The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-09-21

Robins graphically pictured features
as she gravely explained the diagram
that was supposed to be there and was
not, Mr.. Peasley could not understand
! why everybody laughed. BE even mild.
| ly rebuked the giggling slxty-elght for
embarrassing Della during her recita.
ton.
After that Della seemed to take de-
| light in playing endless silly tricks on
the unsuspecdng little teacher.
Girls said she, one afternoon, rs
they were flocking down the steps,
lets dress up in some ridiculous way
tomorrow, just for fun. Let's all curl
our hair in Kittie Blaine curls-"
1--WE did that Monday" objected
Cissy Laurence, "and 1 couldn't sleep
all night with my hair done up ii
rags"
Eyes" sympathized Anastasia Nal
lett. ut was just like trying to slum-
Der on a bushel of door-knobs. No
more curls for this damsel."
"Well," agreed Della, cit was a nuis-
ance, and he didn't notice the curls,
anyway. I'll try to think Of something
really startling by the time basketball's
over tonight"
That Della had succeeded was evil
dent the next morning. Cissy, leaning
on q crutch. limped slowly down the
aisle to her seat near the window. An
astasia wore her right arm in sling,
and, not being ambidextrous, made
fearful and wonderful work of her
written exercises. Doris had each sep
arate finger swathed in neat, glar-
ingly white bandage. Blooming Rose
Mitchell was powdered to a ghastly
pallor with corn starch and green
chalk
Large strips of black court plaster
were cris-crossed on Laura Dale's flaw
less pink cheek. Adelaide Brown, the
doctors daughter, wore shade over
one eye, and was redolent of iodoform.
Ada Gray carried large bottle labeled
painkiller, and a tablespoon. From
time to time she sighed deeply, and
sadly took carefully measured doses.
Lucy Mather's cheek bulged alarming
ly, because # the huge crab-apple in
her mouth. Mary Clark, who painted
in water colors. had decorated herself
and several Of her classmates with
astonishingly lifelike cuts, scratches,
bruises and black eyes.
| Della herself might have been the
sole survivor Of particularly disas-
trous football game. She had pasted
| black paper over two Of her rather
\ prominent front teeth, and wore one
eyclid painfully glued down fiat under
4 circle of f1esh-colored court plaster.
Both elbows were apparently out Of
joint. and her limp was ever more dis
tressing than Cissy Laurence's.
The naughty girls had mumbled,
Basketball last night" when Mr..
Peasley, at first mildly astonished, had
asked each apparently suffering young
woman in turn If she had met with
some accident.
Now the gentle science teacher was
near-sighted and no disciplinarian, but
he was not stupid. The bruises and
bandages were all exceedingly lifelike,
but the crop was far too large to
have grown in a single night. 1t did
not seem possible even to unobserving
Mr.. Peasley that so many players could
have been injured in a single, we'll
conducted game Of basketball.
A little later, when he read a note
handed to him by pupil from one Of
the lower grades, his eyes began to
twinkle behind his spectacles, quite as
if he had stumbled upon some huge
joke.
| At half-past nine, very much to the
horror of about thirty-five temporarily
disfgured girls, two members Of the
school board, proudly escorting dis
tinguished out.of-town member Of the
legislature, marched into the assembly
room. Mr.. Peasley, not dreaming that
the visitors would take this little joke
seriously, apoloGiZed humorously for
the battered appearance Of his pupils.
"You see," he explained, without for
/ q moment suspecting that he was seal
| ing the fate of the basketball teams,
'an unusually vigorous game Of basket
ball has left all my young ladies little
the worse for wear"
Only few of the surprised culprits
had been able to squirm hastily out
of their too-well-secured bandages.
Tho visitors had iuct loft tho sunshine
| for q schoolroom with half-lowered
shades, and they did not suspect Mr..
Peaslcy Of levity. They remained only
n few moments. After leaving the
building they discussed. in all serious
ness, the game Of basketball and its
| effect on schoolgirls.
1T must be fearfully brutal game"
commented the out-of-town visitor. Il
haven't seen it played, but I've heard
about IT,
EYES," agreed Mr.. Black, Of the
schoo! board, Its worse than 1 ever
dreamed it could be. From the looks
4 Of that Clark girls face, l should say
she was pounded black and blue from
head to heels"
"Thev'ye only been at Il, too" added
Air. German, "for seven weeks, ard
there wasn't girl there who looked
real sound. That Mitchell girl used
to have the reddest cheeks in town."
II noticed" said the distinguished
visitor, that several had bandages
1 %I,1t M that n