The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-11-13
How He Was OWt-G emeraled by
a Bewitchimg Fellow Traveller
3 y III a l. z 3 z r

THE CuB
HURING all his college years he was known as
THE Cub" The name was given to him in his
first year at the varsity because of the vicious
hug with which he punished an opponent who inten-
tionally '~slugged" him; and it stuck because as his
fellows came to know him better they found him to
be surprisingly young"
THE Cub was possessed of a number of views
that any orthodox thinker would have labeled heath
enish." That they had not been so labeled. and that
The Cub" was permitted to live on undisputed in
his possession of them, was due to the fact that they
had remained mere uncommunicated theories in his
mind, without any chance of practical application.
Many of these views were on the subject of women.
and in defense of The Cub" it must be said that
they were due not to inherent cussedness. but rather
to a lack of experience caused by four years of almost
uninterrupted residence at college, removed from the
world and its rounding influences.
At heart The Cub" was not bad; he mistook,
simply. Applying the logical method of inductive
reasoning. that what is true of all known members
of a class may also be predicated of unknown members
of the same class" he held that all girls were tlirts.
This was natural, in view of the fact that during his
college career almost the only girls he had talked
with were those he had been able to engage in con-
versation without the formality of an introduction.
And as young women invariably become romantic
when they visit a college, and are nearly always ready
to respond to a beaming smile and a lifted cap. when
the smile is on the face OF a handsome Young collegian
and the cap bears the varsity monogram, so The
Cub" had enjoyed many afternoons OF harmless
fiirtation-harmless except that they were responsible
for his "heathenish views, and had resulted in his
forming the resolution with which this story is begun.
The immediate cause of the formation of the reso-
luton was the fact that The Cubs" college career
was ended and he was going to visit a classnate.
Frank Duquette. at Mendon. 1t is natural for a
man starting out upon a new career to mark out for
himself a line of conduct; and in the code that The
Cub" drew UP on his last night in his college home
the resolution that has been quoted was the last TO be
put down.
The Cut" boarded the train at University Station.
carrying his suitcase with his favorite tennis racket
strapped to the outside. In the first car that he
entered every seat was half-ocCupicd except in one
double-section near the door. where a young woman
and her loosely scattered luggage took up the space
allotted for four passengers. The Cub" advanced
to the attack. He noticed with Joyous satisfaction
that she was pretty, with wavv masses of dark-brown
hair framing a face OF the delicate, picturesque beauty
he admired.
Pardon me. May l claim a seat"
She turned, annoyed, at the first word. With
childlike confidence in his passport, The Cub" was
beaming down upon her, his cap raised at the proper
angle to display the dainty monogram that had won
favors for him in the college days: but with a sudden
feeling of dismay he realized that the girl was about
to make the unexpected refusal. The big brown
eyes were not looking at the monogram on his cap;
they were looking straight at him, or rather through
him" as he would have expressed it.
Il thought maybe this seat was not taken
he stammered-
He began to feel uncomfortable; and to the girl
he seemed much confused and exceedingly young as
he stood there blushing before her. Perhaps it was
this last qualification that decided her in his
favor. At any rate. The Cub" saw the pretty lips
waver into an odd little smile, that curiously Knocked
the seriousness of the eyes, as she said slowly, an
swering his first question: Yes. l suppose you
have a right to one"
Il don't wish to Inconvenience YOU"
"Oh, no! Well have room. Please put this in
the rack for me-" she added, holding out to him a
small valise and a bundle of some soft stuff that
The Cub distinguished as "duds"
The Cub" disposed of the luggage satisfactorily