Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1897-04-29
THE PRIZE PIN.


my share, for he had told me just that aft
ernoon as we We're parting that he had
met my cousins this summer, and l
plunged in about them at once We had
Just got started when he interrupted me
to say:
"'What Is conversation partyY
What is what said l.
ga conversation party.
GA bore, | should say said I. He
bowed in such hurt tone of voice that l
saw had done something. 80 asked:
Are they spccal faSurtes of yours: l
never heard of them.'
Didn't you look at your invitations
said he
- Never said l.
"'Ths is SUI opposed to he a conversation
party he was growing cheerful again
and l relied on you to explain to me what
that meant.
IF this is conversation party said
l. I IN going home. l never conversed in
my life. can't even talk. l only chatter
AT that moment up rose Miss Blank.
She is a very dignifled girl, wears specta-
cles, and she Strengthened them and said
that there were to be six topics that she
had allowed one minute and a half for
each; that she would read them otf-she
had a paper in her hand-one at a time,
and as she read each one she would strike
bell. At that signal we would begin
operations At the end of a minute and
half she would strike it again and then
would give Us ten minutes rest before she
struck for the next. Then she looked all
around ami said, When l strike the bell
the first time, each young lady will give
her partner description of football
game Then she struck her bell and Mr..
81
began to smile was just wondering if
he would look better without his mus
tache, and had about decided that I'd ad
wise Molly to advise him to shave it Of,
and was studying his face from various
angles, when l remembered what had to
do, and it broke me up SO that after sour
rying wildly round in my mind for some
thing to say l blurted out:
Well, you know, the ball is round
And the bell struck.
Then l scolded him for laughing and
told him that women Were always quicker
and brighter than men, and l gave him a
full account of Bellies grabbing the reins
that day when her brother went out OF the
dogcart backward they drove over "a
stump, and how she never screamed or
turned hair, but drove straight home,
and he walked after her, seven miles, as
sOOU Us NE lilu come 10 LllDst after ldIul
ing. and Ina sure u man would have
stopped ami nladc u fuss over Ben. And
that reminded him of u most amusing ex-
perience OF his in Lower California, ami
while he was telling it to me Miss Blank
said, When l strike the bell, each man
will describe TO his partner the dress she
has on.
u knew that il was my innings then,
for Mr.. Starr looked me all over ut least
Six times Then he began:
1t sit ism red
No sad /.
IL KIND Of a Lluey green.
",Nrons. sid l. It's tHat lovely new
purple, yoa know.
lit silk.
Wrong again You know it's chiffon
over satin.
1t trimmed Wilhelm hroidery.'
Embroidery, SAID l (ior even a man
might have known that). 1t ; Iualuma
lovely old point Iace!'
1t : very pretty, he said meekly.
We may well call that right, said l.
/ think il : pretty myself. What more
- 1t 5 very becoming
Excellent, said l, clapping my hands,
60 up head And then the bell rang.
Then he began about my unlucky round
football, and said that he supposed that |
had never seen game, and l was indig
nant. told him that l had brother at
Harvard, two cousins at \ ale and "a brevet
brother-in law at Princeton, and what I
didn know about football WASH I worth
knowing; that l had been at every big
game since l was 10, and had worn foot
balls of every college color he had even
SEEN that knew colors. just then again
our hostess came TO the fore and fired the
Egyptian pyramids at US Tor topic.
The pyramids said |. What is there
to say about them And then | told him
how Dick and Nancy decided TO go TO the
Holy Land Tor wedding tour, and went
to Iceland instead. and while we We're dis
cussing the best ways of spending honey
moons and how long they lasted-the
Homogeneous l nean-we found that we
had had something we hadn I heard sprung
upon us, and 50 we agreed that we would
put on bod face and seem very solemn
and perhaps they wouldn notice.
And when the other two topics-I've
forgotten them-were announced, we Just
stopped moment and looked Interested
and then went right on talking He told
me great deal about law-h0w to com
init crimes and not be punished for them
and what brought him TO l., and
when he was going away, l might have
known he WASH there for life! And l
showed him how to tell the difference be-
tween lace and embroidery, and told him
about the handsome dragoman boy that
kissed the soles of Marie's shoes when we
came home from Cairo, lifting up one aft
er til her-poor little fellow, he was
only
And in the midst Of it all the guests
got up and crowded round Miss Blank
and we went, too, and then the first thing