Gus Plum

“ Throughout all this Bill shone as an entertainer, a mental uplift that was really welcome, so spontaneous and keen were his talks and comments on people and things. Gus, though having little practice, held his own at tennis and golf; in swimming races and other impromptu sports he greatly excelled; and when a young fellow who bore the reputation of an all-round athlete came for the week-end from the city, Gus put on the gloves with him and punched the newcomer all over an imaginary ring on the lawn to the delight of Mr. Hooper, Grace and Skeets, as well as the admiring Bill. ”

“ An instant later the illusion vanished, for the black horse of Gus was never an animal such as this, never had this marvelous, long gait. Its feet flicked the earth and shot it along with a reaching stride so easy, so flowing that only the fluttered mane and the tail stretching straight behind gave token of the speed. ”

“ They went back, Gus to throw himself on old Dan’s couch and sleep like a dead man and Bill to take up the receiver phones, nodding over the table, to be sure, but remaining generally awake. For two hours he kept catching odd bits of no importance through long intervals. Then suddenly he sat up and, reaching over, poked Gus with his crutch. After two or three hard pokes Gus opened his eyes.
“Say, somebody’s calling for help! I can’t get it right, I reckon they’ve taken Tony away and out to sea again. Can’t tell who it’s from; it’s all jumbled, anyway. ”

“ This remark showed Gus to be possessed of so mean and paltry a spirit, and the wish expressed in it was so perfectly ridiculous, that Ned burst into a loud laugh. He could not help it. Gus looked sharply at him for a moment, and continued his walk up and down the porch, whipping his boots at every step. He was greatly amazed, as every young fellow is, when he learns for the first time that he is not an absolute necessity, and that the world will wag just as well without him as it will with him. ”

“ Presently a waggonette, driven by a very loud youth in a check suit, and with an enormous cigar in his mouth, pulled up in passing, and its driver addressed Gus.
“So you’ve found your way here, have you, my young bantam? Catch you being out of a good thing. Are you going on the grand stand?”
“Don’t know,” said Gus grandly. “We may pick up a trap in the town.”
“Ho, ho! going to do it flash, are you? Well, there’s one of you could do with a little spice,” added he, glancing at Charlie. “I suppose my trap’s not grand enough for you.” ”

“ As Gus entered the hall he saw Bob and his victorious crew surrounded by a crowd of students, who were congratulating them on their success, and among the most enthusiastic Gus was surprised to see three of his own men, Sprague, Haight and Bright. They seemed to have eyes and ears for no one but the members of the winning crew—there was not one of them who took the least notice of him. Gus knew the meaning of this, and it was more than he could stand. Hastily leaving the academy, he made the best of his way to the boat-house. ”

“ The glittering walls of aluminum foil seemed to jump at him like jaws beset with the dragon teeth of electronic tubes. Caught with an overwhelming sense of loneliness and awe as of a man who has entered the forbidden temple of an unknown god he called:
"Is there anybody here? Gus! Where are you, Gus?" Then suddenly he remembered that Gus was gone, that there would never again be his answering voice. He wiped his forehead.
"Bad nerves," he thought. "Mustn't allow them to play tricks on me; pull myself together."
Lee put his tools down and walked into the narrow aisle. ”

“ Gus and I both are aiming for that, but we're going to read and study a lot our own way, too, and experiment; aren't we, Gus? Nobody can throw Edison's ideas down when they stop to think how much he knows and what he's done."
"He certainly has accomplished a great deal," the usually reticent Gus offered.
"And yet he seems to be very modest about it," was Cora's contribution.
"Of course, he is; every man who does really big things is never conceited," declared Bill.
"Oh, I don't know. How about Napoleon?" queried Dot. ”

“ Gus was wonderfully nervous as he commenced his soup. How do I know? Well, I had been asked, I believe, to give the bewildered Gus a little countenance. Gus went home, a day or two later, to the bosom of his family, where he was treated with the utmost honour. He redeemed the watch from the jeweller, and fulfilled his own promise to that worthy man. All through the holidays he basked in the smiles of his proud father, and rode that gentleman's pedigree hack. Corker's highest mark of appreciation was to give you a dinner; with Gus's father it was to let you ride his own horse. ”

