The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, December 15, 1911, Image 2
That Episode
of J. Gordon's
I\y Ida M. ShepUnr
.Copyright, 1911, l>y Associated IJterary
Press.)
Ills nuimt, In full, wan Jay Gordon
Stanford, but his intimate friends sel
dom got further with the name thuu J.
Gordon.
J. Gordon had seriously contem
plated matrimony at the age of 17.
Hhortly a ft or he VU brought rudely
out of such contemplation by being
?oftJy Informed by the recipient of hJf
adolescent affection that her heart
was In tho keeping of one much bin
senior, ono to whom isbe had been be
trothed these many ye are. Many
years? Why how old was she really T
He afterward learned, some 12 more
than hlmnelf. Perhaps It helped him
forget her, '
At 26 J. Gordon was actually en
gaged. Tho girl, this time, was his
own age. Bho was energetlo. Bbe
went In for woman's suffrage, for re
form of many kinds and J. Gordon
smiled indulgently, although after the
closo intimacy of engagement days eet
In, he did begin to sit up and notice
that she had faults worse than want
ing to vote. When It came to using
ono's handkerchief for a whole week,
and wearing soiled shirt waists out in
company, he did hint a few wee hlnta
of surprise.
He also found she had a temper
when, after a little lecture from htm
upon wearing white slippers on mud
dy tramps, she flung his ring io his
faco.
The relief ho felt at this action upon
her part frightened him. Had he been
fool enough to promise love to a wom
an he had not loved ? It made him
cautious.
At 80 J. Gordon was still unmar
ried, and had taken a suburban resi
dence to himself. City noises disturb
ed his rest, he told him friends, and
he loved to look at growing yegotables,
fruits and the like.
"It is simply one of the signs
of incipient bachelorhood," they told
him.
And now ho really began to be
troubled. Was It a fact that he would
not love the right sort of a woman?
Qaxlng Upon the Damage.
Tho men of his family usually married
early In life. Was ho born to live un
loved T
Ah .long as tho villas on each side
Of him hold the kind of children they
did, J. Gordon was not sure but that
bachelorhood had Its advantages, for
these were spoiled children. Hut when
the children moved and on ono sldo
moved In an elderly gentleman,
grouchy and snuffy, aud in tho other, a
lovlug young couple took up abodo, his
uneasiness returned. Tho first dis
gusted him with ii picture of what he
might yot bo; tho other ? thero were
?venlngB when they made him feol
lonely. Hut ho would forget all this
next day through ofhco hours.
The young wlfo on iho ono sldo of
him was rather pretty In a soft, de
mure way And she loved flowers and
groen things as well as did J. Gordon,
and thuH they sometimes camo close,
each across tho dividing fenco from
tho other. Sho was very modest He
learned only that sho wau Mrs. Mum
ford. and it was born In her to love
country quiet, or as near as she could
got, and digging in tho ground.
One morning ho saw her, from her
top veranda step, ntoop and klBS her
husband goodby. Tho husband at the
time was veil ballasted with a big va
lla? in each hand. liuslnoss called J.
Gordon from his villa during the two
days after.
Upon his return, gazing with some
concern upon the damage done some
of his growing things by a groat goose,
he waa startled by a cherry laugh from
the other aide of the fenco, and look
ed up to behold Mrs Mumford, merry
eyed, smiling radiant, in pink and
white. Never had he seen her so
beautiful as now, and so friendly and
merry. What a change the doparture
of her husband had brought about la
her nature. Then she began:
-That gooee has eaten all our late
atrawberrlee, the hired girl tells me.
lant It awfulf We found out why the
woman down the avenue keeps it.
She's an old maid, and so afraid of
burglars, but more afraid of dogs?
?ays they all hare hydrophobia, but
geese never da Oist Inoculate them
with It In any way. And a gooee, you.
auow, aJw ays squawku if anybod>
comes In lb# bouse. 8?e? It'at bsr
nafeguurd against burglar*. Poor
thing, If I w? i o ito afraid of burg lars
I'd marry a ? well, a great, big brave
mail."
Her laugh wait catching, her smile
Irresistible, auil J, Gordon found him
Helf planning little tricks with her ou
i hat goose, to tho vexation of ltd own'
or. Over bait the tlioe they held it
for ransom, w'hlrih ^aiisoiaj the poor
poiuau woyld send by hei^mald. and
Which money Mrs. Mumford would
soud back. . ,
And how Hhe sang and how well she
played the piano! ICach night J. Gor
don went to sleep to sweet tones flout
ing In ut hlw open window, and each
morning awakened to the same. Ho
had not known Mrs Mumford could
King.
