Spouter

“ They had now reached the shelter of the forest, and here, after a little talk, it was decided that the twins and Fred should return to Cedar Lodge at once, taking Codfish with them, while Jack, Gif, and Spouter took a roundabout course leading to the rear of Tony Duval's shack.
"We've got to be careful," announced Jack. "For all we know, those Germans may be desperate characters."
"And on the other hand they may be the most innocent fellows in the world," added Spouter. "Remember, not all the German-Americans in this country are unpatriotic." ”

“ At a safe distance he turned around and shook his fist at the Colby Hall cadets. “You just wait! I’ll get square some day!”
“Gee! what a meek and innocent little lamb he is,” was Spouter’s comment, as the boys hurried for the Hall.
“Say,” put in Phil Franklin, who was in the crowd but who had taken no part in the discussion with their rivals, “did they get Codfish to play that trick on you?”
“Yes, if you must know it,” answered Randy.
“But don’t let Codfish know about this,” broke in Andy quickly. “He thinks his secret is safe. ”

“ Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air; and looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with a white painting upon it, faintly representing a tall straight jet of misty spray, and these words underneath—“The Spouter Inn:—Peter Coffin.”
Coffin?—Spouter?—Rather ominous in that particular connexion, thought I. But it is a common name in Nantucket, they say, and I suppose this Peter here is an emigrant from there. ”

“ They were rushing along as fast as their handbaggage would permit, when they came up side by side with three other lads also bound for the stage.
"Look out there!" cried Jack as one of the strangers leaped into a puddle of water, splashing the mud right and left.
"Look out yourself!" cried the other youth, a big lad, much larger than any of the others.
"That's Slugger Brown—the bully I was telling you about," explained Spouter as he continued to run.
Directly behind Slugger Brown came another youth, loudly dressed in a checkered suit and a soft checkered hat to match. ”

“ At the short-range target Jack and Fred were tied with 16 points each, and, strange as it may seem, Lewis Barrow and Gabe Werner were tied with 17 points each.
“Say, Werner can certainly shoot,” remarked Spouter, who had made but eleven points. “I knew Barrow could do it, but I didn’t expect it of Gabe.”
“Shooting at the short-range target is his specialty,” announced Walt, whose score was also a modest one. “Remember, he has been doing a lot of practicing at the Haven Point shooting gallery.” ”

“ It must be admitted that the cadets were far less cheerful while finishing their meal than they had been a few minutes before. They ate somewhat sparingly, and placed what was left of the food in an out-of-the-way corner under one of the cots.
“No use of taking chances,” said Jack. “Duke may come in here and search the closet for rations when he gets the dirty dishes.”
“Well, I suppose we might as well spend our time studying,” came from Spouter presently. “We’ve got to learn our lessons, no matter if we are prisoners. ”

“ Keep back like the rest of us."
"That's just what I say," broke out Spouter.
Realizing that the others were in the majority, Slugger Brown kept his distance from the pair who were fighting. Codfish was trembling like a leaf, and cowered well in the background.
Around and around circled the two contestants, and for a few minutes neither of them seemed to have the advantage. Jack was hit in the arm, and returned by landing another blow, this time on Nappy's chest. Then the big youth aimed a kick at the Rover boy's stomach.
"Hi! that's no way to fight!" cried Gif, indignantly. ”

“ Spoof may have advantages—I admit his travel, and all that—but will those things keep him big? Won't section Two bound him in a year or so, just as you say Fourteen bounds me now? Is he different clay; less ox, more soul?"
"Section Two can never hold Spoof, because he—because he is big, don't you see? He reads, he thinks, he sings, he dreams. No section can hold one who does those things." ”

“ Spider went over and stood guard before the shelf. His face was sober except for the lurking little devil of fun in his eyes. "Here's four letters from mamma and Susie and Sister Ann and the little fairy that works in the candy store on the corner," he informed Shelton. "If you can say Shelton She Sherman sells sea shells on the sheshore—say it right, I mean—you can have 'em."
"No, he can't!" interjected Spooky, rising up, recovered from his fit. "He can't have but one for every time he says it "
"He can't have but one try for every letter," put in Jim, coming up. ”

