Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-08-02

Gladys expects too much Of q fellow
and she has such way Of making
him feel SO deuced uncomfortable"
Maybe It's good for fellow to fee
uncomfortable once In awhile" said
Mabel. looking at him gravely.
Harold shook his head Not too un'
comfortable" he said. 1T may make
him reckless"
WAS that what was the matterT'
asked Mabel.
Harold looked up quickly. did
Gladys tell you?" he questioned.
Mabel shook her head. "No," she
answered, but guessed. It's too
bad, but do you think things like those
that happened last term are going to
help it?"
"Of course not" Harold answered.
But what's the use of trying to be
anybody? felt like wanted to Just
cut loose and have good time and go
to the devil" he added recklessly.
"And so you cut loose" Mabel inter
posed. land almost went to the fellow
you spoke of. But did you have a good
timer
"A good time" he cried. II was
crazy, and when came to my senses
enough to realize what was doing ]
hated myself"
Mabel sat thinking for long time.
"You are going back" she said at last
-"back to the same old crowd Of fel-
lows. the same old associations and
temptations Can you-will you-keep
the promise you made your father and
mother and Beth"
Harold caught his breath sharply. A
vision of the parlors Of the Rau Ia
Snipsilon house rose up before him
He could see the blue smoke curling
upward to join the haze that hung
over the heads Of the excited forms
that hung over the card table. and he
could hear the sneers Of the fellows
and their cries Of "quitter" as boy
threw his cards into the fire and went
upstairs to study.
sweet face beside him. the drll'ntely
nodded, sensitive chin, the serious
mouth and then into the clear depths
of those questioning. trusting brown
eyes
"Do you believe | CAM" he asked.
81 know you can" she answered.
Then ! will" he said.
The next semester was q repetition
of the FIRST for Gladys and Mabel.
with more work. more achievements
and If possible more enjoyment
Gladys, with her self reliant. mas
terfu way of meeting and settling all
problems that came to her, quickly be-
came a leader among the girls. and
Mabel's quick sympathy and eagerness
to be doing something for somebody
made her the contidant and adviser OF
almost every girl in the dormitory.
The weeks passed quickly and soon
brought June and another vacation
The clover had killed out the winter
before III the orchard. and rs soon as
the girls reached home they packed
away their books and their college
dresses and. putting on their calico
aprons and broad brimmed straw hats.
set to work to kill the weeds and pre-
pare the ground for another crop OF
clover.
I'VE can afford to take good care Of
It." Gladys told Mr.. Pearson as hs
stopped by the fence on his way to
town one day. ITS doing enough for
u.s."
The top CRAFTS began to bear that
year. and the trees were loaded with
a plentiful supply Of fine fruit 1t
seemed as If every one else had plenty
of apples that year, too, and the bot
,om dropped out Of the apple market
Snyder had given up his attempts at
manipulating prices. however. and
Gladys found no difficulty In getting
the storage company to put away
hundred barrels which she and Mabel
had decided to hold for higher price.
Another school year opened, and al
most before the girls realized 1t
Thanksgiving day was at hand and
with 1t the great Iowa-Minnesota foot
ball game. JEFF had written to Gladys
to ask her if she still remembered
their agreement. so that she knew
y,at he must have made the team.
eis letters did not come very often
any more. and when they did they
said very little about himself. They
had seen by the paper that he had
been placed second in the state ora
torical contest. but he never told them
that sitting up with sick roommate
two nights previous was all that kept
him from getting first nor that the
governor Of the state had shook bis
hand when II was over and t"!d lin
that he had great future be:"re him
as al orator
Beth had b-@n renewing her invita-
ton In every letter she he'd write:
that term. and two days before III
game she even Went 80 far aS 1" r:li
them up over the telephone 80 TN
day before Thanksgiving the giriS
packed their suit cases and took tn'
train for Iowa City to be present nj
the biggest western football game OF
the season.