Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1930-09-26
The Roses on
His Desk
By JANE OSBORN


II II
lar splnster who might, at fifty,
have been a really good-looking wom-
an had she not spent so many hours
Of her days in the acid-laden atmos-
phere of the chemistry laboratory.
As head of her department in Wington
college for women she was much more
interested in the least test-tube or re-
tort in her laboratory than in the most
promising of students.
John Maxwell. Phi. D., was likewise
entitled to the cOgnomen of doctor"
or Professor" but he, assured you
that he preferred being called mfr"
He reigned over the botany laboratory
which with the chemistry laboratory
occupied the top floor of the science
building of Wington college The
specimens in his laboratory, the tiny
shoots and sprouting seeds that -four.
ished under his genial care, interested
him immensely. but not so much as
the young women who, year after
year. came to listen to his lectures
Sometimes there was an especially
wlnsome girl among them. There
was usually one In each new class IT
sophOmores who took his course ~
one of their prescribed secOnd-year
subjects. This year It was Miss Allen
Betty Allen, and because her name
began with an A and the Students sat
in alphabetical order she sat before
him In the first row. He sometimes
wished her name had been Wilson and
she had sat somewhere toward the
back of the room. Three days week he
saw her there In class and was wildly
conscious of her charming young per
sonality for the entire hour. He had
talked to Betty Once-they had been
part of group of which Doctor HUFF
was member that had quite acct
dentally been drawn together In one
end of the college reception room ut
a tea given by the faculty to the stu
dent body.
Casting shout for something to talk
about they spoke of roses-there were
some lovely pink roses on one of tie
ter tables. 1t seemed to be subject
of common interest. Betty said that
in the garden of her home there were
some lovely Diana roses, variety
with which her fathers gardener had
had remarkable success. Doctor HUFF
remarked that If she ever had r0se
garden of her own-adding to herself
that she prayed heaven that time
would never comet would be filed
with no other variety of rose. She
liked them because in spite of cult
walton they had so many thorns.
Then came the winter with the
charming Betty to distract him for
three days week. Doctor Huff be-
came more and more saturated with
the acid atmosphere of her laboratory.
Betty Allen, who was taking a course
in chemistry as sophomore elective,
sat In front set in Doctor Huff's
lecture room. too. but Doctor Huff
seldom saw her--or anyone else
since her gaze as she lectured was
always fixed.
Then came the last weeks of May,
days that brought a restless yearning
into the veins Of John Maxwell, and
then one day when he entered his
office he saw on his desk vase CON
tanning glorious bunch of roses
Diana roses. he saw on second sight.
The fragrance of them almost I'M
nerved him; 1t brought so wildly be-
fore him the thought and image of
charming Betty Allen. He could see
on close examination that these were
no ordinary specimens, either-they
were the result of expert Horticulture.
OF course they came from Betty A.
lens gardens.
Three weeks passed and every two
or three days there was fresh buncn
of the roses. John Maxwell had de-
cided to walt until college had closed
and examinations were over and then
see Betty alone and tell her the state
of his heart.
Then one day there was note be-
meath the roses on his desk.
"Dear Doctor Maxwell" 1t ran:
"Ths is the tenth time have been
forced TO return your roses. | thought
you would take the hint the first time.
In the first place | have made II a
practice never to accept the attentions
of an. of my associates here In col.
lege In the second place leaving them
anonymously seems n very underhand-
ed thing to do and In the third place
| am subject to rose cold, and while
| like to look mt Diam roses ] do not
like to smell them. ......
Yours truly,
Mabel HUH"
BY fortunate coincidence Betty
Allen appeared shyly on the threshold
of Johns private office just at this
juncture He had hardly been able to
figure out just what Doctor HUFF had
meant when Betty cried:
"Those are the roses left on Doc.
tor Huffs desk | have been leaving
them every day or so, because she said
they were her favOrltes and she never
even said thank you. Did she give
them to you?
yes said John Maxwell, unwilling
to show The ridiculous letter even to
Betty she says they give her rose
cold. She knows how | love these
roses, but she doesn't know how much
! love yOu--"
Betty blushing and with eyes cast
down, took the hands that John
stretched out to her. 1--WE been
Oather foolish about you all year." she
said. "And would much rather have
brought you the roses-only thought
1t would have been silly"
And even now DR.. Mabel HUI
thinks that John Maxwell took Betty
Allen as balm 20 his wounded
feelings
RTTRTON T. DOYLE