Milford chronicle., 1925-03-20

let the devil and Dutch Hill know II
But that floating acid strain held some
thing more than defiance. mayb
: it was forgiveness for Pa Holtz who reaC
r the books of Robert Ingersol and dranl
himself blind out of a stone jug.
There were three rooms in the house
and the Hotties slept in them all-Ms
, had set up a second hand folding bed II
the parlOr. Jo, the good boy" who
smoked cigarettes secretly and enjoyed
the pleasures of the local pool-room
during hours when he was supposed TO
be peddling candy, had a fairly good
brass bed in the little middle room. He
insisted on this arrangement because,
he said, the days heavy work gave him
a backache. Admah slept on a cot in
the kitchen. Tt never occurred to him
to complain about this, but it moved
his mother to one of her rare apologies.
Its sort O. poor picldns fer you,
Ad," she told him once. But we're
only livin' here tempry. Some O.
these days We'll move downtown so we
kin be closer to the schools"
"Oh, that's all right, Ma" said
Admah, who had never considered the
discomforts of his kitchen bedroom.
Indeed, he slept like a stone in those
days. On cold nights the kitchen stove
was q comfort. More than that, the
convenient back door gave him a GER
tain independence. On two or three
golden nights he had waited until the
house was dark then hurried back into
his clothes and tiptoed over to the
Sticks where they kept late hours and
Miss Mabel, just turning seventeen,
often sat on her front porch until twelve
o'clock. For Admah Holtz was break
ing from the Chrysalis, and his mind,
like his voice, was changing its tone,
wavering from falsetto to bass.
Ma" ventured Admah on the night
when she had relented and apolOgized
for the cot in the kitchen. i've been
thinkin' about our mOvin'."
"Yew?" Ma Holtz paused over her
gravestone, her iron spoon suspended, |
allowing liquid candy to drip back into |
the pan. A cricket on the hearth has |
thought Of moving into the apartment |
of the Sun God.
What" she asked, do you think of
movin', Ad?"
'It amt movin' so much, Ma"
Admah corrected himself. But Eddie
Sick says we can sell ten times the
candy we make"
Eddie Stek!" snorted Ma Holtz.
What does Eddie Sick know bout
anythin'? All them Sticks is nothin'
but cheap soap factory hands,"
Maybe" insisted Admah, stung by
his mothers sighting references to the
Steks-already he was recklessly in love
with Miss Mabel. But Mabel goes to
high school and is gettin' educated
good
Book learnin done lot for yer Pa,
1idn't itT' snapped Ma Holtz and
dropped hot candy with an unsym-
metric splash.
'Well, I don't mean what Mabel
lays. It's what Eddie SAYS 1 mean"
what does His Lordsh1p say that's {
10 smart?"
'I been noticin' it myself Them :
)epmint drops go like hot cakes, Ma.
lest like hot cakes. We could sell ten
lines what we make" h
"Indeedr' Ma paused again, gIar- l
ng over her upraised spoon. Il notice {
AAdO OO COllACo AOllO ulOSJ every ulBuB
With half full basket"
Course he does, admitted the boy, =
empted to tell all he knew Of 10 as a y
alesman. "He can't sell much, loafln' 8
ound the barns" y
"You needn't git stuck up jest a
ecause you go downtown every day."
yas all he got for that. 4
"I jest as leave let 10 go downtown"
aid Admah; which wasn't exactly true.
.lready he had a. lght the metropolitan
pirit.
"Jest do the work the good Lord
ives yew an don't kick again the II
ricks,'' Mrs. Holtz spoke piously. s.
An ef theirs anybody needs the u
atience of Job it's me, what with yew ID
Vo boys pullin' both ways. Not that b
D gives me much trouble. He's W
pod boy. But" 10
Her qualifying words were not "
tered. IF Ma Holtz saw any fault in =, =,
De she never said so. Her only ad- ~
ission of the older boys weakness was ~
her continued unprovoked praise of ~ ~
in. She protested too much. Par " y
1t. often proceed in this perverse way, "
ucn as the Chinese refer to their of ~
emons as 1.-THE good people" Ad- u
abs superiority she tacitly acknowl-