The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1924-10-30
Boyhood Scenes
Observation-Disclosures


bride to her friend who had been mar
ried for a good many years. 1--WE
went thru the town where Tom was
born and he showed me where he
went to school-and he almost found
the tree where he had carved his
initials-only they had cut 1t DOWN."
"Goodness!" said the long-married
woman. II hope you acted distinctly
boredI That's terrible trait to let
developT
II don't understand" objected the
bride Indignantly. why. Pm terribly
interested In everything about Toms
life! 1t was perfectly fascinating to
think / stood right where he had at
tended grammar school"
"Uh, huh." said her friend. 81 re-
member just as well when Henry and
! spent our first Christmas at his
granduncle's. where he had lived two
years as boy. Henry and I would
start out for a walk Of five miles or
so. and we'd progress about half of
one. by Joye!' Henry would say as
We emerged thru the gate. The San
born house is still standing and as
implanted as eyerl Just look at It!
See that window-no, the one by the
bushes. Well. many's the day I've
spent in that room. Hank Sanborn
and carved ships in there. I'm going
to see whether Grandma Sanborn will
let me take look
How perfectly lovely!' / would
cry.
"We would go In and then upstairs
and stare at very uninteresting
room. horribly furnished. and while
stood first on one foot and then on
the other Henry would exclaim over
the cracks In the floor and the dents
in the window-sill Being a bride,
smiled sweetly and said breathlessly
that it was too wonderful for
wordsi
FINALLY would drag him away
and in the middle of the next block
he would spy q pump all frozen up.
'Gee!' Henry would cry, look at the
Fitkins' pump! Say. Ca, Fitkins and
used to play marbles around that
pump! Come look at iti' And Henry
would drag me gasping thru snow
drift and while / stood shivering he
would gurgle over the pump and
laugh and tell me how he swiped all
Gals marbles when he wasn't look
ing, and l would smile again and re-
gard the pump solemnly and say: Did
you really play here. Henry? How
wonderful"
"And then would hobble back thru
the drifts and stamp my feet to IN
freeze them, and Henry would spy
the Bazaar store. Grasping my arm
enthusiastically he would rush me
across the street and direct my at
tention to the roof. Now. the roof of
a two-story wooden building in a
small town is not precisely an inspir-
ing object. / would look seriously at
its rusty edges while the populace
paused to watch our odd antics.
See that roofr Henry would ask
proudly. Well. that's the ROOF that
Ty Ransome and used to hide on
and nobody could find US! Right on
that roof! We always won the hide
and-go-seek games because we kept
the secret!"
Really, Henry?' would murmur
in awe. When you are bride it is
a thrilling episode in your life to view
the spot where your husband hid in
I-spy!
II remember distinctly regarding a
a cement sidewalk for five minutes
because Henry said it was the first
one in town and he had marked it
while soft with his hand. All we
could find were paw marks where
some animal had run across it and
that was what kept US so long, be-
cause Henry said 1t was awfully queer
and he knew his mark was right there.
I defy any one to extract any in
tense amusement from the surface of
a cement walk. There is an appalling
sameness about ii that strains ones
nature.
81 think 1t really was the cement
walk which woke me from my trance,
a1tho dawn began to break when
Henry had me looking at the spot
where he once had a lemonade stand
as boy on circus day and the place
where he had found his dollar watch
he lost I figured out that even if
Henry we're king or emperor or had
saved an army or discovered a germ.
these uninteresting spots would still
be just as vastly uninteresting and
really had nothing to do with Henry
as knew him-and so / struck.
"The next time we went anywhere
| took pains to arrange that 1t was
spot where Henry had never been in
his life and ! have kept up the prac-
tice, and so we are still In love with |
each other. tremble to think what !
would have happened had encour-
aged him In seeking out reminiscent |
spots! l am glad to have Henry tell |
me about his boyhood days but / alb |
solutely refuse to let him show them |
to me, and II you are wise you will do |
fha xamof"