Twice J. Gordon, how, he never
could tell watt tolled over to the Mum
ford veranda, und each time came away
wondering If it were pouwlblo for a
man of bit* regulated mind to fall In
love with another man's wife.
A few more days of this merry sub
urban friendship and ho pulled himself
together to flee tho spot, for he real
lEod JuHt the power she was exorcis
ing over him. It was not pretense at
love ou his part, now. It was a genu
lne caae to be fought out as he would
fight it. He would go away.
Next morning, after this resolve, be
?aw Mr. Mumford on his veranda. He
was home again.
Out in the bushes Mrs. Mumford
waa silently trimming some small
shrubs. Mrs. Mumford, her dress of
?ubdued color, her manner retiring.
She raised her eyes to him, then nod
ded demurely.
Ho spoko to get a look Into her eyes.
Tboy had surprised him. He had
thought them blue, but they were a
dark hazol now. "Mr. Mumford la
back." Hhe glanced up and he had
an excellent glance Into the changed
eyes. In fact tho change that had
come into her face was actually start
ling. Ho waa glad of it. Hotter could
ho forgot hor now. But why the
change?"
"Yob," she replied, "we came back
last night. He went two days before
I did. Some buslneBB took him a little
out of the way. We had a delightful
vacation. Hell says you holped her
pass Homo of tho lonely hours; I thank
you. She kept bouse for me."
-"Bell!" Light was breaking. "Your
twin sister?"
"Ob, no, I never had a twin Bister.
Bell 1b my cousin. They do say we
look very much alike."
And so they did, lacking the viva
city, the bluepesa of eye, the pink of
choek and Hps on the part of Mrs.
Mumford. These were the cousin's
charm. And Hell was not married.
With elation J, Qordon guessed it,
and guessed right.
Bbe was coming along the path
humming. Catching Bight of him, she
called:
"The woman with the gooee aa body
guard wasn't an old maid. She was a
charming young widow. Yesterday
Bbe waa married, and this morning she
sends me the goose with her compli
ments. What am I to do with It? Will
you help ub eat It, If I roast It?"
"Come here, very close,'* he called
across the fence.
When she came, Ignoring tho goose
question, he asked: "Why did you al
low me to call you Mrs. Mumford? I
camo pretty close to falling In love
with another man's wife."
"Ah. no, you didn't. No danger of
that. You simply foil In love with
me, and ? " she paused, her eyes allur
ing.
"Is It all right that I did?" And now,
across the fence his right hand was
reaching out to her. She nodded,
yes.
Women Archlteots.
Not bo long ago a woman architect
was an unknown quantity, but It Is
becoming more and more evident that
the planning of the house Intended for
a home la the legitimate work of the
woman architect, and as one newspa
per states It, "sho Is getting on to
hor Job." The man architect plans
the building for the contractor to con
struct with little, If any, thought of
tho woman who Is expected to spend
her life In It. According to all the
rules of tho profession, tho planning
Is all right, both ns to dignity and
beauty, proportions, lines, slopes anad
sweeps; but so far as conveniences or
"handlness" Is concernod It Is entirely
out of tho question and seoms only to
bo a menace to health and happiness
where tho woman worker comes In.
Womon should plan tho Inside ar
rangement, at least, of tho houses des
tined to bo homos, and for this work
those gifted In tho necessary llnoe
should mako a profession of It, Just
as brother does of his part.
How to Cook a Loon.
Bill Croxor, a guido for fifty-two
years at Charleston I>ake In Ontario,
Canada, has a novel receipt for cook
ing a loon. Ho was rowing a couple of
Somervlllo, N. J., councllmen a few
weeks ago and when a loon came In
sight tho strangors asked Bill If they
were good to eat.
BUI replied In a rather ovnslve way,
and one of the fishermen then asked
Bill how they were cooked. This was
what Bill was waiting for and here is
the recipe that BUI gavo: "Copk the
loon In wator for twolvo hours, at
night pour off this water and cook him
over night, in tho morning throw In
a piece of grindstone and whon you
can stick a fork In tho grindstone the
loon Is done." ? Fur News.
For a Purpose.
Reynolds ? Why Is Kutler laying
doable floor* In his ten -story apart
ment house?
