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Show r " I j By BOOTH TARICINGTON Copyright by Doub!eday, PeC & Comrnny Siiimniiiiiiimiiii miiuiiiiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmiiiiii iiimmiiiummiiiimiiiiwiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiLiiiKiiiimiii c- ft RAMSEYl" Synopsis. With his grandfather, small Ramsey Milholland is watching watch-ing the "Decoration Day Parade" In the home town. The old gentleman, gentle-man, a veteran of the Civil wax, endeavors to impress the youngster young-ster with the significance of the great conflict, and many years afterward aft-erward the boy was to remember hl words with startling vividness. In the schoolroom, a few years afterward, Ramsey is not distinguished distin-guished for remarkajbJe ability, though his pronounced dllkes are arithmetic, "Recitations" and German. Ger-man. In sharp contrast to Ramsey's Ram-sey's backwardness Is the precocity of little Dora Yocum, a young lady whom in kls bitterness he denominates denomi-nates "Teacher's Pet." In high school, where he and Dora are classmates, Ramsey continues to feel that the girl delights to manifest mani-fest her superiority, and the vin-dictlveness vin-dictlveness he generates becomes alarming, culminating In the resolution reso-lution that some day he will "show" her. At a class picnic Ramsey Ram-sey Is captured bag and baggage by Mllla Rust, the class beauty, and endures th agonies of his first love. Ramsey' parents object to Mllla and wish he'd taken up with Dora Yocum. Famsoy kisses Mllla. Then Mllla suddenly leaves town. She marries. Ramsey enters the state university and there Is Dora ! Yocum again. Ramsey meets Dora In a World Wai- debate and is in-glorlously in-glorlously vanquished. Ramsey I gives Llnskl "a peach of a punch I on the snoot" Why?4 CHAPTER VIII. Continued. 10 ( "Well, I'm glad you gave that Llnskl "1 a fine little punch, Brother Milholland," Milhol-land," he said at the door, "it won't ' do you any harm In the 'frat,' or with ! the Lumen, either. And don't be discouraged dis-couraged about your debating. You'll learn. Anybody might have got rat- ? tied by having to argue agatnst as clever and good-looking a girl as that !" The roommates gp.ve each other a look of serious puzzlement as the door closed. "Well; Brother Colburn Is a mighty nice fellow," Pred said. "He's kind of funny, though." Ramsey assented, and then, ns the two prepared for bed, they entered Into In-to a further discussion of their senior friend. They liked him "all right," they said, but he certainly must be kind of queer, and they couldn't Just see how he had "ever managed to get where he was" In the "frat" and the ' Lumen and the university. . , Ramsey passed the slightly disfig-ure( disfig-ure( Llnskl on the campus next day without betraying any embarrassment or nuking a sign of recoguition. Fred Mitchell told his roommate, chuckling, that Llnskl had sworn to "get" him. and, not knowing Fred's affiliations, had made him the confidant of his oath. Fred had given his blessing, he 't Bald, upon the enterprise, and advised jj Llnskl to use a brick. "He'll hit you on the head with It," said the light-hearted light-hearted Fred, falling back upon this old Joke. "Then you can catch It as It bounces off and throw it bnck at him." However, Llnskl proved to be merely mere-ly an episode, n6t only so far ns Ramsey Ram-sey was concerned but In the Lnraen and in the university as well. His sus-pension sus-pension from the Lumen was for a t1 year, and so cruel a punishment It -- proved for this born debater that he , noisily declared he would found a de- bating society himself, and had a 5; poster prlrted and distributed an- Bouncing tie first meeting of "The r- Free Speech and Masses' Rights Coun-I"' Coun-I"' ell." Several town loafers attended the meeting, tut the only person con- " nected with the university who enme , was an oriental student, a Chinese 'l youth of almost Intrusive amiability. d Llnskl made a fiery address, the townsmen towns-men loudly applauding his advocacy jjj of an embargo on munitions and the distribution of everybody's "property," but the Chinaman, accustomed to see students so madly In earnest only when they were burlesquing, took the whole affair to be intended humor, and tittered politely without cessation except at such times as he thought It proper to appear quite wrung with laughter. Then he would rock hlm-Belf. hlm-Belf. dasp his mouth with both hands "! splutter through his fingers. , Llnskl accused him cf being In the pny "capital." (Next day the Omtor was nnnble to ; low himself upon the campus wlth-it wlth-it causing demonstrations; whenever he was seen a HJe of quickly gathering Mudents marched