The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-18

with Spencer nc to thiS. Nert bessun.
Pragmatism.'
Well. although you have not understood
all you have heard in the lecture, you have
little difficulty In distinguishing betwe con
the notes that represented words Of wisdom
falling from the professors lips and the
notes that the girl wrote independently OF
h lecturer.
But do not grumble at the little interest
the clever conversationslist has seemed
to be taken in serious SUBJECTS. You may
be guilty of being distracted the next day
yourself.
Suppose. for instance. you have not
slept we'll and indigestion has followed
your breakfast. Yet, time 10 fieeting. and
you feel that you must attend ,he lecture
in order to get your moneys worth.
You enter the room and sink into a seat
near the door. Right in front of you 10.
a pretty girl you have not noticed in the
class before. The more you observe her.
the surer you are that she is very pretty.
She has blond hair. of n most delicate
shade. the dsintisst of lips and a playful
sparkle in her eyes. You hear tho professor
that the lecture will lie the most
important Of the course: ans hat as he.
matter is as complicated as it is important.
dbtCbLlOu buOulu &c given lTOIu tIC bphTts
You resolve to attend. for better or for
worse.
But after he has talked for five minutes
you detect a wandering of the attention
from the distractions of the lecture
about ultimate values to the possibly less
ultimate though more tangible values you
perceive in a family colored cheek and .
lively eye that are visible, because the girl
in front has turned her head to hear some
remark from her neighbor.
The next detail upon which the system
rests must have your best attention." the
professor remarks, so absorbed in his sub
jet that you know he won't be able to tell
whether any OF his hearers are needing his
advice or not.
II your mind should chance 10 wander,
you reflect. he will not know il. and so
cannot take il as an affront- You make q
keener point OF honor in resolving to listen.
but just as the professor plunges into
his next paragraph you see again that
cheek and that eye, this time turned oward
the speaker. For a moment you are vaguely
sensible OF the clear, deeply intoned words
OF the professor. and then you forget them
altogether. For in the meantime some
thought, either from the professor or from
some other source, has interested the girl.
as you are aware by watching her eye.
There is a new twinkle. as though some
sweet, unseen current had swept upon
1t. The soft. misty lids leap in the seem
lest way and a moment later the new
thought spreads its influence over the
sensitive cheek. .
You do not know how long your trance.
Of rapt contemplation lasts. but you are
sooner or later brought to by the fall of q
lead pencil from the hand OF a student
behind you. At once you gather your wits
and fix your mind on the lecture.
But, alasi the climax is reached and
passed. The professor talks more rapidly
now thai when you listened before and
thought flows after thought from his lips.
But the tide Of thought has begun to sbb.
He is simply adding a few explanations OF
comparatively trivial points. But nothing
means anything to you, for you we're asleep
at the switch, as IL we're, when the trainload
Of central concepts Numbered by.
"A great lecture to-day. old man. a
friend hastens up to you to say after the
class has passed out into thec corridors.
yes. il was bully" you retort with q bit
Of a growl.
whereupon your friend. thinking thai
you have disagreed with the professor and
seeming a chance for argument in the sup
posed disagreement, begins to ask you
what you think Of the theory as a whole,
and where. IL anywhere, you think it could
be improved.
To deny an answer would be churiish.
and to say that you didn't care to argue the
matter would only cause your friend to
press you further. for he could not believe
1t possible for you to be in health and In
your right mind and yet not ready for an
argument. You choose honesty as the most
expedient policy.
well. il you must know you say with
a firmncss that surprises him. 4 failed
somehow to get the main point Of the leo
ture.
Besides you add ~straightway, 4 have
my doubts as TO the sense Of trying TO study
in the summertime, especially when We
have coeducational classes"
Your friend will be aware by this time
that you are out Of sorts. and he will kindly
refrain from telling you that there may be
something that does not hang together in
your last remarl.
Il think we'll see the game at the Polo
Grounds this afternoon you exclaim at
last. and your friend knows that you have
become a normal man again.