The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1898-01-01

~ HfSt became acquainted
No with Harvey. He had
Ss0N0 come to college from
~ thriving Western town,
~fn where his father was a
w banker and leading citi
zen. Harvey was remarkable fellow
in many ways. In the first place he
was one of the handsomest fellows 1
have ever known. He was possessed
of rare talents, and bore upon his face
the unmistakable stamp of good breed
ing.
And yet, when I first knew Harvey,
he was freshman in every sense of
the word. You could hardly call him
green; he had seen quite bit of the
world and society, too, for all that,
but it was of such as boy sees under
the chaperonage of fond and indul-
gent mother. His experiences, while
quite varied in their nature, were of a
tame variety, so you will not deem it
strange that when he arrived at Har-
ward, with an allowance of $500 per
month and no chaperons but sophs and
seniors, new world was opened to
him.
Like all freshmen of this type, Har-
vey fell in with fast set, joined a
swell fraternity and went straight to
the bad. And what a winding and
mellifuous path his Satanic Majesty
has provided for the college devotees.
OF course Harvey's apartments were
the best in the city. His dog had
whipped everything that had been pit
ted against him, and his wine suppers
TO the fast set of which he was a part
were the talk and envy of every cheap
Cholly man in the college
Long before the end of the first term
Harvey was an acknowledged king of
the bloods. He was greatly changed
lad; all that simple charm and frank
ness that had marked him when he
came were gone. His manner, talk
and dress had all changed, and now
conformed strictly to the ideas of the
set of which he had become part At
the junior hop occurred little Incl
dent which was to mark an epoch in
the affairs and life of the freshman,
and, in fact, to give birth to this story.
The junior hop is the social event of
the year at Harvard, and at all great
American colleges for all that. This
is the high tide of the year when the
freshman sends home for his best girl
to show her something of college life,
and to show her how important he has
become in one term. A few months
before beautiful young lady, the
daughter of one of the Back Bay mil
lionaires, had made her debut in Bos-
ton society. Bessie Hill was SO re-
fined and so charming that it was but
short time before all of the young
men, both in Boston and in Cambridge,
were wild about her. She was model
of beauty, but to stop here and say no
more would be doing her great inius-
tice, for she was not only queen of
beauty, but possessed of all the other
qualities necessary to make her type
of perfect womanhood. OF course,
she would be at the hop, and every
fellow who had not already met her
had set his heart upon an introduc
ton Every swell fraternity in the
college attended i'll body, and every
big fraternity man individually did all
in his power to bring Bessie Hill to
his booth and make her part of his
Greek letter circle. Harvey looked
that night as / had never seen him
look before. With the efforts of ma
ture and the tailor combined he was
: by far the handsomest man in the ball
room. He was introduced to Bessie
Hill; it was Greek meet Greek. They
exchanged chances; Harvey bowed
low; she extended her hand, while the
polite audience of students, mammas
and sisters held their breath in as
constituent. Never before had Bessie
Hill extended her hand to any new &C
She had been with Har-
vey but short time when the cold
and steel-like glitter left her eyes and
her cheeks were suffused with the rose
of natures rarest red.
They danced together. Harvey was
a perfect Terpsichorean. They glided
off to the conservatory. Harvey's
heart beat faster than usual and his
bosom swelled with pride. But surely
he had good reason to feel proud, for
he had by his side the most admired
woman of all Boston. The freshman
had won the greatest of all social tri-
umphs. 1t cost him a wine supper at
Harvard and no little notoriety In
Boston. Their meeting at the ball
had caused quite a sensation. The
daily papers reviewed his life and fam
lily history, and Bessie Hill was con-
WINGED that she had made no mistake.
But Harvey was beginner. He could
not understand that social triumph
and a love affair were one and the
same thing, and that at best should
last only so long as people talk about
them. Like foolish freshman that
he was, he allowed his head to be
turned. He underwent change. The
wine at the midnight revelries grew
insipid; the songs, however spicy, lost
their charm. There would come steal
ing into his mind now and then afancy
that he should study. But who ever