The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-09
COMM UNICATIONS.
My. Narramore Visits Ben at Yale.

down to Yale, and I've seen Ben and
 heard him. too. You run in and git me
 a bite, and when I've put up the beast
 I'll tell you all about it.
 | I say for it, Charity, this cold spare
 rib jest touches the spot, and there's
 nothin' down in New Haven that comes
 anywhere nigh your rye bread! l
 guess Ben thinks so, too, for jest a-fore
 come away I see him behind the door
 of his room, out of the sight of his
 chum, a-gnawin' on the loaf yer sent him.
 Well, it was most two o'clock when I
 got to town, so put straight for the
 college. I had the number of Ben's
 room, and after looking round a little
 I got on to the right entry, but when I
 come to No. AZ heard such bellowin'
 and hollerin inside that it kinder stag
 gered me for minute. Then l braced
 up and knocked. Somebody sung out
 kinder sassylike, You can knock or mol" and somethin else about girls
 with blue stockings I felt my spirits a.
 risin then, and l jest up with my fist
 and give one good whack at that door!
 It was pretty still for a minute then
 somebody called out Come in!' I
 opened the door, but Laws! I couldn't
 see nothin but blue smoke; so l jest
 stood stock still and called out, Ben!
 Here's yer pa come to see yer" A real
 smart-lookin' chap come out of the
 smoke and he says says he, 'Ben's gone
 out. He's to play at the symph'ny con-
 cert this afternoon Then he said he
 was Bens chum and his name was
 Smith. So we shook hands and l asked
 him if he was any relation of Jim
 Smith, who druv the stage down to
 Clintonvile. He said he didn't have
 that honor. I didn't know exactly
 what he meant by that, for I never
 sposed there was much of what yer
 call honor about Jim Smith. Then he
 asked me to come in and said he would
 open the winders an let out the smoke,
 an he praised Ben up to the skies, and
 told how beautiful he played on the fid-
 dle, and wouldn't l like to go over and
 hear him. I said I would, if he didn't
 think it would git Ben kinder excited
 like to see me there He laughed and said perhaps it would inspire him.
 Then he offered to go with me. While
 he was a-washin' his hands and a. slickin' up bit the smoke thinned out, and I had chance to look round It was a queer place, this room of our boys, Mother Narramore! There was some nice furniture there to be sure, but everythin' there was topsy-turvy, and the walls was covered all over with circus bills and advertisements of chewin' gum and the like, and marble figur's of girls stood round here and there like tombstones, only these girls would have looked better if they could have had on them blue stockings that Smith was a-singin' about when 1 knocked. The young feller hisself had a kinder sober sort O face for one who was cuttin' up such a row minute a. fore. As I sat a-watchin' him scurry round gettin' ready, happened to spy badge right on his shirt front, and Mother Narramore, would you believe it, it was a deaths head! I thought he must be a-goin' to be docter, and I asked him if he was. He smiled real pleasant Che had a beautiful set of teeth, and he said No" Then he asked what made me think of such a thing. Why, your badge to be sure, says l. but the next minute I was soory I had spoke, for he blushed and looked so queer, and began to cough, and then l to whistle, and finished up by askin' If l I had been to dinner. 70, ho!' says I | to myself, i've struck a snag! l guess you belong to that dreadful suicide club | that I have read of in the papers. l | hope you haven't got Ben into it, too," and I made up my mind that I must 1 look into the matter afore l left.
 We'll, after this we started out pretty | quick for the concert. There wasn't | many there at fust, and I began to think that Ben wasn't a-goin' to have much of house. but pretty soon they come a-stragglin' in. There was more women than men though, take 'em all together. One of 'em that set in front of me brought music book with her, and that made me kinder mad because guessed she wanted to keep track of Ben to see if he made any mistakes. Most of the women-folks was all fluffed put with fur, and some looked as if .hey'd been tarred and feathered. The )ne in front of me was the worst of all. She looked exactly like our old gray cat when she's all stirred up for fight or IS she would look if she could switch Ter big bristlin' tail round her neck. Ter face didn't show much 'cept her lose, which was terrible red Hard says I to Smith. Golf" says le. "Is that so?" says I. That's beverage I never heerd off, says l. They are gettin' out fancy brands all he time, but you may be sure there's ,lenty of the old lubricating oil at the bottom of it all" says I. When l come . o look round I made up my mind that ;
 good many of em had took to golf. 1 ust then about half the college come ut on the platform with their tiddles i II tromboons and what-not and began l o tune up. I shouldn't wonder if our f Ben was the youngest ill his class, for q ome of those fellers looked pretty old lder than the president hisself. Now I Z ad heerd tell that the new president f 1as a young man, but I hadn't calker- S ated on the ages of the boys, and when s see him a-standin' up there in front of I hose men of all ages, and all nations, ' 1t seemed to me) a beatin' time, and a. l sadln em on Lo glory as It were, 1 l ras amazed and Isaiah XI., 9th come I ito my mind I felt kinder disappoint- l. q though, for l thought I was a-goin' |