The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-11-14

house. It came nearer and nea-er
and finally the door was Uubolted
Jack was about to ask the same ques
ton as before, when he saw that tn
professor himself was before him. H
mad just presence OF mind enough t,
say GOOD evening"
Good evening, 5Ir. -" said tn
f. professor, not recognizing one of hi
own immediate pupils.
Maynard" said Jack, gaspingly
. remen- bering his eollarless condition
"Ah! Mr.. Maynard, am glad Il
see you; my niece and have just re
turned from the concert, and you viii
pardon our Tumpled appearance"
Jack stepped into the entry. The
. professor looked a little astonished al
the fur gloves on such an occasion
but said nothing and led the way tC
the parloF. a young lady was stand.
ing with her back toward them, as
they entered.
"My niece, Miss Hastings, SIR,
Maynard" said the professor.
She looked ct him wonderfully, as
he stood there, top-boOts, cape, fun
! gloves, and all, with very pale face
/ ana very rumpled halr.
The conversation which followed
must have been q strikingone. Jack 's
/ ideas could only be kept together by
/ the most intense effort, and he con-
stantly cOntradicted himself, and con-
/ fused, mixing all the topics of conver-
satiOn in one unfathOmable muddle.
He tried to give a reason for coming
( on that especial occasion, and made a
weak failure. The embarrassment
grew more and more intense on both
sides, till the professor, pitying him
+ for what he supposed was his bashful-
ness, and seeing how uncomfortable
he looked, said:
'Mr. Maynard, that cape must be
warm. Do take it Off"
/ In his embarrassment, he touched
/ the upper button and it gave way, re-
Yealing the cOllarless void below, At
the same instant, the hats, which were
only held up by the pressure of the
cape, fell on the floor.
How he got out of that parlOr he
could never clearly tell. But, some
how or other, he did, and walked
slowly toward home. The moonlight
! looked very differently to him now.
The shifting clouds became troops of
laughing gOblins. He thought OF the
cold moonlight falling on the ice in
the far north, and wished that he
were buried a mile deep in those life
less regions. He thought it wasn't so
strange, after all, that Victor Hugo
should have made his hero wait the
rising tide, and wondered if he could
find a suitable place in the Charles,
whereOn to sit and wait like happy
oblivion.
Reaching his room, the fellows
were all eager to hear his story.
'Did you leave the cards ,"
"All but one; and here it is"
He felt in his pocket and looked
blank. it was not here; it had fallen
with the cape on that parlOT floor, and
he had left it there.
Word by word they get the
whole story out of him. They laughed
till they could laugh no more; they
rolled about the floor in ecstacies of
mirth; but he sat silent and motion
less. At last they saw how deeply it
had cut him, and left him.
To no very happy reflections. To be
sure he had broken no laws; but the
petty element of the business kept an
noying him more and more. How
could be ever hold up his head in
Cambridge after this?
: He sat late into the night. Bob left
him sitting there, silent and motion
less, looking as if he h9d seen the
GOrgon's head.
The next morning Bob called out:
"JackH'
"Yes.1
'I hope it doesn't trouble you. It's
all imagination, you know"
"My child, never sit on your parent
when he's down."
He didn't dare to walk about Cam
bridge for fortnight. At the end OF
that time he ventured out. 1t was
dull, cherries afternoon. The trees
kept up a slow dripping, and the
sidewalks were damp and slippery.
The leaden sky cast agloOm over all the
landscape, that accorded well with
his mood. He was thinking that he
was always getting into scrapes that
Injured him, that he was 4 useless
memO6f os society, that his life would
always be dull and ordinary, and that
he might as well stop trying to make
anything of himself, when he turned
. corner and came full on Miss Hast
ings.
He didn't expect her to recognize
him, and was resolved to pass her
without noticing her cut; but she stop
ped and spoke to him.
''Is this yours ?" said she, handing
him the card he had dropped.
at is" he said, and flushed at the
cruelty. He was hurrying on, but she
him again.
'He didn't see it. / picked il up
and kept it. 1 saw through the whole
thing. I never pitied any one so
much in all my life. You must have
felt awfully. Come and see me at the
De Nries."
He was so overcome at the sudden
reVulsiOn that he took her hand and
kissed it, right in the street. Nobody
noticed 1t, except very small girl on
the other side, who said, ooh MY"
and crossed over to get better view
of farther proceedings.
OF course, he had to apologize for
the rudeness, and explain all about 1t
at once. They walked slowly up the
street, and just as they reached a lit
tie eminence the leaden sky broke in
to great riffs before them in the West
and flood of light glowed on the far
off snowy hills, and threw crimson
veil over all the sky.
"HOw beautiful the view is ~ said
she. EYES," said he, looking riagt
into her face. "What a lovely flush
the sunset throws on itw
What else he said is not recorded.
But Bob said that when he came in
that night "he was so happy that if
you stood him on his head he'd have
walked off without knowing it."-Od
and NelU.