David Lannarck, Midget: An Adventure StoryHarney, George S.
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David Lannarck, Midget: An Adventure Story
Harney, George S.
Adventure stories; Circus -- Fiction; Western stories
"I lived in that room four happy blessed years. They were years of few
incidents and no friction. Mrs. Lannarck bought me a complete outfit
of clothing, and she was as particular about the details as if it were
a bride's trousseau. She even provided me with a weekly allowance,
small, to be sure, but there was nothing I needed. I kept right on at
school and helped around the house wherever I could. I kept Mr.
Lannarck's books, made out his estimates, and drafted his plans. I
checked up his payrolls, met his workmen, and his banker. I even met
the judge of the court when they adopted me and changed my name.
"I went to church with Mrs. Lannarck, went to Sunday School, and took
part in the entertainments. They insisted I was a drawing card and
they featured the appearance of a midget on the program. It was all
right by me if it met the approval of the Lannarcks.
"During the war, the committee featured me in the Bond Drives. There
was a big fellow I teamed up with, named George Ruark. He was nearly a
seven-footer and weighed three hundred. I could stand in his two hands
as he held them in front of him and urged everybody to back up the war
as strongly as I was backed. It made a hit; it got results.
"And then inevitable but unwanted death stalked in, to ruin
everything. Mister Lannarck died. He was older than I had thought. He
was always careful and honest. He was putting a new roof on the
Auditorium when he fell. Maybe it was a stroke. They took him to the
hospital. He died on the third day after the fall.
"This was the beginning of the end. A link was broken in the chain. It
never mended. Mrs. Lannarck bore up bravely, but I could see that she
had lost all earthly joys and simply awaited her summons. Mr.
Lannarck's financial affairs were in good shape. He left quite an
estate. The income was ample for our simple needs, but that was not
enough. Mrs. Lannarck simply could not go on. She died in a little
over a year following the death of her companion. For the second time
in my life, I was an orphan.
"But this time I was to have a guardian. I had been legally adopted. I
was the heir. I was rich. In the first fifteen years of my life, I had
never seen money, never a penny of my own. Now it was the other way.
After the funeral I went down to the bank to consult with Mister
Gaynor. He handed me a sealed envelope. It was a message from the
dear, kind, motherly Mrs. Lannarck. It was a letter of kindly advice,
personal and spiritual. She said that she never doubted but that I
would walk in the right path, but she made this final appeal. If I
never married, never had heirs or dependents, and if there was any of
the Lannarck estate left at my death, would I make a will, leaving a
portion of it to the Grace Avenue Presbyterian Church, in trust for
its upkeep, and a portion to the county orphanage, for the occasional
entertainment of its inmates.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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