CHAPTER XIII 



MR. ESAU 



In introducing my friend Mr. Esau, I concede 

 your right to an immediate explanation as to how 

 a Rose-breasted Grosbeak became the possessor 

 of such an extraordinary name. It's simple enough, 

 which is probably true of all nick names, but we 

 are not to lose sight of the fact that a nick name 

 will not stick unless it has the approval of the 

 majority of one's acquaintances. A Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak, a hospital case, the hospital being a 

 big wire cage, on a veranda, was seen by a young 

 lady and her mother, demurely kissing a feminine 

 caller through the wires and what more natural 

 than for the young lady to exclaim: "I saw Esau 

 kissing Kate and the truth is we both saw" ; and as 

 the act and the comment were both repeated, what 

 more natural than for Mr. Grosbeak to become 

 Mr. Esau. Then again, a brother had robbed a 

 brother of his birth-right and in so doing had de- 

 prived him of a blessing that included the dews of 

 heaven and the fatness of the earth and love and 

 song, of which corn and wine are the all too fee- 



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