Elbert County tribune and Elbert County banner., 1920-11-19

darky boys, while his father worked
on a truck. The Juvenile blacks liked
the white infant. and tousled him with
friendly fists.
At the end of the alley was high
board fence. The older boys were
always climbing over, but this was
denied Con. What was on the other
side? How many worlds of delicious
terror. and what passages in the gray
forbidden maze of Memphis? The
small white person pondered on the
alley stones, twisted his dress, and
shifted the sky.
He did not cry, because his father
would come soon and give him bath,
and they would eat supper together
With a few dollars saved, John
Lexington went on in the spring. and
the two-year-old rolled across the
plains in day-coach, lulled by its
dusty rhythms. enchanted with the
reaches of space. Con discovered the
stars, but he was always too sleepy
to hold them, so the discovery was
endlessly new. Great snowy ranges
mind; the monster rocks were fab
ulous in color and dimension.
A logging-train carried them around
the swelling base of Shasta, to saw
mill. John found here a sharp renewal
of his anguish. his sensibilities quick
ened in the presence of the mountain,
his old grief yelling afresh in the
oil n fnfTnd mi a
loggers, while Con rode with the
driver of the banty-engine, or helped
the horses uphill by shouting. The
great peak across the gulf of air be-
came part of the boy. He breathed
its purity. Men of the camp were
loud friends, the two women pleasant
large creatures. but the woods were
inexpressibly alluring, and the mount
ain-that was fine! Here he began
to know himself, to fix his own lden-
ity as something more than an answer
to the name Con. This food nourished
more than body.
When he was three. his father let
go their moorings; the old tide of rest
less yearning swayed him, and they
Mthi W San JoIl iStNihS
ton could not forget. He drank as
other men drink, but no cup was deep
enough. And there were other forms
of soul-dark to be had along Dory
street, where they dwelt-the gentle,
deep sins of the Orient. John Leving
toms eyes seemed gradually to be sink
ing into gray shadows. Little Con,
honest young person. became more and
more dear to him. though never draw
Ing 1.-THE of the other love.
They shipped to the Philippines, and
Con forgot all that had gone before,
except the mountain, and he thought
of that only when the waves ran high.
The steamer was gray tramp,
wet inside and full of smells.
There were sails, too. and Malays in
the crew. The cook was a Chinese
named Bill. and he screamed at Con-
a mad laughter which only himself
and the small boy seemed to compre-
hend.
One still night In the harbor of
Elopura, when dozen lights shone
inshore through the gloom, and the
ship made gentle creaking sounds
above the faint shore noises, brown
Celebean returned to the decks very
drunk. BE was IN his home waters !;
he would show that Chiney. Con was
with the cook, listening to fairy-stories
told In their original tongue. when the
drunk ripped the Chinese across with
a broad knife. Thus some old racial
grudge was settled. John Lexington
found his son waiting patiently beside
the dead man. Con discovered that
stories are not always finished.
Solemnly he went to bed.