El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-01


those which she herself designated as
! having been thrown together in the
dark.
Il can spell all the common ones
without looking ut them. J-u-d-g-
m-e-n-t." she spelled. Leave out the
'e' before 'ment.' Separate looks easy.
but some'lI spell it with an 'e' every
time
In early November DIR. Randall. a
genial. retired practitioner. a man who
had won the distinction OF being the
philanthropist of the village had of
fered tuition and all legitimate ex-
penses for one year at Douglass semi
nary to any young man or woman who
should spell all others down in an old
fashioned contest. This was to be held
at the high school building about the
middle of December. 1t made no diff
ference whether the contestants at
tended school or not, the only require
ment being that they couldn't be over
81 and must reside in town.
That Ethel Maynard or Ralph Hol
man or perhaps George Lewis would
get it was the foregone conclusion in
the minds of nearly all the inhabitants
of the village.
lust you wait. Perhaps you'll be
mistaken" was Mans soliloquy after
hearing the matter thus prematurely
settled. Il don't care for the old tut
ton; wouldn't have it anyway, but I'll
show you I can do something" and she
nodded her head defiantly to an imagi-
nary, unsympathetic audience.
"An readyT' asked DR.. Randall the
evening of the contest. glancing at the
eager faces about him. II think So"
he added. Ethel Maynard and Ralph
Holman may be captains and choose"
Amid intense excitement long lines
of spoilers were soon in their places
ANY one else like to spell who hasn't
been DRAWN" And DIR. Randall looked
over his gold bowed spectacies inquir-
ingly. "I'll just wait a moment"
There was a slight stir back in the
corner, and Nan Hascall slowly arose.
"She here-Nan HascaIlr' and a tit
ter ran round the ROOM
Mans face flushed with Indignation.
Mildred caught her eye and smiled
approval
"Your turn to choose. Mr.. Holman"
said DR.. Randall.
Ibid Miss Maynard choose last?
Very we'll Nan Hascall!'
spell your best" whispered Mil
dred, and she pressed Mans hand as
the girl hurried by, her look of anger
changed almost to II smile by Mildred's
sympathy
'I'n give you an easy word first"
And "daguerreotype" was given out
eff that's easy. 1 don't know what he
calls a hard one" But Ralph spelled it
correctly
"Idiosyncrasies' followed. Three
missed on parallel" and Nan spelled
II.
zone of the easy Ones" she whis-
pered.
Word after word was given out until
only four spoilers remained on the
floor, the two captains. George Lewis
and Nan Hascall.
Mildred was never more anxious Il
do hope She was too interested to
finish her sentence.
For ten minutes each spelled accu-
rateIy every word that came to him.
'Neophyte."
George hesitated, then spelled it with
an l.
''N-e-o-p-h-y-te." spelled Nan calmly.
There was hardly n breath in the
room, so great was the suppressed ex-
citement.
During the next five minutes Ralph
took his seat. beaten.
well, wellr' 1t was Judge Hilton's
ejaculation of surprise
'Metamorphosis."
Ethel began, hesitated, looked up In
CONSERVATION, spelled it-wrong.
''Miss HascaIl, metamorphosis."
Meta m-O-r-p hosts" confidently.
As she finished Nan was greeted with
q round of applause such as had never
before emanated from a Welchville au-
dience- Again and again as it began
to die out it was increased with great
er intensity.
Mildred slipped on to the floor and
gently drew Nan to a seat
~ knew you'd win" she whispered.
Pm proud
"Of meT' interrupted Nan passion
ately. 'Then-then I'll take the prize
-and-and he somebody
Your mother was always right
smart ut spelling" Twas Job Has
calls husky congratulation as he
patted Mans yellow braid.
81 decided 'twould be indeed q meta
mOrphosis when l saw your look of
anxiety and knew you cared" confess
ed Nan the day of her graduation. IF
it hadn't been for that-oh, Mildred, 1
shudder to thinky'-FOrward.
nj, I'm.