Villanova Digital Library - The Boys' world, v. 21, no. 36, September 9, 1922.

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Full Title	The Boys' world, v. 21, no. 36, September 9, 1922.
Contributor	Thomson, Irving L.
Date Added	10 March 2020
Format	Journal
Language	English
Publish Date	1922-09-09
Publisher	Elgin, Ill. : David C. Cook Publishing Co.
Source	Dime Novels and Popular Literature
Alternate Title	"Algy met a bear" / by Irving L. Thomson.
Topic	Children's literature > Periodicals. Christian life > Juvenile literature. Story papers > Specimens.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR “temper is a joke among the fellows. -tease him just to see him fly to pieces. - to his cheeks. a _It’s that temper of his. Copyright, 1922, by Davia C. Cook Publishing Company. Vol. 21, No. 36. { PURLISHED WEEKLY. oy ir otionn ty Ge a N y ne: = ; Hé “y Win, “on, ; Sing He Kicked ©. violently that his foot slipped on he turf and he fell awkwardly and in- * on ously on the grasi EAUTIFUL!” exclaimed Blaine, ad- miringly. “Ile .runs like a Mer- eury !"" ‘Coach Bradley, standing watch in hand, shook his head and sighed, At that moment the runner dashed across the white line that marked the quarter-mile on the track. “His momentum carried him a few yards farther down the track, and then he waved his hand at the coach, and turned across the athletic field toward the gymnasium, “ Wright's form -is good,” admitted the coach to the student, who had come down to. wateb track practice. “Any chance for him in the Brighton meet?” asked Blaine interestedly. The coach looked doubtful. “ Ve ought to be the best half-mile man in the state. I never can count on him in a race, He will go through his practice here on the field perfectly for a week, and then spoil it all J losing his “head in the big race, I'd like him to run - against Brighton, but I can’t trust him.” “y know,” sympathized Blaine. Algernon Wright in the gymnasium was feeling the exhilaration that a shower bath brings after brisk exercise in the spring sunshine. Ile was pleased with the prom- ise of the track meets that were to come, .for he knew that he was in good condition and that his running form was getting so that he could depend upon it. “ Now if Coach Bradley only gives me a chance,” he thought, “I can do something in the races this year, And maybe we can clean up on-old Brighton. — Griffin's .got to be beaten,” he growled, an angry flush rising “TH beat him yet, if I don’t do Another thing in college,” s he dressed, the memory of the last “atte: Brighton track meet—the big track “event of the season—came back to him. It was a thing he did not particularly like ‘to _femember,.for there was a certain unpleas- “antness about it that affected him especial- ily. Ile had started to the meet on that day in high spirits. Ile was in the pink of con- dition, and he was sure he could win his special race, the half-mile. At the start, “he drew the inside position, At the crack _of the zistol, he leaped into the lead, a good - grass. DAVID C, COOK PUBLISHING pace in front ot ail the rest. He kept his position antil halfway over the last of the two laps, conscious of a runner who was just behind him and who was vainly trying to pass- him. Then he heard a muttered sentence from the runner, “ Run along out of the way, my little fellow, This is a man’s race.” Surprised and angered at the taunt—it wasn't so 1nuch the words as the mocking tone in which they were givren—Algernon Wright glanced back over his shoulder with a wrathful “Shut up!” on his lips, thus violating one. of Coach Bradley’s strictest ruies, That made him lose his steady even stride for a moment. He al- most stumbled, and.in that instant his rival shot ahead of him, Now as he remembered it again, the blood rushed hotly to his head, and it was in no pleasant frame of mind that he left the gymnasium and started toward his boarding house, . Halfway across the campus he kicked violently at a small twig that lay inoffensively in the path, kicked so violent- ly that his foot slipped on the turf, and he fell awkwardly and ingloriously on the He looked around apprehensively. “Little Algy gets back to nature,” out the irrepressible Jinks, a Freshman whose exuberant ,,sirits earned him the nickname of “Hi. “ Say,” of loded Wright, his wrath fair- ly lifting him to his feet, “cut out that Algy stuff, will you? Somebody ought to teach Freshmen some-manners, and about ready to do the “work, at least as far as one Freshman is concerned !” “Oh, calm yourself,” soothed Jinks. “Your anger may be ‘ Wrightchus’” but it isn’t becoming. repeat a touching little poem I found to- day, just for you. “*Algy met a bear; The bear met Algy. The bear grew bulgy. The bulge was Alzy,’” he chanted, watching his victim's discom- fort with obvious satisfaction. “Only this case, Algy met. the ground.” chuckled another boy. “Come on, Al, ‘em have their fun.” said Blaine, walking over to Wright an sang ~ acted, Now if you'll be good I'll - COMPANY, Eten, [Ltrnors. throwing his arm across the boy’s shoul- ders, “ Don’t