The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1905-01-27
A Graduates Story


well, Frank. III keep my promise.
When l was in college / made the &C.
quaintance of a girl we viii call Nan
cy. You see, your mother might be
Jealous, and / wouldn't ike her to
know the girls real name. Nancy and
l kept getting sp9Onier and spOonier,
and, her father getting on to the stu
alton, forbade me the house. 1t wasn't
that he had any objection to me except
that l was only a college boy with two
years Of study before me. besides a
course in agriculture, to be taken aft
er graduation. As for Nancy, he pro-
posed that she should spend three or
four years more on her education. Per
haps If he had let us alone we might
have got over it in time without max
ing ninnies Of ourselves. As it was,
he drove Us into one of the silliest per-
formances on record-an elOpement
THE time we chose for this absurdity
was in midwinter, Just after one of the
heaviest snowstorms we had had in
years. Our plan was for me to pick
up Nancy on the road, take her in
my sleigh to the junction. get spliced
there, drive her back and say nothing
about the matter till we had finished
our education. Nancy was at the place
Of rendezvous all done up in furs and
with a pair Of cheeks which the frost
tinged with the hue of red apples.
She jumped into the sleigh, l pulled
up the robe, and we started.
Nancy told me that her father was
suspicious of her, and she thought he
had been watching her, so l had bet
ter drive pretty fast This l did so
far as l could, but the road between
our college town and the junction is
billy, and the snow was deep and un-
trodden with occasional bad drifts So
our progress was necessarily slow.
Nancy kept looking back uneaslly, and
when we reached the top of a rise
about a mile from the town Nancy,
upon CHANGING to the rear, gave my
arm grip, exclaiming:
"'Oh, my goodness graciousr
Turning my head, l saw a sleigh
descending the next slope behind US
drawn by two horses, who were gallop-
ing through the snow, scattering it like
spray Of course l knew we were fol
lowed, and, giving the horse a cut, we
started down our decline, scattering
snow in the same fashion. But l
knew that one horse was no match for
two horses with an equal load, and 1t
occurred to me that our plan would be
nipped unless l could hit upon a STRAIT
agem.
Nancy l said, I'm going to drop
you In a drift
"'What forT she asked.
"T'll do it when your father is on
the other side of the rise and can't see
u.s.
"'But what will l do there|
"'Lie low till he has passed, then
walk home. He hasn't seen who is in
this sleigh; the back is too high, and
the robe behind is above our heads
"'All right said Nancy. This looks
like a good place we're coming to-
Il pulled p beside drift more than
ten feet deep and, that l should not
show any tracks, took Nancy up and
tossed her feet foremost into it. The
snow was light She went down three
quarters of her length and wriggled
down the rest of the way. I drove on
and when l got to the top Of the next
hill looked back. In few minutes the
pursuing sleigh appeared, and l knew
had not been seen dropping Nancy.
kept up a good pace, hoping to draw
her father on so far that he wouldn't
run against her on the way back. led
him as far as the bridge when slowed
up and let him Overtake me. When be
saw no one In the sleigh he looked
mystified for moment, then
said savagely:
"'You young rascal, what have you
got under that robeF
Nothing
"'Yes, you have. You students think
you're a match for Satan In deviltry,
but you can't fool me. Pull up the
robe
81 drew up the robe so that he could |
gee the bottom of the sleigh. He was
But, too disgruntled to |
apologize for his mistake, he turned |
about without a word and drove back
to town. It's four miles between the |
own and the junction, and since had !
lropped Nancy a mile from the town |
Knew she would have plenty Of time to |
get back home.
when / saw her again she told me |
hat when her father came in he said |
nothing to her about her ride, but later
Isked her where she had been.
To Aunt Sarah's,' she answered"
1.-The little liar" put In Eleanor Not
ins.
"Liar" exclaimed the mother IN
lgnantly. mot at all She stopped at
AUNT Sarah's on her way home so that
AUNT Sarah would confirm what she
to tell her father"
"Why, mother" asked Eleanor, what
10 you know about itT'
The mother with vexed smile, bent
gain over her work.
"She ought to know" said the ia
her, with a twinkle in his eye. "She's
fancy"
The daughter laughingly embraced
er mother.
But when were you marriedT'
sked Frank.
'"Oh, we tried 1t again in a week and
ucceeded," said the father.
You toere a pair of sillles," said
,leanor.
"Of course we were" said the ia
her, but ! fancy you and Frank are
ow too old and venerable to follow
ur example, so I don't mind your
pOufpo tho foc4ap