Newspaper Page Text
Page Four
ORDER OF THE IN-OR-INS
Penrod and Sam Collaborate
in Founding a Secret Society
" Georgie Bassett was a boy set apart.
Not only that; Georgie knew that he
was a boy set apart. He would think
about it for ten or twenty minutes at a
tirne, and he could not look at himself
‘in a mirror and remain wholly without
emotion. What that emotion was, he
wou!d have been unable to put into
words, but it helped him to understand
that there was a certain noble some
thing about him which other boys did
not possess.
' Georgie’s mother had been the first
to discover that Georgie was a boy set
apart. In fact, Georgie did not know
it until one day, when he happened to
overhear his mother telling his aunts
about it. True, he had always under
stood that he was the best boy in town
and he intended to be a minister when
he grew up, but he had never before
comprehended the full extent of his
sanctity, and, from fhat fraught mo
ment onward, he had an almost the
atrical”“sense of his set-apartness.
Penrod Schofield and Sam Williams
and the other boys of the neighborhood
all were conscious that there was
something different and spiritual about
Georgie, and, though this conscious
sness of theirs may have been a little ob
scure, it was none the less actual. That
is to say, they knew that Georgie Bas
sett was a boy set apart, but they did
not know- that they knew it. Georgie’s
air and manner #t all times demon
strated to them that the thing was
80, and, moreover, their mothers ab
sorbed appreciation of Georgie’'s won
derfulness from the very fount of it,
.for Mrs, Bassett's conversation was of
little else. Thus, the radiance of his
character became the topic of envious
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[parental comment during moments of
istrained patience in many homes, so
‘that altogether the most remarkable
!fact to be stated of Georgie Bassett is
‘that he escaped the consequences as
jlong as he did.
Strange as it may seem, no actual
violence was done him except upon the
dincidental occasion of a tar fight, into
swhich he was drawn by an obvicus ec
eentrieity on the part of destiny. Nat
mrally, he was not popular with his
comrades ; in all games he was pushed
jaside, and disregarded, Peing invaria
‘bly the tail-ender in every pastime in
rwhich leaders “chose sides;” his coun
jsels were slighted as worse than
nweightless, and all his opinions instant
ly hooted. Still, considering the cir
cumstances fairly and thoughtfully, it
is difficult to deny that his boy com
panions showed creditable moderation
in their treatment of him. That is, they
were moderate up to a certain date,
&and even then they did not directly at
tack him—there was nothing cold
{blooded about it at all. The thing was
foreed upon them, and, though they all
ifelt pleased and uplifted—while it was
‘happening—they did not understand
preeisely why. Nothing could more
clearly prove their innocence of heart
'‘than this very ignorance, and yet none
‘'of the grown people who later felt
themselves concerned in the matter
iwas able to look at it in that light.
INow, here was a characteristic working
lof those reactions which produce what
ils sometimes called “the injustice of
life,” because the grown people were
iresponsible for the whole affair, and
‘were really the guilty parties. It was
‘from grown people that Gergie Bassett
learned that he was a boy set apart,
(Copyright, 1917, Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.)
By BOOTH TARKINGTON
and the effect upon him was what
alienated his friends. Then these alien
ated friends were brought (by odicus
comparisons on the part of grown peo
ple) ‘to a condition of mind wherein
they suffered dumb annoyance, like a
low fever, whenever they heard
Georgie’s name mentioned, while asso
ciation with his actual person became
every day more and more irritating.
And yet, having laid this fuse and hav
ing kept it constantly glowing, the
grown people expected nothing to hap
pen to Georgie,
The catastrophe befell as a conse
quence of Sam Williams deciding to
have a shack in his backyard. Sam
had somehow obtained a vasty piano
box and a quantity of lumber, and,
summoning Penrod Schofield and the
colored brethren, Herman and Verman,
he expounded to them his building
plans and offered them shares and
benefits in the institution he purposed
to found. Acceptance was enthusiastic;
straightway the assembly became a
union of carpenters all of one mind,
and ten days saw the shack not com
pleted but comprehensible. Anybody
could tell, by that time, that it was
intended for a shack. ‘
There was a door on leather hinges;
it drooped, perhaps, but it was a door.
