George S. Patton

“ THE BOOMERANG WHEN darkness settled a figure began to follow Patton—a tall, ungainly, heavy-shouldered figure. It shadowed him down the single street of the desert town to the depot, where he bought two tickets and checked two beribboned trunks; it lurked at his heels when he went back along the dirt sidewalk to Conley’s restaurant, the largest of the score of unpainted pine shacks that made up Searles. The restaurant faced the single track of the railroad line, and as Patton ate his supper, the figure stood on the ties, quiet and watchful. ”

“ Today he was allowed to see her, and as he entered the library, his face was radiant with sunny smiles.
Patty looked up, smiling too, and held out her hands in greeting. From the lace cap that crowned her hair, to the tips of her dainty slippers, she was all in white, and her pale face and waxen hands made her look so like an angel that big, strapping Bill held his breath as he looked at her.
“Are you really there?” he asked; “are you fastened to earth? I somehow feel afraid you’ll waft off into the ether, you look so ethereal.” ”

“ With women it may be different, but no man can give a list of Patti’s adornments on any occasion; he knows only that they become her, and that he sees only her radiant face. Before our murmurs of delight had ceased, Patti, who had not entered the room, but merely stood in the portal of it, turned, taking the arm of the guest who was to sit at her right hand, and away we marched in her train, as if she were truly the queen, through the corridors to the conservatory, where dinner was served.
CRAIG-Y-NOS.
It was my privilege at the castle table to sit at Madame Patti’s left. ”

“ Moreover, he is a thorough gentleman and a true man. I hope you will be very happy with him, Patty.”
For some reason this speech exasperated Patty beyond all measure. It seemed as if her friends were settling her affairs for her, without giving her any voice in the decision. “You are a little premature, Bill,” she said, without a smile. “I’m not engaged to Mr. Van Reypen, and I do not know that I shall be.” 306
“Oh, yes, you will, Patty; but don’t be hasty, dear child. Think it over before you decide, for you know there are other things in the world beside wealth and social position.” ”

“ Patty, if you put on such airs, you’ll be old before your time!”
“Airs, nothing!” retorted Patty, and with a skipping little dance step, she crossed the room, picked up a sofa pillow, and aimed it deftly at Roger, who caught it on the wing.
“That’s better,” he said. “We can’t have any of these grande dame airs. Now, who is the lucky man who is to take you out to dinner? Me?” 26
“No, not you,” and Patty looked at him, critically; “you won’t do, and neither will Kenneth, nor Phil Van Reypen, nor Mr. Hepworth.” ”

“ But as Miss Patton belonged to the upper class of society, there was a wide gulf between their conditions, and a runaway match was the only way out of the difficulty. Gov. James Patton Preston was named after his grand-uncle. James Patton was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in 1692. For many years he was a prosperous navigator, and crossed the Atlantic twenty-five times with “redemptioners” for Virginia; he was also an officer in the royal navy in the wars with the Netherlands. Having obtained a grant of 120,000 acres above the Blue Ridge, he himself settled in Virginia in 1735. ”

“ Patty smiled back, really helped by his hearty sympathy and strong, ringing voice.
"I HATE to be so,—so unable to stand things!" she exclaimed, pouting a little.
"You're no Sandow girl," he replied; "but—one can't expect an apple blossom to be as strong as a—a cabbage!"
"Nor as strong as a great big Westerner," she returned, looking admiringly at the stalwart Neptune, and thereby pleasing him greatly, for Big Bill was honestly proud of his pounds and inches. ”

“ Here he attended the parish school, till, in his twelfth year, he was put to his father's trade of stocking-making. Paton soon freed himself from the family workshop, and began to support and educate himself. He put himself for six weeks — all he could afford — to Dumfries Academy; he served under the surveyors for the ordnance map of Dumfries; he hired himself at the fair as a farm labourer ; he taught, when he could get opportunity, in schools, and even for a time set up a school for himself ; but every spare moment was devoted to serious study. ”

“ The only representation of any sort, as to title on the part of Patton, to be found in the whole record, is the letter of July 13th, 1818.
In this letter Patton says:-'The land patents are in the name of Thos. Gaskins, for whose services the land was rendered, were by him _____ to Wm. Forbes, and by him to Hicks & Campbell, of whom I received, and will give you a deed, with a warranty, as soon as you reply to this letter.'On this letter Mr. Loughborough relies to make out his proof of fraud; and in it (if anywhere) resides all the misrepresentation to be found in the case. ”

