Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1918-02-21
Easy
Honors
BY Osborn Jones
(Gorarrrirxlk EaGl fa

There were Tom Yates, and Larry
Jones, Brewster Hodges, Carter Webb,
Jones Pread and Bill Dawson-all as
evening; the entire class Of Doctor
Martinson's mathematics 139-all ex-
cept "the girl'-she made the seventh.
well, if no one else will, why
suppose 1 must" said Bill, the spokes-
man, with an emphasis On the "sup-
pose" that indicated how great his sac
rifice.
"You fellows hadn't any intention
any one of you-of taking a hand.
You cooked it up that was to be the
goat"
: CAV, can that" was Larry Jones'
comment. 'We'd do it if we could but
she wouldn't look at us. Fact is I
tried to kid her a little toward the
flrst-just for the fun Of it-but my
freckles and my pug nose stood jim the
way. You're the lady killer, you know
you are. You can do it."
| The fact was that it had been de-
cided that one Of the six men in the
class should cultivate the acquain-
lance of the one girl in the class-with
object, If not matrimony, at least some
sort Of courtship. It was q drastic
measure but drastic measures were
needed. For a decade MartinsOn's
mathematics 139 had been the test for
the winning Of a certain very desirable
cash prize in large city college. Stu
dents in the engineering course were
eligible for the prize and the fact that
the prize was awarded to the student
having the best grades in one of the
advanced courses in mathematics, in
stead of engineering, was not to the
liking Of the students who wished t.
compete for it, Martinson, being ~
Of the younger, more serious profess
sors, made his course extremely diff
cult-the thousand dollars left by the
benevolent one as a reward for high
est credit in that course, it was felt,
was we'll earned-sO difficult had Mar
tinson cOntrived to make the course.
But this had Inconvenience so with
in the past four or five years there
had been Encouragement on the
part Of the students who wished to
compete for the priZe-and no one
took the course except with that idea
in mind that the prize would be di-
Vided among them. 1t was also
agreed that as it didn't really matter,
with this arrangement which man
stood highest, no very intense study
ing should be done. SO the course
became one of the more comfortable
! courses where the men enjoyed con-
siderable peace of mind with a GER
tainty of a share of the booty at the
. end. But this year after everything
was arranged and it had been agreed
that Larry should do just enough more
work than his companions to be sure
Of taking off the prize that was later
to be divided among them, the girl ar
rived. Professor MartinsOn had been
heard to address her as Miss Baxter
that was all that was known Of her.
save that she was not at all bad look
ing and-What was at first much more
impOrtant-she was shark mathema-
tician with q mania for mental appli-
cation.
1t was quite clear that she would
carry off the prize and generally turn
the erstWhile peaceful sessions of the
class into mental cOmbats if some
thing was not done to quell her en-
thusiasm. No girl had ever been known
TO toll rin hnf0rn-in fo0 ut q
special permit had to be gained from
! the dean to admit her. it was later I'M
| derstoOd
Not only was there an indispositiOn
on the part Of the men to lose their
bOOty-for they would never have TAX
means of gaining this reward-but it
went against the grain Of each one to
see a girl walk off so easily with hon
Ors that anyone of them might, If
he bestirred his intellect, have secured
for himself
'Tll tell you what" It was Bill
Dawson's suggestion a day or so be-
fore the conference in his room, eff
that girl could be sidetracked she
wouldn't be dangerous. If some one
could persuade her that there was
some other career ahead of her be-
sides that Of studying engineering she
wouldn't use such mental gymnastics
trying to show up our stupidity.
Something's got to be DONE"
'You mean that one of us might get
acquainted and then propose to her Or
something of that sort?" asked Larry
cautiously.
"Well, that's about it. I've heard in
regular co-educational colleges that
as soon as the girls begin to get en-
gagged to the men-and all the good
lockers usually do, you know, in their
senior year-why they begin to think
less about their marks and grades"
So it was agreed and later Bill was
appointed to the task and, still rebel
liOus, he insisted on having lots
drawn. Larry - snub-nosed freckle
faced Larry-drew the card that ap-
pointed him as the victim. At least
he had declared his admiration for her