The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1921-12-30
PART II-Continued.


As he grew older. his insatiate Gu
rfOsity enabled him to expose unnum-
bered weaknesses, indiscretions and
social misfortUnes on the part of ac-
1uaiutances and schOOlmates; and TO
every exposure his noise and energy
gave hideous publicity; the more
his victim sought privacy the more
persistentIy he was sought out by
Waffle. vOciferOus and attended b.
hilarious spectators. But above all
other things. what most stimulated
the demOniac boy to prOdigies of sat
ire was any tender episode or symp-
tom connected with the dawn of love.
Florence herself had suffered excru-
ciatlngly at intervals throughout her
eleventh spring, because Wallie dis
covered that George Beck sent her a
valentine: and the humOrist's many.
many squealings of that valentines
affectIonate quatrain finally left her
unable TO decide which she hated the
more. Wallie or George. That was
the worst Of Walle: he never '1et
up; and in FlOrences circle there
was no more SOLDERING threat than,
@T'n tell WaIIie TOrbin - As for
Henry RoOter and Herbert filings
worth Atwater, Jr., they would as soon
have had head-hunter on their trail
as Wallie Torbin with anything In his
hands that could incriminate them
IN an Implication of love-or an ac-
acknowledgements of their own beauty.
The fabric Of civilized life Is inter
woven with blackmai; even some of
the uobleSt people do favOrs for other
people who are depended upon not to
tell somebody something that the no
blest people have done. Blackmau is
born into us all, and our nurses teach
us mere bIackmail by threatening to
tell cur parents, If we won't do this
and thGt-and our parents threaten
TO tell the doCtOr-and so we learn
Blackmail is part Of the daily life of
a child; displeased, his first resort to
get his way with other children is u
threat to tell: but by-and-by his
experience discovers the mutual bene-
fit Of honor among blackmailers.
Therefore, at eight II is no longer the
ticker to threaten to tell the teacher;
and q little later, threatening TO tell
any adult at all is considered some
thing of q breakdown in morals No
toriously the code is more liable TO
fnfractiOn by people of the physically
weaker sex. for the very reason. of
course. that their inferiorIty of mus
Gle SD frequently compels such q sin
If they are TO have their way But
for Florence there was now no such
temptation. Looking toward the de-
molit.on Of Atwater & Rooter, nm ex-
posture before adults of the results
of Truth" would have been an effect
OF the sickliest pallor compared TO
what might be accomplished by a
careful use OF the catastrophe WalIIe
Torbin.
All I'm all, II was a great Sunday
for Florence. On Sunday evening Il
was her privileged custom to go TO
the house Of her fat, old great-uncIe.
Joseph Atwater. and remain until nine
o'clock. In chatty companionship with
Uncle Joseph and Aunt Carrie, his
wife. and few other relatives who
were in the habit OF dropping In there
on Sunday evenings In summer.
lemonade and cake were frequently
provided; in the autumn, one stilI
found cake, and perhaps a pitcher of
CtcdE nCH SAOCA dPpAcS were Always
a certainty.
This evening was glorious; there
were apples and cider and cake and
walnuts, perfectly cracked, and a
large Open-hearted box of candy.
Naturally, these being the circum-
stances. Herbert was among the
guests: and. though rather at a dis
advantage, so far as the conversation
was concerned. not troubled by the
handicap The reason he was at
conversational disadvantage was
closely connected with the unusual
supply of refreshments; Uncle JoseSh
and Aunt Carrie had foreseen the
coming of several more Atwaters than
usual. 10 talk over the new affairs of
their beautiful relative. Julia. Sell
dom have any relatives new affairs |
been more thoroughly talked owe. than
We're Julia's that evening, though all |
the time by means of various iymbols. |