Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-09-09
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Tolls of Erudition

How did you happen to think of
that?" asked Edith.
I've tried it and failed
Dear me! How could you even
try?'
1T was last summer at the seashore.
Winthrop Kyle was devoted TO me dur
ing the whole of last winter, but when
the days began to lengthen his atten-
lions began to weaken. was all
broken up over it. Auntie noticed
how looked and got out of me what
was the matter.
: ~ see how it is, Celia she said.
winthrop is intellectual. You are
well, frivolous. For awhile he was
charmed with your frivolity, but the
time came when he tired of it. What
you want to do is to improve your
mind
Il made up my mind to try it, When
Lent began, 1 declined all invitations
and shut myself up for study. 1 knew
l was to meet Winthrop at Mrs. Blake's
Long Island cottage in August, and l
was boning' for that meeting as col
lege students do for an examination.
winthrop came down to the Blakes
a few days after got there. l scarce
ly noticed him for awhile, and when
ever he came where l was he found
me buried in a book. At last he grew
tired of this and asked me to walk
down to the beach with him. / closed
the book as though L couldn't bear to
leave it and went with him. When
we reached the ocean, Winthrop threw
himself on the sand and / sat down
beside him.
"'How refreshing, he said, after the
heat of the town, briefs, pleadings.
lawbooks and all that to sit here and
do nothing"
Il should have seen that he was
ready for light talk, but 1 was infatu-
ated with my plan.
"A jellyfish had been thrown up on
the sand beside us, and 1 seized upon
it as topic.
Its pretty near pure protoplasm,'
L ventured; about the lowest form Of
animal life. l wonder If there are the
germs of thought in it,
eff there are, there's more in 1t than
in me. L wouldn't think today for q
kiss from the prettiest woman in the
world
whats u kiss? Nothing more than
the pressure OF muscular fiber covered
by epidermis against like substances
lit matters a deal whether or no
they belong to different sexes. But
never mind the definition. I'll talk to
you by the hour about the thing itself.
believe it was just such a scene as
this in which Haidee kissed Don Juan
~ never read that poem. Auntie
I fhnnUhf "
Juan kissed Haidee'
'''No; she kissed him first. while he
was sleeping At least that's my recol-
lection of it. though 1 may be wrong
"I must have missed that l stop
ped short and blushed. 1t was dead
give away Then L hurried on to some
thing else. I've been much interested
in ornithology of late. Recent expert
ments have shown that the markings
on butterflies wings
Don't you mean entomology
ooh, yes, certainly = entomology.
The marks on butterflies wings vary
with cold and heat, and the changes
are inherited
"'That reminds me- he said, that the
dressmakers are studying the colors on
butterflies wings, copying the combi-
nations in costumes
81 determined to talk about some
thing that he couldn't turn into ridi-
Guile and ventured upon history.
GIVE been reading the Decline and
FALL commenced.
"'Decline and fall of whatT
"'Why, the Roman empire, of course.
How stupid of your
How long was it fallingY
"'How long? Ever so long. 1t must
have been ten years
81 cast q side glance at him and
thought / saw him smile. He threw
pebble into the waves and changed
the subject.
"'Im going to have an automobile
he said.
az don't like automobiles. They
are so modern. All the ages are as
ISOLATED with horses. We have the
steed i'll Assyrian pictures down to-
1.-The present street car horse
at was too bad. Here I had been
studying half a year to please him to
be turned off in this ridiculous fash
ion. However, 1 pulled myself to-
gether for one more effort.
Professor Barnes L said BARNES
paid me attention after Winthrop
dropped me. and 1 put this in on pur-
p0se), gave me some delightful his
torical reading recently, Macaulay's
History of England" What a good
Catholic Macaulay must have beenv
why do you think SOP he asked.
well, in that part about some
New Zealander sketching the ruins
of st. Paul, he says that maybe the
Catholic-or was it the Church of Eng
land
Christian Scientists?
No; I'm sure he didn't. There was
something about fhe twilight of fable
in connection with the antiquity of
the popes. OF course it was the Cath