Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-03-01
NECK OR NOTHING.
By JEANETTE q. wALwORTH.
copyright. 1897. by the Authorl
CHAPTER I.

L
CHAPTER I.
Commencement day is, 80 to speak,
resurrection day in the good old collegs
town Of Shingleton. set among the RED
clay hills and the sweet smelling pine,
that belong to one of the oldest ooun
ties in the state Of Mississippi.
On commencement day there Is q
general uprising Of the population
sparse and scattered as il Is, to see that
Shingleton does credit to itself and hon.
or to the college
Poor and rich, humble and naughty,
from the bakers baby burdened wife NJ
to the presidents childless lady" ev.
| cry one makes common cause Of the an
nual and stirring climax to year OF
somewhat languid intellectual exertion.
Local pride and feminine ingenuity
are evoked confidently and exercised
without stint II is only once year
that Shingleton challenges public atten-
tion, and il strenuously endcavors To
pose respectfully on that one important
date, putting out Of sight, as far as pos
sible, every indication of its ordinary
out at hcelness.
ShinRleton frankly admits that its
everyday methods may be open 10 crit
icism and is mildly convinced that in n
hand To hand contest for municipal lau.
rels with any one Of the half dozen
plebeian little towns that have sprung
| up since IL reached its majority IL
would very likely come of second il
not third best.
But the staid old college town does
not mediate any such unsecmly contest
with the villages whose mushroom ac-
| tivities are an offense in its nostrils
Shinglcton stands upon Its dignity in
al attitude Of perpetual aloofness from
its ncighbors
Marks Of age and Of pinching poverty
pit its venerable face deeply. Itspaint-
less fences, its crumbling brick houses.
its weather stained frame buildings, its
patched and peeling stucco facades. are
dItsuiAN sukktStNV oi ootAy P'Nh
marked old face.
II il were not for the college, Shingle
ton might have dropped ont Of the
memory Of every one but the mapmak
ers long ago But the college is, has
been and will he thing Of today, yes
terday and tomorrow, linking Shingle-
tons pathetic present with u splendid
past and problematical future
Local pride clusters with considerable
confidence about the two solemn eyed
dingy red brick houses that are set
squarely in the middle Of vast acres of
untitled and untillable ground In the
suburbs Of tie town. These houses are
brick and mortar twins The same num-
Der Of broad. squat windows in each,
duplicate front doors, clumsy and pom
derous, gloomy suggestions Of Jail facil-
ities The same number Of blunt top
ped chimneys. whose growth might have
been arrested by cyclones, or whose
stunted proportions might have been
the exponents Of the mason's groveling
spirit The same description Of low cell.
I'd. white finished, rectangular apart
ments in each.
One Of these time defying creations
Is the college proper, the other shelters
the professors families and tho board
ing students. No ornamental vine or
ofiicious fig tree filings superiiuous pro-
lection over the stern fronts Of the two
college houses. They rise superior to
oil such effete requirements, and all
day long the squat, square window
panes, with their heavy green blinds
plastered against the brick walls, stare
unblinking mt the sun.
Equidistant between these two self
sufficient structures is o small oval in
closure known as "the garden. p" The
gate to il is always locked and the
whereabouts Of the key always an in
scrutable mystery. The designer of this
solitary decorative touch evidently had
leanings toward the enduring.
Some unperishing box trees, a few
long lived arbor vitTs. large laurie
mundi or two, a tangle OF pink and
white azal,as, long since grown IL the
dimensions Of trees, all clustered ir-
regularly about the stem Of century
plant who's. blossom tide had occurred
but once within the memory Of Shin
gleton, but furnished then sort Of flo
raj calendar back to which any event Of
local Importance might be referred rs
having happened before or after the col
lege century plant had blossomed.
Occasionally gardeners who have been
hired to nip any desultory tendencies on
the part Of the rigid shrubs and bushes
within this rigid inclosure have brought
TO light specimens of petrified wood,
which seem, curiously enor - be
the most natural product of /. led
garden.
These specimens, duly classified and
labeled, have been honored with con-
spicuous places in the rather meager
geological collection which finds ample
accommodation in small showcase
purchased at milliner's bankrupt sale.
This collection Of minerals in the show
case is called the college museum and is
ali object Of respectful awe to the vii
lage urchins.
Nothing but barbed wire fence is be-
tween this arid nursery Of learning and
nature in her sweetest, widest, most
riotous mood. Close about the college
grounds great forest trees crowd and
fling soft, thick, soothing shadows far
out over the bare, hot sod Of the college
inclosure. Wild grapevines and fam
ing "trumpeters" Chamber tumultuous-
ly over the sharp barbs Of the fence,
adorning the rain washed gullies about
them with delicate, lacelike tracery Of
green Into the very presence of the
pundits the laughter OF babbiing creek
intrudes 1t leaps untrammeled over its
bed Of shining pebbles in gleeful mock
cry of mans laborious efforts to master
natures well kept secrets. The creek
knows them all by heart, at least all
that 1t concerns it to know. AS for the
rest-poof! That for It 1t lets them all
alone. Wise babbler!
On commencement day this creek Is
an important factor in the general fes-
tivities All the day long vehicles OF
all sorts and condition toll collegeward
over hot and dusty clay roads, deposit
ing mixed cargo Of anxious matrons,
bright eyed girls, wondering infants
and we'll stuffed hampers for the COM
mencement collation..
At the open door Of Shingleton's one
church the cargoes are deposited with a
minimum Of consideration for the chill
dren and q maximum for the hampers,