Butler University - Carillon / Drift Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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office and railroad station in tlie west, to some indefinite point in the east among the farms, calm and smooth nnder its old trees and lietween its suhstantial houses. The people sit about on ' erandas and lawns and em- broider and play croquet and. especially, watch all that passes on Elm street. What on earth ! said Airs. Simpson. She was in a red rocking-chair under an arbor, scalloping a bib for her first grandchild. Her daughter, Mrs. Ferry, who was swinging in a hammock, reading a magazine, looked up and said : That? Oh, George Bailey. Don ' t you know the Doctor said they ' d lose him if they didn ' t let him go barefoot, and all sorts of things. Still. I don ' t see why they need make a circus of him. ' ' George Bailey, riding! I thought it was as much as ever he could be taken around in a baby-wagon. He wore blue overalls and a straw hat that looked like a toad-stool. His delicate bare toes squirmed nervously against Dolly ' s warm ribs, letting the stirrup swing empty. Joriander shambled at one side with a countenance fierce and sullen — unless you were brave enough to draw near and read the gentle innocence in his eyes. Then you understood how his great jaws just grew that way. and had nothing to do with his soul. Still he could be stern on occasion, for when George ' s hat blew off he flung upon it with such ' iolent punishment that he brought back only a piece of the brim as a proof of justice done. Then George laughed until he fell into the soft way- side grass, and there Joriander danced upon him with solid affection until Mrs. Simpson came, saying: Get down, you nasty dog, and lifted George to the saddle again. On this trip it is said he had to be Hfted upon the pony six times; but when he returned to his anxious mother, who was awaiting him at the gate, his cheeks were flushed for the first time in months, his eyes gleamed, and his close clipped hair shone like gold in the sun. Each day reduced the number of tumbles and increased the gait of Dolly, until, about the first of July, she broke into a careful gallop. It was now no longer necessary for the people to leave their embroidery and croquet to pick George up and place him in the saddle. The flush did not leave his face now, and people ceased to be sympathetic for him. Jori- ander aroused the resentment of some of the good house- wives; they talked of muzzles, and would call their own dogs in when he went past. Near the end of July the flush on George ' s cheeks had given way to tan, but the tan was usually obscured by the dust of the roads. His feet were more like bronze than wax. His golden hair was bleached to silver, as were his eyebrows and eyelashes. Will you tell me what that is? gasped Mrs. Simpson from her place in the arbor. Well! They have made a circus of him? said Mrs. Ferry. The saddle was gone from Dolly ' s back. Instead, there was a blanket, held in place by a wide strap, and there was George, standing on the pony. He paused, emitting a Avild whoop, and after the dust from his gallop settled, Mrs.

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Cbe Doctor ' s Cure CHE Doctor began in a tone quite cj-nical : Of course, if yon will keep him clone up in cotton wool — Then he met George ' s sad eyes, looked ag-ain at his patiently folded hands, and burst forth hotly : Madam, take those collars off that boy, and cut his hair, and take off those shoes ! Yes, sir ! Let hin go barefoot, I tell you ! It was understood in the village that when the Doctor said Sir to a woman the case was a serious one. Let him play with the Italian children if he wants to ; never mind their morals. Let them teach him to steal apples and grow fat. The pale face in the broad white collar cjuivered with amusement, which was politely suppressed behind a white, thin hand. Mrs. Bailey quailed. Steal apples ? Get him a horse and a big- dog ' — a puppy with some gin- ger in him, that will walk on him and wash his face. ' — walk (in him ? When you have done these things you can call me in again. I shan ' t come before. The first arrival at the Bailey stables was a fluffy yellow mass with large head and feet. The ears were still raw where they had been cropped to points, and it was hanl to tell whether the dog was a Mastiff or a Cireat Dane. The ears were clipped (in the Great Dane hypothesis. Jonny Premo, the Baileys ' coachman, who was