Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-06
IRISH


product. His ideas of anatomy were
certainly wonderful to behold. Had
such an elephant existed, every hunt
er in the world would have been
securing the jungles.
Goodness! what is it?" she asked,
holding the drawing fiat, then end
ways, then upside down. "Oh, 1 see.
It's Vesuvius."
Jaw! Say, kids, what is this pic
ture?" 10, demanded, snatching back
the drawing.
Elephant! they shrieked.
There. smarty!"
She sat down on the deck. Let me
draw one" The children clamored
about her shoulders and William
craned his neck. With few deft
strokes a real elephant appeared; he
had the right kind Of ears trunk,
wrinkles, eyes.
"Oh, that's real elephant" cried
one of the children.
And there's your child. They don't
want real elephants, they want make
believes, for they live in a world Of
make-believe.
I'VE like Uncle Bits elephants,
cause they're so high up!'
Il see," replied Ruth. gravely. you
are all cubists. / didn't know that"
The children seized the two draw
ings and made off to exhibit them.
You're as bad as they are" she
laughed.
Amt they great? But they like
my zebra best. All you have to do is
to draw donkey and send him to
Jail"
You are always thinking of that
elephant"
Sure l am. If don't ride an ele-
plant between Bombay and Calcutta,
it's going to break my heart. Ever
since l was Ave I've been wanting
to ride elephants. None of your zoo
stuff, but the real article. howdahs
with Masopic aprons hanging down
the sides, and w. g. embroidered with
pearls like the sleight-o hand
takers use in the vaudeville. Great!
And now I'm going to tell you Sc
cret. I've ordered the biggest. high
est elephant in Jaipur."
"What?"
yeah He'll be there at the sta
tion for US. and We'll have him all
the way up to Amber and back, how
dab and ALL"
william Grogan. and after all my
efforts to make you save your money"
Ssh! Here's the joke. It's the
state elephant and all it costs me is
Ave dollars, including the howdah. It's
first come first served. They told me
all about it back at Cooks in New
York. And they say the elephants
as big as Jumbo. You and me and
some Of the kids-huh? Style? Be
lieve me. nothing that ever walked
around Coney will touch u.s."
Ruth smiled back into his eyes, but
she was deep in wonder. 1t was ut
terly impossible to associate this boy
with the caveman who had dragged
her off the deck during the storm.
The terrible strength Of him when
he was reused! There were marks
upon her arm yet. She had been as
feather in his grasp. After all, it
was easy to understand why the chill
dren loved him: he was a child whose
body alone had grown up. His brain
would never develop much beyond
what 1T was. When all this wonder
full journey was over he would re-
turn to his drain-pipes and bathtubs
his cravings satisfied. To have
dreamed all his life of elephants and
spangled howdahs! II that wasn't
pure boy. what was? He was the
kind children ran to and dogs fawned
over.
She sighed. She, too, loved children.
But they never put their soft little
arms around her neck. because inv
stinctively they sensed the repel-
lence. She dared not soften toward
them. There was nothing enigmati-
cal in this attitude. She did not want
the hidden depths in her soul stirred
by the potent knowledge that never
would she have children Of her own.
She had failed. in everything. And
some day this boy would marry and
settle down, and there would always
be children around him. his children
and his children's children.
This isn't a guide book. 1t Is eight
months or more in the life Of a young
man who was vitality interested in liv-
ing. who was making his boyhood
dreams come true by the sheer force
of will. If the fulfllment was not
exactly in conformity with the con-
ception. that was due to these un-