The Pulaskian., 1921-11-24
PART ONE


 Bv the end of October, with the dis |,srsal of that foliage which has served m summer long as a pleasant screen hr whatever small privacy may exist stween American neishbors. we begin n get our autumn high tides of ges- |sn At this season of the year. in our togns of moderate size and ambition. where apartment houses have not yet T0densed and at the same time sguestered the population, one may |arure visual command of back yard |Ryond back yard. both up and down he street; especially if one takes the Foa5le to sit for an hour or so, daily, |pon the top of high board fence at |B0ut the middle of q block.
 Of course an adult who followed |aeh a course would be thought pc |aBar. no daubt he would be subject |D undesirable comment, and presently |night be called upon to parry severe k Indeed. not hostile inquiries; but |gs are considered so inexplicabIe bat they have gathered fer them alyes any privileges denied their aents and elders; and g boy can do urh thing as this to his full content, Nthoat anybody's thinking about it at Hg. So it was that Herbert filings worth Atwater, Jr., aged thirteen and few months. sat for a considerable lae upon such q fence. after school e0urs every afternoon of the last week in October; and only one person par 9eulafly observed him CT WAS stimu- Iated to any mental activity by his procedure Even at that, this person Eas affected only because she was |lgbert's relative. and Of an ago sym |athetic to hjs-and of a sex antipa- |aete.
 In spite of the fact that Herbert H. |ilssworth Atwater, Jr., thus seriously Exporting himself on his fathers back Ftnce, attracted only this audience of |ne tand she hostile at rather dis Fant window) his behavior really Ehould have been considered piquant- Y interesting by anybody. After climb |lg to the top of the fence he would [odnee from interior pockets a small Eenorandum book and a pencil; sel- |m putting these Implements to i'm FAlate Use, His expression was FaVeig alert, his manner more than |sIaesslike; yet nobody could have Esaed 10 comprehend that he was en- Eging himself, especially when his at- Elude became tense-as at times it |stalnly did. Then he would rise, bal Eeing himself at adroit ease, his feet Flshed one before the other on the aeF rail, q foot below the top of the Eaartis, and with eyes dramatically |elaed beneath a scottish palm, he |0nid gaze sternly in the direction of [ae object or motion which had at f&'ed his attention and then, having 'Sled himself of something or other,
 would sit again and decisively en-
 note in his memorandum book.
 ne was not always alone; he was Eluelfly joined by a friend, male,
 though shorter than Herbert,
 'e as old; and this companion was fpaed, it seemed, by motives pre- IFV similar to those from which Esng Herbert's own actions. Like
 pef1, he would sit upon the top of
 aigh fence, usually at a little dis
 e rom him; like Herbert he
 alu rise at intervals, for the better
 as of something this side of the Eaoh ; then, also concluding like
 'peft' he would sit again and write
 u's Tn little notebook. And sell
 ID the history of the world have
 sessions been invested by the par
 .pants with so intentional an ap-
 a'anee of importance.
 ""s Wndt most injured tnelr
 N Ooseryer at the somewhat distant M'Ddow, upstairs at her own
 " U residence; she found their im-
 ,a'iee almost impossible to bear
 "u' screaming. Her provocation
 p sreat; the important importance
 sSfoert and his friend, impressive
 snaAeuVering upon their fence, was
 'ueme as to be all too plainly vis-
 scFoss four intervening broad
 ,s. safds; in fact, there was almost
 S" 10 suspect that the two per
 s'S were aware of their audience
 zen of her goaded condition; and
 aey sometimes deliberately in
 pos a the outrageousness of their
 .S'nee because they knew she
 o,s ,ssa5ehing them. And upon the
 4oay of that week. when the note
 s,s writer's were upon the fence at
 .ais throughout the afternoon,
 IaVe Atwater's fascinated indigna-
 ~ uecame vocal.
 's thingsl' she said.