Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1915-05-27

them. The faces became permanent
they became an obsession. In and out
Of school the children were never free
of them. The four faces haunted the
minds of children falling asleep. They
hung upon the minds of children wax
ing at night; they rose forebodingly in
the minds of children waking in the
morning; they became monstrously
alive in the minds of children lying
sick of fever. Never while the chill
dren of that schOolroom lived would
they be able to forget one detail Of the
four Autographs. The hand of Long
fellow was fixed for them forever in
his beard. And by a simple and I'M
conscious association of ideas Penrod
Schotield was accommodating an antipa-
thy for the gentle LongfellOw, and for
James Russell Lowell, and for Oliver
Wendell Holmes, and for John Green
leaf Whittier which would never per-
NIT him to peruse work OF one Oh
those great New Englanders without
feeling of personal resentment.
His eyes fell slowly and inimically
from the brow of Whittier to the braid
of reddish hair belonging to Victorine
Riordan. the little octoroon girl who
sat directly in front of him. Veto
rine's back was as familiar to Penrod
as the necktie Of Oliver Wendell
Holmes So was her gayly colored
plaid waist. He hated the waist as
he hated Victorine herself without
knowing why. Enforced companion
ship in large quantities and on an equal
basis between the sexes appears to
sterilize the affections, and schoolroom
romances are few.
Victorine's hair was thick and the
brickish glints in it were beautiful, but
Penrod was very tired Of it. tiny
knot Of green ribbon finished off the
braid and kept it from unraveling, and
beneath the ribbon there was final
wisp of hair which was just long
enough to repose upon Periods desk
when Victorine leaned back in her
seat. It was there now. Thoughtful-
ly he took the braid between thumb
and forefinger and, without disturbing
Victorine, dipped the end Of it and the
green ribbon into the inkwell of his
desk. He brought hair and ribbon
forth dripping purple ink and partially
dried them on a blotter, though, a mo-
ment later, when Victorine leaned for
ward, they were still able to add a
few picturesque touches to the plaid
waist.
Rudolph KrauSS, across the aisle
from Penrod, watched the operation
with protuberant eyes, fascinated. In
spired to imitation, he took a piece Of
chalk from his pocket and wrote
"Rats" across the shoulder blades Of
the boy in front Of him, then looked
across appealingly to Penrod for to-
kens of congratulation. PenrOd yawned.
Half the members of the class pass
ed out to a recitation room, the en-
purpled Victorine among them, and
Miss Spence started the remaining half
through the ordeal Of trial by mathe-
matics. Several boys and girls were
sent to the blackboard, and Penrod,
spared for the moment, followed their
operations a little while with his eyes,
but not with his mind; then, sinking
deeper in his seat, Imply abandoned
the effort. His eyes remained open,
but saw nothing. The routine Of the
arithmetic lesson reached his ears in
familiar, meaningless sounds, but he
heard nothing, and yet, this time, he
was profoundly occupied. He had
drifted away from the painful land Of
facts, and foated now in Il new sea
Of fancy which he bod !,-.s::!. discovered.
To be continued.