“ Shelton went joyously on his way through pungent sage and over hot, barren spaces where was nothing alive except the lizards.. Spooky had been human enough to give Shelton C. some really good advice about riding alone. Part of it was to let Dutch use his own judgment and take his own pace in rough country; for Dutch had grown old in the sagebrush, and he was wise with the wisdom of range cayuses. Therefore, having headed for Spook Hills, he left the rest to Dutch and the god Chance, and rode with his mind at ease. ”

“ Sopater, [15] the pupil of the god-like Iamblichus, was a relative by marriage of this Sopater. [16] Not to love even as myself all that belonged to those men is in my opinion equivalent to the lowest baseness. But there is another more powerful reason than this. Though he often entertained my cousin and my half-brother [17] and was often urged by them, naturally enough, to abandon his piety towards the gods, and though this is hard to withstand, he was not infected with this disease. [18]
Thus much, then, I was able to write to you from Hierapolis about my own affairs. ”

“ Perhaps if you were fenced in on Two, you might break out toward Fourteen!"
"Frank! Please don't be unkind—and unfair. . . . . . . . I am thinking about Spoof, and it is just because he is not bounded by section Two. You and Jack and Jake think he's a greenhorn, and you play your silly little tricks on him, but his world is the world, and yours is Fourteen, and Jack's is Twenty-two, and Jake's is—whatever his section is. He's so big, so big!"
"I see. Spoof has travelled more than we have. He has seen more of the world. He has met more people. And so he is big! ”

“ It was a sharp, dignified knock; not the boisterous thump which either Jack or Marjorie would have given it.
"Who's that?" we asked each other.
"Alas, we are discovered!" Jean rippled. "It is a real adventure."
I opened the door to find Spoof's tall figure outside, and in his arms a large and pudgy and uncertain bundle. It was a moment before I saw the second figure—that of a woman. She wore a heavy fur coat, and her face was veiled for the inclement day.
"Why, Spoof! . . . . Come in!" I commanded. "Jean and I are just having tea. Let me put your oxen in." ”

“ ARGUMENT. In this first Æglogue Colin Clout, a shepheard’s boy, complaineth himself of his unfortunate love, being but newly (as seemeth) enamoured of a country lass called Rosalind: with which strong affection being very sore travailed, he compareth his careful case to the sad season of the year, to the frosty ground, to the frozen trees, and to his own winter-beaten flock. And lastly, finding himself robbed of all former pleasance and delight, he breaketh his pipe in pieces, and casteth himself to the ground. ”

“ It was a new problem for Spoof, but a common one for Jean, and she had her way.
It was not until we had finished lunch, and Spoof had rolled me a cigarette, and the dishes were cleared away and some sort of tapestry cover substituted on the table, that Jean saw fit to refer to her behavior.
"I promised you that if you didn't quizz I would tell you all about it, Frank," she said, suddenly. "You have been a good boy, and I will keep my word."
"By Jove, I haven't fed the bullocks," Spoof exclaimed. "That's what comes of having company. I really should have a man. ”

“ He told of the cave and of the tracks, and Spider leaned with an elbow on either knee and his feet swinging over the side of the bunk, and smoked and stared at the floor while he listened. He told of his panic of fright and of the scream and the sound of running in the dark—and Spooky opened his mouth half an inch and let it stay so, and forgot to smoke while he stared at Shelton's haggard face and listened to the tale. ”

“ The little joke was a stock felicity of the Spook’s, and it was received in the usual fashion. At first there was a little titter, but nothing more until the Spook himself was seen to wear a sickly smile; thereupon the titter grew into a roar, and the roar rose into a bellow, and the bellow into one prolonged and insolent guffaw which the cadaverous but smiling Spook seemed to enjoy as much as the smallest boy in his mathematical. Jan alone did not join in the derisive chorus ”

“ And Shelton protested so earnestly that he was telling the truth, that they consented at last to believe that he had seen a track which may have looked like a bear's track, also the possibility that he had been followed by something.
"But that wasn't a bear," Spooky insisted, with perfect sincerity. "It was that same spook I felt and seen, and I'll bet money on it. You want to keep away from them hills, Shep. I've got a hunch that thing is fixin' to git somebody. Here's four of us been follered now. There ain't a one of us that wouldn't swear to it. ”

