Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-03-09

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fluence Of a study of photography or to
the notifying effect of the presence of so
many pretty girls may not be with GER
tainty averred, but the fact is beyond dis
putc that at the spelling school meetings
not even remembrance of that old
grudge between the CamerOns and the
Mulvcils ventured to show its ugly head.
And this was really surprising, since at
these earlier stages in the work of selec-
ton and training, twOthirds of those
present would be in fighting humor be-
fore the evening was over. Mr.. Far
sons had way of using keen sarcasms
as pins to fastcn in tin memories of his
class remembrance of the words they
failed on, and. while his biting speeches
certainly had that effect, they stirred up
in his victims impulses of rage that were
often hard to rcpress. The girls some
times could scarcely keep from crying,
but IL they had wcpt. Mr.. Parsons would
not have minded 1t in the least. Sever
ity was, from his point of view, n neccs-
sary means to the end In which all had
a common interest, and, after his verbal
lash had ceased singing, even the vic
tins conceded that he was right.
Old folks and young, married and sin.
gle, maids and bachelors, all took the
floor, spelled as long as they could with.
out error, and one by one went down In
the struggle for survival of the ortho-
graphically fttcst. Even the most en-
thusiastic advocate of spelling matches
rs an improving sort Of amusement could
hardly have conscicntiously pronounced
the exercise altogether free from a flavor
Of monotony. Old Cyrus Ramsey made
a welcome variation, when he was ignO'
miniously thrown by "psilophyton." and
talked back. avowing his convictions that
the word was wrongly spelled In the die
tionary and that II was an cstray from
some outlandish foreign language. which
had no place properly In an English die
tionary, anyway.
Under cover Of the general hilarity over
that episode. John Cameron, finding the
gradual reduction of the class had
brought him and Hctty Mulvcil side by
side, seized the opportunity to whisper
| to her:
"May take you home tO-nightw
With such a thrill Of gladness In her
heart as made Il hard for her to look I'M
conscious and whisper low, she answered:
EYES,"
Only one word, and uttered In n tone
not louder than a gentle sigh, but 1t pro.
lOnged itself In waves of delicious music
In Johns brain and dullcd his sense Of
meaner sounds and things, so that he
was promptly fioorcd by Il word that he
knew as well as his own name. and had
to sit down. But he didn't mind the tenn.
pOrary defeat. He was certain Of being
one of the elect, anyway. Parsons knew
he could be depended upon In serious
emergency. But he did wish the school
master would not look so cOnfoundedly
knowing as IL he understood how that
word came to be missed.
Rufus Goldic. who had come to grief
early In the game. having had more than
an hour Of nothing else to do than sit
still and look at the girls, had made up
flower of the collection and that he would
escort her home. 1t made him smile to
think how cunninGly he would mnneuvcr
to secure her company In advance Of 9TH
crs less ingenious. who might have the
same idea. Quietly he slipped out, when
he saw that the exercises were drawing
to u close, got his borrowed horse and
cutter ready, returned and stood waiting.
The instant the class was dismissed, he
stepped quickly up to Hctty and. with
what he deemed his most fascinating
combination smirk and bow, proffered the
customary formal invitations:
"May have the pleasure Of escorting
you. Miss Mulvcil!"
"Thanks," she replied, coolly. "My ar.
rangcmcnts are already made"
Already! Rufus was not simply sur.
prscd; he was astonished. The POSSIBLE.
ity that his attentions might not be wei.
coined, even eagerly, had not occurred to
him: and his cgotism suffered rude
shock. A couple of girls. who had heard
both proposition and dccination. giggled
mischievOusly, and he knew that his hav.
ing got the mitten" would be pOp,i.
lar theme for heartless mcrrmcnt mt his
expense. Worse yet. other girls, not
wishing to have 1t said they would nc.
cept what Hetty Mulvcil rejected, would
also "give him the mittcn" II he made nd.
vances to them. Confused and red with
anger, he stood aside, sullcnly determin.
ed to see what her arrangements" Were
In minute more, he was satisted-bit-
terly.
John Cameron, having unblanketcd hi.
horse and seen that the robes In the cut.
ter We're all right, returned to the school
room, with his big driving coat on and
his fur cap In his hand. Exultant happi
ness lighted up his handsome face, and
he walked straight to Hetty, seeming to
be conscious Of nobody else, as II she
had been alone among trees, instead OF
surrounded by other young persons. And
Hetty, meeting him with smile, resign
ed herself to his assistance and care. He
helped to put on her heavy cloak; aided
In wrapping about her head the great
fieecywhite comforter, that was to keen
her shapely ears from freezing; buttoned
her gloves and tied the strings of the red
wooden mtts that covered them. Then
he put her hand on his arm and led her
out to the sleigh, where he tucked her In
warmly among the robes.
Rufus Goldie watched the proceedings
and metaphorically speaking, CRASHED
the teeth of his soul. 10 have been "cui
OUT by any other man would have been
bad enough, but that John Cameron
should be his successful rival seemed t.
him an especial aggravation by malignant
fate. Rolling the subject around In hi,
mind 1t soon began to assume II strange
form and color. lie actually succeeded
in making himself believe that he was IN
love with Hetty Mulveil. He was moi
really so; his feeling was wounded van
ity, not jealousy; nevertheless the hallu
cinatiOn took an ineradicable hold upon
him and, by persistent cherishing, event
L H. Al