The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-01-31
HIS TWO
HOBBIES
BY F. A. mitchell

was fine scholar and developed
marked taste for zoology. Extinct an
mails were his hobby-that Is, one q
his hobbies, the one next in importanc
with him being girls. Singular 1t
that bones thousands of years old an
the most beautiful of living things--t
men-should reign side by side In tn,
breast of man.
Later ON Ned became professor II
his alma mater
One day a newspaper announced tina
In an interior county of the state, no
far from the college, a farmer had
while digging, turned up stony sub
stance that was beyond his comprehen
sion. 1t was about two feet squar,
and rounded on the edges. The farmer
could not make out whether IL was
bone or stone or indeed what was 1t.
substance.
Ned saw the notice and inferred that
1t was probably vertebra of an ex-
tinct animal. He at once went to the
location designated, with view to an
ceiyed by the daughter of the farmer.
She was a very pretty rustic, and for
the moment Ned forgot all about the
bones In his admiration of the girl.
However, his admiring glances were
interspersed with the reasons for his
being there, and it was not long be-
fore she gave way to surprise that he
had come all the way from the univer-
sity to examine piece of stone. She
told him where he could find it and,
after having made a little incipient
love to her, which he well knew how
to do with his eyes without using his
tongue, he took a spade from an out
house and went to examine the stone.
When the young professor returned
from his Investigations he was greatly
changed. He had been under the In
fiuence of one of his two natures, now
he was under the other. He had been
absorbed in a girl. now he was absorb
ed In the petrified remains of an ich-
thyosaurus. He talked to the girl, but
his mind was on the ichthyosaurus.
Its carniyorous,'' he said. "They all
were"
What exclaimed the girl, opening
her eyes.
THE snout of porpoise; the teeth
of crocodile
There was no reply to this, nothing
but look of wonder.
'"The sternum of an ornithorhynchus
combined with the paddles Of a whale"
"Oh, my good gracious" exclaimed
the girl, hes crazy!
Fish vertebrae, lizards head"
Father cried the girl In terror /
But her father was out in the fields
and did not hear
-Four paddles and an enormous tail.
Must have surely been aquatic"
This was quite enough for the farm
RS daughter. she had no doubt that
he visitor was mad, and it behooved
Ter to beat retreat. She dare not
un for fear of being followed and
She was of good pluck, and,
king her eyes on Neds, she backed
oward the house On reaching the
oor she slipped inside, boiling 1t be-
ind her.
What the dickens is the matter with
hat girl?' said Ned to himself, sud
emily aroused from his reverie about
he ichthyosaurus. The farmers daugh- F.
er fled through the house, out by the I.
ack door and, keeping in line with :
In hos
ne maniac, found her father at the I
low. n
What In the world is the matter, ip
ynthie?" he asked, stopping the horses a
nd looking at her in establishment. y
Have you seen ghost"
Worse than that, dad. There's a r,
razy man on t'other side of the q
ouse."
How do you know he's crazy?" =
"Fust off he looked as IL he wanted h
kiss me; then he borrowed n spade n
i'd went to where you turned up the s;
ok tother day. When he come back g
, was talkin' looney-about some kind CT
beast with head like a fish ard p
eth like crocodile and paddles for
swim and an awful long tail" :,
Are you sure he's mad?' :,
Mad as March hare" !,
I'll go and see him" h,
Don't you do 1t, pop; he'll kill you, I'll
re-" to
WAL, then, reckon l better git the
ighbors together and take him In. Oh
d he say where he lives?" al
Yes; he's got somepin TO do with the :, ~
llege." VI
'All right. I'll git Hawkins and
nth and We'll corral him and take IN
n home" In
That same afternoon when the stu
nts were tossing ball between
I'm on the campus two stalwart farm he
! were seen approaching, each hold Tn
Z the arm Of man. When they
me near enough all recognized Pro Al,
'sor Corwin and were seized with
Reckon this man belongs here" said he
: of the men. "He come to my farm 90
s mornin' and undertook to spark yo
darter. Then he went to the stone
lug up t'other day. and when he an
ne back he was mad. talkin' about
ne kind Of big lizard with alliga- -,
s teeth and such like" n.
me OF the listeners who caught on
he situation burst into laugh The wa
he