Watch Yourself Go By

A >> Al. G. Field >> Watch Yourself Go By

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"No," answered the wife in open-mouthed wonder, "have you heard they
were goun' off tu fight Injuns?"

"No, no," quickly assured Lin, "I didn't mean they wus goin' tu fight
Injuns. Yow know Alfurd's full of show notions, an' you know we had a
Injun show yer on Jeffres Commons; hit wusn't much uf a show, nuthin' to
hit. I thought maybe Node an' Alfurd had got hit into theur noodles to
act Injun. Did ye see them things with feathers on them they wus
draggin' aroun'? Yes, an' they got pea fowl feathers on too; bet all
they hev no luck, pea fowl feathers allus bring bad luck."

Here Node entered the room. His wife scanned him, noting his skinned
nose: "Eh, huh, Mr. Injun, I hope ye ain't skulped?" lifting his hat and
looking at his head.

Node was considerably taken aback; he muttered something about making it
go yet, "but no damn fool could pole him into the air." Poor Node
imagined that his secret was out and that all knew of his dismal
failure. When he learned that the feathers had deceived all and that the
flying machine was looked upon as some sort of show paraphernalia, he
humored the deception and admitted that he and Alfred were experimenting
with Indian arms and things, thinking of giving an Indian show.

This satisfied Lin. With all her cunning she was easily deceived.
Running home she advised the mother that she had guessed it the first
guess.

"Lor', hit's no use fur Alfurd tu try tu fool me, I know thet thar boy
better'n he knows hisself. I sed, sed I, es soon es I seed Node an' him
comin' 'hit's Injun bizness this trip sure.' Why, anybody'd know thet
what Alfurd was carryin' wus war hoops; war hoops is what Injuns has got
more uf then most anythin' else. But I swear tu goodness I don't see how
Node or Alfurd cud pass fur an Injun. Node looked like a skur-crow an'
Alfred like a Tom-boy girl. Maybe Alfurd kud be Pokerhuntus an' Node
Captin John Smith."

That first attempt at flying but increased the determination to make the
thing a success.

The complicated gearing of the rear extension, was supported with one
rope. It was double gear previously; now it was single gear. Before, it
worked too rapidly and, like Black Fan when under full speed, was liable
to go by the head.

Node declared again and again that it was the rear extension that caused
him to shoot head-first into the earth. He had just started to rise, he
felt himself going up; suddenly the rear extension flew forward, "hit me
on the head, your ole Injun feathers pushed down over my eyes, and I had
to head her for earth. Why I'd been a fool to gone on up in the air
blinded. When a man's flying he's more anxious to see than when he's
walking."

Alfred meekly suggested that the fellow with the circus walked the
tight-rope blindfolded. Node admitted this fact; "But he had a
foothold. If I'd had a foothold all hell wouldn't held me, I'd been
flyin' yet."

Often did they settle on a date for the next flight only to have
something unforeseen interfere. Node desired a cloudy day with moderate
wind. Furthermore, the next flight the course was to be laid out.

Node declared with decision: "I want to have the starting and the
stopping points definitely in mind, I want to know just what I am doing.
I know this machine will do the work; I've got more strength in my arms
than I ever had afore," and here Node would bare his spare arms and
fling them about for exercise. "Yes, sir, if my arms hold out I can fly
anywhere. I'll start from Town Hill, light on Krepp's Knob an' pick
about a bit, rest my wings and fly back agin." Then Node would look down
on the river which flowed between--he couldn't swim--and with less
enthusiasm add: "But I won't do that yet; I'll wait till I get more used
to the machine and the air currents. A man to fly right must understand
the air currents jes as a sailor understands the course of the winds.
There are currents and cross currents; sometimes they git all tangled
up, then I'll just quit flappin' my wings, sink below the disturbance,
and fly about below until I git out of them. The main thing is to get
the rise."

"Well, I'll give you a lift," suggested Alfred.

"I want no more of your lifts," quickly answered Node.

Finally it was decided that the next flight be made from the roof of the
old barn in which the flying machine was housed.

In answer to Lin's query as to what he was doing on the roof of the barn
so early in the morning, Alfred carelessly answered: "Oh, I'm making a
pigeon box."

Lin said it looked as if they were going to build a mighty big pigeon
house.

