New Ulm weekly review., 1886-12-08
A CRITICAL MAID.
How Love Conquered Constitutional History.

How Love Conquered Constitutional History.
The lecture was just over. We four
girls, the lectured, were standing, note
books in hand, in a little group ir the
corridor, talking in subdued tones,
consulting one another on knotty
point in the history OF grand jury.
The lecturer came out of the lecture.
room and passed us. He bowed
sgravely as he passed. and went hastily
down the stairs, his college cap in his
hand, his long gown falling Imply
about his tall, thin figure. We were
silent until he was out of sight; then
our tongues were loosened, and we no
longer spoke in subdued tones
e'Poor young mani" said Lottie
sfeelingly.
<tHe is grave as a judge" said Nell.
+That," said Claudia weightily, "is
nervousness. He is nervous, us,-nervous
<of u.s."
But it was I who had most to say.
1leant against the balusters, with my
face towards the open door of the
.lecture-room, and gave the girls the
!benefit of all my observations.
Eyes, he is nervous" said. "Poor
young man, he is shy! When I asked
him if the grand jury still existed he
'blushed, girls-oh, he is copper-color-
ed to- start with. ! know, but he blush
Led through the copper-coior-"
"For your ignorance, perhaps" sug-
<gested Claudia.
"He is very shy" said I. "He is
mot used, I expect, to teaching girls.
He cannot forget that we are girls.
He waited you notice? until we
had left the room; the other lecturers
stalk out before us. I think he want
ed to open the door for us and to
bow us out. Oh, poor young man,
he is shy!-shy and young
The girls were frowning at me.
Claudia was touching my elbow, with
mysterious meaning on one side; Nell
pulling my sleeve imperatively on the
sother. Lottie formed her lips into a.
silent "hush."
"shy and young-very young-
what is the matter?" I said.
Nobody answered me- No answer,
indeed, was needed. At that moment
our lecturer passed us again and went
back into the lecture-room. He had
come up the stairs behind me he must
have heard me. He seemed to glance
s1ny way as he passed. There seemed
to be a twinkle in his gray-blue eyes
The girls moved slowly away; but l
turned precipita5ely and fled.
Past the lecture-room door, along
the corridor, upstairs fled to
my own little room (study, bed
chamber and reception-room) near
the sky. l meant to work and took
my Stubbs and turned over it's leaves,
and found my place hurriedly, with
an unusual energy. But work would
not drive away the remem brance OF
my unlucky speeches, the sentences
bore no meaning to me; could not
Nix my attention on the history Of
early Germanic institutions. 1 shut
up my Stubbs in despair; the girls
were playing tennis in the courts be-
low. I seized my racket and ran
swiftly down to join them. Tennis
would make me forget.
But if my thoughts were distracted
for an hour OF two they attacked me
again when the game was over. l
stood before my glass and changed my
dress for dinner and grew rosy red as
bhe remembrance Of my words came
back. had said that he had blushed
because I spoke to him-I had said
that he was shy-I had implied that
he was shy of me because was girl.
l should never dare to speak to him or
look at him again! l had called him
copper-colored at least ! might have
spared HIM that reproach. l looked
In the glass at my own little face; it
was brown as a berry-brown by ma
ture in the first place and made more
brown by the summer sun and the
breeze from the sea at home His
eyes were blue and his hair was fair.
l was altogether brown-hair, eyes,
skin, all brown alike. And had call
ed him copper-colored!7-I had called
him young-what else had 1 called
him? | brushed back my brown hair
tightly and severely, tied my soft silk
sash with a jerk and ran down to din
ner with a rush, hoping to escape from
my thoughts again.
Perhaps, after all, l thought, trying
to comfort myself, he had not heard
me. My. voice, alas! was clear as q
bells; was an only girl in a family Of
boys-a spoilt girl who had never been
taught to be meek and silent in the pres
<ence OF her brothers a talkative girl
who had learnt to make herself heard
In any Babel Of louder and grutfer
voices. But perhaps he had been
thinking not listening med dftating on