Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-03-17
MRS. BEMIS.

SAY. fellows. now that We are ON
the subject of college "reminiscences. !
have it on my mind to add on" of min"
which have always been good deal
ashamed Of But As this is sort OF
confessional, | don't mind telling it.
on condition that my name, at least.
will not be mentioned if it is repeated.
1t has Il moral for the thoughtless and
the ccnSorious. as you shall see.
Thus spoke Harry Crompton. as h"
and two of his old college chums, Rob
crt Ware and James Greene. sat sm"k
ing in his particular sanctum some ten
years after they had finished their col.
lcgiAtc course.
You remember those pretty it'll"
brick houses on the left of the collcg''
which we had to pass on our way t"
and from lectures: Well. there wcr1
four of lis, aS You know. i'll our lhSi
term. who lived in the large white
house just beyond those cottageS-Ed-
ward Hare. Tubly Brown. Harry Frost
and myself and great times we used
To have together. But what conc"it-
ed lot of idiots we We're, to be sure
THE first or corner house of the
row, had been vacant II long time. and
We somehow took an interest in it,
Specializing as to what the next tenant
would he like. and whether thrr" would
be ally girls in the family. one day
we saw indications that somebody was
to live there. for several drays and
wagon loads of furniture We're oppo-
site it, \ few evenings later We saw
a girl with about as pretty IA face and
figure aS YOU could imagine. watering
some flowers in the little front window
garden We held our hreaths. almost.
she was $" exceedingly pretty. and
our united gaze caused her to blush
and draw behind the curtain from out
of range of our too apparent admlra-
ton.
The house now possessed IL real
charm for all of us. but. alas, it was
the cause of Il great change in our be-
havor towards one another. The
chumS that were. We're chumS no long
er. Each one would make some rx-
cllSc to pass that window, where Eow
the object of our admiration vas gen
orally engaged in some kind of needle
work which women seem everlas!ingly
doing and are never done with. Our
evenings We're no longer spent tu2t thcr
over Il comfortable pipe and game of
whist. think we used to 90 sneak
ing round the house to Try To get II
look at her shadow on tn" blind. At
least. I'll be candid enough to say did.
Things became more and more
strained until one evening. by tn mcr
est chance we happened TO be MI To
gcthrr in the smoking room. We
putfcd away in grim silence for a while.
when suddenly Tubly Brown-you re-
member Tubly, don't YOU. jim? great
but gOod-natured chap; always first to
make up to Il fellow even when you
knew hr was in the right of Il quarrel
we'll. Tubly burst out laughing and
slapped me ON the back with his pom,
drrouS hand. l asked him Surlily what
the matter was, and for an answer h"
only chuckled the more, md finally
blurtcd out:
Look here. you fellows. what's the
good of our falling out about chit OF
Il girl with whom none of us are even
acquainted: Dash 1t all. We've been
chumS for three years, and I'm ready
To give up any little advantage | have
in that quarter for the sake of auld
lang Syne.
This alluSion to his advantage rath-
or ncttled the remainder of us, of
course None of us could see it, and
Hare said he thought he had more of
IL pull than any one. One thing led To
another until we began telling how
many smiles and mods had been cast
in our direction, each man trying Il"
outdo the other in eXaggeration. Fl
nally | said
well. it is plain that since she is
equally charming to us all, she must
be an outrageous little fiirt. What
shall we do, boys, to pay her off for
fooling us:
"'Oh. by the way broke in Frost
i heard for the first time to-day that
she is married"
"A chorus of Obs and Nos greeted
this piece of information. and particu-
lars were asked for and given. 1t
turned ont that her husband was a
bookkcepcr in Il wholesale house down
town: he went to his Office early and
did not return until late at night, 81
that we never saw him.
Worse and more of it" said Tubly
She deserves good lesson
Each of us knew In our hearts that
our yarns about her smiles and mods
were lies. but each thought she might
have encouraged the other, and jealous
madness seemed to seize us, with It's
usual desire for revenge. Then and
there we concocted a scheme to humil-
late that pretty, innocent little woman.
I'VE all met the next day, which was
Sunday. and watched the house from
short distance. After a while W.
saw Mrs Bemis. as we discovered her
name to be. and her husband come out
prepared to take walk together. Now
was our chance. We carefully noted
the direction they took and marched
off in the opposite one. so that by the
time we got round the block on which