Alfred declared it would be the proper thing to do to invite a half
dozen or more friends to witness the ascension. Node dissented: "Wait
until we get the rear extension to working as perfectly as the side
propellers and we'll give an exhibition. If you invite anybody in this
town to see me fly and anything goes the least bit wrong, they'll walk
off and sneer and say: 'He'll never fly.' That's the way they did when I
was working on the perpetual motion machine. I had it just about goin',
and I invited two or three who I thought were my friends. They looked at
it, praised me to my face and said: 'Node, by golly, you got it,' then
they went right down street and told everybody that I was a dam fool and
that's what disheartened me and I quit working on it. If I hadn't
invited anybody to look at my work I'd had perpetual motion down to a
nicety today. Why, I invented a magnet with which you could find gold or
silver, no matter if it was buried ten feet deep." (It was the belief of
many that there was gold buried in the hills around the old town; that
eccentric, wealthy persons in the early days had buried.)

"I had this magnet," continued Node, "working to perfection. Well, I
took four men with me, and we went around the Point to where a fortune
teller told 'Had' there was money buried. We worked along the hill up to
where the fortune teller had said the money was. The magnet swung right,
then left; suddenly it stopped, then whirled around and around. We all
turned pale. There was a smell in the air like the damp in a coal bank.
One of the men marked the place and said: 'Node, it's too late to begin
digging today; we'll dig tomorrow.' I waited all day, but none of the
men came. 'Had' was all excited about it because the fortune teller had
described the spot to her; she could tell it with her eyes shut. Well,
we walked straight to the place, and what do you suppose?" Node waited
for Alfred's reply.

"Well, I expect you found you was fooled," drawled Alfred.

"Yes, that's what we did," asserted Node, "that's jest what we did find,
we was fooled, robbed, tricked. There was a hole in the ground four or
five feet deep. At the bottom, just the size of a dinner plate and round
as a crock, you could tell there had been a crock full of money taken
out of the hole. Not one of them fellers thet was with me has ever
worked a day since." (Node had forgotten that they had never worked a
day previously.)

Node put his hand on the flying machine as he declared: "No, sir, no one
shall know a thing about this invention until your Uncle Noah has it so
he can do anything a bird can."

The allusion to the hidden wealth impressed Alfred greatly. He became
certain Node would make the flying machine a success. Therefore, he
built the platform on the barn longer that Node might get a better
start. Alfred was strong in the belief that he could greatly aid Node
with the clothes prop as before. But at the mere suggestion Node became
angry. He threatened to abandon the flight if he caught sight of a
clothes prop in Alfred's hands. Node knew full well once he was strapped
in the machine Alfred could do anything he chose. He therefore
determined that no poles or props should be taken to the roof of the old
barn. Alfred had the clothes prop hidden in the barn below. Node
happened to discover it, and forthwith ordered Alfred to carry it back
to Alex Smith's yard. He never took his eyes off the boy until the prop
was leaned against the fence in the yard of the owner.

Node swore he would inform Alex Smith the next time he went by Jacob's
store that Alfred was stealing his clothes props, "And you know what
that red-headed son-of-a-gun will do to you," threatened Node, as he
shook his finger at Alfred.

The morning was propitious; Node said so at least. There were to be no
witnesses, but Cousins Charley and George were hidden in John Fear's
coal house, Baggy Allison was in Alfred's barn, Jim Hart and Mary were
at the upstairs windows in Alex Smith's house--all by invitation of
Alfred.

Node was very nervous. Alfred could do nothing to please him. In
preparing for the first flight he had Alfred strap his arms in the wings
first. He insisted all fastenings should be made ere his arms were
strapped. Alfred had occasion to go below. Node watched him closely as
he made his reappearance through the hole in the roof, evidently fearing
he had brought a pole with him.

Finally, the side propellers were adjusted. Node flapped them a few
times, stood on tip-toes, very much like a cock crowing, as Alfred
encouragingly assured him that he saw him rising. "If you had only given
two or three more flaps with your wings you'd been up in the air sure."

Then in a coaxing manner Alfred continued: "Now Node, if I was you I
would not go too far for the first flight; just flit about, then settle
and rest. Go at it moderate like."

Node seemed to gain confidence. He walked back and forth, or rather he
walked forth and then back, as he could not turn about owing to the rear
extension. Node declared it wouldn't bother him in the air.

Node walked to the edge of the barn some three or four times, bending
his bird-like head to look down as if measuring the distance. As he
backed up after looking down the last time, Alfred sort of taunted him
by saying: "If you can't keep yourself from falling hard enough to hurt
you, your flying apparatus ain't much account. S'pose you don't fly very
high the first time, s'pose you don't fly far, with them wings and that
tail you ought to settle so lightly you wouldn't break an egg shell."