TRICKS OF DEBATERS
SUBTERFUGES TO WHICH OVER
EAQER CONTENDERS RESORT.
Deliberate Misquoting of Autherltlfs
Sometimes Retorted Penalty
for Dishonesty in dofO0^ Dp* ^
bale* It Severe.
Debating ha# shortcomings, oven
dangers. It U easy, for example, to
manufacture evidence with' little like*
II hood of detection. However, the
penalty of such dishonesty when dis
covered 18 most severe, a writer in
the Century states. In a debate In
1907 one of the speakers deliberately
misquoted an Authority. An unusually
shrewd opponent walked over to the
desk of bis rival, picked up the book
ami read the statement exactly as It
had been quoted. Then he continued:
"Honorable Judges, the gentlemen
read the sentence as If it were punc
tuated with a period at this point As
a matter of fact the punctuation Is a
comma." He then read the final
clause, showing the real Intent of the
authority, which was exactly opposite
to the Interpretation given by his op
ponent. The result was disaster for
the dishonest debater.
There are still more subtle forms
of dishonesty. Dozens of requests
pour In from colleges and high schools
upon every prominent debating team,
offering to buy, rent or borrow mate
rial. A typical letter read:
"Dear Sir: We understand that
your university debated the question
of commission government last spring.
We shall be glad to procure a set
of the speeches made and will pay
any reasonable price."
Unless such dishonesty can be pre
vented it will soon bring deserved
condemnation to an honorable sport.
Reputable institutions are refusing
either to sell or buy material.
A third form of dishonesty some
times arises. Coaches too frequently
are far more responsible for the argu
ment presented than are the debaters
themselves. One debating coach has
made a special study of trade unions
for ten years. He began in his school
debates, followed It out In his college
contests, and finally, taking charge of
a college team, gave them three care
fully prepared speeches to memorise.
Thus his students received none of
the value which comes of working up
a case. They were parrots, nothing
more. . For this evil there are two
possible remedies. Many colleges,
among them Stanford, the University
of California and Swarthmore, right
ly throw the burden of preparation en
tirely upon the debaters, doing away
with all coaching and trusting to the
honor of their opponents to do like
wlee. Still better is reducing the time
of preparation from three months to
si* weeks. Stanford and California
pursue this method in their annual
Carnot medal debates, which are
models of the best debating in the
country. The actual debating deterior
ates under shorter preparation, but
the exercise becomes far less academ
ic and more nearly like the occasions
of every day life. Teh debates under
this system are contests not of volum
inous research but of Individual con
structive thinking. Above all, this
plan places the men upon their own
responsibility, and as far as possible
eliminates opportunities for dishon
esty.
The President Laughed.
President Taft, who has difficulty In
keoplng his weight down to 800 pounds,
often cracks a Joke or gets off a wit
ticism about his slife. One afternoon,
as he was leaving the White House to
take a horseback ride, he met a group
of newspaper correspondents, and
among them was Matthew Tlghe, an
old friend.
After greetings had been exchanged,
Mr. Taft looked down at his legs en
cased In leggings which emphasized
the girth of the limbs. He struck his
left leg a resounding blow with his
riding-crop, and, turning to Tlghe,
asked with a smile:
"What do you think of that, Matt?"
"That," said Tlghe, grinning, "would
do credit to any piano ever manufac
tured."
And the loudest laugh about It came
from the president. ? Lippincott's Mag
azine.
Fishing at Biarritz.
In the neighborhood of Biarritz In
southwestern France an original meth
od of taking fish from the sea has been
Invented by the inhabitants along
Bhore. Two poles forty or fifty feot
tall and placed eight or nine yards
apart are erected on the beach.
By means of pulleys a continuous
line running over the tops of the poles
and attached also to the top of an
other pole placed BOO Xirds out In the
sea can be alternately drawn either
shoreward or seaward.
Short lines with hooks and bait
hang from the main line, and when
they are loaded with flsh the fisher
man, sitting by his little cabin on
shore, draws In his "take," rebalts his
hooks and by pulling In the opposite
direction replaces the row of baited
lines In the sea. This apparatus is
called a "va et vlent" or "go and
com*." ? Youth's Companion.
Realism Indeed.
Jings ? How waa the new play last
night T
Mink* ? Biggest thing yet. One
scene shows Broadway natural as
life; wonderful thins, wonderful!
Real wagons, real horaee, real paving
?tones, real eacavatlona, real dirt and
genuine imporxwi Italians uiggtnK at
it? New York Weekly.
\
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