“ He scowled at himself in the broken mirror, scrubbed his ears until they burned, wiped the last trace of his recent shame on Temperance Crandall's roller towel and was running a comb through his wet curls when Early Ann burst radiantly through the kitchen door followed by the less impulsive Gus.
"Early Ann! Gus!" cried the young fellow.
"Peter! Peter!" cried the girl. "I've inherited a farm. We'll all go to the movies." ”

“ It would be good to get on one end of a cross-cut saw again, to make Gus cry out for mercy as they sliced through three feet of oak. His big muscles yearned for the sixteen pound mall he used for driving wedges, a sledge which [158] made the average man pant like a one-cylinder gas engine, but which was a plaything for Stud.
At night he came in tired, soaked with sweat, but almost happy. Sarah noticed and was glad.
Fall, with the red of sumac and of hard maple, the leathery brown of hickory leaves, and the pale yellow of elm was upon the land. ”

“ This classification even Gus took to be aboveboard.
“They don’t wantcha, Lemmy,” Gus repeatedly assured him. “Yuh needn’t be so scarey.” But Gus didn’t fathom the duplicity of the ’Dopters—they hatched up all sorts of schemes to make you feel easy and then got you unawares. Likely as not they knew all the time that he was the littlest boy in the Home who could hang by his heels, and that he could hold his breath longer than Gus—and, though it was a secret, that he had a pet toad named Nippy in the broken wall where it was green and wet. They seemed to know everything—the ’Dopters. ”

“ Gus—poor, deluded Gus! To worry over a girl! Funny Jules hadn’t recalled that Gus had told him that she lived in Togas. But perhaps it was just as well. He might have given himself away.
How far was it to the Border? A good eight days’ ride, at least. He’d have to leave the river soon. It was too dangerous, anyway, with Teddy and Roy Manley around. But they wouldn’t catch him! Never—never!
Then a sudden thought came to the man. Why, they might not have been chasing him at all! Those cattle—those cows that had wandered on Jake Trummer’s place while he and Gus were in town, drinking! ”

“ Bill said to Tony, after telling of the eclipse of Luigi Malatesta.
“Oh, no; the Malatesta are foemen worthy of our steel, to agree by an English poet; is it not?”
“‘Foeman worthy of a steal,’ I guess you mean,” laughed Gus.
“Yes, that’s more like it. I wouldn’t trust that pig-faced villain across a ten-acre lot with a ten-cent piece!” declared Bill.
“The soul of honor doesn’t dwell in a husky guy who’d strike a cripple,” said Gus. “And I bet a cow he’s going to stir up more trouble around here before he quits maneuvering.” ”

“ Score, six to nothing, and the Marshallton crowd, including the dignified president of Tech, the instructors to a man, the Farrells and a lot of other sympathizers yelled their throats sore, a bunch of fans going for Gus, hoisting 182 him on high and marching around with him, singing a school chantey:
And so on for half a dozen or so silly verses of the kind, Gus, meanwhile, suffering both physically and mentally, for being thus tossed about is by no means comfortable, and his modesty was such as to make him want to run and hide. ”

“ With that Hugh swung Gus around so that he faced the one upon the blankets, and at the same instant exclaimed:
“Because he’s your own brother, Sam, the little Gus you left at home when you went away after quarreling with your father! He’s been sent up here through the love your mother still bears you, to try for the last time to bring you to your senses, and fetch you to your knees asking pardon. Now you know why we’re in the old logging camp, Sam. Your mother learned that you were here; she would have come herself if she had been able; but in her place she sent a messenger in Gus.” ”

“ This was easier going for Gus than the open road toward the mountains would have been; there was plenty of growth--long grass, trees and bushes--to keep between him and the other who never tried to seek shelter, nor hardly once looked behind him until the end of the broad driveway was reached.
Gus knew the watchman must be about, though possibly half asleep. He also believed that the suspected youth, by the way he advanced, must know the ways of the watchman. Roger, the big Saint Bernard, let out a booming roar and came bounding down the driveway ”

