The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1921-10-28
PART ONE

by IHe eHu Oh OctODef, WITH the us
perSal of that foliage which has served
all summer long as a pleasant screen
for whatever small privacy may exist
between American neighhurs. we begin
To get our autumn high tides of Cos
sip. At this season of the year. in nur
towns of moderate size and ambition.
where apartment houses have not yet
condensed and at the same time
sequestered the population. one ma
secure visual command of back yard
beyond back yard. both up and dGwn
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 a block.
OF course an adult who followed
such a course would be thought pc
culiar: no doubt he would he subject
to undesirable comment, and presently
might be called upon to parry severe
If, indeed. not hostile inquiries: hut
boys are considered so inexplicable
that they have gathered for them
selves n privileges denied their
parents md elders: and a hoy can do
sHrh a thing as this to his full content.
without anybody'S thinking about it at
all. So ii was that Herbert Illings-
worth Atwater, Jr.. aged thirteen and
II few months. sat for a considerable
time upon such 4 fence. after school
hours. every afternoon of the last week
In October; and only II person par
ticularly observed him or vas 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
pathetic to his-and of a sex antipa-
..hetic.
In spite Of the fact that Herbert H.
lingsworth Atwater. Jr.. thus seriously
disporting himself on his fathers back
fence. attracted only this audience of
one (and she hostile at a rather dis
tant window his behavior really
should have been considered piquant-
~ interesting by anybody. After climb
ing to the top of the fence he would
produce from interior pockets a small
memorandum book and Il pencil sell
NVpII I IN~C " 10
mediate use. His expression was
gravely alert. his more than
businesslike; yet nobody could have
failed tn comprehend that he was en-
.joying himself, especially when his at
titude became tenSe-as at times 1t
certainly did. Then he would rise, bal
ancing himself at adroit ease. his feet
lS,, -, hnfnrA tln athnr nn liz
inner rail. a foot below the top Of the
boards. and with eyes dramatically
shielded beneath a scOutish palm, he
would gaze sternly in the direction of
some object or motion which had at
trncted his attention and then. having
satisfied himself Of something or other.
he would sit again and ~decisively en-
ter Il 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, 1t seemed, by motives pre-
cisely similar to those from which
srrang Herbert's W actions. Like
Herbert. he would sit upon the top of
the high fence. usually ut a little dis
lance from him; like Herbert he
would rise Mt 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 a little notebook. And sell
dom in the history Of the world have
any sessions been invested by the par
Elephants 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 prOvOcati0n
was great; the important Importance
OF Herbert and his friend. impressive
~ ~maneuvering upon their fence. was
so extreme as to be all too plainly Wis
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 O-utrageOusness Of their
importance because they knew she
was watching them. And upon the
Saturday OF that week. when the note
book writer's were upon the fence At
intervals throughout the afternoon.
Florence Atwater's fascinated indigna-
tiOn became vocal.
'vile things" she said.
Her mother. sewing beside another