New-York tribune., 1920-11-19
By
Heywood Broun

deed, in the early chapters, which d.,
with the boyhood Of Felix F.v e' ~
writer of our day has gone 50 fr,,. :"
so deeply into the heart Of cb;la
great deal Of highly amusing and ;n..
esting material has been write.
America about children. Perbans ;.
the thing which America has done s S
but most of it is superficial. T.r,:s
toms Penrod, for instance, is the bss.
fun in the world, but he is aIvavs ~.
show. He is a boy seen By ~, VI
eyed and sympathetic grown.pn
sympathy is only a bridge. Deli 49,,
nothing like that. He IS much elo.S
He has made the leap. '''
THE writing exercise was in nro.
Felix had finished it long since sns s..
dreaming of his future. He was ,;..s
ing his return, as famous
Maple. The people Of the town boa -,
put a brass plate on the cornar
blair's boarding house, just as ho hss
read about in books in similar c.~'s
proclaiming the honor lie had don. ~
town by being born there. And 80
dreamed, he unconsciously wrots or -;
tablet, Felix Fay, the Great NOvsl;.,
was born here. May 10, 1885,
"The principal was softly MAXIM a,
rounds of the room. Felix had not 49,
him enter, and was not aware a. -
presence until he saw the tail sb...
leaning over his shoulder, looking .. Il,
tablet. Felix was proud OF his hand
writing, and he pushed the exercise ora,
for the principal to see. But the n,;u
cipal continued to look al the tsb..
He had seen the name on the side ~
Blair's boarding house that noon and
now he had found the culprit.
"'Are you Felix Fay?' he asked
ayes, SIR
"'Did you write your name on Ii.
side of Blair's boarding house?'
"The question came like an earth.
quake. Felix had forgotten all ahou.
it. Now he realized that he had com.
mitted crime in thus desecrating III,
civic landscape.
"fes, SIR he said family.
A'What did you do that forv II.
principal asked sternIv.
"At that moment Felix becam. co,
scious OF the telltale words wrIttsr
on the paper before him. He blusbsd
all over. Those words seemed to him
naked revelation Of his secrst
thoughts. He wanted to destroy III.
paper, but he could not make q moys.
ment.
81 don't know he said DULY.
"'You don't know?' repeated the tor.
turer. you must be very proud Of
your name He took up the tablet On
which the name was written. What.
this?' he exclaimed, looking at it mora
closely.
Felix shrank into his clothes, while
the principal read it over carefully 10
himself. Then he turned to Felix.
"I want you,' he. said, bitingly. 70
show the room what you have been
doing instead Of writing your lesson.
Write that on the board three times
Miss Croly, the teacher. flushed an
grily, and made a protesting gesture.
"As one under sentence Of death,
pale, but rigid, to conceal his trembling,
Felix walked slowly to the blackboard.
faced the whole room, with its hundred
staring eyes, lifted his head proudly,
turned to the blackboard and wrote the
offending sentence slowly in large, de-
hant letters.
Then he crumbled the chalk be-
tween his fingers, let it drop to tn.
hoor and walked back to his seat.
There was hush all over the room.
Nobody knew what it meant. Felix's
bearing was so little like that of cul-
prit that it did not seem that they were
intended to laugh at his discontinue.
The principal was embarrassed. That
he said finally, is what is known as
egotism,' and went out"
Well say it's some novel.