The Washington herald., 1919-10-11

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Of the Editor of the
For q poor New England boy,
Jerome Edwards, the tragedy OF life
began at the age Of ten. His IA
ther, Abel Edwards, had gone, that
morning. with his wagon and old
nodding white horse, to his wood
lot to cut wood for DR.. Prescott
DR.. Prescott had an obsession for
owning land. When there was lack
OF ready money to pay his exorbi-
tant bills, he seized with avidity
upon . mortgage, and he foreclosed
without grace or mercy.
DR.. Prescott had held q thousand
dollar mortgage upon the Edwards
house for years. Jerome had al
ways a fancy Of It as q huge black
bird. with Kissing beak. perched
upon the ridge pole.
The old white horse coming home
turning out at the beck of a phsn-
tom driver for the bad places in
the country road, was met upon his
arrival at the Edwards cottage with
wild shrieks in q woman's voice. q
child's frightened sob. and q boys
sober answers to the eager ques-
tions Of q small mob Of men and
boys following after.
There was an immediate rush to
the wood lot, but Jerome had
reached the spot first of all On
the shore of a black pool of water.
reputed among the boys to be bot
tomless, he found his fathers hat.
Jerome weighted It with stones and
flung IL in. Then he bolted for
home by another route. Let 'em
say father drowned himself now,"
he gasped out as he ran.
Abel Edwards had been missing
two years when Jerome. studying
the situation day and night. knew
the truth: They could never. al
though they half-starved them
selves, meet the interest on the
mortgage. He made q plan.
He went to consult Squire Eben
Merritt. The squire was a notable
hunter and fisher, and had been
bent that morning upon q fishing
excursion. He was the kindest man
in the place. not rich. as had been
his ancestors, but lived as q rich
man, being possessed Of generosity.
which is the real horn of plenty.
Jerome looked straight at the
squire, and made his little speech.
He had rehearsed it often. When
he had finished, the squire burst
into q great roar of laughter. and
caught the boy by the shoulder.
You don't mean you planned this
all yourself?"
yes sir. I've been layin' awake
nights, plannin'."
How old are you?
Twelve, SIR
by Jove!'
Then a lovely, gentle little girl stole
into the room. Her dimpled arms and
gold curls fell to her waist She wore
a frock Of soft blue below which
showed the finest starched pantalets
and. little BLUE Morocco shoes. The
SQUIRE turned and caught her up, and
she sat on one shoulder with his gold
en beard spreading over her blue
Tne Squire told Jerome to call on
Doctor Prescott and show his plan. )
A small dark. very kind and quick
lady, who was the Squire's wife and
Lucina's mother, showed Jerome the
door, and he went down the street
in a daze. Jerome almost forgot the
important paper he carried. He had
never seen a little girl like Lucina
Merritt
Jerome called on Doctor Prescott.
who deigned to read his paper and
then summarily dismissed him He
hated him In . strange way for q man
to hate q boy. On his way home
Jerome encountered Squire Merritt
coming out Of . woodland road.
with o great string of fish. What
luck, son7" he called out.
He turned me out. I'd like to
kill him."
The squire laughed and made
Jerome walk along with him to his
sister Camilla's, who kept elderly
maiden state in the old Merritt house:
Jerome always remembered that
hour Of tea-drinking and cake-eating
in the arbor with Squire Merritt and
his sister and little Lucina, as ne
would have an especially beautiful
turn Of his Kaleidoscope Of life.
Until he was much older, Jerome did
not fully comprehend in what way
Eben Merritt had solved his financial
difficulties. Then he discovered that
the Squire had made great sacrifices
Of his none too large competency to
buy from Doctor Prescott, and take
the Edwards mortgage into his own
hands.
Now life began to look brighter
for Jerome. He could not 80 to
school in the ordinary sease. SO he
went direct TO Nature. He, in his
sranty tree time, roamed fields and
woods. Jake Noyes. Q queer char
acter who ostensibly was DR.. Pres
cott's coachman, but who had been
permitted to assimilate. and some
said had even been taught much Of
the doctors medical lore, taught
Jercme much about simplss.
Jerome attained o local under
celebrity, since he gave aid for
nothing and with success.
Gradually Jerome's business ideas
and strengthened. There
was an exceptional chance for q
saw mill in the village. He went
one evening to Lawyer Means with
q request that he should sell $265
worth of his land on Graystone
Brook. and came away with the
deed. He then began to save for
the mill.