There was a window—not a glass one,
but, at least, it could be “looked out
of,” as Sam said. There was a chim
ney made of stovepipe, though that was
merely decorative, because the cooking
was done out of doors in an under
ground “furnace” which the boys ex
cavated. There were plctures pasted
on the interior walls, and, hanging from
a nail, there was a crayon portrait of
Sam’s grandfather, which he had
t and Spiritual About Georgie.
brought down from the attic quietly,
though, as he said, it ‘“wasn't any use
on earth up there.” There were two
lame chairs from Penrod's attic, and
along one wall ran a low and feeble
structure intended to serve as a bench
or divan. This would come in handy,
Sain said, if any of the party “had to
lay down or anything,” and at a pinch
(such as a meeting of the association)
it would serve to seat all the members
in a row.
For, coincidentally with the develop
ment of the shack, the builders became
something more than partners. Later,
no one could remember who first sug
gested the founding of a secret order.
or society, as a measure of exclusive
ness and to keep the shack sacred to
members only, but it was an idea that
presently began to be more absorbing
and satisfactory than even the shack
itself. The outward manifestations of
it might have been observed in the in
creased solemnity and preoccupation
of the Caucasian members and in a
few ceremonial observances exposed
to the public eye. As an instance of
these latter, Mrs. Williams, happen
ing to glance from a rearward window,
about four o’clock one afternoon, found
her attenslon arrested by what seemed
to be a flag-raising before the door of
the shack. Sam and Herman and Ver
man stood in attitudes of rigid atten
tion, shoulder to shoulder, while Pen
rod Schofield, facing them, was ap
parently delivering some sort of ex
hortation which he read from a scrib
bled sheet of foolscap. Concluding
this, he lifted from the ground a long
and somewhat warped clothes-prop,
from one end of which hung a whitish
flag, or pennon, bearing an inscription
.’ "‘V.Nii'fl'“ll‘i. 1.u.-'ii’l‘iu!! !i!iu!v!-!v!!ibwii!
their right hands, while Penrod placed
the other end of the clothes-prop in a
hole in the ground, with the pennon
fluttering high above the shack. He
then raised his own right hand, and
the four boys repeated something in
concert. It was inaudible to Mrs. Wil
liams, but she was able to make out
the inscription upon the pennon. It
consisted of the peculiar phrase, “In-
Or-In,” done in black paint upon a
muslia ground, and consequently seem
ing to be in need of a blotter.
It recurred to her mind, later that
evening, when she happened to find
herself alone with Sam in the library.
and, in merest idle curiosity, she
asked:
“Sam, what does ‘ln-Or-In’ mean?”
Sam, bending over an arithmetie, un
creased lis brow till it became of a
blank and marble smoothness.
“Ma’am?”
“What are those words on your
flag?”’ .
Sam gave her a long, cold, mystic
ook, rose to his feet, and left the
room with emphasis and dignity. TFor
a moment she was puzzied. But Sam’s
older brother*was this year completing
his education at a finiversity, and Mrs.
Willinms was not altogether ignorant
of the obligations of secrecy imposed
upon some brotherhoods; so she was
able to comprehend Sam’s silent with
drawal, and, instead of summoning
him back for further questions, she
waited uptil he was out of hearing and
then began to laugh.
Sam’s action was in obedience to one
of the rules adopted, at his own sug
gestion, as a law of the order. Penrod
advocated it warmly. From Margaret
he had heard accounts of her friends
in college and thus had learned much
that ought to be done. On the other
hand, Herman subscribed to it with re
luctance, expressing a decided opinion
that if he and Verman were questioned
upon the matter at home and adopted
the llne of conduct required by the
new rule, it would be well for them to
depart not only from the room in
wkich the questioning took place but
frem the heuse, and hurriedly at that.
“An’ stay away!” he concluded. -
Verman, being tongue-tied—not with
out advantage in this case, and surely
nn ideal qualification for membership
—was not so apprehensive. He voted
with Sam and Penrod, carrying the
day. §
New rules were adopted at every
meeting (though it eannot be said that
all of them were practicable) for, in
addition to the information possessed
by Sam and Penrod, Herman and Ver
man had many ideas of their own,
founded upon remarks overheard at
home. Both their parents belonged to,
secret orders, their father to the In
napenent 'Nevolent lodge (so stated by
Herman) and their mother to the Or-.
der of White Doves.
