The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-17

The boys were in the playing fields of the Abbey school, and their shouts and laughter came through the open windows of the gray old building from which they had Just been let loose. There were no more lessons they called 1t, but for the second form master, Henry Trant. there was no playtime.
 He sat at one of the open windows few feet above the lawn, bending over pile of papers, correcting Latin prose. The afternoon sun, which put golden glamour upon tho Elizabethan school house and shot little arrows of light from the weather vane on the cathedral tower. above the trees, touched his forehead. It revealed the silver threads in the hair which framed his lean, ascetic face and deepened the lines about the eyes and lips of the schoolmaster, who looked as though he had worked too hard, suffered too much and en~ joyed too little.
 Several times he groaned as though the "howlers" in. the Latin prose hurt him with a physical pain. Presently he put down his red ink pen with a frown and listened to noise in the room above his head. It was a noise which made the correction of Latin exercises impossible to a man with nerves-the noise of footsteps pacing up and down, up and down, upon bare boards; restless steps, irregular and irritating.
 The schoolmaster went to the door.
 Aubrey! Aubrey, old man." he called out.
 The footsteps stopped, and after a slight pause, a voice answered:
 "Hullo,"
 1l- toly "A it outside under Gods good sky. l cant do a stroke of work with those boots of yours banging into my brain"
 There was no answer, and Henry Trant returned to his desk and bent over his papers again. But the Latin exercises were doomed No interrup- tion for moment or TWO later the door opened and young man caIne into the room.
 The likeness of the newcomer to the elder man would have told any one that these two were brothers, He had the same type of clear-cut features, and bluish- gray eyes, ana curved upper lip--the short curved lip which had descended through many generations of Trants belonging to the good old Devonshire stock. But there were no silver threads Tn his hair and no lines about his eyes and mouth. Aubrey Trant was 10 wears younger than his brother, but in ways and in thoughts there was infinitely more difference between them. Now Aubreys boyish, bronzed face wore a worried look, and he flushed deeply when Henry Trant swung round in his chair, with Soou- >natured irritability
 Hang it all, I'm frightfully busy, old man."
 50 am l." said the younger proth- CT. I'm packing up.
 Packing up?"
 The schoolmaster was startled. His lifted eyebrows expressed astonishment.
 What do you mean. Aubrey? You're not going?"
 The younger man rattled some money in his pockets and tried to hide his nervousness by answering in a casual tone of voice:
 Fact is, I have decided to slip off tomorrow morning. I'm bit Of d nuisance here, and somehow or other this Elizabethan atmosphere does not inspire my literary work. haven't done a stroke since I came down"
 Henry Trant pushed his papers on one side, rose from his chair, and Iut his hand on his younger brothers shoulder.
 My dear lad. this is a sudden c1anSe or nllttH, lSH It ''N">7 ii : you were going to stay six weeks more. Whats up?'
 ''Nothing's up," said the boy with he bronzed face.
 His elder brother looked at him searchingly.
 You haven't been quarreling with my little girl again have you?'
 Aubrey Trant laughed again, but the flush on his face deepened. and he avoided his brothers eyes.
 Have we Quarreled before?
 oh, like cat and dog" answered Henry.
 He stood smiling in his whimsical way at the boy who. seemed so much his junior that Henry felt more like a father ') him than an elder brother.
 ~ don't understand why you two don't hit it off together! t Ever since you have been down here you have quarreled at golf and quarreled at tennis and used uncommon inge- nuity in finding new excuses for uuarrels." He sighed. and the