The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1880-11-04
TY, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY. NOVEMBER L. 1X8O

OVEMBER A. 1880.
remark, he turned toward me, and. see.
ing the look of surprised inquiry upon
my face, he said :'"jI g - go. =
"That fellow reminds me very much
OF person I once knew"
The remembrance is not b very
pleasant one, I should Judge, from the
look you gave him as he passed." I re-
piled, laughing. - p" = D."
To this he made no reply, and in a
few minutes bade' me good evening and
walked into the building.
Ny curiosity was excited. I felt u.s.
sured that Leslie Barton knew this man,
and that he had some reason for hating
him with all the strength of his fierv ma.
tuIe, / wondered why it was that he
had endeavored to. lead me to believe
that he had only recognized resem-
blance to some one he had once known
The more I thought about it, the more
deeply interested I became. What puz-
zled me most was that the stranger had
looked directly into Leslie Barton's face
as he passed him, and I could detect no
sign Of recognition on his part. There
was q mystery about these two, was
satisfied, and I determined, if possible,
to discover what it was.
During the following day the different
classes were or ganized for the term, and
the cadets assigned to their rooms. Two
boys occupied each room, and, as every
boy had the privilege of selecting bis
roommate, I sought out Leslie Barton.
and, on the strength Of our slight ac-
quaintance, asked him if he would oc-
cupy the same room with me. He
seemed surprised at my proposition, and
informed me, rather haughtily, that he
had made arrangements with Col. W.
the commandant, to have room entire
~ to himself.
Every well," 1 replied, turning away.
but he laid his hand upon my shoulder,
OBTAINING me for moment, as he said ::
II am sorry cannot room with you,
but [ always prefer room to myself.
we?"
Certainly" I replied, for had taken
a strange interest in this pale-facea boy.
I was assigned to room with Edward
Walton, an overgrown, good-nat,.red
sort OF fellow from Mississippi, who
had attended the two previous sessions
at the University. He knew everyone
connected with the college, from the
head Professor down to the Old negro
who attended to the building.
One day, about week after my arri-
val, was standing in the hall, in COM
pany with Ed, when the cadet who had
so excited my curiosity on the day
first met Leslie Barton passed.
"Do you know that fellow, Ed?' I
inquired.
"Oh, yes; that's Oscar Phelps.'
Glow long has he been attending
school here?''
"He came in at tho beginning Of the
last session. Why?'
Nothing, only he seems pretty old
to be attending school. Do You know
much about him?'
"Very little. He's from New Or
leans, believe, and from the way he
spent money when he was here last year
he must be pretty wealthy. That's
about all I can tell you of him. Fact
is, he is queer kind of cuss, who has
very little to do with the rest Of us fcl-
lows"
And that was all I could learn about
Oscar Phelps. I made inquiry of sew
4. eral other boys, but none of them
seemed to know more about him than 7
had already learned from Ed.
The more saw Of Leslie Barton the
better I liked him. He was of modest,
retiring disposition, and while he had
no intimate friends among the boys, vet
they were all ready to declare him ga
real good fellow--a little queer in his
notions, but a good one. nevertheless. I"
/ There was one thing that struck me as
peculiar, and that was tina the never re-
ceived or wrote any letters, or ever
spoke Of his home or relatives. One
day asked him which State he was
from. He replied that he had lived in
SO many different States that he claimed
any and all of them as his home. And.
as I saw that he WAS very reluctant
about conversing upon the subject, I
never referred to it again.
remember distinctly the first time I
saw Leslie Barton and Oscar Phelps
speak. It was just after our class in
French had recited, one day about two
months after the beginning of the term.
We were leaving the recitation-room,
and were just without the door, when
Oscar Phelps walked up beside Leslie
Barton and addressed him in sneering
tones.
g. say, young what's-your-name, you
always seem to know your French pretty
well; I think I'll give you a dollar a
week to post me up in all the difficult
translations."
Leslie Barton turned toward him with
an angry light in his bright, black eyes,
and, regarding him with a naughty stare
in vain attempted to make sound natu-
raj:
"Did you speak to me, sir?"
Oscar smiled in most sarcastic and
tantalizing manner, as he replied:
eyes, did it hurt you?"
"You will please remember, then,
sir, that my name is Leslie Barton, and
unless you can call me by that name
and be more respectful in your manner
when addressing me, would infinitely
prefer that you would not speak to me
at ALL"
And, as he finished speaking, he
walked away to his room. Oscar looked
after him for a moment, then, turning
to me, he asked:
"Who the devil is that fellow, any
way? One would think from the way
he acts that it was necessary to remove
ones cap when speaking to him.
"His name is Leslie Barton, as he
has just informed you" I replied, "and
that is all I know Of him."
"Know where he's from?''
"No."
"It strikes me I have met him some
where before. but curse me if 1 can re-
collect where it was. Well, no matter.
I'll learn him before he leaves this
school that it is better to have Oscar
Phelps friendship than his enmity."
Months passed, and it was drawing
rnop thu o1ooo of Tho korx, I t,oI1