"With slouch and swing around the ring,
We trod the Fools’ Parade!
We did not care; we knew we were
The Devil’s Own Brigade;
And shaven head and feet of lead
Make a merry masquerade."
III
The Winter was nearly over when “Slippery Jim” came to me and expressed a wish to return to the World again. If his father would only accept him once more!
My observation of a father’s attitude towards his prodigal son is that the moment the son desires to live as he ought, not only do closed doors open, but the father stands ready with outstretched arms to receive him. This supposedly harsh father, when he was convinced that his Jim had worked faithfully at the Colony for several months, was anxious that his son return home. Even the boy’s old employer expressed sympathy and offered a position to him.
When this good news came I did not have to tell the boy anything about its being one’s duty to be cheerful. He wanted to dance a clog on the table in the men’s reading room.