Show I A RomaTce of the Schoolso Thaddeus Bent principal of the Diog enes high school In the far South Side I of Chicago left the train at Gower Hill Station VVIs where a teachers summer school yas In progress Prof Bent he had sat In a college chair In his day was forty years old His hair was a trifle gray his eyes were kindly and his shoulders a bit stooped I He was going to the summer school t I hear the natural history lectures of Audubon Au-dubon Burroughs Wood and to get r bit of nature first hand from the fields At the big boarding house by the brook with the great trees at its back Thaddeus Bent met half a dozen teachers teach-ers whom he knew and halt a hundred whom he didnt l know The assistant principal of the Diogenes was there and I had been there for a month She felt bound to do her duty by her chief She introduced him right and left Then she put on her thinking cap He wont care much for those frivolous frivo-lous creatures just out of the normal she said l to herself Hell want someone some-one to pair off with Now theres Theodosla Desmond principal of the Plato school way up on Chicagos North Side Shes just his opposite but opposites get on so well so here goes And the assistant principal Introduced Principal Thaddeus Bent to Principal Desmond Prof Bent found himself In the company com-pany of Miss Desmond on the veranda the second morning after his arrival Theodosia was n little creature with n trim figure a ratter positive manner and a piquant nose on which rested n Hair of glasses Theodosia was thirty five and admitted It when It was necessary neces-sary saryWhats your hobby Prof Dent she asked Every one of us his a hobby or we wouldnt be here Well I confess Miss Desmond to a weakness for natural history I like frogs snakes snails turtles water bugs and the rest Horrors all of them Excuse me but I thought you were above creeping things I havent a bit of sympathy with you or with them The proper study of mankind Is man and mans attributes let me add I mean lyental philosophy Its the only thing worth studying We wont get along at all well Thank goodness I am nbovo the earth a bit as high as mans head at any rate The brain and the understanding these noble themes Snakes and toads oh how can you Well I trust I am a little above the creepers and the hoppers at times There are the birds and the trees they appeal to meAl me-Al of f kind mans und womans mentality Is 1 the thing for me Ive heard forty of Plo Searchers lectures on Mind already and Immi going to hear the other forty Sonic of the other teachers have fallen away They are not true blue though they made such pretense at the start Cant I Induce u < you IO near a roi auurmicr iiuii eun VOrt you Pray forgive me but Ive heard Searcher and I found him n bore but Ill go If you take me Theodonla blushed 0 bit She was past even such a remote hint at gallantry no this she had thought No I wont take you she said but you may come If you will Go well up to the fiont Prof Searcher docs not speak any too clearly and I sit up there I mean you can hear better there There were excursions Into the woods and fields arranged by teachers assembled as-sembled at Gower Hill Prof Bent took the tramps and through the urging assistant as-sistant principal Theodosia Desmond occasionally went along The student of man amused Prof Bent and despite her antagonism she attracted him a little lit-tle On one of these excursions he found himself alone with her In a woodland path Each had books What have you there Prof Bent asked Miss Des mond I have H P Gosse a man too little read now and Burroughs and White of Selbornc They are full of frogs and snakes and foxes and birds Theodosia Desmond tossed her head and her pIquant nose became as near pert as her thirtyfive years would admit ad-mit Trash every bit of It she said Theres nothing human about IL Surely theres human Interest In the lives of the frogs and In the loves of the birds birdsLoves of the birds I thought you were beyond sentiment Prof Bent Well there 1 did not mean to be rude Here I have John Jx > ckes Human Understanding Un-derstanding Now thats the proper study for a student Ho Isnt read much now but he ought to be He would not touch sentiment vlth 1 pole Seems to me Ive heard that Iockc once wrote a book on how to bring up children properly Thcodoala Desmond blushed furiously furious-ly 1 Eo he did but Ive not read It I see how It is we cant agree and I vould not road one of your author It the reading would make me superintendent superin-tendent of schools Ill stick to Locke and Kant and you can keep on reading about the earthworms Nevertheless they went walking to gether again and when they separated for the summer there was Just a suspicion suspi-cion of lingering over the farewell Better l read White and Burroughs Miss Desmond paid Prof Cent You couldnt hire me to Suppose you try Locke The professor shook his head and they parted Two weeks later Thaddeus Bent walked Into the Crernr library and wrote an order for a book He took the volume and started for n table He turned out to avoid a pillar and ran plump Into a little woman coming from the other side She tittered n smothered exclamation and dropped a book Thaddeus Bent stooped picked the book up looked deliberately a I tile title and with a bow handed it to Thcodosta Desmond who was standing with heightened color and flashing eyes looking look-ing at him How dare you look to see what I am reading she said I thought I recognized the cover l as that of an old friend said the professor profes-sor coolly They always bind Bur roughss works nicely The book Im about to read Is snuff color Do you leo the author Theo osl1 He turned the book back to her and Locke sue read Human Understanding Dont you think Theodosia that we would better do the rest of our lifes reading together They put the books on the table and went out side by side and the attend mt at tho desk noticed that the glasses which the little woman wore wore dimmed though the face below was smiling Edward B Clarke in Chicago PvccordHeruld > |