Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-06-12
A CRITICAL MAID.

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 on. He bowed grave
ly 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
we're loosed, and we no longer spoke in
subdued tones.
Poor young mani" said Lott:e, feel
ingly.
He is as grave as judge" said
Nell.
That" said Claudia, weightily, lis
nervousness. He is nervous, girls
nervous of U.S."
But it was who had most to say. l
leant against the balusters with my
face toward the open door of the lee
Mre-room. and gave the girls the bene-
it of all my observations.
Yes, he is nervous" | said. Poor
young man. he is shy! When asked
him if the grand jury still existed. he
blnshed, girls-oh. he is copper-col-
pred TO start with, / know, but he
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 cannot forget that we are girls.
He waited, did you notice. until we
had left the room; the other lecturers
stalk out before us. think he wanted
10 open the door for us and to bow us
out. Oh. poor young man, he is shy
shy and young"
The girls wore frowning It 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 a
silent ''hush."
''Shy and young-very young!-
what is the matterp" / asked.
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 twinkle in his gray
blue eyes. The girls moved slowly
away, but turned precipitately and
fed. Past the lecture room door,
along the corridor, up stairs fed to
my own little room. stood before
my glass and changed my dress for
dinner and grew rosy red as the re-
membrance of my words came back. /
had said that he had blushed because
! spoke to him-I had said that he
was shy-I had implied that he was
shy of me because | was q girl. |
should never dare speak to him or look
at him again! l had called him cop
per-colored-at least. / might have
spared him that reproach. l looked
in the glass at my own little face; 1t
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. i was
altogether brown-hair. eyes, skin, all
brown alike. And | had called him
copper-colored!-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 q jerk, and ran down to dinner
with a rush. hoping to escape from my
thoughts again. Perhaps, after all, /
thought trying TO comfort myself, he
had not heard me.
Our lecturer had stated that on Sat-
urday afternoon he would be pleased
TO go through our papers with us, to
discuss points of interest explain
difficulties, and remove possible mis-
conception. We were to go to him
singly
Saturday came. The girls were
cheerful. go first, Cis," they said.
ego first and get it over"
Miss Chrystal?" he said.
Yes" said, meekly.
He touched chair that stood be-
side his at the table. and l sat down
with feeling of obedience. His face
was grave, his manner severe; won
dered how / could have thought him
nervous; He looked as though he
had never blushed; he seemed quite
unaffected by the consciousness that
his pupil was girl. He seated
himself beside me, and drew COR
rected exercise toward him.
This, think, is your paper Miss
Chrystal."
Yes" / said. in small voice-"I
think 80, Mr.. Tudor"
He was turning the pages slowly
and gravely. | sat looking down at
my hands folded meekly on the table.
and did not see his face.
"Your answer isis inadequate"
THE first part Of Stubs isis very
difficult" said, venturing to look up.
There was a strange, quick little
twinkle for a moment in his eyes as he
glanced at me; but his lips did not
smile.
'In the next question" he said
llowly, you confuse, or seem to con-
,use, two things, the constitutions and
che Assize of Clarendon--a slip, per-
hnpsP"
He was looking steadily and calmly
st me, waiting. For the first time in
INV life / felt small and young and