The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-12-11
Star Shine
and Poetry
BY ALVIN BARTLETT

There had never been a tinge of rO-
mancei to the life Of Hugh Pierson,
and as to- the fanciful and sentimental !
little that was dreamy or ide8fistichad
ever entered his thoughts He y as
tronomer at Boyden college, was
looked upon by his professional asso-
3ciates and the students as a very wise
and gifted person in his especial line
of scholastic dignity, and when he was
seated atshfs table in the little cupoIa
with revolving windows and scanning
the armament he was all ia a class by
himself. for he knew every stellar at
traction intimately.
1t was just before twilight and the
professor was gazing sadly at the fin
nebulae Of the milky way, and wonder.
ing how many thousand years it would
take TO reach Venus in a taxicab, when
a fiery sphere with a long tail loated
across the lens of the telescope.
II declare - uttered the professor.
gluing his eye closer to the instrument.
Then a wild uproar assailed lis
sense of hearing. The campus beyond
the little surface tower of observation
was free territory for any who chose
TO invade it as to stroll or exercise.
Gazing out through the window ut his
side, the professor made out two little
urchins wailing frantiealIy and point
ing upward. The comet the erudite
astronomer had viewed was forthwith
revealed In its real form and sub
stance. Caught on a wire running
e L. -~-zl -. A. .-AS- L,YgI1s,av
was a webbing. whirling object, a kite,
hut attractive and unique and not Of
the ordinary paper type. Its lantern
| attachment was extinguished as the
tail switched that ~appendage around
the wire. The professor went outside.
What is it, my little man2' he in
| quired Of the ~ive-year-old Header OF
the youthful mob.
please, sir, I'm Teddy BIeyer," came
the doleful reply, land Winnie is my
sister"
"YYhat has that to do with it, Teddy
BIeyer, if you please?" challenged the
professor, always kindly with children.
Amos Mansey, here" and the lad
indicated an urchin about his Own age.
a chubby, resolute faced chum mani
fcstly of ruder stripe, says he that
old silk waist of your sister will make
a beautiful faced kite and it did but
it broke loose. And we made the tail
out Of some of her poetry pages, and
| now it's caught in the wires. And may
be we hadn't ought to have used the.
stuff, and it's too late now-boo-hoo ~
D--ez---.. ns..--n a,r+ l,f- 1,-, ,rit.
ically aIoft. "See here, little man" he
observed, "it isftoo dark to risk climb
ihygf thatepofe mntls~ ereacfint foretne'
wires, but / will see that first thing in
| tire morning the kite Is rescued all safe
| and sound" ,t
"Oh, will you-will you?2 pressed
| the small grateful Teddy eagerly.
Won't 1 be glad! And. say! because
| You look so kind and smart and good,
won't you take the kite back to Winnie
and tell her all about it?'
Professor Pierson smiled quantity,
| but the confidence placed in his abiI-
ity to do almost anything in the esti-
nation of little Teddy Bleyer and his
| ~artless, sincere compliment won the
day.
Give me your sisters address. little.
Teddy Bleyer," he directed.
The professor was an early riser. He
| escaped observation and possible ridi-
Guile by arming himself with a long
| pole almost before dawn and getting
the kite safely TO terra firma. lis silk
| face was unmarried, but its tail, formed
mostly of folded sheets of paper tied
/ with knots Of cloth, needed some I'M
tangIiug. He was pursuing this part
of his task when one came free, then
| another and for over an hour PROBES
sor Pierson sat engrossed in scanning
| Sister Winnie's poetry sheets
Poetry! He wa not much given to
/ it, but he knew that here were the sin
cere ~outpourings of a guileless, artlesS
| soul, amateurish but feryent and as a
/ polished, cultured student he recog-
| nized the true afiatus. Professor Pier
son began to take a dreamy interest in
the young lady he had never seen. The
silk face of the kite could probably
never again be used for even patching,
but the transcripts of yagrant
thoughts of beauty were intact. Sister
Winnie's poetry sheets! Really, Pro
lessor Pierson had Toasted on senti-
ment and was glad or it.
1t was odd, but the professor made
an immaculate toilet that morning. He
even placed a rose bud in his button
hole. He wore a really attractive tie,
almost sporty" a student observed to.
a comnaniDn as they pasSed the astute
astronomer on the campus.
If it had not been that Miss Winnie
Bleyer was the most a%rtless, human
and bf~fght-souIed of woman Kind, tile
| professor might have been dreadfnllt
embarrassed. As it wasshe performed
his mission gracefully and well, and
| nleaded for little brother and his com