This seemed to strengthen the bird-man; he drew in a few deep breaths,
gazing heavenward, then across the river at Krepp's Knob, then below him
at the river. Alfred was all a-tremble. He remembered that Node said:
"You must mark your course, your starting point, your landing place."
Alfred wondered in his mind whether Node would cross to Krepp's or only
cross Dunlap's Creek over Duck Leonard's mill.

Node flapped his wings again. This time, with each flap of the wings,
Alfred gave the rear extension a gentle lift. Node would rise four or
five inches with each lift. He did nor realize that Alfred was lending
help to his efforts. After a more forcible lift of the tail than any
Alfred had yet given it, Node, turning his head, with a triumphant look,
shouted: "When I say 'Three,' I'm going, but don't you do anything, jest
let me handle her. Let go the rear extension."

[Illustration: Node's Flight]

Pointing the wings heavenward, gazing up as if in prayer, raising
himself on his tip-toes, straining every nerve, in a voice tremulous
with excitement, he began: "One," stretching higher, he shouted: "Two,"
rising on his tip-toes, he reached the edge of the barn, as he fairly
yelled: "Three."

The wings came down beautifully, but they did not rise again. As Node
stepped off the edge of the barn he descended instead of ascending, the
rear extension got sort of tangled on the comb of the roof, Node and the
machine dangled in the air momentarily.

As Alfred dropped through the opening in the roof, he heard Node claw a
time or two at the weather-boarding; something seemed to let go, to rip,
then, there was a dull sound as of a bag of sand falling from a height
to the earth.

There was the sound of footsteps coming from several directions. Alfred
heard all this while he was moving faster than he had ever moved before.
Node did not beat him to the earth by a great margin. As Alfred flew out
of the door of the barn, he saw Jack Rathmell doubled over the fence
laughing as only Jack could laugh.

Ere Node was disentangled from the wrecked airship, ere they escorted
him to "Had"--he declined to be carried--Alfred was safely hidden away
in Alex Smith's hay mow. Buried under the hay he kept peering through a
convenient crack which gave him a view of the territory between his home
and Node's residence. Somehow he figured the whole thing would be blamed
on him.

First, Lin was seen with her apron around her head going toward Node's
house. It was not long until she returned, walking hurriedly. She
reappeared in a moment, bearing in her hands something that appeared to
be bandages. Then Alfred's father came. In a moment or two he was seen
going toward Beckley's house. Then, a little later, the father and two
or three others, including Cousin Charley, reappeared, walking toward
the old barn. Cousin Charley was evidently describing the attempted
flight as he pointed to the roof of the barn. All looked up, then as
Charley marked a spot on the manure pile with his foot, all looked down.

The father gathered up a part of the flying machine and carried it home.
Standing at the gate he gave a shrill whistle, one that he had used to
attract Alfred since he was a little boy. Alfred made no response.

Alfred did not know how badly Node was injured. He felt very sorry for
him, he really liked the man. As miserable as he felt, as sorry as he
was, the funny side of the affair crept into his mind and, as usual, he
relieved himself with a good hearty laugh.

Alfred's laugh was cut short by a voice calling from below: "Who's that?
Hey? Who's that?"

Alfred recognized Alex Smith's voice. He remained motionless for a
moment.

The voice, part of the way up the ladder leading to the hay mow, called
again, this time commandingly: "Who's up in the hay mow? Come down! Come
down! Or I'll bring you down."

Alfred remained motionless.

"You won't come down, won't you? Well, you will when I come back." And
the voice told Alfred it's owner was leaving the place.

Alfred, climbing down the ladder, left the stable just as the gate
slammed announcing Mr. Smith's coming. He stood motionless as Mr. Smith
approached. When the elder man recognized the boy he was somewhat
surprised.

"Was that you in the haymow?"

"Yes, sir," answered Alfred.

"Why didn't you answer when I called to you?"

Alfred related the whole story. Alex Smith accompanied Alfred home. The
story of Node Beckley's flying machine was gone over. The father was
mollified.

Lin commented thusly: "One story is good till another's told. I jes kum
from Beckley's; Node's not hurt much, jes jarred. He sed he went on the
barn to test his apperatus; he wern't ready to fly. An' I don't reckun
he wus an' what's more, he never will be. He wus jes straitnin' out the
perpellers. He ses: 'Alfurd's been so alfired crazy to hev me fly he
jes couldn't wait till I got my apperatus finished. While I wus standin'
near the aidge uf the roof, my perpellers hangin' down, Alfurd snook up
ahind me an' gin me a push, and afore I could raise my perpellers I wus
on the groun'. If I hed knowed hit I could've saved myself an' flew off
an' lit in the field.'"

