The San Angelo press. (San Angelo, Tex.) 1897-1907, 1905-05-18


young principal Of the high school
sometimes characterized the young peo
pie under his charge in highly unpro-
fesslonal language as little beasts"
Teaching was by no means his voca
ton, but simply compulsory grace by
which he hoped to obtain two coveted
years Of study at Heidelberg
He did so now with a vlclousness
that would have Mortified their parents.
for as he and Miss Comyng entered one
Of the smaller recitation rooms to look
at a globe they were confronted b.
their own names scrawled upon the
blackboard and brlstling with the can.
celed letters common to both. BY
counting first the Cancelled and then
the remaining letters to the formula
Friendship, love. Indifference, hate"
the youthful tormentors had discov-
cred and duly published to the world
that Miss Comyngs feeling for him
was n compound of friendship and H.
difference, while his own for her was
unadulteratcd love.
But this was not all. Lest the In
the attention of its objects, warnlngly
scrawled beneath 1t was the admoni-
ton, Change the name and not the
letter. and Won change for worse and
not for better"
Cartrigbt glanced at his companion
swiftly. He devoutly hoped she was
not one OF those mawklshly sentlmen.
.,I nj
quivered at occurrences of this sort,
thereby giving him an uncomfortable
feeling that possibilities lowered In her
mind.
But this time he need have had no
fear. Miss Comyng took the matter
much more coolly than her predecessor
had done under similar circumstances
She faced the scrawl moment with
pickering brows, then transferred her
gaze openly to his face and laughed
outright at the dawnlng look of relief
she surprised there, and when she
spoke it was with great occurrences.
IL don't feel a bit embarrassed" she
remarked. mo one, I'm sure, need feel
ashamed of feeling friendship and In
difference for colleague. But candid
| ly"-her tone changed and became
! frank ana matter of fact-"lsn't 1t
amazing that in all those young heads
from which the plgtalls are still dan
Cling, as we'll as the clipped and rum
pied ones on the other side of the room,
the romantic idea should be dominant?
You and |, being neither very old nor
very ugly"-her lips twltched-"will
play the leading roles in living drama
| for the next few months. One hundred
and twenty pairs of keen eyes will be
watching us daily, awaiting some sign
of our admiration for each other It's
it's simply appallingw
"Appallng!" he echoed. 81 should
say it was-and some of them are still
In the stage where they spell future
with 'ch' and busy with an Il! But l
don't mind If you don't" he added mag
unanimously.
She was sitting on the arm of one Of
the chairs in thoroughly glrllsh but
rather undlgnlfied attitude. Cartright
noticed with satisfaction that her
teaching had not Sunk in" as yet.
Mind, Not l. Why, it's as good as a
play. Now, If you come into my room
to speak to me during n recitation, es.
pecially If you should happen to smile
at me- the air becomes electric with
meaning. Minnie telegraphs Jennie a
swift Did you see thatT and even the
hulklng, overgrown boys who have
been sitting like bumps upon logs
arouse to something like life"
"I've half mind to show you some
thing | found on the floor today" she
remarked slowly, and from the bag al
her side she took slip of paper and
held it out to him. ITS extremely fiat
terlng to you, anyway"
He looked at the slip. II bet she's In
love with him" was written in n wab,
bling, Uniformed hand. Il don't sec
how she can help it, he has such fear
full fires in his dark eyes. They're just
like Rochester's."
There was a moments silence, and
then the two young instructors broke
into a roar of laughter that wiped out
the last sense of strangeness between
them.
"Now that you know that / know
and know that you know" was Cart
rights somewhat involved explanation
II don't see any reason why we cam
be friends. Nothing that those young
cubs do can possibly make us shy
Wen show them that the thread Of 70
nance doesn't run through every
friendship between man and WON
an"
"As the scarlet thread through every
bit of rope used by the British navy
she supplemented sauclly, and ther
the talk reverted to school matters.
But the pupils Of the Central Hlgf
school were not slow to discover tina
there. was new ease and understand
ing between the incoming teacher o.
algebra and physiology and the prln
clpal whom every girl in the room Sc
cretly raved over.
Once Jennie Bascom met them walk
ing in the park, and notwithstanding
the fact that on this occasion they wer'
deep in the discussion Of pedagog!
she described the meeting to Minnie
Brown, her chum, the next morning
somewhat n ftpr this fashion.