Stand By

ind. The cripple boy had so little. If only there were

hat he believed was so vague that he couldn't put it i

e things he collected-a broken pipestem, a bit of beeswax, some feathers, an old cornstalk, wire, a needle, a few threads raveled from a piece of yellowed silk! A strange assortment for a strong, husky boy to spend his time gathering together! Any

e week, Lee tramped o

d and round in his hands-"suppose old Pomp and I come here and carry Jimmy, chair and al

immy Bobb swayed in his chair. His eyes seemed

merely nodded. But her face was no longer apathet

osphere-due to a group of rough-looking fellows massed close to the cabin door. Some of those tobacco-spitting loafers Lee had had to navigate around every time he went to the country store! Li

were going to carry Jimmy over to the electrical shop. Full of the Coveite's ignorances and superstitions, they must have gotten together here to try to interfere with his plans. Well, jus

with old Pomp edging ba

the gang, detached himself from his

he had to say came nearer knocking the wind out

we'd carry Jimm

n't believe he'd heard aright. There must be some

pping out of the group, the one they called Big Sandy. He was a

r for handles, like. Jimmy, he ain't so big, but I allow he'd b

there was a something in the eyes of these boys that made him say what he did. It was that same ter

up close to Lee, a new light in the black eyes beneath his tousled black locks. "You gonner let

st hysterical with excitement, rode like a king in the wheelless chariot of his old armchair. Lem and Big Sandy, being the strongest in the bunch, handled a pole end on eithe

d his hair," the antagonism of an educated fellow toward the narrow, suspicious ignorance of country louts-a ne

too much with the dangers of electricity." The great glass wheel, with its strange gearing of wood and brass and fur, laid its own spell of warning

derful and powerful, thought Lee, only it wasn't the

, but looked with all their eyes. Like a showman putting his charges through

!" whispered Tony Zita as sparks leaped and crackled ac

ricity in just like pouring molasses in a bucke

d flannel wet in salt water that, as Lem Hicks admiringly put it, "without no rubbing together of things-without

that's a smart thing! Wish I coul

He just looked, taking it in and storin

Bobb what electricity could do. He came back to the group now, bearing the piece of broken pipestem in his hand. It was

f with the cloth," h

some sharp, vigorous rubs, his face excited but withal mystified.

feathers on the table. "Reach the yellow piece out, somewhe

f pipestem, and the feathers leaped

time and again, and each time having the fluff leap up to c

ind it in a junk pile. An old book told me about how people found out long ago that 'delectable

to himself, as he tried the amber and feather stunt over and ov

ut out of cornstalk pith, sat in a swing of frail silken thread that hung suspended from the tops of the posts. At one end of the board was an insulated standard of brass. At the other end was a brass standard, uninsulated. Lee carefully arranged this curious

figure in the silken swing up against the brass where the figure took on an electrical charge. Then off swung th

enjoying his high riding. Back and forth, back and forth he swung, pulled now by the positive, now by the negative pow

greeted the antics

electrici

r'n a

e again, hu

s pride was punctured a bit, though, when, upon leaving, one fellow said, "This