Alfred asked Lin who made this statement. She replied Mrs. Beckley had
told it to her.

"If Node told that story I am going over to contradict it, if his back's
broken."

"Nevur mind, nevur mind," consoled Lin, "I jes tole 'Had' thet Node wus
a bird, an' like all birds, he knowed which way to fly, kase I heard he
headed straight fur the manure pile."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For this brave old earth must borrow its mirth,
It has trouble enough of its own.

The world does not require the same attainments from all; it is well it
is so ordered. Some persons are well taught, some are ill taught, some
are not taught at all. Some have naturally good dispositions and absorb
learning readily. Some are deficient in mechanical ingenuity and yet can
analyze difficult mental problems.

It is no crime to fail in any pursuit or vocation, if failure is not due
to idleness or deliberate preference of evil to good. There comes a time
in the life of every reasoning person that they must take themselves for
better or for worse, that they must take themselves more seriously.

Captain Abrams had unintentionally contributed to Alfred's discontent.
He had remarked that to putty up holes, paint a board or smear a
hurricane deck was not much of a trade or calling, but to be an artist
like Alfred's father was a profession that would bring success.

Alfred could not drive a nail straight; he could not saw a board
straight; he was such an awkward writer, the school teacher made fun of
his copy book. She advised Alfred that she did this hoping that by
publicly reprimanding him he would learn to write a more legible hand.
"You excel in spelling, reading, geography and other studies; you should
be ashamed of your writing."

The grandfather, the father, the teacher, all liked Alfred. None
intended to injure his feelings, yet the taunts, the censure, just and
unjust, sunk into Alfred's soul, and, he advised Captain Abrams it was
only the duty he owed his father that kept him there a day.

Alfred was low in mind. He sought his father and endeavored to reason
with him, but was dismissed with the argument: "You don't want to learn
anything useful; if it was something connected with a show, you'd master
it mighty quick."

"But father, I have no skill or sleight to work with tools."

The father interrupted with a peremptory: "Do as I did--learn."

"I can't learn," pleaded the boy, "try as I may, I'm not cut out for a
mechanic. If I could work like you it would be a pleasure to me to keep
at it. I'm out of all heart with my work."

The father evidently felt for the boy as he spoke in a more kindly tone:
"You are not lazy; the things that you can do, you do well. Now you
painted around that hull quicker than any man at work on the boat. Be a
little more patient, take more pains and you'll make a good workman. I
will pay you wages, try to make something useful out of yourself. You'll
never amount to a hill of beans if you follow up your show notions,"
pleaded the father.

"Pap, I'm satisfied with what you give, it ain't that. I don't like the
work. Of course, I painted the hull of the boat quickly but that's all I
can do and Captain Abrams says there's nothing in puttying up nail holes
and painting hulls; anybody can learn that in six months."

The father became cross again, and, in a threatening tone, said: "I am
your father and it is my duty to do my best for you; I firmly believe I
am fulfilling my duty as a parent in ordering you to give up all other
notions as to the future and get down to business and learn this trade.
Now make up your mind; go at your work with the feeling that you are
determined to succeed. If you go at your work in a half-hearted way you
are certain to fail."

"Well, that's the way I feel about this work; I can't learn it, I don't
want to. There's a dozen other things I'd rather do and I can make more
money out of them."

This stubborn talk exasperated the father, and pointing his finger at
the boy to emphasize his words, he said: "First, it was circus, then it
was minstrels. You tried the newspaper business, you were not
satisfied."

"Why, you made me quit newspaper work," interrupted Alfred.

"Don't interrupt me again," cautioned the father, "then it was that
infernal panorama. That panorama was the worst of all, it gave you the
habit of roving; you've never been satisfied a day since you went off
with that panorama."

"But father, you and all your family were willing I should go. You
wanted me to go; I didn't want to go, I only wanted to get back the
money Palmer cheated you out of."