From these and other sources, Pen
rod found no difficulty in compiling
material for what came to be known:
as the “rixual;” and it was the rixual,
he was reading to the members when
Mrs. Williams happened to observe
the ceremonial raising of the emblem:
of the order. :
The rixual contained the oath, a key
to the secret language, or code (de
vised by Penrod for use in uncertain!
emergencies), and passwords for ad
mission to the shack, also instructions;
for recognizing a brother member in,
the dark, and a rather alarming sketch),
of the things to be done during the,
initiation of a candidate. g
This last was employed for the bené
fit of Master Roderick Magsworth
Bitts, Jr., on the Saturday following
the flag-raising. He presented himself
in Sam’s yard, not for initiation, in
deed—having no previous knowledge
of the Society of the In-Or-In—but for
general purposes of sport and pastime,
At first sight of the shack he expressed
anticipations of pleasure, adding some
suggestions for improving the archi
tectural effect. Being prevented, how
ever, from entering, and even from
standing in the vicinity of the sacred
building, he plaintively demanded an
explanation; whereupon he was com
manded to withdraw to the front yard
for a time, and the members held meet
fng in the shack. Roddy was elected,
and consented to undergo the initia
tion.
He was not the only new member
that day. A short time after Roddy
had been taken into the shack for the
reading of the rixual and other cere
monies, little Maurice Levy entered the
Williams' gate and strolled round to
the backyard, looking for Sam. He was
surprised and delighted to behold the
promising shack, and, like Roddy, en
tertained fair hepes for the future. |
The door of the shack was closed;
a board covered the window, but a
murmur of voices came from within,
Maurice * stole close and listened.
Through a crack he could see the flick
er of a candle-flame, and he heard the
voice of Penrod Schofield:
“Roddy Bitts, do you solemnly
swear?”
“Well, all right,” said the voice of
Roddy, somewhat breathless. |
“How many fingers you see before
your eyes?” |
“Can't see any,” Roddy returned.
“How could I, with this thing over my
eyes, and laying down on my stum-}
mick, anyway?” \
“Then the time has come,” Penrod ‘
announced in solemn tones. “The time |
has come.” ‘
Whacek!
Evidently a bread and flat imple—‘
ment was thereupon applied to Roddy. 3
“Ow !” complained the candidate,
“No noise!” said Penrod sternly, and
added: “Roddy Bitts must now say
the oath. Say exackly what I say, |
Roddy, and if you don’+—well, you bet
ter, because you'll see! Now, say ‘L
solemnly swear—'" |
“I solemnly swear—" said Rod
“To keep the secrets—" ‘
“To keep the secrets—" Roddy re
peated. ; :
“To keep the secrets in infadelaty
and violate and sanctuary.”
“What?” Roddy naturally inquired.
Whack ! >
“Ow!” cried Roddy. “That’s no
fair!”
“You got to say just what I say,”
Penrod was heard informing him.
“That’'s the rixual, and anyway, even
if you do get it right, Verman’s got to
hit you every now and then, because
that’s part of the rixual, too. Now go
on and say it. ‘I solemnly swear to
keep the secrets in infadelaty and vio
late and sanctuary.””
“I solemnly swear”--Roddy began.
But Maurice Levy was tired of being
no party to such gfascinating proceed
ings, and he began to hammer upon
the door.
“Sam! Sam Williams!” he shouted.
“Lemme in there! I know lots about
‘nishiatin’. Lemme in!”
The door was flung open, revealing
Roddy Bitts blindfolded and *bound,
lving face down upon the floor of the
shack ; but Maurice had only a fugitive
glimpse of this pathetic figure before
he, too, was recumbent. Four boys
flung themselves indignantly upon him
and bore him to earth.
“Hi!” he squealed. “What you doin’?
Haven’t you got any sense?”’
And, from within the shack, Roddy
added his own protest.
“Let me up, can’t you?” he cried. “I
got to see what’s goin’ on out there,
haven’t I? I guess I'm not goin’ to lay
here all day! What you think I'm
made of ?”’
“You hush up!” Penrod commanded.
“This is a nice biznuss!” he continued,
deeply aggrieved. “What kind of a
'nishiation do you expect this is, any
how?”
