The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-06-04
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School. j.
Copyright. 1907. by Mary McKeon.

numbered a dozen of the young mer
and girls Of the neighborhood. Such
parties are always given with the last
run Of maple sap and are simple at
fairs. The guests all gather at the
| sugar bush, where the sweet sap has
already been boiled down to thick
sirup and seat themselves on a log
while the strip Is boiled a little more
and then served around on clean maple
chips. There is snow yet left in the
woods, and a dab Of strip dropped
on the snow produces maple wax
There is general sickness, a general
state Of hilarity, and the girls go home
with wet feet and the young men with
wax on their chins.
In one sense this party referred to
was great success. In another it was
a calamity. A sewing machine agent
had been stopping at Farmer Haliday's
for the last two weeks while he beat
up the country. He happened to be a
young man and q taking fellow, but
there was no earthly reason for Burt
Seymour to be jealous of him. Eunice
Halliday and Burt had been engaged
for three or four months and while
she was naturally f1attered at the COM
pliments paid to her by the agent,
whose name was French, they didn't
turn her head by any means. She saw
from the first that Burt was inclined to
be jealous, and she was therefore more
circumspect, but Burts jealousy still
ranked. He took good care that the
stranger shouldn't be invited to the
sugar party, to which Eunice was duly
part Of the stock in trade of agents of
all sorts, and no one was greatly sur
prised when Mr.. French showed up as
cool as a snow bank and took the big
gest chip in the collection.
As old Aunt Martha used to say, all
spice Of deviltry in their nature. Be
they ever so sweet and nice, there are
times when they like to hector. When
Eunice saw, with all the others, that
the coming Of the agent annoyed her
lover and that Mr.. French was in
and more agreeable way to make
things a success, she came as near
flirting with him as she could and miss
1t. The harder Burt scowled and the
more he showed his vexation the more
reckless she became. She didn't in
tend to go too far, but just far enough
to punish him. He would be sullen
and sulky going home, but she would
make up with him before they reached
the gate-that is, she thought it would
be that way, but she was mistaken,
Burt referred to the agent as "snide, -
a Squirt and several other things,
and, although she only defended mild
ly, 1t was sufficient to keep his tenn
per hot. He announced that he had
been disappointed in her; that there
was no such thing as loyalty known to
her sex; that few compliments from
a ''masher" were valued by her more
than his enduring love, and when the
gate was reached she announced that
she wouldn't submit to be browbeaten,
and he fourlshed his arm in reply and
exclaimed:
Farewell, false girl l have loved
you as no man ever loved before, but
you have let fool part us. l may be
sunstruck this summer or die of q
broken heart or commit suicide, but
twill not matter to you. You will have
simply broken one more human heart
shattered the faith of another man in
woman's integrity"
OF course Eunice went into the house
prepared to brave it out, and of course
1t wasn't fifteen minutes before her
mother suspected that something had
transpired and whisked her into the
family bedroom to say:
Now, then, has that Hattie Jones
been saying mean things about you
againY'
mo, mar replied the daughter as
she burst into sobs,
By and by all the details were in the
mothers possession. The girl did not
deny that she had flirted a bit, but
she had not really meant anything seri-
Gus. She was deeply in love with
Burt Seymour, and as she thought of
his dying of sunstroke and going to
his grave believing she cared for any
other man, no matter how many sew
Ing machines he could sell in a week,
it almost broke her heart.
'Well, now, stop crying while talk
to you,' said the mother you should
not have flirted, and Burt should not
have made a fool of himself. He's
gone away to chew the rag. as your
cousin Ben puts 1t. He thinks he'll get
letter from you in day or two ask
ing his forgiveness. Then he'll take a
week before coming around and con-
descending to make up. First and
foremost, You are not to write him a
line. Second and hindmost. he's got to
come to you if there is any coming
about 1t. Your father was just another
such idiot when he was running after
me, and / made him crawl That's
why 1 have always had the whip hand
of him."
But you know how set Burt is In
his ways" pleaded Eunice.
but you can be just as set in
yours"
But suppose he's found dead with
my photo on his broken heart"
Suppose our old dog should bark
his tail off! You are going to do just
as l say, and that ends it. I'm your
mother, and | know something about
men, and If | don't help you to bring
that smart young man back within two
weeks I'll never darn another pair OF
socks for your father"
One event invariably follows the 9th
er in the country. After the sugar
the last day of the district school, or
the close of the term. Word goes out
for ten miles around and the 200 young
and old who attend manage somehow
to get into the schoolhouse. Then two
persons choose sides, and the whole
crowd lines up, and the sehoolmaster
pronounces the words. The spelling
school for the Seymour district was
announced for a date two weeks sub
sequent to the sugar party and the
lovers quarrel No Burt called at the
Halliday farmhouse to make up. The
days passed, and poor Eunice went
about with tears in her eyes. Even
her father noticed that the daughter
was looking red eyed and pale faced
and asked the wife if a doctor had not
better be consulted.
Don't you worry, Joseph" was all
the reply he got, and about all he ex-
pected, but to the daughter the mother
said:
'Eunice, when the spelling school
comes off l am going to bring that
young man to the mark. He is one of
the best spoilers around here, isn't hep
Eyes, ma"
"Well SO are you. Some folks say
you are better than he is. If you are
on one side and he on the other, you
are going to beat him"