Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1930-05-15
IN TWO PARTs-PART ONE


DAVID STRONG had always felt
horror of expressed sentiment
Whatever form it took he regarded
as sentimentality; and. sternly repress.
ing any manifestation of 1t in himself
he turned upon its exhibition by Others
a look of mingled pity and contempt
AS a small boy he had wriggled UNI
easily out of the hands OF too alice
Tomato hands of auntS and sisters. He
had even wriggled out Of his mothers
hands when she had caught him with
the avowed purpose of stealing a kiss
But there was nothing unusual in this
The other boys he knew had the same
healthy diStaSte of affeCtionate demon
stration. When he was ten he was
sent away to school and on the station
platform. as he was about to take the
train with his father, he suddenly
amazed his waiting mother and two
older sisters by bursting into tears
Fortunately, the train left at an early
hour and, in addition TO his family
there were only a few s~tragglers or
the platform to see this unnanly eX-
hibition. which young David Strong
Immediately explained.
/ lO4l N1lit " ltlNt lily hOSs it
smiled. and saw TO it that his words
were loud enough to reach the ears
of the stragglerS. The family accepted
the explanation. Doubtless, the stray
glerS did so, too. But when David
was safely on the train and his father
was lost in a newspaper the boy looked
out Of the car window. pictured his
mother and sisters IN their way home
in the family sedan, and faced the
truth. He had not been crying be-
cause he was leaving his dog-he had
cried because he was leaving his
mother. But she hadn't known it, and
She never would know it. His lips set
tight. He had hidden her goodbye
with a manly shake of the hand. He
was no m%ollycoddle to kiss and spoon
AS David grew older. this outer re-
serve persisted and deepened. He was
devoted to his father, his mother. his
sisters. He was the most considerate
son and brother in his native town
thoughtful. generous, ready for escort
duty. held up as q model to other
sons and brothers. But it never oc-
cured to him to give his mother a
hlial hug, or to leave a casual fraternal
kiss on the cheek of a sister. He simply
didn't do that sort Of thing. Nor did
he tell them he was fond of them.
He couldn't. Aunt Mollie, his mothers
splnster sister, who went in for what
she called solid reading and the new
movements" said he had an inhibition
and advised him to struggle against
1t. David, who was not without a sense
of humor, grinned at her cheerfully;
and his mother. who could not endure
the lightest criticism of her beloved
only son, remarked coldly that if an
lnhlbltlon was a fault, David was en-
titled to it. So far as she knew, she
added, he hadn't any others. David
grinned again. He'd have been glad to
say something nice to his mother in
return for this-something nice that
he could carry off as a sort of a joke
but nothing occurred to him. He was
as sparing Of affectionate words as he
was of demonstration.
He went through college and a law
course and was admitted to the bar.
Then, to the intense relief and delight
OF his father, who was by that time
a judge and much looked up to, he
accepted a partnership in the judges
offices and settled down in his home
town instead of beginning his career IN
Chicago, as his family had feared he
would do. David was SO silent, so say
ing in the little matter of words, that
the family had known nothing about
his plans. He was amazed by their
general relief, and by the sudden lift
ing of an atmosphere of tension that
had hung over the Strong home for
months. If he had known that they
were worried about his possible de-
parture he'd have tried to set their
minds at rest by telling them he
wouldn't exchange his home and fam
lily for any job anywhere. Or could
he have told them? Probably not
Now that he came to think of it, he