Booth Tarkington

“ Of course I do not claim that every child can be reached as readily. Laurence is rather unusual, and has an intellect—or perhaps I should say, in the new spirit, he has a character and is a soul, which lends unusual interest to anything undertaken for his development. However, I must not take up all the time of discussion and will yield the floor to others, though I should be glad further to explain Laurence's development under the Mabel Pilman Smith theory to any of you who would like to know more of this at any time, personally. ”

“ Laurence was able for come time to maintain a sitting position upon Roger's head; but upon Roger's calling to mind that teeth have other uses than mastication, Laurence was dislodged.
At this it was Laurence's turn to be pleasantly impressed. “'All us guys,'” he repeated thoughtfully. “'All us guys in New York!'” And having acquired this new accomplishment, he said glibly: “Well, all us guys in this town can run faster'n anybody else there is.”
“You can't, either. Yous guys here can't run as fast as us guys in New York.”
“Yes, we can,” said Laurence. “Us guys can run faster'n yous guys.” ”

“ The chauffeur, in overalls, was kneeling upon the floor, sponging the underpinnings of a wet car; and Laurence, swaggering up to him from behind, pretended to deliver a series of terrible blows upon his back. “Hello, you ole Charles, you!” he said.
Charles responded with a grunt not eloquent of cordiality, and the comedian turned to other matters. He picked up a tin cup containing a small amount of a lazy amber fluid, and brought it to Roger.
“There,” he said. “That oil's good for your gizzard. I dare you to drink it.” ”

“ Master Eliot continued to be game against odds for almost fifteen minutes; and he indeed made his mark. He made more than one; but in the end Laurence and Roger did all they listed with him. They pounded him; they beat him heartily; they called him all that they had learned from the truck-man to call the movie man; they covered him with the black grease they had on them; and they took his taffy away from him, and divided it, and ate it while still busy upon him. ”

“ A child must develop his will if he is to become a complete entity. A parent's command to a child is that parent's confession of failure to know his child intimately and to understand that his child is a soul. A child will never be or do anything that is not suggested to him, and he must be allowed to develop through the parent's suggestion alone ”

“ But Laurence slapped the wall of the garage in token of victory, disallowing all such claims. “I won,” he remarked. “Yous guys can't run like us guys.” And then, as Roger began hotly to challenge the unsportsmanlike claim, Laurence said, “Oh, close up your ole fly-trap,” in a bored way and walked into the garage, where the chauffeur was washing a car. Roger followed as far as the open doorway, but halted there, looking morose. ”

“ You see I agree with Mabel Pilman Smith absolutely—first, that the parent must intimately know the child, and secondly, that children have character and that they are souls. Encouraged solely by suggestion, Laurence almost learned to read when he was only six and a half. ”

“ I can only say that Laurence is—at least so it seems to his mother—a very perfect and sweet example of its making for betterment. We will now take up any questions you may wish to ask of Mabel Pilman Smith.”
She sat down, and several ladies rose simultaneously; but Mrs Coy, without embarrassment, selected one. “I think we will hear Mrs. Eliot first,” she said. ”

“ Eliot, “I have a little boy named Robert, for his grandfather. He is a very observing child—though of course I know every mother thinks that!—and it has been so interesting to me to observe his development. His grandfather, my husband's father, happens to be the head of a large wholesale hardware business, and we think Robert looks a great deal like him. Well, one day I heard Robert playing with some other boys in our attic, and I'm afraid I was guilty of listening at the door. I could hear Robert's voice louder than any of the others; he kept shouting to the other children to stand in line ”

“ Laurence returned, frowning, for just now he naturally felt a strong animosity toward Charles; and with his forefinger he formed upon the white wall of the garage, in plain if irregular black letter, the name “Charles,” obtaining his writing material from the denser coatings upon his person and garments. Then after “Charles” he added the three simple old-fashioned words of the cook's request.
“There!” he said. “I guess that'll show ole Charles!” And at a sound from within the garage, he added hastily: “We better run!” ”

“ Norman Coy and the frequenters of her salon. Unexpectedly, at a corner Laurence halted.
Fifty yards away a larger boy, fat and obviously self-contented, was leaning against an iron fence and sweetly engaged with a mass of hard taffy on the end of a little stick; his business with this being to dissolve the taffy by a plunging motion in and out of the mouth. His eyes were affectionately occupied with these emergences and disappearances.
“What's the matter?” Roger inquired. “We better get home before—”
“Wait a minute,” said Laurence. ”

“ It is not enough for the parent to know the child, and to realize that the child has a character and is a soul; the child must know this too.”
“Yes indeed!” Mrs. Threamer exclaimed, and went on hastily “Now, I said to Elsie: 'If you want to take this part—'”
But again Mabel Pilman Smith's voice was increased in volume continuing; and Mrs. Threamer, after standing for some time longer, sat down, looking somewhat buffeted.
“The child I have most frequently used in illustration, little Roger,” Mrs. Smith went on, “is like other children in the various traits which all children share in common ”

“ Coy. “I think I shall adopt the suggestion of Mabel Pilman Smith,” she said. “Before leaving, you will all naturally be interested to see the child who has been, as it were, at once the principal inspiration and object lesson of her theories. I shall send a maid to suggest to Roger and Laurence that they come in to for a few moments as we close this very interesting discussion.” ”

“ He applied to the movie man all the phrases firs applied by the truck-driver to Roger and himself, and then applied by Roger and himself to the truck-driver. Roger listened with gloomy pleasure, and spoke in the same manner, reproducing the original with a fidelity which extended even to the accenting of every word
AFTER that they became more cheerfully sociable, again practiced with missiles, tagged each other, played a migratory form of hop-scotch ”

“ She coughed with a determined loudness, rose and said: “If the lady will pardon me, I should have explained that of course the new ideas apply with equal force to both boys and girls, and I think this will perhaps answer her question satisfactorily. I have spoken of male children chiefly as a matter of grammatical convenience, to avoid I the continued use of the expression 'his or her' and—”
“Oh, I see,” said Mrs. Threamer. “Well, as it happened, Elsie—”
This person stared gloomily at the tickets, and at Laurence and Roger ”

“ How happy two gallant little men could be if they ran out to play in this beautiful big yard!'
“Each of them seemed to be thoughtful for a few seconds, as if considering the wishes of the other; and then, not saying anything at all, they turned and went out together; and I am sure it gives Mrs. ”