Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1919-07-25

one. Therefore, to bring both the
middle-aged people and the young
people into his house the manager
makes his romance as young as he
con. Youth will indeed be served, and
its profound instinct is to be not only
scOrnfully amused but vaguely an
gered by mlddle-aged romance. So,
standing beside his mother, George
was disturbed by sudden impression,
coming upon him out Of nowhere, so
far as he could detect, that her eyes
were brilliant, that she was graceful
and youthful-in a word that she was
romantically lovely.
He had one of those curious moments
that seem to have neither a cause nor
any connection with actual things.
There was nothing in either her looks
or her manner to explain Georges I'M
comfortable feeling; and yet 1t in
creased, becoming suddenly a vague
resentment, as If she had done some
thing unmOtherly to him.
The fantastic moment passed; and
even while 1t lasted he was doing his
duty greeting two pretty girls with
whom he had grown up, as people say,
and warmly assuring them that he re-
membered them very well-an assur-
ance which might have surprised them
"in anybody but George MinaferW
1t seemed unnecessary, since he had
spent many hours with them no longer
than the preceding August. They had
with them their parents and an uncle
from out Of town; and George negli-
gently gave the parents the same as
surance he had given the daughters,
but murmured another form of greet
ing to the Out-Of-town uncle, whom
he had never seen before. This per-
son George absently took note of as
a "queer-loOking duck" Undergradu-
ates had not yet adopted bird" 1t
was period previous to that in which
a sophomore would have thought Of
the Sharon girls uncle as a queer
looking bird" or, perhaps, a funny
face bird" In Georges time every hui
man male was to be defined at pleas
ure as duck" but duck" was not
spoken with admiring affection, as in
Its former feminine use to signify a
"dear'-On the contrary, "duck" i'm
piled the speakers personal detach-
ment and humorous superiority. An
! Indifferent amusement was what
George felt when his mother, with
a gentle emphasis, interrupted his in
terchange of cOurtesies with the
nieceS to present him to the queer
looking duck, their uncle. This en-
phaSis of Isabel's, though slight, en-
Yahled George to perceive that she con-
sidered the queer-lOOking duck a per-
son Of some Importance; but it was
far from enabling him to understand
why. The duck parted his thick and
! longish black hair on the side; his
tie was a fOrgetful-lOoking thing, and
his coat, though it fitted q good
enough middle-aged figure, no product
OF this year, or of last year either.
Observing only his questionable hair,
his preoccupied tie and his old coat,
the Olympic George set him down as
Queer-loOking duck, and having thus
completed his portrait took no inter
est in him.
The Sharon girls passed on, taking
the queer-lOoking duck with them, and
! George became pink with mortifica-
ton as his mother called his attention
to a white-bearded guest waiting to
shake his hand. This was Georges
great-uncle, old John Minafer: it was
old Johns boast that in spite of his
connection by marriage with the Am
persons he never had worn and never
would wear swaller-tail coat. Mem
bers of his family had exerted their
influence useleSsly at eighty-nine
conservative people seldom form rad
ical new habits, and old John wore his
Sunday suit" of black broadcloth to
the Anderson ball. The coat was
square, with skirts to the knees; old
John called it a "Prince Albert" and
was well enough pleased with it, but
his great-nephew considered 1t the
next thing to an insult.
The large room had filed, and so
had the broad hall and the rooms on
the other side of the hall, where there
were tables for whist. The imported
orchestra waited in the ballroom on
the third floor, but local harp, cello,
violin and flute were playing airs from
THE Fencing Master" in the hall, and
people were shouting over the music.
Old John Minafer's voice was louder
and more penetrating than any other,
because he had been troubled with
deafness for twenty-five years, heard
his own voice but family, and liked to
hear 1t. Smell O. flowers like this al
ways puts me in mind O. funerals" he
kept telling his niece, Fanny Minafer,
who was with him; and he seemed to
get great deal of satisfaction out of
this reminder. His tremuloI, yet stri-
dent voice cut through the voluminous
sound that filed the room. and he was
heard everywhere.