West-Jersey pioneer., 1875-04-15
A FRESHMAN'S ROMANCE.
BY "wACHUsETT." z"

BY ''wACHUsETT."
| Fred Kingston is in his senior year. He
| looks back upon the calloN days of his fresh
man era as he might look at a portrait of
| himself bald-headed and in long clothes,
and considers himself at least a hundred
years older in wisdom than at the time of
the romance which followed his entering
college. Indeed, he has advanced quite as
rapidly in many kinds of knowledge which
do not appear in the pamphlet catalogues,
as in the regular studies of his course, and
carries himself in all kinds of society with
the graceful serenity of a man of the world.
Enthusiasm is an unknown emotion to him,
and his heart does not quicken its beats
annual victory on the Quinsigamond course
with the '''rah, 'rah 'rah' of his univer-
sty. He criticises the points of woman
with languid Indifference, and looks out a
field for Irritation during the lazy weeks
that follow class-day, as regularly as he
chooses the cloth for his summer suit, and
with the same delicate and fastidious taste.
But l am not sure that he is a better fel-
low, or even that he holds himself in higher
esteem, than when, fresh from the New
Hampshire valleys where his boyhood had
been spent, he plunged with hearty de-
light that did not disdain to show ITSELF
into the multitude of new experiences to
which his proximity to great city intro
duced him.
That he did not get into serious mischief
in those wild, jolly days was not due so
much to the protection and advice of the
cousin, two or three classes ahead of him,
who had consented to take the lad as a
roommate and look out for him, as to
Fred's own hard Yankee sense, and the
thoroughly grounded principles of the es-
sentials of morality which he owed to the
teachings of his mother. In fact, Chester
Bennett was less mentor than tormen-
tor to the youngster. He snubbed and pa
tronized Kingston as he felt in the humor;
lent him no aid against the hazing invasions
which made the first years at Cambridge a
period Of misery; and generally treated the
boy in such a fashion as to teach him the
virtue of self-reliance. 1t was in an except
ional freak Of good nature, therefore, that
he invited the freshman to accompany him
to the Winthrop Lyceum, on the evening
from which dates the beginning of Fred
Kingston's first romance, with Bessie Grey,
comedienne, as its heroine.
Kingston was crude enough in such mat
ters not to enjoy the tragedy with which the
programme began, and naive enough to say
SO. The star actor whose every tone and
gesture was applauded to the echo seemed
to him mere stentorian mangler of Shakes
peare, whose art deserved no commendation
because it did not pattern after nature. To
be sure he himself, as his companion ar
| gued to him, had never seen anybody under
| the narrowing circumstances which sur.
rounded the hero of the play, and therefore
| should not pretend to superior knowledge
| but Fred stoutly maintained that common
| sense only was needed to perceive that a
| youth passionately in love with a maiden
remarkably ready to jump into his arms
would not express his emotion by capering
about the stage and running up and down
| the gamut in his infections as did the stal
| wart Romeo whom they saw and heard
AS to the lady of the balcony, Kingston de-
clared that it was an outrage upon all taste
| fpr-o T,1sa af 70 L -.
| of fellows ideal with row of false curls
| plastered down to her eyebrows, and q
palpable circle of dark paint under her eyes
In this Bennett to some extent agreed will
him, though he urged in extenuation tina
the actress was old enough to be Juliet
grandmother, and that she had been cas-
in Lady Macbeth the night before, and hat
identified herself with the character so com
plete that It's sepulchral tones yet fingered
in her voice. Thus the evening passe,
rather tamely, though the younger studen
found some relief in laughing at the ex
travagances of Peter and the Apothecar,
with boyish glee which made the impass
i've senior uneasy, and caused some of th
still more blase theatre-goers to look at tn
youngster with envy. At last the greer
curtain fell, long row of slaughtered dra
mats persona scrambling to their feet be
fore it had fairly touched the stage.
swell, old fellow, shall we 90, or sta,
for the farce and run our chance of hittip.
the last car ?" said Bennett, consulting hi
watch and yawning with relish.
"rm not particular" said Kingston
s'Shall we snap for it?''
It was the fashion that week in one o
two sets at Cambridge to decide al
doubtful matters, important or trivial, b
the toss Of coin; so one of the young me
held his hat, crown upward, while the othe
fllipped cent; and in obedience to it's de
cision they remained, and SO Fred Kingsto
saw Bessie Grey.
He was laughing with his accustome
heartiness over the clever acting of the poI
ular comedian, when in response to tina
gentleman's frantic ring the chamhermia'
of the ssFig and Trumpeter' emerged fror
the canvass door of that hostelry; Ere
Kingston's laugh stopped half finished il
his throat, never to be completed till h
was able to resume it with smile at him
self months after. A slight ripple of al
plause greeted the actress as she entered
and Chester Bennett whispered
"Bessie Gray. She is getting to be some
/ thing of favorite.''
Fred, if he heard remark, made no re
ply. He ran his fingers through his yello,
curls, as he always did in those days whe