Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume] (Rockingham, N.C.) 1917-1965, 1920-04-01
IN "A MAZE
By JESSIE 3, sHERwIsl

Iscript to his fellow compositor.
"Love's Anguish read Hank
Fans, from the neat legible page. sour
sorrowful contributor is getting desper-
ate. And look here's a new dedication,
First it was to E. Then after a cou-
pc Of the effusions 1t was 'Eunicia.'
Now it's to Eunicia L. OF course that
means the pretty; daughter Of Judge
L; ncaster. Then again this persist
ent poet first signed his illusions u
then Jerome Now its Jerome IT,
Yes, and the boss editor says his
full name is Jerome Thurston. A pro-
fessor over at the academy at our,
ne shboring town Of Glenwood."
He'd be passable IL he harped ON
something else besides longing, lasting
love-" commented Hank.
Tor over two weeks each recurring
&c ion of the local paper had contain
ed verses from the pen of this very
REGULAR contributor, and this was how
it Lad come about:
Professor Jerome Thurston, thirty,
Sc, ate, but at heart full Of tender SEN
tir:ent, had passed the Lancaster place
ono day when he was halted by the
sight of young girl whose face was
to him the most enhancing he had ever
seen. Its owner was Joined by young
lady about her own age.
"Who is that lovely befng?" he asked
amid his rapture of another passerby.
"Oh, that is Miss Eunicia Lancas-
ter" came the wondering reply, and
the professor pursued his way in
daze. Love fervent and instantaneous
had banished all other emotions.
Shy, reticent and rendered doubly
so by inexperience and retiring ways,
the professor nursed his love in secret,
but it finally found expression In poesy.
He was fair rhymester and a ready
writer.
Upon the day when the last poem
appeared in the paper two men met
in the village hotel.
"Well, have you found out who this
audacious poet is?" inquired the elder
Of the twain.
"Ycs, the editor told me. 1t is, as
we suspected, the college professor
down at Glenwood."
well, he is getting to the limit" re-
piled the other. II can't have Eunicia
subjected to comment and ridicule.
The man must understand the circum-
stances and is clear out Of his mind,
or seeks to annoy u.s."
Eyes, he must be stopped" was the
response. II have plan to brighten
him into ceasing his strange poetic
bombardment."
At about dusk that same evening
these two individuals fingered near q
little thicket at the outskirts Of Glen
wood, at a spot Professor Thurston
passed every day in his regular stroll.
The latter finally appeared, his thought
full face betraying abstraction, his
hands linked behind him.
'What is this, footpads" he ex-
claimed, as he was seized by the two
loiterers. He struggled, but they bore
away from the path and to clear
space in the thicket.
'Aiy friend" spoke the elder Of the
two men, throwing narrow case upon
the ground, 'we have come here. to
demand satisfaction. am the brother
Of Miss Eunicia Lancaster and this
gentleman is her affianced husband"
''Her affianced husband" repeated
the professor in a hollow grOan. II
did not know. fancied her heart
whole. Woe is mel"
Sand" spoke the other man, "you
must at once recant your assumed de-
votion for Miss Lancaster and cease
to prosecute us with your ridiculous
poetical notoriety, or defend yourself
with one Of the two loaded weapons
in that case in q duel to the DEATH"
"Recant the honest sentiments
Of my soul?" cried the professor. "Nev-
er! You insist upon a battle. Be
1t 50. But If kill you-or II you kill
me? But what lists 1t. II Eunicia is
to become the bride of another. do
not care to live"
The professor shook with emotion
and his observers knew not whether
to regard him as a lunatic, or pity him
as an honest and hopeless lover.
"One last glace at the fairest face in
the universe, a photograph Of my
Eunicia which received from the vii
lage photographer, and I am ready for
the sacrifice" spoke professor, draw
ing the object in question from pock-
ct near to his heart.
II say" bolted out Bob Lancaster,
observing the picture.
"Not Eunicia at ALL" shouted her
fiance. "Why, my man, this is not
Miss Lancaster, but she is a cousin,
Miss Myrtle Colby"
The professor looked bewildered. He
blurted out his story of his first sight
of the idol Of his dreams. Slowly 1t
dawned upon him that his informant
had mistaken the lady he had pointed
out.
Good naturally the brother and lover