Part 13
"Good night, Nina; good luck, Old Bill! Oh! say, Bill; will _that_ cigar blow up? Good night, Virginia; and ta-ta Patricia; and Virginia, you mind your Ma and stay down on solid ground! Aha, Clancy! You old motor-pump fan! No; that's wrong; _animal-drawn_ pump! Good night, Pastor Brown; so glad you put Norman in your choir. And now Old Tom and Sarah! Tom, you look as young as on that day on which you brought Sarah, just a tiny, squalling, fist-waving bunch, to this porch to ask about adoption! And I know Sarah has always had a kind, loving Dad. Paul, you young sprout! As _you_ turn into a daddy, soon now, you'll find that, on marrying, a man and woman start actually living. It's miraculous, Paul, that's just what it is."
And so it was; pairs and groups shaking hands and laughing, until finally a big buxom woman sang out:--
"_Whoops!!_ It was a _wow_ of a grub-lay-out! It _was_ thot! But this dom thing I calls hoosband. Say! You grub-stuffin' varmint! Phwat's that in your hat? A droom-stick, is it? Do you want His Honor to think I don't cook nuthin' for you? Goodnight, all! I'm thot full I'm almost a-bustin'!"
As Lady Standish shook hands, that worthy woman said:--
"John, what you did for Branton Hills should go into our National Library at Washington, in plain sight."
"Sally, _Youth's_ part was paramount in all that work. All I did was to boss;" and Old Doc Wilkins, coming out, nibbling a bunch of raisins, said:--
"Uh-huh; but a boss must know his job!"
"That's all right," said Gadsby; "but it was _young hands and young minds_ that did my work! Don't disqualify Youth for it will fool you, if you do!"
* * * * *
A glorious full moon sails across a sky without a cloud. A crisp night air has folks turning up coat collars and kids hopping up and down for warmth. And that giant star, Sirius, winking slyly, knows that soon, now, that light up in His Honor's room window will go out. Fttt! It _is_ out! So, as Sirius and Luna hold an all-night vigil, I'll say a soft "Good-night" to all our happy bunch, and to John Gadsby--Youth's Champion.
FINIS
Note: Not a word containing the letter "E" has appeared in this story of over 50,000 words.
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Did any "e"s survive the publishing process? Yes, three "the"s, and one "officers"--all have been retained as published.
Use of quotation marks has been standardised; otherwise punctuation, spelling, hyphenated words and grammar have been retained as they appear in the original publication except as follows:
Page 61 pavilion, lunch rooms; and parkings for as many _changed to_ pavilion, lunch rooms; and parking for as many
Page 61 all this with happy satisfication _changed to_ all this with happy satisfaction
Page 90 thought back about that lassoo _changed to_ thought back about that lasso
Page 128 on hand for his politicial _changed to_ on hand for his political
Page 139 back to that captivating lassoo _changed to_ back to that captivating lasso
Page 142 two upstairs, for wraps, mascarra _changed to_ two upstairs, for wraps, mascara
Page 152 If-f-f-f B-b-b-barnum's circut _changed to_ If-f-f-f B-b-b-barnum's circus
Page 155 around your tiny baby as softy _changed to_ around your tiny baby as softly
Page 181 talking. Taking about what? _changed to_ talking. Talking about what?
Page 195 Nina coudn't stand it _changed to_ Nina couldn't stand it
Page 195 known Nina and Virgina _changed to_ known Nina and Virginia
Page 255 Organizations's foot-prints _changed to_ Organization's foot-prints