“Well, here’s Maurice Levy gone and
seen part of the secrets,” said Sam,,in
a voice of equal plaintiveness. ‘“Yes;
and I bet he was listenin’ out here,
too!”* ‘
“Lemme up!” begged Maurice, half
stifled. “I didn’t do any harm to your:
old secrets, did I? Anyways, I just as'
soon be ’nishiated myself. I ain’t
afraid. So if you ’nishiate me, what
difference will it make if I did hear a
little?”
Struck with this idea, which seemed
reasonable, Penrod obtained silence.
from every one except Roddy, and it:
was decided to allow Maurice to rise!
and retire to the front yard. The
brother members then withdrew with-{
in the shack, elected Maurice to the;
fellowship, and completed the initiation
of Mr. Bitts. After that, Maurice was
summoned and underwent the ordeal
with fortitude, though the newest
brother—still tingling with his own ex
periences—helped to make certain
parts of the rixual unprecedentedly se
vere. -
Once endowed with full membership,
Maurice and Roddy accepted the ob
ligations and privileges of the order
with enthusiasm. Both interested
themselves immediately in improve
ments for the shack, and made excur
'sions to their homes to obtain mate
rials. Roddy returned with a pair of
lensless mother-of-pearl opera glasses,
a contribution which led to the crea
tion of a new office, called the “war
ner.” It was his duty to climb upomn
the back fence once every fifteen min-:
utes and search the horizon for in
truders or “anybody that hasn’t got any:
biznuss around here.” This post proved
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It Was His Duty to Climb the Back
Fence and Search the Horizon for
" Intruders.
so popular, at first, that it was found
necessary to provide for rotation in of
fice, and to shorten the interval from
fifteen minutes to an indefinite but
much briefer period, determined prin
cipally by argument between the in
cumbent and his successor. |
And Maurice Levy contributed a de
vice so pleasant and so necessary to |
the prevention of interruption during]i
meetings, that Penrod and Sam won
dered why they had net thought of it
themselves long before. It consisted‘
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Sam and Herman and Verman Stood in Attitude of Rigid Attention, f
of about twenty-five feet of garden
hose in fair condition. One end of it
was introduced into the shack through
a knothole, and thte other was secured
by wire, round the faucet of a hydrant
‘in the stable. Thus, if members of the
order were assailed by thirst during an
important session, or in the course of
an initiation, it would not be necessary
for them all to leave the shack. One
could go, instead, and when he had
turned on the water at the hydrant,
the members in the shack could drink
without leaving their places. It was
discovered, also, that the section of
hose could Be used as a speaking-tube;
and though it did prove necessary to
explain by shouting outside the tube
what one had said into it, still there
was a general feeling that it provided
another means of secrecy and an addi
tional safeguard against intrusion. It
{s true that during the half hour im
mediately following the installation of
this convenience, there was a little
violence among the brothers concern
ing a question of policy. Sam, Roddy
and Verman—Verman especially—
wished to use the tube “to talk
SEEKING HAPPINESS FUTILE
'Experience Not Gained by Pursuit, but
Comes to ‘One Who, Does Kind
' Deed Without Thinking of It.
. Those who seek happiness never find
it—a truism that has been going the
rounds since philosophers began get
ting their words into print or upon
graven tablets, observes the Dayton
News. But it is well to repeat it oc
casionally, to keep it ever before the
masses of humanity, that it may be
come so much a part of our creed and
faith that the youngest among us and
the oldest may realize the full meaning
of the expression.
There is no greater unhappiness
than that of pursuing happiness, for
happiness is never overtaken by those
who pursue it. Happiness comes to
him who is not thinking of it; to him
who is doing something for others,
with never a thought of his own hap
piness. No man has ever yet followed
a course of conduct with his own hap
piness in view and achieved his pur
pose,.
Service to others—that is all there
is to life that savors of happiness. The
service need not be great; it is given
to few persons to be of great service.
And those who are of great service do
not realize it—they do not start out
with that in view.
To be kind and courteeus and con
siderate of the comfort of others—that
is the service which brings happiness.
