Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-09-27
Save this Coupon

niece! Could man have worse luck? Goodby to my liberty! No more doing as I please and being as uncivilized and bucolic as primitive man! What, in the name of all the gods, possesses two such highly civilized beings to want to spend any time out here? Why, they can't eat the cooking; it's out of the question. I couldn't myself if I didn't voluntarily suspend con sciousness while staving off starvation "a small price to pay for such days of freedom as I've had! I'd think these girls were pursuing me if didn't know they were not. But" he groaned, they'll think it jolly lark to find me here! They'll get out of it all there is in it. Damn! He dumped the ground. "Ill take care that there'll be precious little In it for them. I'm not going to be bullyragged into spelling my vaca- tion by two clucky girls!'
 Such the misanthropic sentiments and such the language with which Peter Kinross faced a situation complicated by the fact that the expected arrivals were the daughter and niece respective ly of the president of the college in which he himself was the professor of psychology.
 Dr. Kinross, however, had never seen either of these girls, inasmuch as dur ing the past year since he had taken the chair of psychology they had both been away at woman's college. But he had heard great deal about Miss Ellery, the presidents daughter. And some of Kinross' fellow professors who were apt to badger him on his hard ness of heart toward the gentler sex had predicted his speedy surrender to the beauty, culture and wealth of Miss Ellery when she should return to col lege.
 Tt will do me good to see her tun you down." the professor of literatur had declared with feeling speaking out of the depth of his own bitter exper.. ence at the hands of the fair Georgl. 1 ana.
 But these predictions had made SC little impression upon Kinross that with the immediate prospect of meeting Miss Ellery the only interest he felt in her was a curiosity to understand the mys- tery of her having chosen to come to the Morningstar farm to spend her summer vacation-a girl notoriously l fastidious in her tastes and so much of a belle among the clever men of the college faculty that her voluntarily coming to bury herself in such an out of the way place as this farm seemed to him a second mystery thrust upon his unwilling contemplation and cal culated to supersede that other mys- tery of the girl Eunice, which in the past fortnight had been constantly ar- resting his attention.
 The truth about Dr. Kinross was that he was afraid of young girls. All the circumstances of his boyhood and youth had tended to perTert natural super sensitiveness into an awkward and painful self consciousness in the pres ence of women. His mother having died in his infancy, his acquaintance with the feminine sex in his childhood had been almost entirely confined to the negro servants of his fathers house hold. With his incipient manhood he had developed, through unfamiliarity of intercourse. an awe of girls that had caused him untold su1erings if forced into any conversational reSponsi- biIities with them.
 The social ease and fuency of his younger brother. Burton. seemed to Pc ter in those days a height of achieve ment to which he looked up with envy and admiration But Burton's view ot the variation between them was rue fully expressed one day to Miss Vol cott. their nearest family neighbor.
 "Pete plants himself in a corner at q party. scowls. hasn't a word to say. can't dance and can't play cards And heU make an average of siX crushes
 at every party that dad makes him go to. can dance. play cards. converse and make myself sgree1ble- and don't average one crush a n01th- H0s would you explain itE-
 -Crushg- Ee1teeIiy inquired Mis- Wolcott. a bacheIOr maiden of thirg'
 five
 Beg psrfon- I mean no1e of thz rris get stuck oa ne But ter RzE