The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-12-28
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of her walking miles in the coldest win
ter to and from the district school and
of her mad desire. while at summer time
play, to be as one with the boys, to
share their roughness and exhileration
and not to be put into a separate class
on account OF the as yet unrealized
thing called sex. To our notion these
portrayals of the formative moments of
Roses girihood constitute the authors
most interesting work. They EXHIBIT
with peculiar vividness albeit quite ma
turally the gravity OF the responsibility
Of parentage and the Importance of the
duty of motherhood in respect to the
proper guidance of the child mind and
the child life. There is chapter con-
cerning an incident Of the school period
which teaches n lesson, and gives new
point TO the carelessneSs of the aver
age rural school system.
The winter Rose was II years of age she
had for a teacher girl whose beautiful
presence brought curse with 1t. she
was small and graceful. with face fuii
Of desire. She fascinated the children, and
the larger boys woke to a sudden saw
agery of rivalry over her. which no one un-
derstood. The older boys fought over her
smiles and her low-vOiced words of praise.
The girls grew vaguely jealous or were
abject slaves to her whims. The school
became farcical in session. with ever.in-
creasing play hours, and ever-shortening
recitations. and yet such was the teacher $
power over the students that they did
not report her. She gathered the larger
girls around her as she fiirted with the
young men. until children like Carl and
Rose became part OF 1t all.
At night the young men of the neigh
borhoOd f1ocked about her boarding-place.
absolutely fighting In her very presence
for the promise which she withheld out
,rtN Hnr hn
came a victim of the storm of passion
which swept over the neighborhood. she
went out to parties and dances every
night, and came languidly to schooi eacn
morning. Most of the men or the district
citedly about the stories they heard AL
school the most dangerous practices We're
winked at. The older boys did not scrupie
to put their arms about the teacher
waist as they stood by her side. All the
reserve and purity which Is organic IN
the Intercourse of most country girls and
bows seemed lost, and parties and sleigh
rides left remorse and guilt behind. Ihere
was something feverish and unwholesome
in the air.
Do not think that this bold scene is
over-colored. 1t Is to our knowledge
true in many country districts. especial
ly in the west. where parents are so
much occupied with the care of cattle or
crops that they have no time left for the
care of their children, and shunt the
whole duty over without compunction
on to the shoulders of the indifferently-
paid school ma'am. The character of
this school ma am is determined mainly
by chance: rarely is it subject OF care
ful advance inquiry. If good, well and
good; II bad. heaven help her pupils! In
such scenes as this Mr.. Garland sharply
differentiates his theory of art from the
81. tcv,, hn
Howells cult. No doubt his boldness
will In some quarters be pronounced
but like the lightning's shock.
1t clears the air.
IV-First Gli,nmcrings Of Romance.
One day this school-now emancipated
from its thralldom to Delilah-was
thrown into paroxysms through the
riding past Of courier in gilded box,
who. as he went. scattered gaudy bills
proclaiming the coming of circus.
The children read every word of those
high sounding posters, standing in knots
by the roadside. = 1t Was the mightiest
event Of their lives. The whole country
awoke to the significance Of the event and
began preparations and plans. At school
and at church 1t was talked Of. The whole
population awOke to pathetic, absorbing
interest In the quality Of the posters and
circus was the mighticst contrast to their
slow and lonely lives that could be i'm
agined. 1t came In trailing clouds OF glo-
rified dust and grouped itself under vast
tents whose lift and fall had more majesty
than summer clouds. and its streamers
had more Significance than the lightning.
1t brought the throb of drum, and scream
of fife, and roar of wild beast. For one
day each hum drum town was filed with
romance. like the Arabian Nights; with
helmeted horsemen. glittering war maid
ems on weirdly spotted horses; elephants
with howdahs and head-plates OF armor.
with lions dreadful, sorrowful, sedate and
savage; with tigers and hyenas in unman-
ageable ferocity pacing up and down their
gilded dens while their impassive keepers,
dressed in red, sat In awful silence amidst
them. There was something remote and
splendid in the ladies who rode haughtily
through the streets on prancing horses.
covered with red and gold trappngs.
There was something heroic. something
of splendid art. In the pose of the ath
letes In the ring. From the dust and
dreamed and dreamed of the power and
splendOr Of the pageantry. The girls
planned their dresses and their hats. and
the lunch they were to take. Everything
was arranged weeks ahead.
Rose went with her first beau. Carl.
There is an exquisite realism in the
which Mr.. Garland vouch-
safes to this eventful episode in his
heroine's maidenhOOd. The daylight
start. with it's preliminary of a wakeful
night; the entry into Tyre
with the first dinner ever eaten at
real hotel; the procession to the tent.
past the alluring prospectuses OF the
side shows; the passing
scrutiny of the wild beasts in the men
agerie, and finally the open -mouthed oc-
cupancy Of TERED seats in the circus
amphitheater-these are touches which
carry the most blase of amusement
lovers back. to the gala day Of child
hood. But passing all that, we come to
the scene which follows:
Rose sat in a dream of delight as the
band began to play. 1t was an ambitious
band and played operate selections with
and 1t seemed to Rose to be
the most splendid music In the world. It
soothed her like the coo of a dove on the
barn roof At last the band blared an an
note, and the uniformed attend
ants filed into the ring and took positions
at set points like sentries. Then the music
struck into splendid gallop, and out
from the curtained mysteries beyond, the
knights and ladies' darted, two and two, in
glory Of crimson and gold and green and
silver. At their head rode the man with
the brown mustache--her hero.
He wore blue and silver. and on his
breast was rosette He looked q god 10
her. His naked limbs, his proud neck, the
lofty carriage Of his head. made her shiver
with emotion. They all came to her lit
by the white radiance: they were not
naked. they were beautiful, but he was
more. She had seem naked