Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-05-28
"A Mans Breath" Etc. Etc. Etc.


Don't pick your town too quick.
he %counselled. wait until you've
seen more; Uraenay: the ARGENTINE
Now. farther down-there is some.
thing to see." -
David hooded gravely.
"I'll see more, first" he accepted
the advice. "I meant some place like
this. I mean to have a house like
one Of these &sF.
His voice trailed out into silence.
his hAbituAl r%eticence In revolt Ut
having said 80 much.
"You had better learn the linro,
then" said Mr.. Blake, without irony.
He found David Noel IN unusual boy,
ana he had seen fortunes made in
these lands with less foundation Of
forcefulness than his.
brevity. -.
He was unconsciously heartened BY
the mans lack Of surprise.
Later, when the Maya Girl, finally
reached her port at Rio dc Janeiro.
Mr.. Blake's advice gained precious
value for the boy. He had bade him
wait and see lower down" When
the matchless harbor opened before
David, the stretches Of pure water
made opalescent by delicate nnists in
which islands seemed to float like
bouquets, the shining city clasped BY
forests densely rich that rolled back
to distant mountains starting up
asainst the hori.on in lofty, Jagged
peaks, the dazzled boy understood the
wisdom Of the counsel. He thought
then. and never afterward altered the
opinion, that he had come to the most
beautiful place in the world.
On the return voyage up the .coasts,
David hired a sailor from Argentina
to teach him Spanish. NO n had
told him of.she difference in lansuage
study Portuguese. The fee to his
teacher was one Of the dollars re-
manning from the bounty OF the
Princess of the little shoes. Perhaps
that knowledge helped him to hard
study; it was part. of his adventure
fund. He learned with rapidity. with
him; and practised assiduously at
every port the boat touched.
ina study called his attention to q
difference Inv English- diction. The
captain and Mr.. Blake did not speak
like the dark-eyed gentleman who
had bought the white shoes, but
neither did they speak like the men
The boy set himself to the tasks of
observation and imitation Of what he
found desirable. He made compAri-
sons, n took mental notes; becom-
ing, in time, a fastidious critic Of
himself and others. From language.
he passed to the consideration of
many details Of manner and deport-
ment.
The Maya Girl did not return to
New York. Her new cargo was con-
signed to a port in South Carolina,
and from there she again ran down
the coasts far below the equator.
David did not regret the erratic
movements Of the floating home he
changes. He would have stunned
New York, from choice, in those days.
He had a shy, proud dread of meet
Ing h little girl Or the gentleman,
lest they might think him begging
more favors. He was in no hurry; his
Of youth.
He spent two years Sn the Maya
Girl. Then Mr.. Blake, attained a po-
sttion for which he had manoeuvred
for years. He became master Of q
vessel belonging to Brazilian owners,
and plying between Boston and Rio
dc Janeiro. He took, his proteke
David with him to this new position.
The boy wat thirteen years old, then,
and much Spanish intercourse had
made the language almost as truly his
! own as English.
On its first voyage, the hin had the
honor of carrying as passenger the
brother of its wne ne was an
aristocrat Of the extinct Brazilian en-
pire;. an old man with a voice that
flowed like poured cream and A man
ner at once mild and lofty. He had
IN air of being maeniicentlv indiffAr-
ent to everyone about him while in
reality observing all things with an
Unsuitable inquisitiveness. h 1tvAs
and emotions Of other people enter
tanned him enormously. He wss not
! slow to perceive an entertainment Of
novelty in Captain Blake's interest in
David: and proceeded to fnyestirAte
its source by the simple method Of
Tho Baron soon found there u.r.
deeps in David Noel beyond hailow
%soundinRs. Delighted. ~ an unAntici.
pated diversion. he Summoned TIA
boy to him on every possibies occa
deiicately grapplinp FOR 'ths =. tisTsc
ton of his curiosity. So DEITY
aged were these Conversations .sran.
,, ping irons that the. inexperiencad
Quite une ssn peauS,vs he 'n conti Iss; re- te