' And then
she'd just keep catchin' hold of me, and sob and kind of holler, and I'd
say, 'DON'T cry, Aunt Clara--PLEASE don't cry."'
Then, under the influence of some fragmentary survivals of the
respectable portion of his Sunday adventures, his theme became more
exalted; and, only partially misquoting a phrase from a psalm, he
related how he had made it of comfort to Aunt Clara, and how he had
besought her to seek Higher guidance in her trouble.
The surprising thing about a structure such as Penrod was erecting is
that the taller it becomes the more ornamentation it will stand. Gifted
boys have this faculty of building magnificence upon cobwebs--and Penrod
was gifted. Under the spell of his really great performance, Miss Spence
gazed more and more sweetly upon the prodigy of spiritual beauty and
goodness before her, until at last, when Penrod came to the explanation
of his "just thinking," she was forced to turn her head away.
"You mean, dear," she said gently, "that you were all worn out and
hardly knew what you were saying?"
"Yes'm."
"And you were thinking about all those dreadful things so hard that you
forgot where you were?"
"I was thinking," he said simply, "how to save Uncle John."
And the end of it for this mighty boy was that the teacher kissed him!
CHAPTER XI FIDELITY OF A LITTLE DOG
The returning students, that afternoon, observed that Penrod's desk was
vacant--and nothing could have been more impressive than that sinister
mere emptiness.
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