Evening star., 1924-08-10
Teacher s Pet
BY ARTHUR SOMERS ROCHE
A Story of the Age of Chivalry.
)MERS ROCHE

matters to him, and he would have
| been honestly indignant Had some
| wise elder informed him that half OF
his suddenly conceived admiration
| for Miss Tenant was due to the fact
| that she had rehabilitated him in the
eyes of Eloise he would have sneer-
ed. For 10 minutes after he had
discovered how beautiful and gra-
cious and altogether charming Miss
Tenant was se was so Immersed in
the sea of love that he had COM
pletely forgotten the method of his
| precipitation therein.
That love could ever touch so
| hardy a person as himself had never
| entered his thoughts. Now, sudden
ly, he knew that there existed a
Roderick Dory with whom he had
held no previous acquaintance. Burn
ing bushes suffused his cheeks as
he contemplated this alien who was
himself. And then the bushes left
him, while a certain rapture owned
him. The most glorious woman in
the world had shown a marked pref
erence for him. Had she not praised
highly his patriotic play? There
probably was no other boy OF his
acquaintance who could boast of such
mark of favor> Not that he want
ed to boast-as a matter of fact, he
must keep his secret closely to
himself
IKE every other male of the Species
he believed in his ability to hide
the fact of his devotion to one of the
other sex. Thus, next morning, he swag-
gered with a great assumption of care
lessness up to Miss Tenants desk
Had an extra apple today: dunno
how it got in my lunch box Nora musta
put it there by, mistake; she oughta
know I never eat two apples; you might
as wen have it as any one else"
He placed the apple on her desk and
walked off. still staggering. He thought
this swagger and the gruff speech would
deceive. He was oblivious Of the glances
and whispered comments Of the other
pupils. Love is not merely blind, it is
deaf. But deafness is relative. A boy in
love may be deaf to whispers; he cannot
be deaf to shrieks that split the atmo-
sphere. At recess time Roddy emerged
from the schoolhouse to find awaiting
him group of children. In the van
were Eloise and his sister, Angela.
Eloise had pulled her scant skirts about
her in imitation of the lady of that
period. Before her, in an attitude that
proved that Eloise was not the only
potential emotional actress Of the
neighborhood, stood Angela.
Miss Tenant, l ado-ah you-ah,"
shrieked Angela
Eloise extended a kindly hand and
patted the smaller girl upon the head.
II ado-ah you-ah, Roddy darling" said
Eloise. Tomorrow you may bring a
bunch of grapes
1t was the supreme height of juvenile
wit which Angela and Eloise had at
tained. Shrieks Of delight, Of Joy too
poignant almost to be borne, greeted
their burlesque.
AS one turned to stone, Roddy stood
upon the schoolhouse steps and stared
at them. What an utter fool he had
been to think that he could keep from
the keen eyes of Eloise the secret of
his shame! If he could only leap upon
these two feminine fiends and strangle
them. Out Of the shrieks that
came from the throats Of 80 children
he suddenly was able to distinguish one.
t''Roddy Dory is teachers pet, teach
er's pet, teachers pet.
1t was Jimmy Higgins who chanted
the infamous accusation. He was II
years old and hulkingly overgrown. His
voice had Changed" in the last few
months, and it's bass qualities drowned
all other voices. The children turned
delightedly to him; they took up the
chant and cried it in, it seemed to
Roddy, every possible note of the scale.
Desperate needs require desperate
remedies. Jimmy Higgins was the un-
disputed bully of the school. Only few
weeks ago, in moment Of petulance,
he had slapped Roddy's face until the
younger lads ears rang. Meekly he had
taken a thrashing. and it had never en-
tered into his head to defend himself
against such hopelesely overwhelming
odds.