Page 59
By Jack Joseph Smith
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
Autumn brings the child out of summer legend and into the rough social world of Lincoln school and Beverly Road, where quitting kindergarten, monkey bars, candy stores, loafers, and rumors start teaching a different kind of street reality.
The tone shifts from fields and orchards to sidewalks, storefronts, and neighborhood types, but wonder does not disappear. Mister Cantaloupe and the Lincoln bums are seen with the same fascinated exaggeration that once belonged to ghosts and Mister Metzes.
Chapter IV opens with kindergarten quit after a couple of months and introduces Beverly Road — Cantaloupe's candy store, the Lincoln bums, Italian bookie rumors, and old guys laughing out loud like a bunch of kids.