The spectator., 1921-10-14
PART ONE

Ky the end of october. with the dis pefSal of that foliage which has served all summer long aS pleasant screen for whatever small privacy may exist between American neighhorS, we begin tN get our autumn high tides of gos- sip. At this season of the year. in our towns of moderate size and ambition, where apartment houses have not yet condensed and at tue same time >equestered the population, one may secure visual command of back yard beyond back yard, both up and down the street; especially if one takes the trouble to sit for an hour or so. daily, upon the top of a high board fence at about the middle of q block
 Of course an adult who followed such course would be thought pc culilr; no doubt he would be subject ID undesirable comment, and presently might he called upon to parry severe if. indeed. not hostile inquiries; but boys arc considered SD iueNpleahle that they have gathered for them selves any privileges denied their parents and elders; and boy can do such q thing as this to his fuil content. without auyhody'S thinking about it at all So it was that Herbert filings worth Atwatcr. Jr.. aged thirteen and Il few months. sat for considerable time upon such fence. after school hours, every afternoon of the last week fin October and only one person par. ticularly observed him CT was stimu- lated to any mental activity by his procedure. Even at that, this person was affected only because she was Herhert'S relative, and of an age sym pathctic to his-and of sex antipa thetiC.
 In spite of the fact that Herbert H. lincsworth AtWater, .Ir., thus seriously diSportng himself on his fathers back fenco. attracted only this audience of one (and she hostile at @ rather dis tant window) his behavior really should have been considered pquant- " interesting by anybody. After climb ing to the top Of the fence he would produce from interior pockets a small memorandum book and a pencil; sel- dom putting these Implements to i'm mediate use. His expression was grave;y alert, his manner more than husinesSlike; yet nobody could have failed t0 comprehend that he was en- toying himself, especially when his at tiiude became tenSe-as at times It certainly did Then he would rise, bal ancirg himself at ndr0it ease, his feet aligned one before the other on the inner rail. a foot below the top of the boards, and with eyes dramatically shielded beneath a scottish palm. he would gaze sternly in the direction of some object or motion which had at- tractcd his attention; and then, having satisfied himself of something or other, he would sit again and decisively cn- ter a note in his memorandum book.
 He was not always alone; he was frequently joined by a friend, male, and, though shorter than Herbert, quite as old; and this companion was inspired, it seemed, by motives pre- cisely similar to those from which sprang Herbert'S own actions. Like Herbert, hc would sit upon the top of the high fence, usually at Q little dis tnnce from him; like Herbert he would rise at intervals, for the better study of something this side of the horizon; then. also concluding like Herbert, he would sit again and write firmly in little notebook. And sel- dom in the history of the world have any sessions been invested by the par ticipants with so intentional an ap- pearance of importance.
 That was what most injured their lone observer at the somewhat distant back window, upstairs at her own place of residence she found their I'm portance almost impossible to bear without screaming. Her provocation was great the important importance of Herbert and his friend, impressive ly maneuvering upon their fence, was so extreme as to be all too plainly vis- ible across four intervening broad back yards; in fact. there was almost reason to suspect that the two per formers were aware of their audience and even of her goaded condition and that they sometimes deliberately in creased the outrageousness of theil importance because they knew sht was watching them. And upon the Saturday of that week. when the note book writers were upon the fence a intervals throughout the afternoon Florence Atwaters fascinated indigna ton became vocal.
 vyi,e things" she said.