The man who helps a crippled old
woman upon the street car is happier
for doing so. The fellow who stops to
wipe away the tear from the eyes of
a child who bruised its hand ; the wom
an who visits a sick neighbor to see if
she can be of any use; the man who
puts another in position to help him
self—these little services are quite
great in the realm of things that go to
make for happiness. And they are
possible with all of us.
Platinum Substitutes.
Since the development of “palaun,”
the palladium-gold substitute for plat
inum, trials have been made with mix
tures of these two metals in varying
proportions. The alloy containing 60
to 90 per cent of gold is to be known
as “rhotanium,” and has a specifie
gravity of 16 to 18.5, is malleable and
ductile and can be welded without flux
or other agent. It proves entirely
satisfactory for most chemical and
electrical purposes for which platinum
is used, though it is not suitable for
use with hot concentrated nitric acid,
nor for electrolytic anodes. For jew- l
elry it is thought to be even superior to
platinum, as it is harder and stronger
and takes a better finish and it has
practically the same color, can be
worked as readily and does not tarn
ish or corrode. I
TGy MMULMINIE, MoICI Oul aoron
e —————— . ——————————— e— s tra—
through,” and Maurice, Penrod ang
Herman wished to use it “to drink
through.” As a consequence of the
success of the latter party, the shack
‘became too damp for habitation unti]
another day, and several members, ag
they went home at dusk, might easily
have been mistaken for survivors of
some marine catastrophe.
Still, not every shack is equipped
with running water, and exuberance
befitted the occasion. Everybody
agreed that the afternoon had been
one of the most successful and impor
tant in many weeks. The Order of the
In-Or-In was doing splendidly ; and yet
every brother felt] in his Heart, that
there was one thing that could spoil it
Against that fatality, all were united
to protect themselves, the shack, the
rixual, the opera glasses, and the wa
ter-and-speaking tube. Sam spoke not
only for himself but for the entire or
der when he declared, in speeding the
last parting guest:
“Well, we got to stick to one thing
or we might as well quit! Georgie Bas
sett better not come pokin’ around!”
“No, sir!” said Penrod.
VALUE OF PORPOISE JAW OIL
Lubricant Responsible for Correct Op
eration of Delicate Mechanism Re
taining Fluidity at All Times.
In this hastening age of ours, when
even seconds count in business life, it
may sound paradoxical to say that we
owe our punctuality and time saving to
the playful porpoise. And yet such,
indeed, is the fact, says the Scientific
American, for watches, clocks and the
still more dignified chronometer would
not run month in and month out with
regularity but for the lubricant ob
tained from its jaws. : rd
' This oil has the unique property of
being able to retain its fluidity summer
and winter, and there is an authentic
record of the lubricant doing its work
at a temperature of quite 100 degrees
below the freezing point. A variety of
other gils have been tried for the same
service, but all of them have proved
far less reliable. In a watch or chro
nometer the oil must stay where put—
it must not “creep” over the mechan
ism and thus steal away from its pro
per post of duty. Therefore, it ought
not to run away in the presence of
considerable heat. Neither should the
oil oxidize, evaporate or grow rancid.
These exacting requirements are met
in their entirety only by porpoise jav
oil, and it is no wonder that the stuff
when refined sells wholesale in the
neighborhood of $25 a gallon. There
are many other mechanisms that are
best cared for by using perpoise jaw
oil, such, for instance, as talking ma
chines, delicate recording apparatus,
ete.
Grownups Not Appreciative.
The greatest of our many pleasures,
perhaps, is to write pieces for and
about children, because they are the
only ones who appreclate things that
are done for them. Grownups don’t
appreciate that sort of thing. They al
ways find something wrong about it
The reporter doesn’t live who can
write a piece about a grownup I
which the grownups can't find some
mistake. But children overlook de
tails, and are grateful for the T
porter’s kindly intent. The other day
we wrote a piece for the little boy
who lives in the big apartment house
where everybody else is grown Up:
Last night we saw the little boy, and
asked him if he saw the piece. H®
said yes, his mamma had read it ©
him. And then_ he ran up and kicked
us on the shins. It was the first tim¢
he ever had flattered us with so much
as a glance, and immediately we Ene¥
we had made a friend for life. "°
have written verse by the yard for
grownups, but if they ever were
pleased with it, they kept the fact
carefully concealed. — Kansas Cit¥
Star.
