Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1922-08-04
The Blindness
of Noah
BY JANE OSBORN


O. ly22. by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
Some one once condemned co-edu-
cation with the statement that If a
young man could daily sit beside
young girls in the classroom and lab
oratory and not be distracted by them
he wasn't worth educating, and If he
were distracted by them, then the sys-
TEN was a mistake.
Noah jenkins assuredly was not of
the latter class. He certainly was not
blind to the charms of the young
women who attended classes with him
at Winton college, but the distraction
had not been sufficiently disturbing
to impair the seriousness of his work
during the first three years of his
college course. Then came psychology
4, when for the first time he and little
Mary Jefferson were listed in the
same class. Mary Jefferson, from her
entrance in Wlnton as a freshman
the year before, had attracted the adj
mlring eye of Noah Jenkins. As far
as he was concerned, she was the one
perfectly dlstracting and fascinating
Of all the 500-odd goods enrolled
there.
And now he had to attend classes
with her What was more disturbing,
he had to attend classes seated right
beside her. Doctor Gregory always
had the seats in his classes assigned
alphabetically. In this way 1t was an
easy matter to note the absentees
without taking the time to call a roll
And there was no one in psychology 4,
this term, whose name came alpha
betically nearer to Jenkins than JEFF
ferson.
Mary had proved more and more
disturbing and distracting as the term
had progressed, and Noah found him
self taking notes mechanically with
out an idea in his head of what Doc
tor Gregory was explaining Not that
Mary sought to be disturbing. Though
she and Noah were counted as good
friends outside of the classroom and
she had gone to more than one college
dance with him, she greeted him with
merely smile and a nod of the head
when she took her seat before the lee
ture and seemed to be oblivious Of his
presence while the lecture ensued
Then one day Doctor Gregory
posted on the bulletin board outside
the classroom, list of students with
whom he would like to confer On
such lists were usually written the
students whose midterm tests had
oh hot hot 90
through final examinations were no,
of the most promising. On this list
were the names of Noah jenkins anC
Mary Jefferson.
Noah passed group of four OF
five girls of his acquaintance as he
made his way at the appointed time
to the office of Doctor Gregory He
would have saluted them with hail
fellow-well-met dofling of his small
cap If It had not been that one OF
these girls. the smallest and darkest
eyed of the group, was Mary Jeffer-
son. So Noahs greeting showed con-
fusion with touch of pique.
Poor Noah" laughed the senior in
the group. He's got to confer with
old Greg And Noah has pulled such
good marks right through his course.
Wouldn't it be crime If Gregory
stuck him? Psychology, ! guess, was
his Waterloo, but then anyone might
know that he couldn't shine in psy-
chology"
81 don't see why protested Mary
Jefferson and then she wished she
had been silent. "NOah Jenkins"
Hes nice boy" soothed one Of
Mary's classmates.
"Nice," echoed the senior, "but such
ties"
"And socks" added Junior in the
group.
"The only time he looks decent is
at one OF the formal Dances" ampll-
fed the senior, "for then he has to
wear black. Why, the other day when
President Smith had us seniors at his
house for afternoon tea he wore tan
shoes and raspberry wool socks and
lemon-yellow shirt, and violet-and-
red striped necktie!"
"Just plain lack of taste" said the
Junior with finality. ooh, well, It is
In just those ways that we find out
what a mans real nature Is like He's
simply lacking in taste. That's why
the girls don't encourage him. Taste
means so much in girls happiness"
Mary Jefferson had listened to this
vlvisectlOn of Noah's character with
well-concealed embarrassment. While
II was once whispered about that
Mary Jefferson and Noah Jenkins
were NEARLY engaged" the fact that
Mary had imported a boy from her
home town for recent dance and
was no more seen walking with Noah
Jenkins on Saturday afternoons, made
II seem apparent 10 her friends that
she had ceased TO be his champion.
The fact was that Mary had be-
come disturbed and distressed over
the manifest lack Of taste on the part
OF Noah. He had tried to propose to
her one afternoon two months before.
She might have accepted had he worn
subdued c0lors, but he had worn those
raspberry socks, with a green shirt
a vivid jade greenland round his
neck was tied cravat Of purple and
yellow. Mary's esthetIc nature had
pulled her off from the shoals Of SEN
tlmentallty and she had refused.
Meantime Noah Jenkins had gone
to see Doctor Gregory-Odd, good-na-
tured, wise old Doctor Gregory-called
Creepy by the undergraduates, but re-
membered as an understanding father
confessor by more than one Of those
who had graduated from WintOn.