But with this tenderness of
disposition Sam had inherited another still stronger trait, and this
was a deep respect for authority, and such elements of revolt as
revealed themselves in his grief over his rooster were soon stifled in
his little heart. He bowed submissively before the powers that be. From
the time when he first lisped he had called his parents "Colonel Jinks"
and "Mrs. Jinks." His mother had succeeded with great difficulty in
substituting the term "Ma" for herself, but she could not make him
address his father as anything but "Colonel," and after a time his
father grew to like it. No one knew how Sam had acquired the habit; it
was simply the expression of an inherently respectful nature. He
reverenced his father and loved his father's profession of farmer. His
earliest pleasure was to hold the reins and drive "like Colonel Jinks,"
and his earliest ambition was to become a teamster, that part of the
farm work having peculiar attractions for him.
In the afternoon on which we were introduced to the Colonel, Sam was
watching on the veranda for his father's return, and was quick to spy
the parcel under his arm, and many were the wild guesses he made as to
its contents. The Colonel left it carelessly upon the hall table, and
Sam could easily have peeped into it, but he would as soon have thought
of cutting off his hand.
"What's in that box in the hall, Colonel Jinks?" he asked in an
embarrassed voice at supper, as he fingered the edge of the tablecloth
and looked blushingly at his plate.
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