“ And I think so, too, Nan; it doesn’t seem fair or right to say a man is a bounder,—that’s what Roger called him,—when we don’t know anything about him, really.”
“Patty, you’re a goose! Don’t you suppose we’ll find out about him? Of course, we can’t, but your father and Mr. Galbraith,—yes, and Roger Farrington, will soon find out his standing.”
“Well,” said Patty, with a relieved sigh, “then I needn’t bother about him any more. 45 But, Nan, I have troubles of my own. Philip and Roger are both mad at me!”
“Goodness! Patty, how awful! Do you suppose they’ll stay mad all day?” ”

“ Mr. Fairfield regarded his daughter approvingly. Though Patty had not been cross or glum the day before, she had been silent, and now she treated her hearers to a flood of gay and merry chatter.
Only a fleeting shadow across her face, or a sudden, pained look in her eyes when Spring Beach matters were mentioned, revealed to her watchful father the fact that Patty's gaiety was the result of brave and honest will-power. But such shadows passed as quickly as they came, and the girl's pleasant and sweet demeanour was not unappreciated by her elders. ”

“ His leisure was devoted to art, and he commenced to paint in oils. In 1843 he entered the schools of the Royal Academy in London, where he began a lifelong friendship with (Sir) John Everett Millais [q. v. Suppl. I] , but the Academy training proved uncongenial, and Paton soon went north again. Senior to the Pre-Raphaehtes by a few years, Paton sympathised with their ideals, and anticipated some of their practice, but he did not share their ardour for reality, and his pictures, being more conventional both in subject and in style than theirs, more readily won popular approval. ”

“ What do you think, Patty?”
“Far be it from me to cast reflections on the goods my host provides, but, generally speaking, I confess I like my table a few feet above the over-attentive population of Mother Earth.”
“Oh, pshaw, Patty!” exclaimed Philip. “You’re no kind of a sport! You’re a pampered darling of luxurious modernity.”
“Gracious! What an awful thing to be!” cried Patty, in mock dismay.
“And, anyway, Patty,” said the blunt Mona, “if you hadn’t put all those old weedy flowers on the tablecloth, there wouldn’t be any ants and things. They’ve mostly come out of your decorations.” ”

“ And with a saucy bow, Patty left Big Bill, and strolled away on Jack Pennington's arm.
"You're a regular out and out belle to-night, Patty," he said, frankly.
"All the men are crazy over you, and all the girls are envious."
"'Tisn't me," said Patty, meekly. "It's this ridiculous green rig and my unkempt hair."
"Shouldn't wonder," returned Jack, teasingly; "girls always look best in fancy dress."
"So do the boys," Patty retorted. "Isn't Bill Farnsworth stunning in that Neptune toga,—or whatever it's called?" ”

“ Patton was a frequent contributor to the American newspapers. She has composed music to several poems, among which the best known are "Kind Words Can Never Die" and Alfred Tennyson's 'Ring Out, Wild Bells." In 1891 she published a volume entitled "A Handful of Pebbles." consisting of her poems, interspersed with paragraphs and proverbs, containing the essence of her happy philosophy. She has ever been interested in the education of women and is an earnest believer in woman suffrage, which movement she has aided by tongue and pen. Her hand is ever ready to help the needy. ”

“ Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield looked at each other. They knew that to say a word to Patty by way of warning would be likely to precipitate the breakdown that they feared, so they were careful to speak very casually and gently.
“Anything I can do for you to-day, Puss?” said her father, kindly.
“No,” said Patty, still frowning; “but I wish the flowers would come. I have to make twenty-four garlands before I go over to the schoolroom, and I must be there by ten o’clock to look after the building of the platform.”
“Can’t I make the garlands for you?” asked Nan. ”

“ One man deems a picture perfect, another man does not. But a crystal ball is indubitably perfect.”
“Indubitably is an awful big word,” said Patty. “I’m afraid of it.”
“Never mind,” said Kenneth, kindly, “I won’t let it hurt you.” 150
Then the doorbell rang, and in a moment in came Elise and Roger.
“Hello, Ken,” said Elise. “We came for Patty to go skating. Will you go, too?”
“I can’t go to-day,” said Patty, “I’m too tired. And it’s too late, anyway. You stay here, and we’ll have tea.”
“All right, I don’t care,” said Elise, taking off her furs. ”

