The L'Anse sentinel., 1921-12-23
SMART CHILDREN
By MARY LOUISE coRMIIR.

SJO on accountE' There was the usual
solicitous expression ON William Syl-
vester's young face as he made his fa-
miliar request. Old John Pennynickle
dropped his copy OF the Evening Ca
zette and his mild gray eyes looked
out troublously at the boy from behind
barricade of shabby, missaapen spec
tacles.
"You haven't spent all OF your al
'owance this early, WHIP" he demand
ed. why, when i was your age an al
,owance like that would keep me in
funds for a year."
.But, pater. this is the Twentieth
century,? William Sylvester's stock
wall was delivered with the open exas-
peratiOn of seventeen. Besides, in a
one-horse town like Needs. $50
month is barely enough to get by on
and keep up appearances. 1 meant"
The boy In concluding shot an appeal
Ing .sidelong glance at his mother.
And that lady. whose ruling ambition
was to see her children firmly and
safely established sin the right class"
rallied to his defense.
sylvester is right" she declared in
the judicial tone of one used to hand
ing down final decisions; at is only
reasonable to expect that the son Of
one of Needs leading citizens should
keep up a decent 'front.'"
Il was thinking of the s,ore." said
'pater," Offering feeble defense.
'Ive had TO sell that last lot of hard
ware at loss. Business is pretty dull
just now, you know"
''Business again" Mrs. John Penny
nickle's crisp voice pounced upon the
word scornfuuy. do you consider
business more important than your
children's future? / must say, John
Pennynickle-"
"Oh, all right. mother, all right"
capitulated> the old man hastily. Any
thing, he told himself, to escape an
other of Carries tongue-iashings "You
come around to the store in the morn
ing. VIII. and I'll fix you up"
Thanks, pater," william Sylvester
flashed look of triumph in his
mothers direction. Then he turned
back to his father with an apologetic
grin.
II wouldn't have asked you for this"
he explained, "if it wasn't for the fact
that Norry and Christine are coming
home next week. They'll probably
and well, you know what that means,
pater."
Yes" Pater knew what 1t meant,
wei enough. Money! Each time the
children came home from college he
made feverish trips to the bank. He
would do so again.
Norris was the first to tap the pa
rental resources. He and a college
chum were planning to establish a sum-
mer restaurant.
"Mints Of money in 1t, pater." he
confided earnestly. "All l need to
start in with is about $500. You could
let me have that much, couldn't you?"
Pater let him have 1t. No sooner was
this affair concluded than Christine re-
vealed her plan for an elaborate black
and white frolic.
'Just a little welcome home party"
she told her father sweetly. "Please do
this for me. pater, darling!" And Of
course ''pater darling" did
Christine's little party was pic.
turesque affair that cost several hun
dred dollars. Needs fiocked to 1t and
enjoyed itself hugely.
The day after the black and white
fro1c pater was knocked down by an
auiombile on South Main street. His
family was deeply shocked.
"But didn't suppose anything could
ever happen to pater!" Christine
mOaned to Doctor Stanton when they
went to visit Pennynickle In the Hill
eide hospital.
"Oh, yes" he responded with thinly
veiled sarcasm. "You know even the
best machine made is subject to wear
and tear. In pater's ward the chill
dred fingered about uncomfortably and
blamed themselves mercllessly for the
calamity. Once outside-they blamed
each other. Only Carrie seemed genu-
inely affected by the accident.
I'm ashamed of myself, John" she
whispered to the bandaged figure on
the hospital cot. We've all been driv-
ting you like an old workhorse-"
Pater reached up and patted her
hand
Its all right, MOTHER" he mumbled
weakly. We've had to think of the
future, you know Don't
worry. I'll be out of here In week"
But he was wrong. 1t was a whole
month before he was able to leave the
hospital. At home he found two let
ters awaiting him.
One, containing bill, was from
who was In the White noun
tains. 'recuperating from nervous
The other was from Nor |
ris.
"The restaurant Is coming along |
slowly" he wrote. ''Do you think you
could wire an additional S200-just to
zee the thing throughS' Pater showed |
the two letters to Doctor Stanton, who |
had accompanied him.
"Well," commented the cynical doc
tor, II guess they'll never learn. They |
shOuld be ashamed of themselves" |