“ Then Gus gave his orders to Bennie, knowing that they would be carried out with precision, for the little fellow, almost a waif and lacking proper influences, would have nearly laid down his life for Gus after the athlete had very deservedly whipped two town bullies that were making life miserable for him. Moreover, the youngster wanted to be like Gus and Bill, in the matter of mentality, and a promise of reward meant money with which he could buy books. ”

“ Gus was such an exquisite that the smell of garlic made him ill, and the sight of blood made him faint, and the thought of coarse working hands was an abomination, but in worse than idleness he could see his old father wearing himself out, he could get "gentlemanly drunk," and commit any wrong in vogue among the fast young men with whom he associated. And now Mephistopheles Van Dam easily induces him to seek to drag down beautiful Edith Allen, the woman he had meant to marry, to a life compared with which the city gutters are cleanly. ”

“ At sight of Gus, the colored man's relief showed in his drawn face.
"Mist' Gus! It's you, honey! My Lawd! Ah done been shot! By the ghos', Mist' Gus, whut ain't nothin' no mo'n dat low-down, no 'count nephew o' ol' Mist' Hooper's. Ah reckon Ah's gwine die, but Ah ain't yit--not ef he's comin' back!"
"Good boy, George! You're the stuff! But you're not going to die and he's not coming back. He lit out like a rabbit. Come now; we'll go to a doctor and then--"
"Reckon Ah can't do it. Got hit in de hip some'ers; makes mah leg total wuthless. ”

“ Much as he suffered, Gus never told himself that he had a bad father. It was such a common thing at Lavender Terrace, and other places where he had lived, for fathers, and even mothers, to drink and neglect their children, that Gus accepted the fact quite philosophically. To have a drunken father was to him only such a calamity as to have a lame father or a blind father would have been. ”

“ Indeed, it was a wagon road, for it was used by the settlers and army teamsters in hauling goods up and down the river. Gus at once set off at a sharp gallop and Ned lumbered along a few paces in his rear. They rode in this way until the sun sank out of sight, and the shadows of twilight began to deepen into the gloom of night, and Gus was telling himself that there was a fair prospect that they would be obliged to go supperless to bed, when his eyes were gladdened by the sight of a rancho a little distance away. ”

“ Gus was much perplexed. He watched his father anxiously, as retiring a little from the crowd, he leaned exhausted against some palings and wiped his brow.
Suddenly, with clatter and commotion, a handsome carriage dashed into the street. It was drawn by a pair of fine bay horses, decorated with rosettes of blue ribbon. Several gentlemen were seated in it, one, a dark man, with florid face and beaming smile. Gus' father started forward excitedly.
"There he is!" he cried. "There is Philip Darnell. Look, Gus, look; there is the man who worked your father's ruin! ”

“ Tom flushed scarlet; any reference to his inglorious scuffle with Charlie Newcome was odious to him, as Gus and the others knew well enough. He said nothing, however, only scowled angrily.
“What!” said Gus, “does it hurt you still then? Never mind, it was a good shot, and I wouldn’t be ashamed of having floored you myself.”
“He didn’t floor me; I fell!” cried Tom indignantly.
“Did you? Rather a way fellows have when they get knocked down!”
“I was not knocked down, Gus, I tell you; and you’d better shut up!”
“All right, old horse! you mustn’t mind a bit of chaff. ”

“ But we need the money; eh, Gus?"
"We do," agreed Gus, smiling.
Bill's countenance was altogether rueful. Life had not been very kind to him and he very naturally longed for some opportunity to dodge continued hardship. He wished that he might, like the boy Edison, make opportunity, but that sounded more plausible in lectures than in real life. He was moodily silent now, while the others engaged in a spirited discussion started by Dot's saying kindly:
"Well, lots of boys and girls have to work and they often are the better for it. Edison did—and was." ”

“ Gus wished Bill to talk for him—and Tony too—not that he needed moral support, but it was pleasanter to have good friends along than to be entirely surrounded by opponents. However, he felt quite equal to the physical task, and as ready to stand his ground morally.
“See here, you sophs,” he said. “I’ll box and gladly, but not in the way Siebold wants to.”
“Aw, what do you care how the other fellow feels? It’s a bout just the same; isn’t it?”
“But Mr. Gay doesn’t want us to show any hard feelings,” Gus urged, “and he’s decent to us. ”