Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-09-12
The TribuLatiOns
of q 7riplet.
BY Carroll Watson Rankin.
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THE Stone girls were by all odds,
i the most interesting pupils in
the Worthwhile high school. It was not
because of their superior intellect,
however, for every one knew that Cora
Brook could recite far more accurate
~. It was not because Of their beau
ty, for half dozen girls eclipsed them
there; nor was it because of their
wealth, for they had none. The in
terest was due to the sole fact that
they were triplets.
The high school teachers had had
experience with twins. They had
coped with the Bradley boys, and had
come out second best. They had grad
uated the two boys with all honors,
and had forever afterward entertained
a horrible suspicion that one boy had
done all the work. They gave the
triplets up on sight, and decided to
educate them lin a lump" as they had
been obliged to do in the case of the
Bradley boys.
It is possible that the triplets them
selves knew which was which. No one
else did, with the exception of their
mother. ooh yes" Mrs. Stone would
say, proudly, II can tell them apart
quite easily. I have only to look into
their eyes. To be sure, the eyes are
all the same shade of brown, but the
expression is quite different. There IL
great difference in the girls dispo-
sitions, too"
But to every one else the girls were
puzzle. One of them never had a les
son, one was conscientious and pains
taking about her work; one was the
soul of punctuality, and one was al
ways late; but which was who and
who was which no one was able to de-
termine.
Mr.. Ball, the head master, said,
Don't ask me. I'm not good at puz-
zles." Miss Brown, the preceptress,
said, "Give me something easy prob
lem in higher mathematics, for in
stance" As the other teachers were
equally bewildered. the triplets had
things pretty much their own way,
and worked or shirked, as it might
happen, but always in partnership.
"Of course said Miss Brown, ''it
isn't possible that one of those girls
is doing all the work. The girl who
is strong in mathematics is not the
one whose essays are SO good. The
one with the neat handwriting is not
the girl with the talent for drawing.
Each of those girls is lame in some
one study and strong in another. The
only thing to do is to divide the good
and the bad marks equally among
them and let it 60 at that
In naming the children, Mrs. Stone
felt it her duty, since nature had al
ready done so much toward making
them alike, to give them the same
name-with variations. She decided to
name them all, with delightful impair
TALLY, after her own mother, whose
maiden name had been Ada Rogers.
Consequently, one was Adelaide Rog-
ers Stone, another was Adeline Rogers
Stone, and the third unfortunate was
Adalette Rogers Stone. Mrs. Stone
was proud of Adalette. It was her
own invention, but the bearer of the
name hated it from the depths of her
soul.
Mrs. Stone carried out the same idea
with regard to their clothes. This
was made easy by the fact that the
triplets possessed stout and childless
aunt, fond of dress and in comfortable
circumstances. She was in the habit
of giving her partly worn gowns to
her sister, who made them over for
the three girls. By throwing in one
of her own more sober gowns for
facings. sleeves and trimmings, Mrs.
Stone was able, by careful manage
ment, to make three dresses so ex-
actly alike that the girls themselves
could never tell them apart.
As Mrs. Stone said, there was a
great difference in the dispositions of
the three girls. Adelaide was proud
Of being q triplet, and wouldn't have
been mere twin for anything. In.
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1t, one way or another; and Adelette
was heartily and frankly Disguised
with the state of affairs.
I'm perfectly tired" she would
say, ''of being triplet. I'm just sick
Of being only third of a girl. Even
our initials are all alike. Then such
"a name. Adelette! could stand
Jerusha or Samantha. but Adelette!
just hate myself! It's bad enough to
have to see ones own freckles every
time one looks in the glass, without
having them duplicated on two other
girls noses. It's bad enough to have
to wear Aunt Harriet's hideous plaids
and huge polka dots without having to
zee them paraded round on two home
ly sisters. It's trying enough to have
red hair without being reminded of it
constantly by having to see two other
red heads all the tina