Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1893-08-11
A NANKEEN JACKET.

ing that / have good reason to detcs5 &c.
Truly, human nature Is a bundle Of con.
tradictionsl
Hove yellow because Of certain cpl
sodo in my life which occurred when
was but Q years Of age. / love nankeen
above all on account Of n jacket Of that
material which played in that episode
an important part.
Our school, which had been placed un-
der tho patronage Of st. Elizabeth, was
q mixed one-that is to say, up to The
age Of 10 years boys and girls worked
and played together. In spite Of occa-
sional quarrols the system, on the whole,
worked very well.
had not been eight days at st. Eliza
beth's before / fell in love. Do not lauel.
loved with all the strength Of my child
nature, with Above disinterested, simple,
sincere.
1t was Georgctto whom loved, but,
alas, Georgoite did not love me.
How much / suffered in consequence.
1 used to hidemyself in corners, shedding
many tears and racking my brains to End
some means Of pleasingth obdurate fair
one. Labor in vain, a thanEless task, at
o years Of ago or at 30.
To distinguish myself in my studies.
to win by my exemplary conduct the en-
ccmiums Of the sisters Dulorre-an this
made no impression upon cruel Georg-
cite. She made no secret Of her prefer
enco for q duh, idle, clustering follow, 8
years old, who won all tho races. who
conld,ding o ball farther than any one
else, carry two huge dictionaries under
his arm and administer terrible thumps.
This hero was rightly nicknamed Met
a-Mort.
Ikncw what his blows were like, hay
ing been the involuntary recipient of
come Of them. Some do, I say? / ha
received more than a dilatory donkey on
the road to the fairi
And Georgette had only laughed
Obviously it was absurd to think OF
employing physical force against my re-
doubtable rival, and intellectual superb
ority in this case awaited mo nothing.
determined therefore to a~nnihilate Meta
Mort by my o~verpowering magnifcence.
Naturally our parents did not send us
TO school attired in our best clothes. On
the contrary, most Of us wore there orr
Oldest and shabbiest garments. Conse-
cuently / opined that it would be no diff
fcult achievement to outshine all my
schoolfcllows.
Ishoald have to oak my parents into
loosening their purse strings and get
them to buy me a beautiful new Jacket.
1t took inc a very long timo to decide
what color this jacket should he. 1 men
tally reviewed oil the colors OF the rain
bow. Red tempted me, but l doubted
whether a jacket Of that color would be
attainablc. Should it be blue, green.
indigo, violet? Mol Not n Of those
colors was sufficiently striking.
l paused at yellow. That might do.
1t is q rich color; there is something
aumptuous and royal about It. Summer.
was approaching. decided finally upon
a yellow Jacket of nankeen.
Without delay | set to work on my
school garments. It was "a work Of de-
%struction, for l wanted to mako them
appear rs isreputablo as possible. /
slyly enlarged the holes, wrenched off
the buttons and decorated my person
lavishly with spots and stains Of all
kinds.
In what l judged to be an opportuno
moment | timidly expressed my desire.
l had TO 90 more, much moro than
that, before I could obtain my will.
begged, stormed, gTumbled, sulked.
became almost i'll with hope deferred.
At length, for the sake of peace, my
parents granted my eccentric wish.
It was q proud moment for me when
for tho FIRST time / arrayed myself in
fhuF rarr1ruIanF rtuH1rne, fnr1.4 .--~. "a
the cost Of So many struggles. Standing
before Tie mirror / surveyed myself adj
miringly for full hour. / was grand
superb!
''Ah, my Lord Meta Mort, you will
find yourself ouated at lastl Ny shining
jacket win soon snatch from You Tic
prestige acquired by your otupid, brute
force. Georgotte. 9stonished. fascinated,
dazzlel and delighted, will run toward
me, for / shall now be tho handsomest
boy in the school. Met-g-Afort win weep
for chagrin. ms have 90 often wcpt fOf
Jealousy and modification"
Alas, for my rose colored anticipa-
tionsi Twas greeted with q broadsidc
Of laughter. Even n gentle mistress,
Ermancc Dulorro, could not rcpless a
smile, and above all other voices ! heard
that Of Georgctte. who cried mirthfally;
"Oh, look az him! Look at himi lilo
is o canary birdl'
The word was caught up instantly.
All the scholars shouted IN chorus: "He
Is a canaryl A canary
Words fail 10 describe my bitter dis
appointment. MY burning shame and
chagTin. Jaw my folly now. Cut q
was too lale-the awful deed Was donol
Worse than all in order to obtain thi3
nov odi0us Jacket / had spoiled an my
other JACKIE and had nothing clio TO
wcar! WAon on the evening Of that
mcst a~isclails lsy tel uy t'ansis