Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-07-24
The OLD TONGUE
AND THE NEW
IOrigtnnl. ]

| ON Greek roots when he was BOY,
hnd professor Robertson would rather
ask for stone In dead language than
for bread in u living one" These are
samples of the jokes that irreverent un-
! dergraduates heaped upon "the old pro
| fessor," as they were wont to call him
he was thirty -eight-but it must not be
understood that they%did not love him.
He was q simple minded, ingenious
! creature who, like Uncle Toby, would
not hurt fly, and, although he was in
| innate with no one, every one would
have been glad TO be intimate with
him.
| Among the students in the Woman's
college attached to the university was
one Eunice Middleton, who attended
| all of Professor Robertson's lectures so
long as she was an undergraduate, and
when her class finished and went out
into the world she remained behind to
| take q postgraduate course in Sanskrit.
| Her friends wondered at this, because
Eunice was by no means scholarly and
| was less proficient in languages than
in any other branch. Perhaps 1t was
this that led her to secure Professor
Robertson's services to tutor her dur
! ing her college career and to take a
! postgraduate course under him In a
! class Of which she was the only mem
! Der. She seemed to be intensely inter
! ested in Sanskrit. She would sit by
| him for hours poring over her lessons,
! asking innumerable questions and max
| ing now and then comment which
anusod tho professor to siOh "t tfiV De
trayal Of Ignorance 1t involved. Three
| years of postgraduate study passed,
and when EunicC's classmates return
ed for their first triennial meeting they
found Eunice still ploddlng on, Pro
fessor RObertson's only pupil In the
class in Sanskrit.
How does Miss Middleton get On?'
asked one of the returned graduates
| of the professor Il presume she
speaks the language fluently by this
time"
The professor put his hand to his
| chin meditatively.
miss Middleton is an enthusiastic
scholar" he said, "but l fear her mind
| is better fitted for more practical
branches. She does not progress very
rapidly"
Have you taught her the verb with
which we began the study of Latin|
! "You mean
"To love-"
NO." said the professor innocently.
! "Do you think that would help her"
81 am sure of It, Try it. You will
| convert her into an apt scholar"
| Profiting by the advice, the professor
! returned to his pupil resolved to con-
! centrate his efforts on the Sanskrit
verb ito love" The new departure
! seemed only to make matters worse.
Eunice got mixed up between Sanskrit
and English for Il love-" You love, "
HE loves" and after a weeks drilling
became discouraged, broke down and
wept on the professors shoulder. He
sympathetically put his arm about her
and said something, he scarcely knew
what, but when he started anew with
the lesson she could give him the San
/ skirt and the English for Il love"
"You love-" with astonishing ease.
Having spent three years in one Ian
Ruage and got only so far as the verb
"to love-" Eunice concluded to gradu-
ate. Besides, she was engaged to mar
| ry Professor Robertson, and the facul-
ty decided that to prolong the course
under the circumstances might injure
, the good name of the college. The pro
fessor heaved deep sigh that he must
90 on In his studies without the sympa-
tnIzlng costudcnt, but EuniCe delighted
. him by saying that she would not 10y
any means give up SO interesting q
study, declaring that every day she
would devote a certain time with him
to Sanskrit.
During their engagement the pro-
fessOr called upon her three evenings
in the week, the first hour of the visit
being devoted to the lesson, the rest to
illustrations upon the verb ito love. "
The study was interrupted for short
time by marriage, but after their re
turn from a bridal trip Eunice insisted
upon It's resumption, much to her hus-
bands comfort. Living in the same
house, 1t was not now necessary that
they should study in the evenings.
The professors first lecture at the col
lege was not given till II O'clock, so
that each morning from 0 to 10 they
sat in the library pursuing language
to which they were devoting the fourth
year and of which Eunice had learned
little more than the verb ''to love-"
Then came little stranger to inter
rupt this rare devotion to study. Mrs.
Robertson declared that so soon as the
child's habits were properly formed
she would rejoin her husband at his
books. Weeks went by, and yet she
made no move to return. The profess
or waited patiently, believing that
some impediment still existed which
In time would disappear, but the hour
from 8 to 10 was supremely slow. He
soon lost some of his enthusiasm as q
linguist One morning, hearing sounds
I'm his wife's bedroom above, he went
up stairs to discover what was keep
Ing her from resumption of her les
son. Listening at the door, he heard a
Bplashing and an infantile voice:
"B'PPl-abou-g -agOOW
Then Mrs. Robertson:
"Now put It's little footsy tootsy down
in the water and splash with its little
Gnners."
Professor Robertson sighed. He had
discovered thata new language had sup
plemented Sanskrit Returning to his
lonely study, he endeavored to become
Interested In his books. mt was sur.
prlsed that he could see nothing on
them but
"B'rPI-abou-glum agoow
OLIVE PENNEWELL.