Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-05-26

had any conscience | should have been
ashamed of myself that uine-tenths Of
it was unnecessary, | having made the
errors on purpose. thanked him ut
the end of his instructions and said
that would profit by them. which
was deceptive. for intended to make
other mistakes in my next essay that
would bring about similar interview.
And so | did On the second occa-
sion of my being called upon TO remain
after lecture for instruction the profess
sor complimented me even more high
ly on my handling of my subject than
before but he seemed to be much dis N
tressed on my deficiency of handling
the English language. You confuse
the verbs TO lie and to lay" he said.
the one meaning TO recline. the oGher
to place some thing" He gave me the
grammatical construction. then asked
me to give him an example. ! said,
II would have lain the book on the
table"
He looked at me with mingled pity
and distress and went over the ground
again. which was what / wished him
to do. for had made the blunder pur-
posely. At the end of his second ex-
PLANTATION he asked me for another ex-
ample. l said. II laid down TO rest"
At this he grew impatient and spoke
sharply TO me. whercupon l put my
handkerchief TO my eyes to conceal
tears that I could not shed. At this
he spoke to me not only gently, but |
was rejoiced at perceiving tenderness
in his voice.
Pardon me, Miss Brown" he said;
II will not be so impatient with you
again. Doubtless you will learn all
these points in construction in time.
/ have been anxious that you should
acquire them because you are one of
the best writer's in your class. will
not call your attention to them again.
but leave you to pick them up as you
proceed"
You mean that you're tired of try
ing TO teach me- whined.
Not at all: not at all. assure you.
If you prefer 1t will continue"
II do prefer it." l said. drying eyes
into which | had succeeded In forcing
a bit of moisture. Then. taking my
essay. went to the door, the professor
politely opening it for me. l maintain.
ing my lugubrious countenance till ii
| had closed behind me. Then l con-
| graduated myself that ! had made
| considerable advance toward obtaining
] the degree that was nearest my heart
NJ. A. L., or mistress of the art Of
! love
! blush now. years after I was aim.
ing at this degree. at the devices, the
expedients, to which | resorted. Dur
ing the period that | was handing in
essays to Professor Broadwell | con-
! tinued n pretended obtuseness at his
instructions that they might be re-
| peated over and over again. | put Off
! telling him that was the sister of his
/ boy chum. that | had acted the part
| of messenger for him when | was a
little girl and that during his visits TO
! Tom had never once looked at or
spoken to me except as he would to
child.
One day Tom came rom his faraway
home and visited me at college. He
had lost track of BrOadwell. but. tax
ing up n college bulletin. saw his name
among those OF the faculty.
Upon my word" he exclaimed. MY
! old friend Alan Broadwell is here as
assistant professor Of English litera-
| ture"
rs hep" I said indifferently.
He ran away to find his chum. and
that evening | was introduced to the
professor as Toms sister. There was
real surprise expressed by the profess
sor and sham surprise by me. BY this
1 I In.l u Al -,
upon my victim from that of a child.
and from that time was treated with
the additional consideration of Toms
sister. l became under the professors
instruction proficient in the use OF the
| English language and gave him credit
for having infused knowledge of the
subject into my dull brain.
When my college career came to an
end | told Professor Rroadwell that l
! should rely on him for advice with re-
! gard to my commencement grafton. 1t
was not that wished to make cred
liable exit from the university on TAX
ing my degree. but that might take
that other degree of NJ. A. l.. before
| leaving him IL prey to other women.
and was quite sure that | could bring
him to a proposal while consulting
with him upon the subject matter OF
my grafton. 1t required half a dozen
consultations to enable me to select
subject. half a dozen more TO decide
upon its treatment and couple of
dozen more to consider changes in the
text after 1t had been written
The evening before commencement
we were sitting side by side. my manu-
script before us. There were no inter-
hneations, no pothoOks. no erased P's,
for the production was finished and
ready for the next days use. The pro-
fessor, instead Of making a pothoOk
with his pen on the manuscript. made
one with his arm around my waist
Then was happy. for knew that in
addition to the degree OF p. A. that the
prex would hand me on the morrow
had attained that Of II. A L.. so much
nearer TO my hart.
i May 20 In American