The Galleon, Volume 1, Number 1, December 1924 Page: 27
41 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE GALLEON
The empty air before him be-
came a screen, across which the
dim, half-familiar figures that
were the actors in his drama of
life passed in a last review. A
little freckled girl, with yellow
pigtails dancing at her back
came by, skipping a rope. She
nodded, smiled a little, and ran
on. Behind her, a lean blond,
boy of timid demeanor hovered
in the background, trailing her
footprints in the sand. He
watched them as they passed
down the country road. Occas-
ionally the boy would stoop to
pick a wild flower, a buttercup
or red daisy, arranging them in
his hand with the most careful
Loyish taste. As the bouquet
increased in size and beauty, the
gait of the boy quickene;.; he
was gaining on the girl, who did
not seem to have noticed him.
Strange enough, Joe seemed to
identify himself with the lean
b!ond boy. He slipped into his
personality and wore it like a
cloak. He seemed to enjoy the
experience. The girl was no
longer freckled and plain. She
was a lovely lady, her yellow
corn silk hair became a golden
blond, and the red bows on her
pigtails marked her as a prin-
cess, fresh from the pages of a
fairy book. And Joe was a
knight errant who followed her
at a distance for chivalry's sake,
picking flowers to garland her
hair. But suddenly from a bend
in the road another figure step-
ped out to meet the girl. Then
Joe recognized Marty-Marty,
who was stout, and uncombed,
and ferocious-Marty who had
warned him "to stay away from
Anne." And Marty was rude
and audacious; he jerked\ away
her rope, he pulled her hair and
teased her, laughing impishly,
while Joe at a distance, boiled
with rage, but dared not ad-vance. Then Marty turned and
saw him, shook his fist, and
started toward him threaten-
ingly. Joe tried desparately to
hold his ground, but his feet
would not obey. He began to
back off, gritting his teeth, and
crushing the flowers in his
clinched fist.
The girl, watching, called out,
"Oh, let the little coward go."
And Marty turned away with a
laugh. Blinded with rage and
tears, Joe cut across a corn field
and ran all the way home.
Under an apple tree in the or-
chard a solemn trial was held,
the first of its kind, that damn-
ed Joe to everlasting cowardice
and self contempt.
The picture faded and was
followed by others of similar
nature, all colored with the mor-
bid hues of present fear and
brooding apprehension of future
shame.
There was another girl, too,
who came into the picturq-a
girl with dark hair, who had be-
come his wife, raised his chil-
dren and fought patiently be-.
side him against want and the
wolf and all the evil monsters
of poverty. She was still with
him, with a red face and a per-
petually tired look. He did not
notice that she was there- beside
him, watching anxiously every
shadow that passed across his
face, silencing the children with
whispered admonitions, and
praying silently that Gokc would
have him who was already half
gone.
The girl that moved about in
the air between Joe and the wall
paper resembled her but slight-
ly, she was slimmer of build and
there was youth in her face.
She was married to Joe Shutter,
and happy. Joe had no money,
but, of course, she smiled brave-
ly, they would get along some-27
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McMurry College. The Galleon, Volume 1, Number 1, December 1924, periodical, December 1924; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137771/m1/27/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McMurry University Library.