The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-08-19

each one separately, and each girl hat
promptly agreed to the request.
80, you're such darling love!
don't know what on earth | should dc
without you. OF course I'll promise
and cross my heart in the bargain, y
cried the gushing Miss Abby Blair wher
the pledge of secrecy was exacted from
her; to which the darling love- haC
demurely replied, perhaps you won't
be in such ecstasies after you've read
your composition; you may be disap-
pointed in it, you know"
"You old angel just as though any,
thing you ght choose to write wouldn'
do credit to Daniel Webster" answered
Abby, deprecatingly, as she skipped of
with the tips of her jeweled fingers
stuck into the tiny pockets of her rutfled
apron in a manner she considered most
bewitching.
BY Tuesday at noon Nell had COM
pleted the seven essays, and handed
them at different times during the after
noon to the girls for whom they were
designed, with many whispered admoni-
tons to secrecy. The compositions
were then coolly copied verbatim by
their respective owners ON tinted paper,
the sheets being fastened together by
fanciful knots of gay ribbon in the style
affected by schoolgirls even in this
day, and by six o'clock in the evening
were all handed in to DR.. Stone, whose
rule it was to read over and correct all
compositions before they were read in
public the next day by the pupils.
About twenty essays were on the
study table awaiting examination when
! the good old Doctor entered the library
after tea. Drawing up his easy-chair
and adjusting his spectacles, he was
soon at work, pencil in hand, inserting
a mark of punctuation here, scratching
out q superfluous word there, or cutting
out Objectionable phrases with one
stroke of his pencil.
"Why! how's this?" he exclaimed,
as he began the perusal of delicately
perfumed page, bearing the name of
Miss Abby Blair on the outside. :" 1t
seems to me I've read something SINH
lar to this already this evening. Let me
see. Yes, here it is. purporting to be
written by Cornie jones'" and the as
JOulSHcu DOCIOI uIcW lIOll lIlO JlIc VI
essays another neatly written, bow
decorated paper, and began to read:
WOMEN JEws.-By this term we
do not mean Jewish wOmen-those
pretty. black-eyed daughters of Israel,
conspicuous chiefly for their inordinate
fondness for cheap jewelry and proper
Tomato distaste for swine's flesh. No,
it is not of these we would speak, but
of that class of women, be they olive
skinned descendants of Abraham or
pale-faced American GentiIes, who
habitually ask and expect a dealer to
fall few cents on the stated price
of every article they purchase ETC.,
etc, etc.
They are the same all the way
through" he said, as he finished COM
pairing them; evidently written by the
same person and that person not Miss
Jones or Miss Blair. The matter must
be looked into"
As he spoke he opened another,
recognizing at once by the delicate
Italian hand that Jennie Howard was
the writer, but the look of perpleXity
deepened as he discovered, on glancing
over the first paragraph, that it was an
exact copy of the two he had been COM
pairing. Could it be possibleP He took
Off his spectacles, wiped them carefully
with his silk handkerchief, re-adjusted
them on his nose, and again took up
Miss Rowland manuscript reading
aloud:
WOMEN JEWS. BY this term we
do not mean Jewish wOmen-thOse
pretty, black-eyed daughters of Israeli
etc.
The very same" he exclaimed. :"
see it all now. 1t is the work of that
clever rogue Miss Thorpe. Ha! ha! A
well-played joke, to be sure" and the
Doctor leaned back in his chair, his
portly body fairly shaking with merri-
ment at Nelrs shrewd trick.
A further inspection of the essays yet
uncorrected showed DR.. Stone that
Clara Holmes and three others had also
copied the essay, making seven in all.
THE deceivers have become the de-
ceived; the trap was well set by Miss
Nell and I'll not spoil the fun. The
modification and chagrin which these
seven young ladies will experience to-
morrow, when they are obliged to read
these essays, will be a more effectual
punishment than. any could have de-
vised. 1t suits me exactly" said the
Doctor as he closed the library door
and slowly took his way to his own
apartment.
The next morning when the students
repaired to the study to receive their
compositions preparatory to looking
them over before the ten o'clock exer-
ciSes began, none would have suspected
that the bland, urbane Doctor was pos
sessed of a scheme that was soon to
bring delinquent pupils to shame. Ten
o'clock came. The last chime of the
bell found all the Young ladies belong
ing to the Geneva Female Seminary,
together with few visitors from the
village, assembled in the little chapel.
Miss Pincer did honor to the occasion
by wearing her fiounced alpaca and best
neck-ribbOn, and "really looked almost
like other people," Kate Kearns whis-
pered to her neighbor. The other tutor,
Mr.. Watkins, to whom the girls had
given the SobriqUet of foot Watkins,
placed himself in a chair near DR.. Stone
and the exercises began. Each young
lady. as the roll was called, responded
to her name by prompt prepared"
which meant that she had written an
essay and was ready to read it, Con-
trary to his usual custom of having the
pupils read according to the alphabet
zeal order of their names, DR.. Stone on
this morning commenced by calling on
our friend Nell, who read hers in her
usual animated style. One after an
other was called upon and performed
their duty, until only the doomed seven
were left.