Evening star., 1924-09-21

snore The mans yelvet-cJRd legs
twnkled upstairs toward his bed
room. Ben Crosby returned to his
supper
1T beats me-" he remarked to his
wife. Hes afraid o. moving ma :
chimes and he's afraid of lightning
bugs. ! need farm hands. but may |
be fried like smelt if I'll tell 'em
bedtime stories or sing EN- to sleep.
Can you imagine a real. honest-to-
goodness farm hand like Pete High
being afraid of lightning
"Boneheads arc seldom afraid of
anything. remarked Mrs. Crosby,
pouring buttermilk
They heard the from; door open.
There's Janey." said Mrs. Crosby.
Hello. alcar. Come right to the table
I've made icc-crcam-Courc. the kind
you like
Janey. daughter of the household.
came in. bearing her guitar. She
kissed both her parents Janey was
nearly eighteen. a pretty, merry girl.
Her father told her of the new man,
of his extraordinary velvet trousers.
and Of his still more extraordinary
fears.
Poor little fellow" she said.
y = i; X
A S the harvest days hurried along,
We vet rants atOneu some"
for his lack of expertness as a farmer
by his unfailing good nature. He
even learned to speak some Eng
lish of certain hestant species,
but he had little opportunity to talk
with his fellow workers. Mostly
they ignored him. or spoke loftily and
with contempt.
The incident at the swimming hole
added little to Velvet Pants reputa-
tion for bravery. The swimming hole
was Sandy Bottom. where all the
workers, hot from their day in the
fields, went for cool plunge after
work. Velvet Pants never went with
them
How does he keep so neat and
clean?" they asked. 1t was Pete High
who solved this mystery.
Yesterday morning" said Pete, Il
woke up earlier than usual. and I
hear tap, tap. tap. like somebody
going downstairs on his tiptocS.
peek out o the door. and it's Velvet
Pants. Just for fun. | follow him.
He goes down to the creek, not TO
Sandy Bottom. but d couple of rods
downstream. where the water ain
more than ankle-deep He strips. and
| takes stick about the size of cane
| and goes like this, 'Ah. ah. h, ah. ah.
| and rokes at the bushes each time he
| says 'ah.' Then he gives one big loud
Ahhhhhh.' and lunges with his stick
| at the bushes; then he bows low. like
he was an ACTOR in a show. He takes
a bath. then. dabbing a little water on
himself like cat does: but he doesn't
go in above his ankles"
| ''Mebbe he amt much on swim
| ming" said one Of the other hands,
but he sure can twang mean gui-
tar He's giving Janey Crosby les
| sons"
Pete High scowled
He is, is he? Well. the first thing
| he knows he won't know nothing
I'm not going to have any wop--.
She likes him." teased the other
man. Says he's got such lovely man
ners. just like what you amt. Pete
| She don't know how yella he is :
Pete High growled. but she will"
| On Saturday afternoons men. WON
en- and children of Crosby Corners
| come to Sandy Bottom. bringing bath
| ing suits 1t is not a very big pool
at it's deepest part it is not much
over feet deep.
How it happened that the small
man with the velvet trousers Should
be passing Sandy Bottom that Satur-
| day noon at the precise moment W III en-
| freckled Johnny Nelson was founder
| ing in the water and calling loudl y
! for help does not matter. Why John
! ny Nelson should be drowning a all
| is something of a puzzle. for he was
| the best swimmer in the county. 1t
| also happened that just as Johnny
| was going down for the ninth or
| tenth time and was calling piteously
| for Velvet Pants to dive in and save
| him, Janey Crosby and a patty of
| girl friends came down to the pool
They saw Velvet Pants, his dark
| face ivory colored. trying to reach
! Johnny with young tree wrench ed
| from the bank.
Save me, Velvet Pants, Save me-,
| bawled Johnny. submerging. and
| coming up for the fourteenth time.
| Not know how" screamed Velvet
Pants in agony. Not know how"
Janey Crosby and her companions
| grew mildly hysterical; Johnny Mel
| son went down for the seventeenth
| and eighteenth time, respectively
Velvet Pants. finding that he could
not reach Johnny with the tree, had
| fallen on his knees. and was pray
| ing aloud in his own tongue. Then
it also happened that Pete High came
racing through the bushes.
"Tll save you. Johnny" he cried
dramatically. He plunged in and
| brought the dripping Johnny to the
bank. The prayers of Velvet Pants
became prayers of thanksgiving. Pete
| High stood regarding him with dis
gust.
| oh Velvet Pants" said Janey
| Crosby. why didn't you jump in and
! save him."
Slowly. sadly the small man shrug-
| ged his shoulders.
Not know water" he said: mot
| know Sweem."