r. Grunt

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

When the Baron and his fiancée, Lady Angela of Alpine Castle, had dinner at Lilliland Castle they would often invite Professor Hamblin to join them. Professor Hamblin had taught at Cambridge University in England before the Baron’s father hired him to come to tutor the young Baron and Lady Angela in their formal eduation. Since then, the Professor had remained a valued and close family friend.

They would often talk about the interesting people who lived in Lilliland. Some were eccentric and others were odd, but harmless, people who kept to themselves most of the time.

Mr. Grunt was one such person who kept to himself and sat on a park bench watching the majestic swans on Castle Lake. He appeared to be a normal senior citizen and seemed well-dressed and well-mannered. He was a university graduate and was known to have a profession in his younger years.

There were just a few unusual things about him. First of all, Grunt was not his real name. It became his nickname because he did not talk. He would merely grunt when he wanted something. His real name was Mr. Stewart. It seemed to everyone that he didn’t like to talk so he just grunted most of the time.

One day while he was sitting on his favorite bench under a tree, in the park watching the swans, a rain storm suddenly appeared with thunder and lightening. One bolt of lightening hit near the park bench he was sitting on which startled him so much he jumped up and shouted, “Holy cow!” That started Mr. Grunt talking normally again.

The Baron heard of the incident and the good news about Mr. Grunt’s recovery and so everyone began calling him Mr. Stewart again. A few weeks after the incident, the Baron invited Mr. Stewart to the castle for dinner with Professor Hamblin and Lady Angela. At the dinner the Baron asked Mr. Stewart what caused him to stop talking in the first place? He said some time ago he was giving a speech to a group of business owners about the rights of the workers. The businessmen threw things at him and shouted him off the stage. That experience caused him to stop talking.

The Baron, Lady Angela, and Professor Hamblin were all very glad that Mr. Stewart was talking again so he could share his valuable ideas and experience with the people. He was a very delightful and intelligent man.