“ But there is not a patch of vanity in Patti’s sunny nature. Her life has been a long, unbroken record of success—success of a degree attained by no other woman; no one else has won and held such homage; no one else has been so wondrously endowed with beauty and genius and sweet simplicity of nature—a nature unspoiled by flattery, by applause, by wealth, by the possession and exercise of power. Patti at fifty is like a girl in her ways, in her thoughts, in her spirit, in her disinterestedness, in her enjoyments. Time has dimmed none of her charms, it has lessened none of her superb gifts. ”

“ But a’ easy time and good clothes don’t amount to a hill of beans with a woman if she ain’t happy. So—play fair with her, Patton. In the long run, it pays to do what’s right. You know that. Nine times outen ten, when a man picks up a club to take a’ underhanded shy at another person, Mister Stick [80] comes whizzin’ right back and gives him a crack in the head like one of them——”
“That’ll do, Blandy,” interrupted Patton. His voice was hoarse with anger. ”

“ Now, I'll run away while you pose, for I MIGHT make you laugh at the wrong time."
"Don't go," pleaded Bill, but Patty had already gone.
"What a beautiful thing she is," said Cromer, as he worked away at his sketch-block. He spoke quite as if referring to some inanimate object, for he looked at Patty only with an artist's eye.
"She is," agreed Bill. "She's all of that, and then some. She'll make a perfect Spirit of the Sea. I say, Cromer, help me rig up my Neptune togs, will you?"
"Of course I will, old chap. But Miss Fairfield isn't going to be on your float. ”

“ So Patty went back to the drawing-room, and insisted that her stepmother should go for a little refreshment. “I can hold the fort alone now,” she said; “you’ve no idea how capable I am, now that I’m really out. Run along, Nan, and get some of those sandwiches; they’re awfully good.” 22
“It isn’t romantic, Patty, to think about eating when you’re celebrating an occasion like this,” reproved Philip.
“Well, I’m not romantic,” declared Patty, “and I never expect to be. Oh, how do you do, Mr. Galbraith? It’s so late, I feared you weren’t coming.” And Patty held out her hand to Mona’s father. ”

“ As he was only a dinner guest, of course Kenneth had no such array of gifts, though the Farringtons had given him some pretty trifles, 61 and Patty gave him a charming little Tanagra statuette she had brought from Florence.
“See what Elise gave me,” he remarked, as he showed the bronze paper-knife. “Jolly, isn’t it?”
“Yes, indeed,” returned Patty, relieved to see that Elise had not given him the ring after all. “It’ll be fine to cut your briefs when you’re a real out-and-out lawyer. What are briefs, anyway?” ”

“ Passarini, L., “Il Comparatico e la Festa di S. Giovanni nelle Marche e in Roma,” in Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni Popolari, i. (1882) .
“Passio Sancti Symphoriani,” in Migne's Patrologia Graeca, v.
Paton, L. B., s.v. “Atargatis,” in J. Hastings's Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ii.
Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther. Edinburgh, 1908.
The Early History of Syria and Palestine. London, 1902. [pg 097]
Paton, W. R., “Die Kreuzigung Jesu,” in Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, ii. (1901) .
in Folk-lore, i. (1890) , ii. (1891) , vi. ”

“ Pitt, then residing at Walmer, which possibly led, on Pitt's return to office, to his appointment as one of the lords of the admiralty, which he continued to hold under his old captain, Charles Middleton (now Lord Barham) . On the change of ministry in 1806, Patton—who had been promoted to the rank of admiral on 9 Nov. 1805—retired to his house at Fareham, where he principally resided during the remainder of his life. He employed himself in reading and writing, though he published nothing except ‘The Natural Defence of an Insular Empire’ (1810, 4to) . ”

“ Suddenly he moved it, until the dish of mistletoe ice cream was directly over Patty’s head.
“Fairly caught!” he cried; “under the mistletoe!” And before Patty caught the jest, Roger had kissed her pretty pink cheek, and then calmly restored her plate of ice cream to its place in front of her.
“You villain!” she cried, glaring at him, and pretending to be greatly offended, but smiling in spite of herself at his clever ruse.
“Good for you, my boy!” cried Mr. Farrington, clapping his hands. “I wish I had thought of that myself. But it’s a game that won’t work twice.” ”