quite elated over the arrival, said : Yas, he one big ' dog. Gon be bigg ' er. Doctor he come up to see if he ' s big ' nough. Mis ' Bailey say she so ' fraid an ' cry. Doctor say, has he tried knockin ' down George ? George, he put his arms round puppy ' s neck an ' say his name gon to be Joriander, outer some book he read- in ' . Puppy put his arms roun ' George ' s neck an ' wash his face an ' roll ' im all roun ' an ' ' en Mis ' Bailey cry some more. George laughs. Doctor sa} , all-right. George he sleep with him that night. Me I got to wash ' im all tam, all tam. After Joriander was established, came a slim graceful thing with sweeping tail, the arch of wdiose neck did not reach the shoulders of the black coach horses. Jonny Premo said: She one Arab pony; Mr. Bailey, he say she cos ' something. Doctor he come uj) to see how she do. We put the new saddle on — all sih ' er and yellow leather — an ' hist up George an ' hoi ' ini on, an ' he tumble off soon ' s we leggo, an ' she stop an ' look roun ' sorrylike, an ' we put ' im up again an ' ' e fall off again, but ' e laugh all the tam, an ' don ' t get scared, an bimeby they go roun ' the stable yard without George fallin ' (;)fl, an ' Mis Bailey she cry some more. Doctor say, ' Hurrah, we ' re comin ' on. ' Next morn- in ' I find George at six o ' clock curryin her with ' is (iwn lil ' brush an ' comb. He sav ' er name ' is Dolly. The town ' s two important streets cross at its center, and of these the greatest is Elm, which extends froni the post-

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Ferry said, in the tone of one who had reached the extreme of endurance: Did you ever? ' ' hat can his mother be thinking of? And as for that Doctor, I beheve he ' s gone crazy ! What in the v(Drld ails that horse? said Mrs. Simpson, Dolly had grown old over night. Her head had drooped almost to her fetlocks, and she stumbled along awkwardly. George was gayer than ever ; for how did he know that, after the proud way of women, she had let him break her heart ? By an intricate arrangement of rope, a toy express cart, such as small boys drag about by the handle, was hitched on behind Dolly. It contained several rocks upon which sat the boldest of George ' s ragged followers. What a shame ! said Mrs. Simpson. Not far away they met the Doctor. As was visual he stopped to take a reassuring pinch of George ' s biceps, which by this time had grown to the size of a cherry, to look at his tongue, and to tickle him in the ribs. The Italian boy slid from the pile of rocks and faded into the color of the road- side. Are you sure Dolly likes that ? the Doctor asked. Whj ' , she understands we are just playing! George clambered down, nevertheless, and lifted up her head, looked searchingly in her clouded eyes. Then he went around and untied the ropes, leaving the load where it was. Dolly ' s head came up. She threw the fetlock out of her eyes. Joriander, as much pleased as she, thrust a congratu- latory kiss at her and described circles of joy about them. Down the road, with his straw hat just showing above a hummock of sand, the Italian boy was waiting. Mi(i is that little boy you play with so much, George? Vh ' , that ' s Napoleon Shampine. He knows everything. I ' m glad you told me to play with the Italian children, be- cause they ' re ever so much nicer than the other children. Why, you wouldn ' t believe the things that he has told me! Such as what, George? We-11, I-I ' d rather you wouldn ' t tell Mamma, but it is principally about — well — devils, you know. There are so many, } ' ou know, and the} ' do such strange things. All you ha ' e t( ) know is how to make the horns, and you are per- fectly safe, though. I see, commented the Doctor. And he has promised to teach me other things — Well, I don ' t know , said the Doctor anxiously. I — I ' ll tell you bimeby, said George. It is only what you told me to do, and I want to surprise you. George, as he had been taught at home, put up his dirty face for the Doctor to kiss him good-by before he hurried on down the road to join his playmate. The Doctiir as a rule was a sound sleeper, but in apple time he slept with his shot-gun loaded with pepper and the window toward the orchard up. As an added safeguard against apple thieves, he turned his ducks in there, and they were as good as the geese that saved Rome when it came to raising an alarm. One night he awoke suddenly at the confused hawnk and the tluimpings of the ducks. He hurriedly drew on his