The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-12-10
A COLLEGE ROMANCE.
A Story of Love and Constitu-
tional History.

ne lecture Was just over. W6 I0ul
girls, the lectured, were standing
notebooks in hand, in little group il
the corridor, talking in subdued tones
consulting one another on a knotty
point in the history of grand jury. The
lecturer came out of the lecture-room
and passed us. He bowed gravely 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.
Poor young man. said Lottie,
feelingly.
"He is grave as a Judge" said Nell.
"That, said Claudia, weightiy, lis
nervousness. He is nervous, girls
nervous of u.s..
But it was | who had most to say
leant against the balusters, with my
face towards the open door of the
Iecture-room, and gave the girls the
benefit of all my observations.
Eyes, he is nervous" ! said. ''Poo1
young man, he is shy! When I asked
him if the grand jury still existed he
blushed, girls-oh, he is copper-col-
Ored to start with, / know, but be
blushed through the copper-color--''
For your ignorance, perhaps" sug-
gested Claudia.
HE is very shy" said l. "He is
not used, expect, to teaching girls. He
can not forget that we are girls. He
waited-did you noticeP-until we had
left the room; the other lecturers stalk
out before us. | think he wanted to
open the door 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
other. Lottie formed her lips into
silent "hush."
"Shy and young-very young
what is the matter?" / 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
my way as he passed. There seemed
to be n twinkle in his gray blue eyes.
The girls moved slowly away, but ]
turned precipitately and fed.
Past the lecture-room door, along
the corridor, upstairs fled, to my own
little room (study, bed-chamber and
reception-room) near the sky. | meant
to wC.k and took my Stubbs and turned
over its leaves, and found my place
hurredly, with an unusual energy.
But work would not drive away the
remembrance of my unlucky speeches;
the sentences bore no meaning to me;
could not fix my attention on the his
tory of early Germanic institutions l
shut up my Stubs in despair; the girls
were playing tennis in the courts be-
low; seized my racket and ran swift
ly down to join them. Tennis would
make me forget.
But if my thoughts were distracted
for an hour or two they attacked me
again when the game was over I
"tSNNN bCANAN my SlttSS SJliO CuduOCu INV
dress for dinner and grew rosy red as
the remembrance of my words came
back. had said that he had blushed
because l spoke to him-I had said
that he was shy-I had implied that he
was shy OF me because | was Girl. /
should never dare to speak to him or
look at him again. | had called him
copper-colored-at least I might have
spared him that reproach. Hooked in
the glass at my own little face; it was
brown as berry-brown bv nature 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 | was alto
gether brown hair, eyes, skin, all
brown alike. And called him copper
coloredi-I had called him young!-
what else had | called him2 / brushed
back my brown hair tightly and severe
ly, tied my soft silk sash with jerk and
ran down to dinner with arush, hoping
to escape from my thoughts again. The
girls were as happy as usual. They
could contemplate the situation tran
gully; it even afforded them amuse-
ment; they found something humorous
in my discontinue. 1t was I, not they,
whom he had overheard.
We sat in half circle on the floor
before the fire that night in our pretty
bright dressing-gowns, and drank
cocoa and ate sweet biscuits before
going to bed. | was hostess. NV
guests were merry, but tonight was
unusually silent and depressed
after all" said Claudia, sensibly,
trying to comfort me-"after all, what
did you say, CisP Nothing-nothing
at al events that mattered You said
he was young; well, that is true. How
old, girls, do you imagine he is?'
twenty-five, said Lottie.
Twenty. four" said Nell.
Very young" said Claudia, conclu-
sively.
"Then you called him shy-well, he
is shy. You said he blushed-well, he
does blush"
That is just 1t, groaned. at is
all so true"
"He will think you observant, y
said Nelly, nibbling the sugar from
her biscuit with slow epicurean enjoy
ment.
HE will think, at all events, that you
are interested in him." said Lottie,
cheerfully.
I'm him-a mani" I groaned for a
girl who has tyrannized over eight adj
miring brothers and been treated all
her life with Difference by fond father
and uncles has an ungrateful scorn
for men. had had no meek mother
and aunts and sisters to teach me hu-
mility as becoming womanly virtue.
Poor Cis-poor Cicelyr' said the
girls alphabetically. ''And Saturday
is coming and you will be forced to
see him. You poor, poor Cicelyr'
Yes, Saturday was coming. On
Wednesday and Thursday and Friday