The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1919-07-08

of scansion upon those who fail to pro-
duce this evenings home work at to-
morrow's class"
AS was her habit after a long speech,
Miss Graham crossing her long, thin
arms akimbO over her scant expanse
of bosom and taking In the entire room
with single glance as If to detect
some hidden culprit sharply asked !:
is there any point not clearly under
stood2"
AS a rule the bulk of her instruction,
cOuched in bookish language, sailed
over the heads of her pupils who for
bore availing themselves of her offer
to further explain, as they had learned
their questions resulted only in repe-
titiOn of instructions. But contrary to
the usual habit, a. miss of fourteen,
with twentieth century written on her
face in unmistakable signs of powder
shouting defiance to the unwashed
neck below, arose timidly from her
seat.
Miss Graham" came in the self
conscious voice of a child hearing it.
self In a room where whispering was
a penal offense, may the incident we
tell be about lover
Miss Graham's arms sank Imply to
her side. 1t is not on record that any
one had ever tried to determine Just
how long ago she was fourteen, but it
is safe to surmise in that day love was
not included In the public school cur
riculum. There was difficulty In an
swering this precocious pupil, and, of
ject must not be admitted.
sit is only necessary for me to re-
peat" was the response In the metal
lie tone Of years habit, that the In
cident upon which your story is found
ed be true"
And fearing lest she be unable to an
swer further questioning as safely,
Miss Graham rang the gong for dis
missal. AS the children fled from the
room In an orderly line she dejectedly
sat down, elbows on the desk, with
chin oupped In the hollow Of her palms
and pressed her eyelids with the tips
Of long, lean fingers.
May the incident we tell be about
lover" sounded In her ears, and eyes
tightly shut, again saw this growing
child entering girlhood asking permits
sion to write about that which had
somehow passed her by.
Passed me by" repeated Miss Ora
ham mentally. mo, not while memory
lasts"
Loud voices of the moment as the
boys wrangled over their "mibs" and
the less ineligible tumble Of jingles
which time immemorial has associated
with rope jumping, came in through
the open windows on the summer
breeze. The setting sun, bathing the
red walls of the schoolhouse in a wild
er tone of blatant blood-red, aroused
her from her reyerie and sent hel
hurrylng boarding houseward.
The next afternoon, like every schoo
afternoon preceding 1t, found the forty
odd pupils seated In their respective
places, all eyes intent upon teacher
and ears equally divided between pupi
reading Homework" and whatever elst
there was of immediate interest. Tht
range of subjects, from MY Trip on {
Household" to MY First Party Dress,
found Miss Graham professionally at
tentive, and with abnormal memor.
with respect to grammatical errors
But it was the romantic girl with he
paper entitled MY Uncle's Love Story
which brought the model instructor t.
rigid attention.
What was it this child was saying
The voice, not yet decided whethe
1t would be soprano or alto, rose ant
fell in dramatic cadences. And N,
uncle loved this pretty lady very much
and the lady loved my uncle. But on
day they had an awful quarrel and tn
pretty lady sent my uncle away mad.
Surely this was not the Miss Ora
ham of but a moment before? Wa
this woman, standing back of her chat
tilted perilously forward, the sam
composed automaton of years habit?
The child continued In words uncon
sciously plagiarized. "And pride KEEP
them apart. Although my uncle cared
great deal for his sweetheart, he woul
not admit he was wrong, nor woul
the lady. And as the years passe
by they lost track of one another"
The child paused in the rapid read