The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-07-07
A NANKEEN JACKET

oODA Ntto ~" N1lSoU ~
; Truly, human nature is a bundle of con
} tradictions!
love yellow because of a certain epi
sode in my life which occurred when
was but 8 years of age. | love nankee1
above all on account of a Jacket of tina
material which played in that episod,
an important part.
Our school, which had been placed un
der the patronage Of st. Elizabeth, wa.
a mixed one-that is to say, up to the
age of 10 years boys and girls worked
n played together. In spite of occa.
slonal quarrels the system, on the whole,
worked very well.
l had not been eight days at st. Eliza
beth's before l fell in love. Do not laugh,
| loved with all the strength of nv child
nature, with love disinterested, simple.
sincere.
1t was Georgette whom | loved, but,
alas, Georgette did not love me.
How much | suffered in consequence.
used to hide myself in corners, shedding
many tears and racking my brains to find
some means OF plcasingthe obdurate fair
''' ""pci "a 'tllis IL llltilbltSS InSk. at
) years Of age or at 80.
To distinguish myself in my studies.
to win by my exemplary conduct the en-
comlums OF the sisters D~ulorre,-all this
made no impression upon cruel Georp-
cite. She made no secret OF her prefer
ence for "A dull, idle, clustering fellow. 0
years old, who won all the races. who
could fling a ball farther than any one
else. carry two huge dictionaries under
his arm and administer terrible thumbs.
This hero was rightly nicknained Met
a-Mort.
knew what his blows were like, hay
ing been the involuntary recipient of
some of them. Some do, / say? | had
received more than a dilatory donkey on
the road to the fair.
And Georgette had only laughed!
Obviously it was absurd to think of
employing physical force against INV re-
doubtable rival, and intellectual suneri-
or1ty i'll this case awaited Inc nothing.
determined therefore to annihilatc Meta
Mort by my overpowering ,nagn. icence.
Naturally u parents did not send us
to school attired i'll our best clothes. On
the contrary, most Of us wore there our
Oldest and shabbiest garments. Conse-
quently | { pined that it would be no diff
ficult achievement to outshine all nv
schoolfellows.
l should have to coax my parents into
loosening their purse strings and get
them to buy me a beautiful new jacket.
1t took me a very long time to decide
What color this jacket should be. | men
tally reviewed all the colors of the rain
bow. Red tempted me, but | doubted
whether a jacket of that color would be
attainable. Should it be blue, green.
indigo, violet? No! Not one of those
colors was sufficiently striking.
l paused at yellow. That might d O
1t is a rich color; there is something
sumptuous and royal about it. Summer
was approaching. decided finally upon
yellow jacket of nankeen.
Without delay | set to work on nv
school garments. 1t was u work of de-
Structlon, for | wanted to make them
appear as disrcputablo 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 opportune
moment timidly expressed my desire.
1 had 10 90 more, much more than
hat, before ! could obtain my will,
begged, stormed, grumbled, sulked. I
lmost i'll with hope deferred.
At length, for the sake of peace, my
granted my eccentric wish.
1t was a proud moment for me when
or the first time l arrayed myself in
hat Respondent nankeen jacket won at
he cost of SO many struggles. Standing
before the mirror | surveyed myself ad-
niringly for a full hour. was grapdl
"Ah, my Lord Met-a-Mort, you will
yourself ousted at last! My shining
acket will soon snatch from you the
Prestige acquired by your stupid, brute
orce. Georgette, astonished, fascinated.
lazzled and delighted, will run toward
ne, for l shall now be the handsomest
10Y in the school. Mct-a-Mort will weep
or chagrin, as | have so often went for
ealousy and modification"
Alas, for my rose colored anticipa-
ions! l was greeted with q broadside
I laughter. Even III gentle mistress,
Dulorre, could not repress a
mile, and above all other voices | heard
hat OF Georgettc, who cried mirthfully:
"Oh, look ut him! Look at him! He
J a canary bird." ,
The word was caught up instantly.
III the scholars shouted in chorus: ..He
a canary! A canary!" ,
Words fail TO describe my bitter dis
ppointment, my burning shame and
| saw my folly s0w. But it
'as too late-the awful deed was done! I
than all, in order to obtain this :
ow odious jacket l had spoiled all my l
ther jackets and had nothing else to t
ear! When on the evening Of that .
lost miserable day ! told my troubles {
--7