The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-10-12

lhe root. TTcre wsss mporsfy entrance
framed With screens In sach fAahion tnai
Il LOOKED like the mouth ofA corrncopias
ard the lltiie chaperor, sitting dcmurvly
where shs had been placed, was fsssinAten
by thas. which seemed 10 pour out sirls ~
IL they had been aowers Or coafscsions. In
all the n,nrs delicsta ooiers of the feeds, OF
tho clouds. of the scA. they came on, 40
many. and 10 many, and soch giles"
The lorg hail---h was The gymnasium on
less splendid days-was trimmed with
ropes Of sfe~rery blended With tbs college
colors. And ali shou, the hall ran the
booths wLicA the fraternity men and DIFF
ferens coteries Of .independ,nts' hsd put
up.
To these the groups Of friends we're 10
return after each dance; snd In these the
chsperons sat 10 socIsbie xrcnps. There
we're ceremories Of q sort--the presenta-
,ion OF delegates from each booth 10 the
wives Of the president ard tho faculty OF
the university then the grand march with
many elsborsiions under mellowing and
changing lights Of violet and rose, sea-
green ard yellow; then the forming Of all
the marchers into the initial 81 the univer-
sity--snd then, swiftly, the breaking up OF
al into the first waltz.
some Of the s'fsculty ladies. had heard
hat Helen Walden was there, and they
csme over to The booth 10 call. II was not
q new thing to this quiet woman to have
people tell her that she had brought them
comfort, ard had taught them the meanir &
OF certain things. All her isolated life she
had been privileged to know that sort OF
intimacy.
Her letter boxes held treasures Of cor
respondence never mentioned BY her. The
rich stream Of sympathy that flowed from
her pen, and that brought to her rare II I'm
personal devotion, was thing apart from
her actual life. A constitutional timidity,
an Inherited awkwardness, or lack Of facil-
lity, and the absence Of social training hsd
kept her body ever tagging after soul In
grace. Words came easily to her pen, but
not to her tongue.
But after the faculty ladies had left her,
and she sat unnoticed by the other ladies
Of her booth. who were receiving old
friends, her usual ser 90 Of Loneliness re-.
turned to her. II was not sadness precise
| ly, for she did not mind feeling that she
was alone. And she gave herself up once
more to the dreams and the memories that
had been haunting her ever since she had
| re- ceived the invitation TO be present at the
junior bop--an event counting for nothing
| in the lives OF the women about her.
All through the ball the silent fourth
chaperon sat dreaming.p
She saw In the msglc mirror OF memory
the pretentious but comfcrtless house
where her airlhood had been spent-that
house with Its imposing exterior, It's lack
Of fires, OF service, Of convenlerces within.
She remembered the bare bedroom, depriv-
ed Of all Rirlish luxuries.
Here, when school had been denied her,
and heavy burdens OF housekeeping and
child tending and sewing had been put upon
her. abe used to come In the chill evenings,
And covering down under the old army
blankets, study and read. There was no one
to guide her. She took what came to hand.
She made the most Of everything. And,
study over, her girlishness reasserted IT.
self, and curling down between the cold
sheets, she INDUCED In certain fsvorite tri-
vial fancies.
She saw herself at school among charm
| ing, well-bred girls,--such girls a. she did
not know and was never to know in her
own girlhood, land shared with one OF
them delightful room In an ivy.grown
dormitory. She pictured the routine OF
the school-day, the clean, honest, hearty
delight Of the study houra, the attraction
to certain professors, the aversion from
Others. She went the length Of picturiDg
these individuals till she knew even their
eccentriclties. She dreamed Of the festivi-
ties. What mysteries Of preparation
What teasing expectations! What splendid
escortsi What gsiety and music and con-
yersstion and bewitchmentl
And the girl who dreamed IT all had
never 90 much Is known what It was to have
party frock--or an invitation TO party,
for the mstter Of that.
Then came marriage and happiness and
responsibility Of another sort, and still pov'
erty. and the incentive to work because
others needed the ehelter Of the home that
John Walden had built for her. Then, a.
most without her knowledge, che had be-
gun to write, Aud the thoughts born II
solitude, the dreams and the dissppoint
ments, came to help her.
She had talent. She was born with thai
something which may, for lack Of bettel
term, be called taste. So her writing found
its place. AT last what she had taken ~
almost carelessly became necessity 10 her
Moreover, there was never time wher
her roof did not shelter one or several rela
tives or friends. And her own dear child
rem came to increase the need for her labor
So she bad gone on from year 70 year
'kee ping close TO the immediate duty, AMI
still bextirg down the vagrsDt love Of 10!
which hsd, curously enough, been born Y
her who seeme1 80 grave.
\ II was her money which hid sent ROYAL
her eldest, TO college. The old house y
Hopperviie had therefore known its close
, economies. But Royal understood. II
, was grateful. He WAS trying to deserve Y
And 1t was encouraging to know tha
ever, body liked him, that he had "made
one of the best fraternites, ard that b
held bis own In his clsss, not so much b
the free Of brillisucy as by stesdfast d.
termininssion not to dissppolpt bis fathe
) and mother.
n And now at last here was the junior hoT
: a othsYs called 1.-THE party beautifui Z