you.care. Let’s go to sup- per.” 3 a Algernon Wright shook his friend’s arm free, but walked on with him. “I can't stand that Jinks fellow,” he stormed. “ It isn’t my fault that my name is Algernon.” “Don't mind him,” urged Blaine. “ You did look comical, you know, the way your feet flew out from under you, You went down so—so unaninrously.” “Yiaven’t you any respect fora . fellow" s feelings?” Algy grumbled. A good dinner and a healthy appetite will combine to drive away the deepest gloom, and before long Wright had forgotten his grieyance, It was not until late in the eve- ning, when he had come out under the stars to get a breath of air beforé going to bed, that he remembered the incident again. “That Jinks thinks he’s clever.” he mut- tered. “Ile and his jokes and his rhymes. Fool thing! Nothing to ‘em. ‘ Algy met a bear!’ Humph!" Suddenly he chuckled. “That was a funny one, though. never let him know I thought it was!” Then his sudden, and: embarrassing de- scent upon the campus came to him. that it was over, he could review the event without so much emotion. Ile was forced to smile himself as he thought of the pic- ture he must have made. Then he grew sober again as he remembered how he had lost his temper. “ Looked funnier than ever, iSaine said, he mused. “I wonder if I did. I never thought of that.” Ue thought carefully, and tried to remember exactly how be had “TN bet I made a fool of myself,” he reflected. He started, as a thought new to him came into his mind. ““* Algy met a bear.’ Ife grinned, and then exclaimed, “H’m., that is just exactly what has been happening to Algy all this time. Come to think of it, ave a bear of a temper.” [le chuckled at his own wit- ticism. “And the bear met Algy, and the bear grew bulgy, and—yes, by George, the bulge was Algy. It comes out on top—-I mean outside—every time, too. There’s just one*thing to do; I’ve got to run from the bear or else tame him. The task of keeping his temper was even harder than he had expected, for he had never really tried before. From the very beginning of the day, when the morning af- ter his resolution, he energetically jumped out of bed and just as energetically struck his foot against a carelessly placed chair, it seemed to him as though temptations to give way to a burst of anger were waiting for him everywhere he turned. It was hard, “Out of the way!" panted Griffin, “Remember what I said. I'll get you and get you good!” But I'd Now- September 9, 1922. and he was not always successful, but’ lit- tle by little he found it easier control over himself, When gomet hit irritating happened, he would think to him- self, pt_ a bear—” w ould cross And then, one day a week after his reso- lution, he came back to his room, which was in a private house near the campus, to find it “stacked.” In his absence three or four of his friends had dropped in. to see him. One of them suggested that it would be a huge joke on Wright to turn every- thing upside down, and the otbers hilarious- ly agreed, So they set to work with an “ Wright. to be perfectly frank with you, I'm at all sure tat I can ket you he wered finally. enthusiasm which they had seldom given to their studies, When Wright opened his door late in the afternoon, chaos and confusion met his eyes. Fverything tbat he owned was piled in oue grand heap in the center of the room. Ilis furniture formed the foundation of the ps mid, We recognized parts of his chairs, desk, bureau drawers, and completely dis- membered bed by various sections of them that emerged from the general wreck. Over the whole thing were spread the contents of his desk and bureau, while the top was crowned with a festoon of neckties piuned together. Beneath them a row of his pic- tures and pennants encircled the heap. For a few seconds Algernon just stood and looked. Then the blood rushed to his face, he drew a long breath, and opened his mouth, ”" He stopped, “ Algy met a bear— while a look of vast astonishment spread over his face. That wasn’t at all what he had meant to say. It was, in fact, far from it. But the habit had already been fixed so strongly that the words slipped out be- fore he knew it. For a moment he felt angry again, and then the incongruity of the words in that particular situation struck him with full force, and he sat down and laughed until the tears rolled down’ his cheeks, “I'll say it’s a bear!” he told the world in general. — “ And it's the biggest bear that Algy ever met,” he concluded, more soberly, He fished from the pile the essentials for preparing for supper, and Jeft the work of reconstruction until he came back. At supper the guilty members of the party watched his serene air in amazement. This was hot the Algernon Wright that they knew. nally one of. them ventured, in tones of iltelet * Been home lately, Al?" “ Just came from there,” Wright assured him, “ And say, Bud,” he remarked, realiz- ing what brought forth the question, “ you and the rest of the bunch come over with me after supper. I have a little job for sou”? The spring advanced, and as the weeks (Continued on page 7.)