Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-03-20

io~LoOlulNSNeT. WuEkLtcI Tic IogS HN4t
sorry for him or whether they genu-
linely liked him. he had very good re.
suits with them at the examinations
Stokes was quite pleased with himself
and with Spender, too. Things went
on very nicely for q year or two.
And then Stokes feet started witch
ing, It wasn't his fault, Of course. al
ALL It was a hangover from the Great
War. II his feet hadn't been soaked
all those hours in that dirty water
they could have behaved like any other
lschoolmaster's feet. But they didn't
They started twitching. And then
Walter Stokes started drinking. And
when he started drinking. he began
to recall his literary ambitions, how
he was going to write great dramatic
poems like his master, Swinburne. and
now he was anly a miserable school
master, a nobody, an object Of ridicule,
he wished he we're dead.
Bill Spender saw what was hap
pening. He saw that Stokes was drink
ing secretly and drinking a great deal.
( He realized that unless he did some
thing about it, his friend was doomed
more doomed than he had been that
night in France. for he would take a
( lot more time in dying and the process
would be much more undignified He
was quite unfit to be anything else
IN the world than a schoolmaster. If
he lost his job, he was finished.
Now and again Stokes locked his
room. The pretense was that he was
working on a marvellous new Manual
Of English Literature. He was, Of
course. drinking. So Spender got a
duplicate key TO his friends room. He
came in and poured all Of Stoke
hi 4
then, when Stokes objected, he knocked
him down. He did this two or three
times and it worked quite well for a
time. So well, in fact, that Stokes
feet got better and he fell in love
with the sister Of one of his pupils
and married her. That was quite all
right by Bill Spender He liked the
girl very much, too. She was frail and
charming. She would bring out all the
best in Stokes. She would make q man
Of him.
So Bill Spender, too, fell in love.
He didn't feel so responsible for Stokes
The two gentlemen were approaching 4
middle age. They were good teachers.
And they were married. So they were /
made house masters within year or
two of each other. 1t could be said that |
Walter Stokes and Bill Spender had. /
on the whole. made a success Of their
profession. In course Of time they
would become Head-masters some
where.
And then Bill Spender realized that
Walter Stokes was taking to drink
again. Those feet we're really nui-
7ance. Spender could see IL in the face
Of Mrs. Stokes as well as Walter Stokes
himself. Her eyes seemed to get big
ger and her face to get smaller. 1t
made him feel wretched. He didn't
lnow what he could do about it, either
he could get a duplicate key made
gain, but It wasn't quite so easy now
hat Stokes was married. TO steal into
lis room and knock him down. Be
ides, Mrs. Stokes hoped against hope
hat no one realized what was going
n. It was almost distressing. There
1as no doubt at all that Stokes would
% something dreadful sooner or later.
lie would start singing ballads at his
7indow or go TO take prep one even
ng and fall down dead drunk on the
avn.
So Bill Spender made up his mind
D have it out with his old friend.
pender had Tuesday evening to him
IF and Stokes had Wednesday even
u. Spender changed round with one
his masters one week, and told
Jokes that he would like to go out for
run with him in his car. He said
e knew pleasant little plblic-house
yer in the Pentlands and it would