Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1921-12-07

But What Eventually Ensrossed Her
Mind Was the Thought Of WaIlie
Torbin.
~ nov Detailing them; but what even
tually engrossed her mind was the
thought of Wullie Torbin.
Master Torbin, approaching four
teen, was in all the town the boy
most dreaded by his fellow-boys, and
by girls of his acquaintance, including
many of both sexes who knew him
only by sight-and hearing. He had
no physical endowment or attainment
worth mention; but boys. who could
whip him with one hand" became
sycophants In his presence: the terror
he Inspired was moral. He had a spe-
cial acknowledgement of faculty ex-
ercised clumsily enough by most hu-
man beings, especially in their youth |;
In other words. he had genius-not,
however, genius having to do with
anything generally recognized as art
or science. True, If he had been a
vioIinist prodigy or mathematical prod
igy hC would have had some respect
from his fell0ws-about equal to that
he might have received II he were
gifted with some pleasant deformity,
such as six toes on a foot--but he
would never have enjoyed such deadly
prestige as had actually come to be
his, In brief, then, Wallle Torbip had
a genius for mockery.
Almost from his babyhood he had
been q child Of one purpose: to In
crease by CHASTITY burlesque the suf-
feringS of unfortunate friends. II one
OF them wept, Wallie necessarily pur-
sued him, yelping in horrid mimicry /;
If one were chastised, he could not
appear out-of doors for days except to
encounter Wallie and a complete re
hearsal of the recent agony. Quit,
papa pah-puh, quee-yet! I'll never
do IT again. pah-puhl Oh, lemme
alone. pah-puh :"
/ riosity enabled him to expose unnum-
bered weaknesses, indiscretIons and
social misfortunes on the part of ac-
qualntnnces and schoolmates and to
every exposure his noise and energy
gave Q hideous publicity; the more
/ his victim sought privacy the more
persistently he was sought out by
Wallie. vOciferous and attended by
/ 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-
ciatiEgly at intervals throughout her
eleventh spring, because Wallle dis
covered that George Beck sent her a
valentine; and the humOrist's many,
many sQuealings of that valentines
affectionate quatrain finally left her
una5,e TO decide which she hated the
more, wallie or George, That was
the worst of Waffle: he never 'Tet
up: and In FlOrence's circle there
| was no more SOLDERING threat than,
/ an tell Wallie Torbin - As for
/ Henry ROoter and Herbert Tllings-
worth Atwater, Jr., they would as soon
as Waffle Torbin with anything IN his
hands that could incrIminate them
in an implication Of love--or an ac-
acknowledgement OF their own beauty.
The fabric Of civilized life Is inter
woven with blackmail; even some Of
the u0blest people do favors for other
3 paouta ,,,ho ara darandad upon uof m
tell somebody something that the no
blesi people have done. Blackmail is
born into US all, and our nurses teach
us more blackmail by threatening to
1 tell cur parents, II we won't do this
| and that-and our parents threaten
to tell the doctor and 80 we learn
Blackmail Is part Of the daily life OF
a child; displeased, bis first resort TO
get his way with other children is a
threat to tell; but by-and-by his
experience discovers the mutual bene-
at Of honor among blackmailers.
Therefore, at eight 1t is no longer the
/ ticket to threaten to tell the teacher /;
and, little later, threatening to tell
any adult at all IL considered some
thing Of breakdown In morals. No
torfously, the code Is more liable 10
I infractiOn by people of the physically
weaker sex, for the very reason, Of
course, that their inferiorfty Of mus
Gle ~ frequently compels such sin,
II they are to have their way. But
TO- Florence there was now nc such
| temptation. Looking toward the de-
( molition Of Atwater & Rooter, an ex-
/ posture before adults Of the results
Of Truth" would have been an effect
Of the sickiiest paIior compared To
what might be accomplished By .
careful use Of the catastrophe WaIlie