“ But you do not ask for water.
You cannot speak!
You do not need to speak—
Everyone knows that you are dying of thirst,
Yet they do not bring water!
They pass on, saying:
“The geranium wants water.”
And I, who had happiness to share
And longed to share your happiness;
I who loved you, Spoon River,
And craved your love,
Withered before your eyes, Spoon River—
Thirsting, thirsting,
Voiceless from chasteness of soul to ask you for love,
You who knew and saw me perish before you,
Like this geranium which someone has planted over me,
And left to die. ”

“ If Shelton She Sherman shays he shees she-bears shelling sea sells on the seasore, why, it's your fault and his misfortune. If possible, we must keep this from his folks. And if there's anything we can do to remedy the evil before it becomes virulent and the whole outfit gets infectecated, I for one am ready and willing to do my part. But if it turns out fatal, the blame rests upon you, Spooky. ”

“ I was afraid I'd be too young for all the things I wanted to learn. It's a relief to hear I'm too old for something. What's that line of hills called over there?"
"Them! Us Sunbeamers call them the Spook Hills. That's where——" Spooky stopped, spat over the wheel into the sand, and neglected to finish the sentence. He stared morosely at the jagged black sky line, and touched up old Blinker again more viciously than was needful.
"Why are they called Spook Hills? Are there spooks?" Shelton C. Sherman was gifted—or afflicted, as you choose to consider it—with the frank curiosity of a child. ”

“ Spider got up, threw his cigarette stub into the fire, and turned upon Spooky. "Say, Spooky, you're to blame for this," he accused sternly. "Shep was a nice, innocent, truthful cuss when he come here. And your dog-goned, baneful influence and example has done this!" He indicated Shelton with his outflung hand. "You've lied to him, and you've lied before him, and you've lied behind his back ever since he come. We can't blame Shelton She Sherman. He is more to be pitied than censured. ”

“ Why, anybody can read that right off. Anybody that ain't drunk," he amended.
"You try it," Spooky challenged. "Bet you four bits that you can't say it straight." He stood a third letter up, and after that a fourth. "Now read 'em all—just the names—one after another, and see who's drunk!" he urged. "Bet you four bits you can't do it."
"Shelton—C—Sherman. Shelton She—C—Sherman. Shelton She Sher—— Oh, thunder!" surrendered Spider, laughing ruefully. "Come on, Jim. You try it." ”

“ But when you stop to consider, life itself is a bit hackneyed.
Never mind then how many trustful youths had looked wide-eyed upon the sage before ever Shelton C. Sherman stared solemn-eyed up into the face of his mother. This was his turn, and this is his story, partly. And it was Spooky's pleasing privilege to tell him a good deal that was true and more that was not—about the Sunbeam outfit and the sagebrush country that wrapped it close.
"Yuh don't want to let Burney put you on the fence first thing," Spooky coached when they were within five miles of the ranch. ”

“ I paid for the license on Jack's behalf and gave the change to the minister, and we were about to thank Spoof and say good-bye to the little company when they announced in concert that they were coming over to Fourteen. In vain we protested that the roads were bad, that the night was settling down, that the sky looked like a storm. All these perfectly good reasons why they should stay at home were converted into arguments why they should come. Spoof, as host, yoked up the oxen and insisted that he would drive the bridal party; our jumper would carry five as well as four. ”

“ There was something too high-flown about this for Clara's simple tastes, and her cheek flushed a little as she answered: "I hope you have enjoyed your pistol-practice, Baron."
"Greatly. I assure you that Mr. Brooke is an adept with the weapon--very much so indeed. I must really beg of him to give me a few lessons."
Gerald laughed.
"As a diplomatist by profession, Baron, you are doubtless a proficient in the art of flattery," said Mrs. Brooke.
"A mere tyro, dear madame. Sincerity is the badge of all our tribe, as every one knows." ”

“ It was Sunday before we heard or saw anything more of Spoof. A hot summer wind was chasing little scurries of dust and billowing our oat field like a lake of turquoise green when suddenly his tall form loomed up on the rough trail which already wriggled across the prairie from Fourteen to Two. He had discarded coat and waist-coat; in a khaki-colored shirt and corduroy breeches and leggings and an Indian helmet which he had dug up from somewhere he was a picturesque and striking figure as he strode into the grateful shade of the shanty. ”