Evening star., 1934-06-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES &. TRAcEwELL.

ceives the name of Percy, but fortu-
nately we escaped. receiving nothing
more opprobrious than the title -Four
Eyes" which was rendered innocuous
by the simple expedient, much to the
oculist's misgivlng, OF removing the
spectacles forever. This gesture no
doubt showed will power, especially in
view of the fact that the oculist was
none less than the great DR.. Wilmer
himself.
If that small boy had possessed pow
ers of looking into the future, he
would have had recourse to pad and
pencil, to jot down the many fine
stories which came from the lips Of
the colonel and his friends.
AS 1t is, nothing but hazy memory
remains Of a fiow Of conversation
which waited out, on fine Summer
evenings, to the comparatively few
passersby on Sixteenth street.
There were more carriages than au-
tomobiles in those days.
The name Of Sixteenth street later
was to be changed. for q short period,
to Avenue Of the Presidents, In the
French style, but 1t was just plain
Sixteenth street then, wide and open,
even in comparison with the many
wide and open thoroughfares of the
National Capital. There were no tall
apartment buildings on the street in
those days. There were, on the other
hand, many fine vacant lots, which
helped give q sense Of space and
wide open places.
One thing We are sure OF, the state
Of the weather always received it due.
1t was an opening tribute, an
His heaven. and all was right with the
world, especially the United States,
since 1t was in the hands of good
Republicans.
There was much talk of travel In
strange lands, with the accent placed
on England, the home of Dickens,
Carlyle, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and
the rest Of the literary saints. There
was much talk about the Kings Of
England and their respective places,
especially in regard to events.
A certain event happened In the
reign Of the good Queen Anne-no, it
was in that Of one Of the Georges.
But which one? Well, the argument
would go on for hours, 1t seemed, un-
til small ears grew tired Of 1t, but that
made no difference, OF course.
The placid face of the old colonel,
as he sat like some strictly modern
Buddha. was a sight never forgotten.
There were some neat creases, worn
by time. in each cheek, but these. too,
were pink. altogether good to look
upon.
With the generally cherubic cast of
his countenance the colonel combined
blue eyes Of the finest tint. Real blue
eyes. after infancy. are not often seen.
There are gray-blue, green-blue, very
pale blue and many others, but seldom
definitely blue-blue.
Well. the old fellows eyes were that
sort OF blue. looking at you with an
amazingly direct glance. which some
how seemed to peer into you deeper
than most eyes could penetrate.
He must have been a remarka BILE
man. Such. at least, is childhood S
memory Of him. and no doubt It was
an accurate impression, as SO many of
childhoods views are.
He was one Of those men blessed
with the ability to say the most
startling things in a manner which
offended no one. Most people are not
able, to make even ordinary state
ments without the risk of finding
themselves misunderstood. The colonel
could say 'the damndest things" as
he phrased it. without offending any
one. It was 6 gift.