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Show The Weber Literary Journal girl of five whose parents have not yet outgrown the use of the so-called "baby talk." Often to convince myself that he has two perfectly sound ears, I call quietly to him to come and get some dates. This never fails to bring its reward attention. When one asks for a kiss the response is an automatic-like smack of the lips. If he happens to be turned your way at the time, perhaps you can catch it for he never as much as stirs from where he is or turns from what he is doing. He is indifferent to everything but play. And it appears to be the same with every other child on our street. But one does not regret this street education. What though the language be a little marred or even the house filled with stray cats "to keep them from the neighborhood," one does not mind, for it is in this street that the child is getting his first big lesson in democracy. There is no aristocracy of feeling out there. Any child who has a wagon, kiddie-car or tricycle, whether owned by him or found in a near-by-yard, may enter the parade; be a day-coach, coal-car, or even the engine. This privilege is not granted him because he happens to come from the home of a banker, or from the home of the milkman, over the hill; the one requirement be a genuine child of the streets, with heart over-flowing with happiness, with pockets full of rocks, and with no thought beyond the coming party, holiday or circus. 22 The Weber Literary Journal Paul Revere's Ride By Edwin Stoker MESSRS. Lincoln and Washington have really cinched the month of February, so to speak, at least Paul Revere thinks so Paul Revere Punk, I mean, of River Junction, Iowa. P. R. Punk firmly believes that Washington and Lincoln were truly great men but, too, he believes that the immortal Paul Revere was great also, and that his birthday should be celebrated once in awhile. To quote P. R. Punk's words exactly, "It's too darned one-sided to fergit one national hero fer two more." If you happened into River Junction at any time, it would not take you long to find out that Paul Revere Punk is editor of the River Junction Trumpet. You just couldn't help it. P. R. P. would tell you so himself and that's not all. You would also discover (from the same source) that he is owner, typesetter, printer, and distributor of said weekly publication, in fact, the whole "cheese." Besides, you would quickly acquire knowledge of the Punk's family history, clean back to the days of the Revolution even before and how the Punks were intimate friends of the Reveres in Boston, and how one of the Punk forefathers gave little friend Paul his first riding lesson, and how famous Paul Revere became, and how the name of Paul Revere has had a habit of running wild down the Punk family tree until the present Paul Revere Punk, who acquired the honored name some sixty-seven and a half years ago, and who has been "puffed up" about it ever since. In the Punk household, Paul Revere was immortalized and almost worshiped. The Punk library reeked with histories commemorating the great Revere ride. Most of it was memorized. When River Junction's younger generation became terribly bored with life, it was not uncommon for it to come over to Paul Punk's newspaper office and listen to him recite "Now listen my children and you shall hear." 23 |