Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-11-14

hhS SiC reputation Oh lle lTd(. lie IL
get canned out in the winter term"
said Briggs.
We can't cure that in one night"
said Saunders. but we can make a
beginning: %. Freshman, why don't
you study?"
1 got up stiffly and swallowed about
40 times. Il haven't flunked any more
than most fellows" l said in u bruised
and battered little voice.
Better make it So said Hogboom.
They did. 1 dug my nails INTO my
hands and swore that If l cried I'd feed
myself to a trolley car that night.
You can go any time YOU want. YOU
know said Saunders after the treat
ment.
L got up and grabbed twice at Hog
boom before could get hold of him
and hang one. Tin not a gutter"
l said.
"Hurrah!" said every sc sud
denly n heartily that I got gulpier
J than ever.
But you're going to quit some
You can't spank them out OF me" 1
flashed.
Were not trying to-" said Saunders.
We're just calling your attention to
them. You know. we've been limiting
Il long time on some of them
You were sassy to a professor. to-
day." continued Saunders. after giving
me plenty of chance. Why"
Because / was a fool" l guess
Give him TO-" shouted some one.
II object" growled Hogboom. You
can't spank a man for telling the truth"
III you don't mind" l said. I'D like
to take a few for that professor bust
ness. 1t will make me feel better"
So they CAV them to me. They also
gave me five for criticising the o
and 10 for talking about my fathers
bank. and a dozen for being condo
| SCan1inr tn O1tSidarq and n faw mis-
%cellaneous swats for small crimes. Then
Saunders looked at me severely and
pointed to HI blackboard. There I
was. mirrored to myself-"inconsid-
dent 'boastful." "condescending" and
Complaining" There was Petey Sim
mons as others saw him-the Petey
Simmons whom a day before / could
scarcely think OF without a reverent
admiration for the works of nature.
shrank. and dissolved and shriveled.
and fell way. and became a little
trembling freshman with a sore and
shaken body and a mind the size OF a
pinhead. weighed down with the task
OF becoming endurable and possibly
enjoyable to my fellow men.
g l was little Petey Simmons. a green
frcshmans who had wasted three
months learning all the things he
shouldn't; Petey Simmons. the college
joke. the campus nuisance, the loud
noise on the streets. the pest Of the
chapter house. 1 had always been
Petey Simmons. an understood con-
sumner OF perfectly good oxygen. but
some one had patted me on the head
a few months g and 1t had swelled-
heavens. how 1t had swelled. Sudden
ly all my grandiose doings Of those
insane months rose up wildly before
me. l gagged at the thought Of them.
oh. how sick l had been! Blu I vas
better now. The swelling was going
down. Explode a dynamite bomb in
almost any swelling and it will be ma
terially reduced.
You wouldn't care to say a word.
would you, freshman" said Saunders
after a long silence.
1 got up, very stiffly. II guess not"
1 stammered. II don't know enough
you"
"Hurrah!" sai every one. That Jolt
was too much. l cried.
Then they let me go upstair to bed
and called down Wansworth. who was
a freshman, too, and very far gone in
it. The next morning he ate very
little more than l did and acted like q
mar who had fallen 1000, 900 miles out
of a blissful dream. landing very hard.
But we never confided in each other.
When you take a young mar who is
contented with himself and reduce him
to the mangled remains of everything
he had imagined himself to be, you
can't expect him to recover at once.
1 was quite low and miserable for a
week. Every little thing that l had
stepped carefully over during my
Colossus days rose up and lowered
above me, and kept me stretching my
neck and lodging like an ant under a
lodge parade. Suddenly Siwash was
a mighty college again. as 1t had been
when I was in high school, and it was
full of businesslike young giants who
would have to be encouraged to toler-
ate me. But finally l did something
that made me feel better. 1t was lone
~ around the house-not because the
boys wouldn't notice me. but because 1
had to keep so quiet to keep them
from doing 1t. So 1 put on my hat
about . one evening and went down to
Mark Smiths room. l knocked timidly.
Two weeks before l would have kicked
the door in.
Come in" said Mark.
Hello"
oh" aid Mark, looking at me
sharply; Hello"
| went all the way in and stood wait
ing. Nothing happened.
I'm back again." l said finally.
! so oon?" said Mark.
Yes" I said. ITS happened"
What's happened?"
What was coming to me-"
oh"
edged over to a chair and sat
Sure it's a cure?" asked Mark sus-
piciously.
Say" I remarked with sis
IN you see any signs of 1t coming
back. will you kindly take a baseball
Yep" said Mark. Have you got
L y-nN1r yfuv r,A1 40 -