The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1908-01-24
AT THE PARTY
The Chewing Gum Girl Tells Of
Georges Adventures.

sum.
NO" said the girl with the soul
full eyes my cold was SO bad
couldn't get out"
She gave a few simple coughs, just
to show, and snuggled her chin down
In her feather boa
Did you have a good timer" she
asked.
Honest, / never had a better time
in all my life! Laugh? / thought
Id die! I'll bet they could hear us all
the way to Horse hill. Too bad you
missed it,
The girl with the soulful eyes
coughed and snuggled again, as in
teresting an invalid as any one could
wish to see.
Who was there?" she asked.
%, everybody! ee-hee-hee-George
was there!"
Tee-hee-Was George there?"
was he? You just bet he was!"
And as Old Bates train rumbled
homeware over the meadows the two
fair devotees of the ART of stenography
and typewriting turned their faces
away from each other and Uttered
back to back, the one in "Reminiscences
and the other in anticipation until at
last they suddenly bounced around
and faced each other, whereupon the
girl with the chewing gum shut her
eyes, opened her mouth and spake
as follows:
First off, George says, Say. I've
got new trick, and Of course we
were all crazy to know what ii was.
Now here's a penny says George.
III lay 1t fiat on any girls forehead
ana Ill bet she can't walk across the
room without it falling off,"
"Tee-hee!" said the girl with the
soulful eyes.
Doesn't II sound easy, though?
fhe rest of the girls hold back. but
you don't catch me with cold feet
Why, it's too easy!' says. All right
says George, try it. And over he
came.
Hold your head back he saws.
and | held it back. Everybody was
snlckering and he took the penny
and laid it fiat on my forehead and
pressed it down hard. Now SAYS he.
lets see If you can walk across the
room. So up / got, with my nose in
the air as careful as If I was balanc-
ing a feather buster on my chin. Then
| walked across the room, awful slow
and gentle, not to jolt the penny off.
Laugh? They screamed!
II never saw George look so fool
ish as when | got squint at him out
OF the corner of my eye. Gee says
George. She did do it, but I'll bet she
can't walk back to her chair and sit
down again without knocking 1t orr
Squealed? We nearly died."
Gee | says, This is a cinch.
believe | could shake my head and
Keep the penny on So / shook my
head, easy at first, and then harder.
and say got wise at last! When
George pressed the penny on my fore
head in the first place he took it
right on again and ii only felt as II IL
was there. And all the time | had
been cutting up those monkeyshines
the penny hadn't been there at ALL"
Well SIR" she continued. that
was just the start Next. George
says, If there's any gentleman here
present who can put his heels against
the wall and lean OYER and touch his
toes without bending his knees I'll
pay any forfeit he's mind to name?
Laugh? o! You know some of the
fellows are kind of jealous Of George
and they all thought this was a
chance. George lined EN- all up
against the wall. Ready says he.
They all looked set in the face and
nodded their heads. One. Two,
Three! says he. Fun? Say. they all
fell over together, and you know how
fat Tom Smith is? Well sir. when
he fell he bounced"
Miss Pennywate pretended not to
like it, gasped the girl with the chew
ing gum. You know she's awful old
and as homely as brush fence. and
when she moved around the room
whispering that us girls ought to be
more dignified everybody screamed
again, for George had pinned a sign
to her back and the sign said. Kiss
me, please'"
They bounced apart, and when thew
faced each other again the flavor of
Georges jest was still so rich with
them that they had to bounce apart a
second time until the paroxysms of
their mirth were secretly spent.
We'll, sir" said the girl with the
chewing gum, I'VE all went i'm TO din
ner then, and We hadn't got far before
we saw that Mabel Wooley was awful
ly nervous. Shed look at her plate
and then she'd look away, and then
she'd look at her plate again. quick
and sudden. or course we all looked
too, and say! Every once in a while
her plate seemed to novel"
Move? Really?"
Honest and true, and IL there's any.
thing more upsetting to the nerves
than to have plate move Id like to
know what II Is. George gave us all
the wink, and We found out later that
he had little rubber bulb beneath
the tablecloth under Mabers plate
with long tiny tube and another