The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-01-01
A NewY ear S
House Party
BY JOHN R. MORRISON

eldest twenty-six. when We gave the
New Years house party that proved a
turning point in my life. Every room
in the house was occupied. some OF
them by three persons. We had scarce
ly got together when we began a Sc.
ries of practical jokes on one another,
at which the girls were far more
adept than the boys. The very first
night the sheets In every fellows bed
were scotched. and the next day at
luncheon there were cream cakes on
the table filled with cotton provided by
| the girls One fellow swallowed his
/ cake, cotton and all. rather than con-
fess himself stung.
We sat up so late nights and some or
us were stirring SO early in the morn
ing that we were ready to fall asleep
| at any moment. One evening when
playing the game of twenty cues
tions'' | was sent into another room
while the others chose something for
me to guess. There was no light in
the room where l waited. but there
| was an easy chair. | sat down In the
chair and fell asleep.
| was awakened by kiss. grab
bed girl. but she got away from me-
! though only after fierce struggle
When | had once lost her 1t was not
easy to find her, though the rustling
of her skirts was a disadvantage TO
her while my greater weight. render
! ing my tread heavier. was constantly
betraying me- She lodged me for
some time, when all became quiet
Then suddenly / heard the door open
! and close. Since the adjoining room
was also dark | knew that the others
had turned off the lights to enable the
girl | was after to escape. The escape
having been effected, went to the
door TO go out ! found 1t locked.
| IL was some ten minutes before II
| was opened. and I Joined the others
| the room having beeu relighted. cast
my eyes from one girl to another with
a view to discovering who had kissed
me. The first girl looked at had
scratch on her nose. But the second
also had scratch. and the third. In
deed. every girl was scratched. ] look
ed at the fellows and saw that they
were all laughing ut me.
Now. among our guests there was
one girl for whom my heart had begun
to beat. would have given king
dom IL had had 1t for proof that Ma
ria had done the kissing. Whoevei
had done IL had doubtless been dared
Whether my preference for Maria had
been noticed by the other girls and
when I was found asleep she had been
chosen to play the joke on me ! didn't
know. III she had done the kissing she
certainly showed no evidence of the
fact-that is, any more than the rest
of the girls--a scratched nose. But
there was one thing that led me TO sus-
pect her. While every other girl In
the room was keyed up to the highest
pitch OF mischief. their eyes dancing,
their lips. cheeks. every other feature
smiling. Maria seemed simply uncon.
cerned
At2a ~. went to bed no wiser as
to the identity OF the kisser than be
fore. But the next morning after hav'
ing dressed. noticing that needed tc
change my handkerchief. jerked II
from the outside pocket of my coat and
heard something land on the door.
Shopping, picked up stickpin.
1t at once occurred to me that during
the scuffie OF the evening before the
pin had fallen from the lady's apparel,
probably from about the neck. and
caught on my handkerchief. Unfortu
nately 1t was a very inexpensive ard
Gle with an imitation pearl for head
and did not identify any particular
girl. I realized the Importance OF keep
ing my find secret. Going down to
breakfast. found that three different
girls wore pins that were duplicates OF
the one possessed, They were the
most likely TO be suspected. and among
them was Maria. Doubtless IL there
had been enough such articles to go
round every girl would have worn a
stickpin as well as scratched nose
By and by it occurred to me that when
the pin was In transit from the girl to
my pocket 1t had made the scratch Oh
her nose.
The problem was now narrowed
down to three girls. for doubtless the
girl who had done the kissing was
among those who wore pins. 1t seem
ed to me that must make her betray
herself or the victory would be with
the girls | sat down to the breakfast
table, ignoring my find But while the
girls were rinslng their dainty fingers
In their finger bowls said:
Il have found something that belong.
ed to the girl who kissed me last
night"
Every girl expressed by her behavior
keen interest in what ] said except
Maria. who took advantage of rinsing
her fingers to bend over the little glass
bowl before her. | made up my mind
that | was getting warm as the
children say In hide and seek. and con-
cluded on a bold stroke l continued:
you may think that little stickpin
she lost when trying to get away from
me is what l refer to. IL is not"
Every girl stopped smiling and look
I'd serious. could see Maria vince.
The girl who kissed me | love-" l
Il.