New Britain herald., 1926-03-04

Henry Rand nus ii, puiY sou-- Harry WE called him in those days. II" vas H proud man. | cold man l recall my father saying that Thad- doua Hand had como from Virginia an that h hoas rd that his anc"s- tor. had hncn cmOng the original settlers G. Nir-ini2.
 Al any r>ir, We all knew that he "1@ pro"l of his uamc an his ''utaU'r iorctat,ors." ODay got up from his chair. - want another ci- >ar Let, go in the living room Vh.m it's moro comtortablc,"
 He iratoIl.d lilIo% in au easy "nair and sat h"aviiy in q rocker, Mrs O'Duy, finished with the dinner digIcs, produced sewing basket and sat in tna dining room. knitting.
 ODay. utter ligmiug Il fresh cigar, vent on iyijh his story. Its i'm r0rjlnt that you kno~ what q proud sort ot mjU your grandfather was, Rand. 70 you1l understand th' things hc did | can soo his reason now, a.thou2h at inc time thcrc Ii1nf seem to hc any excuse at au for what he did.
 "Th@ddoua R"nd ran th" only drug a,opr in town. r. he'd had any con.- petition he NouIdu" have got much husin,z~. for it NH@nt q pleasure to ,irul with him. iI" was nolcr q miNar, like most small town business men. hut i..pJ 10 hin If a~ much as postjbi". When you wont in his drug store you told him what you wanted and you got i. That's all there was 10 i). EIo was polite enough, but strictly business, used 10 drink sodas in his srorr wh"n was little shaver That'S on" reason why re- maua,r him so wall.
 "T don't hllpH how old your father Harry Ean6--Was when ThaddonA can" to Durhin, hHt he was just q lttlr kid and he grew up with the rest cf inc boys an went to school s-ith m. Unlike his father, hc was . r,U popular lad. He was just d regular hoy-inlo every sort of mis- chicJ that r,d-bloodcd boys get into, an fond of rlayin' pranks. He was q ring l"adrr in all tho sports an he vas acAorally looked mp 10 by all the other village boys. People used to wonder how Thaddcus Rand, with his cold. proud ways, could have su"h a yoM.'
 "I's hard" said Jimmy blinking, for lc was pretty close 10 crying. "Irs hard for ne t0 imagine anyone calling my father Harry, As we knew him, Hcnry was about the only thing that suited him. X quiet littl" man, yon know, in his gray suits and his derby hat-and his unfaiiing punctraiity."
 "No doubt," said O'Day, there was ,nourh happ,n"d 10 him in his carly ynGrs 10 change him an make different man Of him. But I'll so on.
 "Wcll the years sort of moved along, an Thaddaus Rand still kept his drug store, maxim q fair Twin out of it, as proud as ever. He was as strict as sin with your father. Made him work In the drug store after school hours an never lot him ou' at night. It's q wonder the lad ever fonnd time 10 play al all, but that he did. somehow, as I was tellin' you.
 "Thaddous Rand didn't want his son miyin' so free with the other boys. He had a notion that a Rand vas too good for tho rest of us. But Harry couldn't sec it that way. He made mary friends.
 "I guess he was in his second or third year Of high school-ahout six teen years old-when he got in his scrapc. He fell in love, an he fell hard. One Of these schoolboy infat- nations. you understand, that we older folks always laugh at, but which are no laughin' matter at all when vol 'vc got one. It just about swept Harry Rand off his feet"
 God, It's hard to realize that, exclaimed Jimmy softly. "Nly father in a school boy love affair.""
 We've all had them. Rand. som, of them mild eases and some oI them pro ty violent. Your father was no exception. You didn't know your dad very we'll"
 "No, I didn't, and I'm sorry"
 "Wcl. this thing had been grow. ing for about a year, She was a year or SO younger than Harry. a year behind him in school. A beaut,
 One Of these Latin types. yor know-tho ind that are full blown
 at fifteen.
 Her name was Marie Real, sn she was tho daughter Of the towr shoemaker Angelo Real. Nohodl