The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1918-09-18

Slpoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
( (CcDyytGaG INA ~ the 4cCluro NaWupa.
per oyn0Scata)
At the sophomore class balloting.
after the students had rather easily
Disposed Of such questions a. sWh0 u
the pFettlest girl In the classr' "Who
y the best football playerf" what Is
your favorite colorr and '',vhat IL the
heleht Of your ambltioni" the question
~Who Is the most popular professor IN
collegew was not 10 easily dismissed.
There were several possible candi-
dates. but no one stood In the light Of
i decided majority. Then one Of the
students got up In class meeting and
with gracious flourish cried: II pro-
pose Prof. Reginald Raymond as the
most popular member Of the faculty."
And amid deafening peals of laugh
ter from the members Of the class
dozen shouts Of Second the motion"
arose, and then "Ayel' "Ayei" till
the presidents .gavel had to bring
order.
It was regarded AZ a capital joke
an uproariously funny Joke. Perhaps
no one In the world understands the
richness Of this particular sort Of hui
NOR 10 well 40 q young American
undergraduate. and sophomore at
that. But from the sophomore point
OF View It was something very much to
be laughed at-that the professor who.
because Of certain traits Of absent
Inindedness. inattention. preoccupation
and unsociableness, actually was the
most unpopular man In the faculty.
should have this fact gently brought
home to him BY seeing his name blax-
oned forth In college yearbook and
periodical. and announced before all
the world at class day, and whispered
about by professors and professors
wives. as the sm0st popular man on
the faculty."
Apparently. from the peals Of laugh
ter that accompanied the casting Of the
unanimous ballot In favor Of Professor
Raymond, every member Of the class
appreciated the Joke.
But when Ruth Rodney, the secre-
.tary Of the class, and, as the only off,
Sccr Of her sex In the class, generally
agreed to be the most popular girl in
Its number. rose to read the result Of
the balloting and came to the vote that
mentioned Professor Raymond. there
was a look OK bitter resentment in
her expression, and from beneath her
lowered eyes she shot a look that
wns not one Of kindness at the stu
dent In the front row who had pro-
posed the Jest.
'"What WINS the matter, RUTH" one
of the girls asked her after class meet
fng. .You looked daggers at Steve.
Did you want some one else to get the
vote1 Every one'll know It's a joke.
Say. won't Reggie snort when he hears
Of itf'
s0f course Professor Raymond win
be offended" said Ruth shortly. "But
J don't see that there Ia anything SO
funny about that. After all. he hasn't
done anything &C very dreadful to our
class, except to try and din little
philosophy into our ..unsophisticated
heads. 1t isn't his fault II college
think that philosophy ought to be a
compulsory sophomore subject. Is it,
And 1t isn't his fault II he's absent
minded and likes violet neckties, and
II his eyes are so sensitive that he has
to have the shades drawn in his class
room. Ii it?"
SYou know yourself he's frightful
crab. Ruth was her companion's con-
clusion. Really, for my part ! think
Il Is beautiful joke. I'm just crazy
for tomorrow's philosophy lecture to
zee how mad he II about It."
But the next morning surprise was
IN store for the sophomore class. Nat
uralIy enough. Professor Raymond Ind
heard Of the polling. for even absent
minded professors usually do take q
lively interest In matters Of that sort.
Instead Of showing his annoyance. he
appeared In his classroom with an
unwontcd smile upon his face. With
that began the second Joke, or, as the
students soon thought, the best joke of
III.
s'The poor crab doesn't know he II
being kidded!" whispered one sopho-
more IN the front row to another, and
altar class there were groups Of stu
dents still explaining to each other
how intensely funny the situation was.
now that poor Reggie believed he
actually was the most popular man In
college. That became the standing
\. joke Of the campus. Mothers and
fathers and younger sisters and broth
err, when they came to visit their stu
dents, had the shambling. near-sighted
professor. who always wore a violet
necktie. pointed out AZ the deluded
creature who really thought he was
popular with the students. and even
staid members Of the faculty had q
little fun with each other at poor Regi.
:, maids expense.
Ruth stlll saw no Joke ID the situa.
hon. In fact. the very serenity Of the
professor made her feel the insult that
her class had heaped upon him the
more. II was IN pity then, and In an
effort to show her classmates that she
did not Join them In their practical