The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1891-05-01

mother upon the beach. do not think
therefore, that Mrs. Hathorne was greatly
displeased some one or two years afterward
to find that Lefty and were in the same
class at Miss Mayburn's and very likely to
become intimate.
look back to my shcool days with graft
tude, affection and regret. According to
my fathers preconceived notions we ought
to have been sent to boarding school,
| but he was unable to make up his mind to
exile us from home, and he made no OBJ
| lection to our going to Miss Mayburn, es-
pecially as hers was supposed to be the
best girls school in town. With my
mother, of course, it was matter of calcu-
lation; for at that time nearly all the girls
whom it was most important for me to
know were of Miss Mayburn's flock. I
think that the five years spent under her
care were the happiest, in many ways, that
have ever known. To be sure, while /
was there, my father died, and for some
time was deeply afflicted: moreover, dur
ing the last three years-that is, from the
time of my fathers death to the end Of my
school days-I was conscious that my OBJ
ject at school should be to gain something
more than an education.
Yet was ambitious enough to overlook
1llJ OWA AnolASClloJy anu lOnO CAOuS5h VI
my friends to be glad to try to bind them
closer to me. and, confess it, not even the
flush of my greatest triumphs has been so
grateful to me as was the friendship, and,
when I had it, the appreciation, of Miss
Mayburn. How we all feared and wor-
SHIPPED her! How we all admired her
strength and vigor, her wonderful culture
and forgetfulness of self, her keen SYM
| pathy and quick humorl She was born TO
cheer and instruct her own sex, not for the
benefit, except indirectly, of man. For my
own part she imbued me with a fondness
| for literature which was not wholly native
| to me, and frightened the cords of my reso-
| luton by the force of her decided example,
| But / never copied her handwriting, as
most of the girls did.
1t was at Miss Mayburn's school, then,
that laid the foundation of my success
My mother was one of the first to send her
daughters to that school in order to get
them into society, but l was probably as
successful as any girl that ever tried the
plan. Some girls, either from incompe-
| tence or pride, have graduated as unknown
as they were when first they hung their
faxen heads and pulled at their dresses in
| the awful presence of Miss Mayburn. My
| success was complete, Lofty Hathorne be-
came my most intimate friend, and as the
| girls in my class grew up was recognized
as a member of the little set that led the
school. / could draw caricatures, I could
write passable rhymes, l was the leader of
| the consolidated recess party when that
memorable controversy agi5ated our class
Miss Mayburn in our last year had pro-
posed to allow us to take only quarter
| hour reeesses throughout the week, and as
an offset to leave school an hour earlier on
Fridays; and when the girls hesitated
| formed party, suggested the maneuver
of obtaining significant and ominous GER
tificates from medical experts (some Of the
| girls fathers gave us delightful opinions),
argued the question before the class in
several stormy recesses and won our case
| When we acted was always stage mana
| ger; when we had our orgies was gener-
ally chosen toast mistress, an Office which
was equivalent to being an executive COM
mittee to get Miss Mayburn's permission
| to buy the cake, the cream chocolates and
| the lemons, and to keep the girls from
snatching
| Sometimes we did have toasts. Ialways
made poor Olive Creme respond to the
toast of "The Gentlemen" because Willy
| Woodburn walked to school with her three
mornings out of the week, leaving her at
the corner. Thus | became intimate with
| the other girls. They confided to me their
| little secrets; / came to know all about
| their boyish admirers, and, for the matter
of that, heard the name of more than one
| older man. drew sly little pictures rep
Fesenting scenes from real life (which were
sources of infinite delight to my cempan-
| ions) and, in short, when we graduated
was as much one of them as II their moth
ers had speculated with mine over our re-
spective cradles as to our probable friend
ships and destinies.
had never been to party. / knew alb
| solutely no men at all. l had only been to
| the houses of my friends mammas in the
afternoon and ON evenings when no one
else was present, and this for several rea-
sons, chiefly that | had been for long
time in mourning; that 1 really had to
drudge laboriously to help my mother with
her slender housekeeping, and that in those
days also was ambitious enough to work
very hard at my books; but l looked for
ward with agreeable certainty to going out
more and more until at last no door should
be closed to me. 1 counted on my friends,
| and / was not mistaken. l am most pro-
foundly grateful to them. To be sure,
amused them, but their kindness none the
! less calls for my gratitude.
My schooling at Miss Mayburn's had
done the trick as Mr.. Latitude truthfully
remarked to my mother. Without it
should have had to depend on chance, and
all the more SO because was not at the time
particularly pretty. / was considered very
pretty during my second winter, when my
figure had become graceful; but now had
only my complexion and my eyes. When
think of my complexionl had the most
| delicate soft brown skin, and the little
tinge on my cheeks was not incorrectly
spoken of, perhaps, by some OF my adj
mirers as the most exquisite thing i'm
| aginable. Be it understood that / am
speaking of departed glories. My eyes,
thank heaven, still possess, but my hair,
or some of it, has gone into rats.
| have said that l knew absolutely no
men. Let me qualify the statement. /
knew one or two boys, some college youths
and = Mr.. Branscombe Boullter. Bran
Boullter shall always consider the most
fascinating man ! ever saw. From my
earliest days-I mean of course my earliest
enlightened days-I had heard of him as
the man with whom it was necessary for a
girl to spar a little before she could con-
slider her education in the noble art of self
defense complete. My sex ought to rejoice
that he strictly copformed to the bachelor
faith. ! had seen him over and again,
| had depicted him in all kinds OF attitudes,
| ! had welded his name to immortal verse,
and when he began to be attentive to Lofty