could
match. He knew stove heat, in it's
inevitable association with foul, I'M
aired rooms and evil doors, yet never
theless a magnificent luxury seldom
enjoyed. He knew the sickening, poi
sonous heat OF summer in the slums
Of a huge city; heat accompanied by
sounds al nauseous as the atmosphere
when he tenement jewellers lounged In
windows or doorways and filled the
dirty streets instead Of budding with
in walls. But this new warmth-clean,
both salt and sweet, wind swept and
universal. Before it he was inarticu-
late.
There were details which might have
marred h voyage of a sybarite, de-
tails OF which David was scarcely con-
scious. ~Cockroaches Of unbelievable
size n lustiness were nothing to him,
or the later advent Of great spiders
and still stranger creatures. He
learned to dispose Of them nonchalant-
ly, with casua indifference, when they
trespassed ver far. The food seemed
to him delicious, and of an almost lu-
dicrous abundance and regularity in
appearance.
AT Montevideo he was allowed to go
ashore with the men. Mr.. Blake, the
visit to pay and took David with him.
That visit marked a new develop
ment for the boy. He saw beauty Of
life for the second time, and recog.
nized it. The wide venue of villas
set in private parks violently colored
by such green's and flower hues as he
had never conceived possible, the play
of fountains in shaded patios, the
'~lcisurely people attended by native
scrvitors clad in Withdrawal walked
through it all with a sensation of win
dows suddenly flung wide on every
side of him, so that vista after vista
leaped into his view. He said little.
But changed forever were his ambi-
tons. Never again would the house
on Madison emu represent for him
the epitome of handsomeness and
wealth.
Rotten climate, old mani" Mr..
Blake observed to his small compan-
ion as they walked back through the
town. Its the wind off the pampas;
the pampero."
He moved his shoulders disgustedly.
But David did not agree with him.
I'm goin' to live here, sometime
he stated, soberly.
The officer stared, then laughed.
Don't pick your town too quick :
he counseled. Wait until you've seen
more. Uruguay, the Argentine-pooh!
Too flat! Too much clay! Now, far
ther down-there is something to see.
David nodded gravely.
TIL see more. first" he accepted tie
advice. II can some place like this,
! mean to have a house like one OF
these"
His voice trailed but into silence. his
habitual ~rettcence in revolt at havins
said so much.
.sYYou had better learn the lingo
then" said Mr.. Blake. without irony
He found David Noel an unusual boy
and he had g 9 fortunes made IN
these lands with less foundation 81
- AFgpf ~Mr - =