The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-06-20
A CRITICAL MAID.

1893 - A~AN 80 - W. Ata -
the corridor. talking in subdued tones.
consulting one another on n 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
were loosed. and we no longer spoke in
subdued tones.
''Poor young mani" said Lott!e. feel
ingly.
HE is as grave as a Judge" said
Nell.
That" said Claudia. w%elghtily, sis
He Is nervous. girls
nervous OF u.s."
But IL was / who had most to say. /
lcant against the balusters. with my
face toward the open door OF the lee
~ture-room. and gave the girls the bene-
ct OF all my observations.
Yes, he Is nervous. " | said. Poor
young man. he is shyl When / asked
him II the grand jury still existed. he
blushed, girls-oh. he Is copper-col-
ored TO start with. / know. but he
blushed through the copper-color-"
For your Ignorance, perhaps" sug-
gested Claudia.
''He is very shy" said I 'He Is
not used. / expect. 10 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
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
other. Lottie formed her lips into a
silent hush"
Shy and young-very youngl-
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 le~cture-room. He had
come up the stairs behind me-he
must have heard me. lie seemed TO
glance my way as he passed. There
seemed 20 be n twinkle in his gray
blue eyes. The girls moved slowly
away, but l turned precipitately and
fled. Past the lecture-room door.
along the corridor, up stairs / fled 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 had implied that he was
shy OF me because | was n girl. /
should never dare speak 10 him or look
at him again. | had called him cop
per-colored-at least. ! might have
spared him that ~reproach. | looked
in the glass at my own little face; it
was brown as n b~erry-brown by ma
lure In the first place and made more
brown by the summer sun and the
breeze from the sen at home. His eyes
were blue and his hair was fair. | was
altogether brown-hair. eyes. skin. all
,rown alike. And | had called him
copper-coloredl-I had called him
youngl-what else had / called him?
] brushed back my brown hair tightly
and severely, tied my soft silk sash
with n jerk. and ran down To dinner
with a rush. hoping 10 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
20 go through our papers with US. To
discuss points OF interest. explain
difficulties. and remove possible mis-
conception. We were 20 go TO him
singly.
Saturday came. The girls were
cheerful. go first. Cis, they said.
Ego first and get IL over"
Miss Chrystal?" he said.
Yes" / said, meekly.
He touched n chair that stood be-
side his at the table. and | sat down
with a 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; be seemed quite
unaffected by the consciousness that
his pupil was n girl He seated
himself beside me. and drew n cor
rected exercise toward him.
This, / think, is your paper. Miss
Chrystal."
Yes" / said. In a small voice.
.hink ", Mr.. Tudor
He as turning the pages slowly
and gravely. sat looking down at