The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1891-05-08

Puck. Whenever we INDUCED in an occa-
sional bit of Irritation | could not help
thinking of Mr.. Boullter, with whom very
few men compared favorably. | must do
Mr.. Temple the justice to say that in his
own way he was charming. He had very
attractive way of limiting compliments, en-
trapping you in pleasing pitfall of COM
! pliment to which he would lead you care
fully through ways of apparently barren
commonplace. But he was not sufficiently
exciting. His method was too coldly in
tellectual; there was not enough warmth
about his style nor soupcon of danger in
his glance.
| Then. too, I did not care to see too much
of him, for l thought it best not to be
supposed to be intimate with any man
during my first winter; and as he was ac-
/, customed to having his own way he was
| displeased at being frequently put off. For
the same reason took care not to encour-
age Mr.. Boullter too much; in word, my
policy was to bring all the men to my side,
but not to keep any of them there too long.
And oh, heayensl when remember the
ennui which l endured during the sessions
of those awful sewing classes and Bible
classes which | servilely Joined when in
vited so to do, blush to think that could
ever have been so hypocritical.
remember that Sunday afternoon at
the Grenes', while Mrs. Creme was care
fully explaining to US text out of Jere-
miah or Deuteronomy (she had peculiar
predilection for the most dismal parts of
the Old Testament, and once suggested
that we should have a week day class to
read Josephus)-I remember that l was sit
ting in the window, when suddenly saw
the most giddy pated little bud in town,
who had been rushed into society by five
or six men, and had Immediately assaulted
every respectable prejudice therein with
awful audacity and success Bitterness of
vexation and jealousy suddenly filled my
soul. felt as if should like to Jump out
of the window, tear Susy from the side of
Mr.. Boullter, carry him off triumphantly
across the frozen river, eclipse her in her
own sphere and dazzle the city for-for
how long?
Here paused. l said to myself: tEthel,
susan Prague is comet. Do you wish to
lie comets" And to such asensible ques-
tion there was only one answer. It was
pleasant enough to read Shakespeare in
Lotty's little class, but it would have been
ten times more fun to have read some of
the delightful French plays that SKINNED
with one eye at the library when no one
was looking, and hundsed times more
fun to have acted something. AS it was
few of US could make pretensions to read
ing we'll. Never shall forget Mr. Charter
moaning out in lugubrious tones:
The big drops cursed one another down his in
nocent nose.
The mistakes, to be sure, were the most
amusing part of the whole affair.
One of our men never swore, and he con-
sequently insisted on leaving out every
word which in his opinion remotely resem-
bled an objurgation-the consequence of
this being that most remarkable gaps were
sometimes left in the conversation. Then
the marking of the books-of course we al
ways used stage editions-was productive
OF some very funny blunders, because it
was generally done by the girls instead of
by the men. One girl, remember, struck
out all that Sir Andrew in ''Twelfth
Night" says about "the Vapians passing
the Equinoctial Of Queubus," because she
was sure that it was improper, and another
hesitated over Jacques 'Ducdame' till
she looked lower down and found that
twas "a Greek invocation to call fools into
circle" The casting, by the way, was
always unsatisfactory If on one night,
tOi iAouetuCC, I4coGy lelSqulCl Ttetu lOlct, Un6
next night some one else had to have Rosa
lind; yet Lefty was the only girl who read
a heroine decently Then, when Milly
Mortmain took Beatrice, it was impossible
for Mr. Temple, who always read the lover,
to have Benedick, because 1t was generally
rumored that they had once been engaged,
before she came out, and that the families
had broken it off.
Vas 7 wao baoipnincr ~ Roro,at ~, ~ orJxx
q short time before my great and single
aim had been to establish myself firmly. /
actually found myself out of humor at sew
eral parties besl felt continually an
imaginary restraint depressing me. How
did my first assembly go off, indeedp Bran
Boullter, bless him, had my name put on
the sacred list of subscribers entirely of his
own accord and before any one consulted
him on the subject. | waited for the sec
ond assembly with Lofty and the other
buds and shared with them the fever OF
excitement that always precedes that i'm
portant event. We talked it over among
ourselves early and late-recounted the ex-
periences of the older girls, speculated as
TO the probability of getting partnersl-all
the famous traditions were revived for us
and all the old stories retold.
We heard of the great year when nearly
a hundred men of the most ideal elegance
came on from the other cities and when
for three days there were partners enough
to satisfy even the wall flowers; of the IA
nous assembly when, because MIRA Croeus
Snowdrop had thirty-twa bouquets and
Violet Morningglory only thirty-one, Nor
ris Japonica rushed out into driving snow
storm and returned at midnight with two
bouquets, which he presented to Violet,
which proof of devotion it was, according
to common account, that finished her and
won him his triumph; of the sad assembly,
when the news came of Patty Qaique's
elopement, and all the men who We're in
love with her were so miserable that they
would speak to nobody-our interest deep
ened and our excitement grew as we list
ened not only to these tales, but to tales of
awful discoveries and dire accidents, of
great success and woeful failures-tales
that grow into traditions, traditions that
ripen into articles of faith.
remember saying in the heat of discus
sion if had no engagements at all /
should be afraid to enter the room, but as
at the time | was engaged for the german
and two waltzes, fancy that must have
been viewing the subject from that stand
point of sentiment rather than of reason.
was especially fortunate in being SO we'll
thought of. My waltzes were with Bran
Boullter and Mr. Charter, and | had to
promise the german to Mr.. Hall. Bran
asked me for his waltz very early in the
season, before knew whether was going
or not, and nearly took my breath away;
and Mr.. Hall was quite early, too, engag-
Ing me for the german. But do not won-