behind him chanting repeatedly nnd dcnfenlngly In chorus: 'Down with Wall Street ! Hoch der Kaiser I Who loves Llnskl? Who, who, who? Hoo Lunt Who loves Llnskl f Who, who, who? Hoo Lun !" Llnskl was disgusted; resigned from j university, and disappeared. "Well, here It Isn't midyear Exams W. and the good ole class of Nlneteen-E'Khtoen's Nlneteen-E'Khtoen's already lost a member," ,nli Fred Mitchell. "I guess we can me break-up !" j( "1 guess so," Ramsey nssented. s'hnt I.lnskl might Just as well rtayed "re. though" "Whyr """"H do any harm here. He'll proh'iy jpt more people to listen to S , dtl,' where there's so many " "mmigronts and all such that don't know anything, couiln' In all the time." "Oh, well," said Fred. "What do we care what happens to Chicago ! Come on, let's behave real wild, and go on over to the 'Terla and get us a couple of egg sandwiches and sass-prilly." sass-prilly." Ramsey was willing. After the strain of the "mid-year Exams" In February, the chums lived a free-hearted life. They had settled Into the ways of their world ; they had grown used to It, and It had grown used to them ; there was no longer any Ignominy In being a freshman. They romped upon the campus and sometimes some-times rioted harmlessly about the streets of the town. In the evenings they visited their fellows and brethren and were visited In turn ; horseplay prevailed, but collegiate gossip had its turn, and sometimes they looked so far ahead as to talk vaguely ef to!r plans for professions or business though to a freshman this concerned an almost unthlnkably distant prospect. pros-pect. "I guess I'll go In with my father, fa-ther, In the wholesale drug business," said Fred. "My married brother already al-ready Is In the firm, and I suppose they'Ll give me a show send me out on the road a year or two first, maybe, to try me. Then I'm going to marry some little cutie and settle down. What you goln' to do, Ramsey? Go to law school, and then come back md go In your father's office?" "I don't know. Guess so." It was always Fred who did most of the talking; Ramsey was quiet. Fred told the "frat seniors" that Ramsey was "developing a whole lot these days;" and he told Ramsey himself that he could see a "big change" In will "Who Lovea LlnsKi? Who, Who, Who? Hoo Lunl" him, adding that the Improvement was probably due to Ramsey's having passed through "terrible trials like that debate." Ramsey kept to their rooms more than his comrade did, one reason for this domesticity being that he "had to study longer than Fred did, to keep up ;" and another reason may have been a greater shyness than Fred possessed pos-sessed If, Indeed, Fred possessed any shyness nt all. For Fred was a cheery spirit difficult to abash, and by the coming of spring knew all of the best-looking best-looking girl students In the place knew them well enough, It appeared, to speak of them not merely by their first names but by abbreviations of these. He had become fashion's sprig, a "fusser" and butterfly, and he reproached re-proached his roommate for shunning the ladles. "Well, the trnth Is, Fred," mid Ramsey Ram-sey one day, responding darkly "well, you see the truth Is. Fred, I've had a !I've had an experience " So, only, did he refer to MUla. FTed said no more ; and it was comprehended com-prehended between them that the past need never be definitely referred to again, but that It stood between Ramsey Ram-sey and any entertainment to be obtained ob-tained of the gentler but less trustworthy trust-worthy sex. And when other brethren of the "frat" would have pressed Ramsey Ram-sey to Join them in various frivolous enterprises concerning "co-eds." or to he shared by "coeds." Fred thought It better to explain to them privately (all being sacred among brethren) how Itnmsev's life, so far as Girls went, had been toyed with by one now a Married Woman. This created a groat deal of respect for Ramsey. It became understock everywhere that he was a woman-hater. woman-hater. CHAPTER IX. That enrlv spring of 1M5 the two bovs and tfelr friends and brethren talked racrr of the war than they had In the autumn, though tbe subject ns not at all an absorbing one; for the trenches of Flanders and France were attn of the Immense, remote distance. Bv no stretch of Imagination could these wet trenches b thought peatly ,o concern the "frat," the Ltw,m, or th. university. RUj Important t- ters were rhe doings of the "Track Team," now training In the "Gym" and on the 'Varsity field, and, more vital still, the prospects of the Nine. But in May there came a shock which changed things for a time. The Lusitanlrt brought to every American a revelation of what had lain so deep in his own heart that often he had not realized It was