Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-10-16
A Boy's Quiet Life

N,,,, you would call companion.
..rlv IN the morning and returned
=. IN the day. In the summer no would
q, a while on the porch; IN the
s,,t.r, before the fire there ne always ],
n 20 bed at half-past s. Then ia
W., W.. IN and begin my reading. l was
,~.v, n little afraid of him. though l
70" "n;d be ever give you any reason Tor
living in this hole! ~.
% "So lie never condded in me in the
Hc never laughed. hunlmed
49,, - or seemed to take any interest
!" .u' ,bs actions going on about him.
Tnou,h he often smiled, his attitude
nV ",woy, that Of n man deeply ab'
,orbed in thought. ,,,,
Uni 'n,a no ever answer the bell?'
"yo Either or Mrs. Horne an
r.,ed the bell. He had sisnifed that
.y.nted nothing to do with the VII.
i.,.,,. who called him miser, which
Irht,e,, he was; for he had the
s,..,,s instincts Of frugHlity. neve'
s.,.a him; and now feel sorry ftr
s,m Not n friend in the world, SO for
In ! know
.T,te the Merchant Of Venice went
\. bancroft, defensively- "Why dots
4. world hate him so? They took MS
money and they took his daueh.er.
what did he get out of that DEAL that
In should detest him."
rho adventurer emptied his glass 'i
I,,,mndv and reflled II. He looked
Noulringly at Bancroft. who pushed his
,oblet toward the bottle.
"How about the time they st'heo
yeu!" :.
40 you heard about that? II
&.te ANYTHING, it will be this town and
lhs inhabitants, though I wish no mar"
10 either 4.
"Aud you never felt the desire to
.,eor out and see what the world was
"NA thousand times. But caution
I,lways held me in. Supposing f9iieG
and had to come sinking back II
Tas the fear that ] might fail miser-
shly that kept me here. That sounds
lio timidity. Perhaps it is. ! am
no Judge. But It Will be seen that
lat nothing BY having patience. I'm
Young, The law of averages gives me
Iplenty Of time to 20 a.venturing. but
how about you? You must have seen
lsomethine OF this world" ..
The adyenturer welcomed this open. .
Linz with secret satisfaction. To thrill
| thi, young mind, tantalize 1t, bewildeE
III. So he spoke of Europe. Asia,
Africa, the South Seas; books. the
Irreat picture galleries, cathedrnls and
temples. Through 1t all Bancroft slipped
bis wine and triod to visualize these
verbal enchantments. Here were tho
1places he had dreamed Of when a
6oy-the great ana glowing world out
side. A temple in the Burma dust,
smiling lagoon in the summer seas.
II am going to give you a little ad.
Twice." concluded the narrator. go
laway for q few months
why"
Because rs soon as the world learns
Yabout your riches. all manner of men
dicants will be milling in your hall
way, Crooks In foreign cars. charity,
committees, relief organizations, oil
Ipires, ordinary thugs in hopes Of your
being fool enough to keep large sums
of money about. Your mail viii mount
waist high, for you will be on every
Isucker list in the country. There will
be ten thousand ingenious plans to
separate you from your money, and
nine thousand OF them within the law.
You call the Great Adventure Company
Ipreposterous; wait until you see some
Iof the other prospects! And YOU will
fall Tor some OF them. Whyy Because
lyou can afford to risk few thousands
lout Of curiosity. Go away, and inside
OF six months you will have been for
gotten some other millionaire's son
Twill be the target. Go to New York
1.-THE New Bagdad and take another
name; learn something about human
beings. Contact. All the learning
lthere ever was is worthless without
contact. What's in your head now?
Lumber. Contact will turn 1t into
! polished citron."
To print his personality indelibly
spon this receptive mind; he believed
pad accomplished this. Now to
the boy out of these protected en-
Iv,rons, where he could say come in or
70 out. where there was confidence
ana serenity. To get him into New
iork, where diffidence would jostle him
On one side and confusion on the other.
Ihe boy had q pleasant, attractive
zee, singularly clear In the skin /;
Meady, gray eyes. Some day, when
ueN eyes began to observe and weigh
humanity, they would be difficult to
smuse. lie was we'll set up, too. So
tneh TO excite his Ina agination and
uas MIN away from this stronghold.
ane Two glasses OF wine had exhilarated
nanerott' lie felt eSpansively charita- :
W. toward the future, toward the past
%ward this entertaining adventurcr,
@ most interesting man he had ever
/ 49, Ihere was a mischievous inclina.
SUh 70 get the ten thousand, toss it
~sMe The mans plate, and demand a
svntract, II only to see how he would
S,.s!h coms the shoe k /; but Immediately lie
wMIprehended that 1t was. the wine
Soutta was urging him to make q fool
.H,Mm1sSelf. He laughed.
,.WWhat's the joke?"
You are.'
T, In" "si', nothing could be franker
st s" .nat, l had proposed that we for
omnan an about the Great Adventure
lPany. nnlIPmaany. but evidently you are still
"SShy rs q whimsical absurdity."
Ib.,nai months In war camp has
kSvsne.a you to skepticism," said the
IHou"auurer wisely shifting the subject.
If,suS IfuSet thing. You made no real
IaI,Ehtlps among the boys. You were
Iyou u.unrow Maw to them, and all the whilo
M" "eLe crazy to mix In. but didn't
now Lumber; all you have
hea hsSa from books was lumber, since
lWhsr taught you to be a mixer.
Inss,.M. you went into town-the one
A6u'. your camp-you went alone and
uliIt around the nmhlin lihraru VM,