Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-12-08
Forced to Admit 1t.
Written for PecA's Sun.

we received s. shock to-day, from
which we will rever fully recover. We
dropped into dental office 70 have a
new section fitted TO our celluIoid Jaw,
and met an old school mate, who. fifty
years ago, was the belle of orr district.
She had changed some, in fact had
changed good deal, and we failed to
recognize any of the attractions that
paralyzed US in those days of long ago.
The clear blue eye, that used to look
apples right out of our pants pocket,
had changed to an unnatural gray, and
the hands that were once so plump, it
was pleasure to be captured and held
by them, had developed into pair of
claws that looked as though they might
be dangerous to oppose. The rosy
cheeks had gone like beautiful dream,
and the wrinkles of trouble had made
checker boards there, upon which
Times busy fingers we're playing out
the game of life.
The pearly teeth that used to eat all
our hszel nuts, sweet flag seeds and
other various delicacies, that make up
the frank incense aud myrrh of school
boy offerings, had given space and
more too, we should judge, to nothing
ness.
To be sure her cheeks and lips, set
tied down into this abyss, and to a Ger
tain extent concealed it from the out
side world, but we could not help MOTTO
ing as the dentist removed about three
pints of plaster from her mouth, that
there was g boundless ex oanse, linn
itless waste of vacancy that did not ex-
lists IN those halcyon days when we
played "tag" on the ice in winter, or
"pullaway," among the trees in sum-
mer.
She climbed down from the chair as
though she expected to drop dead and
we heard her explain to the inquisitor
in charge that she was troubled with
heart disease and had TO be very care
full not to excite herself.
The idea of her ever being troubled
with heart disease fifty years ago. 1t
would have been perfectly absurd to
think of sucn thing. The fact was,
nothing seemed to affect her heart
then. We have many time carried
big apples to school on purpose to
make an impression upon her heart
and would slip them in her desk On the
sly, and then watch TO see her fall
down with heart disease, but she never
did. She was more likely to divide the
apples with some freckled faced rival
who did not know enough to wear his
pants in his boots and then throw the
core at us for watching her. Not any
trouble with her heart those days, not
bit.
We thought we would wait and emf
Joy her astonishment when she saw US
and even found ourself wondering l.
she could muster up the we'll remem,
bered smile she used to wear mornings
when she came into the seoolroom, and
would hang up her hood or sun bonnet
as the case might be. and take her seat
over by the south window. But when
this vinegar faced censort of old times
went by US without recognizing us, and
we overheard her ask the dentist who
that impudent old cripple was, We be-
gan to realize perhaps that we, too, had
changed. OF course she would not
know us i'll a rusty old plug hat and q
gray beard. We wore neither fifty
years ago, when she used to borrow our
homemade straw hat to gather plums
in, and painted fierce mustaches on our
boyish face, with the cork from her ink
bottle, and then laughed at us for being
sent out to wash lingering traces of it
off the sides of onr sun-burned nose.
And then this crutcb, we never used to
carry it in those days before
the war. And we didn't stoop so
much then. And come to look we
Soticed wrinkles around the exposed
portions of her face. And with our
false teeth out we look little collaps-
ed too. Upon the whole Time has
dealt about as severely with us as
with our old playmate, only we had
not noticed it rs much before. We are
sorry now we did not step right up to
her and take her shrunken hand in our
.hrunken hand, and bring our faded'eye
to bear upon her faded eye, and ask
her-quietly like, SO Ms not to bring on
a flood of reccollections and heart-dis-
esse-whether she remembered GER
tain pug nosed boy, who, fifty years
ago, used to wear a pair of blue over
alls, and hickory shirt, with no par
ticular adornment save woolen COM
forter in winter, and stone bruse on
his heel in summer, who was always
ready to lend her his skates or haul
her on his sled. If we had, ten chances
to one she would have looked glad
and exclaimed "Ben Greyw Ben Grey
was the boy she used to divide our ap
pies with