The father thundered: "Don't you try to saddle your roving onto me.
You're not satisfied in any place and never will be. Don't you ever tell
me to my face again that I even hinted that you go with the panorama and
I don't want you to ever mention that anybody cheated me. I'd like to
see the man who can cheat me. Now you go to your work, you're not your
own man yet. I am going to send you to the Merrittstown Academy this
winter and I want you to settle down. You've had it too easy. When I was
a boy I had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning, make all the fires,
milk four cows and feed a pen full of hogs and I had to be done by
daylight. You've had it too easy, your mother is the one that's spoiled
you. From this day on it's hands off with her; I'll be your boss. Now,
don't let me hear more of this roving talk."

"Why, Pap, I haven't said one word about roving. Can't I do other work
right here at home if I quit this, I don't have to rove, do I?"

"No, but that's the upshot of all this talk," persisted the father. "Now
get down to your work; learn it."

"I can't," doggedly answered the boy. "Didn't you tell me yesterday my
fingers were all thumbs? Didn't you tell me in front of all the hands
that you were ashamed of me and that you didn't think it possible that a
child of yours could be so ignorant and awkward."

The father stammered and colored. He was a most affectionate parent, he
was truly sorry that he had humbled the pride of the boy. "Why, my son,
the men all know I was only teasing you; they all know you are most
intelligent. You can learn anything you set your hand to. Why, when you
went to Dr. Playford to learn to be a doctor he informed me as did Bob,
that they never knew anyone to learn Latin as quickly as you. You could
tell us all the names for medicines. Why, Uncle Jake, Steve Gadd and Joe
Gibbons told me the time they took you to Washington County to the
turkey shoot, that they'd all been down sick if it hadn't been for you.
They say it rained a cold rain and you all got wet. Uncle Jake is
subject to the quinsy and he was on the verge of it. They tried the drug
store and everywhere and they couldn't get nothing. Steve said you went
to the drug store and got all they wanted, only you didn't ask for
whiskey; you called it fermenting spirits. Steve said the druggist told
him confidentially you ought to be a druggist, you told him things he
didn't know before. Now, go at your work as you did at doctoring and
you'll learn. It has been the regret of your mother's life that you did
not learn to be a doctor. I've sometimes thought old Hare just pretended
your medicine made him sick to get out of paying the bill. I don't think
Dr. Playford cared one thing about it so far as you was concerned but
the other doctors talked so about it he just had to let you go. I've
always felt sorry about it because, if any of our family is taken down
with a fever, Playford is the only fever doctor in town."

Arguments of this character occurred almost daily. Alfred grew more and
more dissatisfied, the father more insistent. Alfred kept up his
minstrel work, appearing ever and anon in amateur exhibitions. Folks
kept pouring it into his ears: "Well, if I had your talent this town
wouldn't hold me fifteen minutes; I'd take the boat for Pittsburg
tonight. What does your father mean by holding you down in this way?
Does your mother favor it? Why, your folks are standing in their own
light. If I had a boy like you I'd hire him out and travel with him,"
was Shuban Lee's comment.

All this was not calculated to cool the ardor of an ambitious amateur.
Alfred read the _New York Clipper_ weekly. He wrote many letters to many
minstrel managers to which he did not receive replies.

Charles Duprez, of Duprez and Benedict, answered one of Alfred's letters
thusly:

DEAR SIR:

In answer to your letter--do you double in brass?

CHARLES DUPREZ.

Alfred read and re-read the letter and finally answered:

MR. CHARLES DUPREZ:

RESPECTED SIR: I do not double in brass or anything else. I'm a
minstrel, not a contortionist.

ALFRED GRIFFITH HATFIELD.

No reply ever came. Alfred concluded the minstrel field was overcrowded
or managers would not have permitted him to remain idle, especially in
view of the fact that he had offered to give their full performance, for
as low as twenty dollars a month, washing and mending. To one manager he
added a confidential P. S.: "If you are not doing very well I can put
you on to a good thing, a panorama. I'm a panoramist."

Alfred turned his attention to acrobatics. Every spare hour was spent on
the tan bark pile with Lint Dutton, James Todd Livingston, Tom White
and Lash Hyatt. Lint Dutton was determined to learn bare-back riding.
Sneaking his father's horse from the barn, he would endeavor to stand
alone on the back of the animal, Alfred playing clown and Bindley
Livingston ringmaster. Mr. Dutton, after Lint had fallen and nearly
broken his back, locked up the horse. Lint determined to give up
bare-back riding and practice the Indian style of horsemanship. Many are
the persons who had narrow escapes from being run over by Lint as his
horse galloped up and down the back streets of the town, wearing the old
feather head-dress that Node wore in his attempts to fly.

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