there. When the Germans hid In the sea and sent down the great merchant ship, with American babies and their mothers, moth-ers, and gallantly dying American gentlemen, gen-tlemen, there came a change even to girls and boys and professors, until then so preoccupied with their own little aloof world thousands of miles from the murder. Fred Mitchell, ever volatile and generous, gen-erous, was one of those who went quite wild. No orator, he nevertheless made a frantic speech at the week's "frat meetings," cursing the Germans in the simple old English words that their performance had demonstrated to be applicable, and going on to demand that the fraternity prepare for Its share In the action cf the country. "I don't care how Insignificant we few fellows here tonight may seem," he cried ; "we can do our little, and If everybody In this country's ready to do their own little, why, that'll be plenty ! Brothers, don't you realize that all over the United States tonight the pes-ple pes-ple are feeling Just the way we are here? Millions and millions and millions mil-lions -of them I Wherever there's an American he's with us and you bet your bottom dollar there are Just a few more Americans In this country of ours than there are big-mouthed lobsters like that fellow Linski ! I ted you, If congress only gives the ward, there could be an army of five million men in this country tomorrow, and those dirty baby-killin' dachshunds would hear a word or two from your Uncle Samuel 1 Brothers. I demand that something some-thing be done right here and now, and by us! I move we telegraph the secretary sec-retary of war tonight and offer him a regiment from this university to go over and help hang their d n kaiser." The motion was hotly seconded and Instantly carried. Then followed a much flustered discussion of the form and phrasing of the proposed telegram, tele-gram, but, after everything seemed to have been settled, some one ascertained ascer-tained by telephone that the telegraph company would not accept messages containing words customarily defined as profane; so the telegram had to be rewritten. This led to further amendment, amend-ment, and It was finally decided to address ad-dress the senators from that state, instead in-stead of the secretary of war, and thus In a somewhat modified form the message was finally dispatched. Next day, news of what the "frat" had done made a great stir In the university. uni-versity. Other "frats" sent telegrams, so did the "Barbarians," haters of the "frats" but joining them in this ; while a small band of "German-American" students found It their duty to go before be-fore the faculty and report these "breaches of neutrality:" They protested pro-tested heavily, demanding the expulsion expul-sion of the "Drenchers" as disloyal citizens, cit-izens, therefore unfit students, but suffered suf-fered a disappointment, for the faculty Itself had been sending telegrams of similar spirit, addressing not only the senators and congressmen of the state, but the President of the United States. Flabbergasted, the "Gernmn-Amerl-cans" retired ; they were confused und disgusted by this higher-up outbrenk of unnetrtrallty It overwhelmed thera that citizens of the United State3 should not remain neutral In the dispute dis-pute between the United States and Germany. All day the campus was In ferment. At twilight, Ramsey was walking meditatively on his way to dinner at the "frat house," across the campus from his apartment at Mrs. Meigs'. Everything was quiet now, both town and gown; the students were at (heir dinners and so were the burghers. Ramsey was late, but did not quicken his thoughtful steps, which were those of one lost In reverie. He had forgotten forgot-ten that springtime was all about hlra and. with his head down, walked un-regardful un-regardful of the new gayeties flung forth upon the air by great clusters of flowering shrubs. Just come Into white blossom and lavender. He was unconscious that somebody behind him. going the same way. came hastening to overtake him and called his name, "Ramsey! Ramsey Mllhol-land Mllhol-land !" Not until he had been called thiee times did he realize that he was being hailed and In a girl's voice! By that time the girl herself was beside be-side him. and Ramsey halted, quite taken aback. The girl was Dora Yocum. Yo-cum. ' She was pale, a little breathless, and her eyes were brlcht and severe. " want to speak to you." she said, quickly. "I want to ask yon about something. Mr. Cnlburn and Fred Mitchell are the only people 1 kiw In your 'frnt except you. nivd I haven't seen either of thein today, or Td have asked "ne rf there.." ' . r. i -TT Dora triei to Impreii Rao? with her pacifist vlaws. (TO BS COKTIN UED.J |