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Show A Com rtn n i i CHAPTER X. Continued. 13 And, jumping down from the window teat, he began to dance round his much perturbed comrade, bellowing. Ramsey bore with him for a moment, then sprang upon him ; they wrestled vigorously, broke a chair and went to the floor with a crash that gave the chandelier in Mrs. Meigs'1 parlor, below, be-low, an attack of Jingles. "You let me up !" Fred gasped. "You take your solemn oath to shut up? You goln' to swear it?" "All rujht, I give my solemn oath," said Fred; 'and they rose, arranging their tousled attire. "Well," said Fred, "when you goin' to call on. her?" "You look here !" Ramsey approached him dangerously. "You just gave me your sol " "I beg!" Fred cried, retreating. "I mean, aside from all that, why, I just thought maybe after such an evening you'd feel as a gentleman you ought to go and ask after her health.' "Now, see here " "No, I mean it ; you ought to," Fred Insisted, earnestly, and as his roommate room-mate glared at him with complete suspicion, sus-picion, he added, in explanation. "You ought to go next Callers' Night, and send in your card, and say you felt you ought to ask if she'd suffered any from the' night air. Even if you couldn't manage to say that, you ought to start to say it, anyhow, because yon Keep off o' me ! I'm only tryin' to do you a good turn, ain't I?"' "You save your good turns for yourself," Eamsey growled, still advancing ad-vancing upon him. But the Insidious Mitchell, evading him, fled to the other end of the room, picked up his cap and changed his manner. "Come on, ole bag o" Deans, let's be on our way to the 'f rat house' ; It's time. We'll call this all off." "You better I" Ramsey warned him; and they trotted out together. But as they went along, Fred took Ramsey's arm confidentially, and said : "Now, honestly, Ram, ole man, when are you goin' to" Ramsey was still red. "You look here! Just say one more word " "Oh, no," Fred expostulated. "I mean seriously, Ramsey. Honestly, I mean seriously; Aren't you seriously goin' to call on her some Callers' Night?" "No. I'm not!" "But why not?" "Because I don't want to." "Well, seriously, Ramsey, there's only one Callers' Night before vacation, vaca-tion, and so I suppose it hardly will be worth while ; but I expect you'll see quite a little of her at home this summer?" sum-mer?" "No, I won't. I won't see her at all. She Isn't goin' to be home, this summer, sum-mer, and I wouldn't see anything of ber If she was." "Where's she goin' to be?" "In Chicago." "She is?" said Fred, slyly. "When'd she tell yon?" Ramsey turned on him. "You look out! She didn't tell me. I just happened hap-pened to see In the Bulletin she's signed np with some other girls to go and do settlement work In Chicago. Anybody could see It. It was printed out plain. You could have seen it Just as well as I could, if you'd read the Bulletin." "Oh," snld Fred. "Now look here " "Good heavens 1 Can't I even say 'oh'?" "It depends on the way you say It." "I'll be careful," Fred assured him, earnestly. "I really and honestly don't mean to get yon excited about all this, Ramsey. I can see myself you haven't changed from your old opinion of Dora Yocum a bit. I was only try-In' try-In' to get a little rise out of you for a minute, because of course, seriously, why, I can see you hate her Just the same as son always did." "Yes," said Ramsey, disarmed and guileless In the fuce of diplomacy. , "I only told you about all this, Fred, because be-cause it seemed well, It seemed so kind o' funny to me." Fred affected not to hear. "AVhat d'i you say, Ramsey?" Ramsey looked vaguely disturbed. "I said why, I said it nil seemed kind ' " He paused, then repeated plaintively: plain-tively: "Well, to me. It all seemed kind o' kmd o' funny." "What did?" Fred Inquired, but as e glanced In seeming naivete at bis companion, something he saw In the latter's eye warned him, and suddenly Fred thought it would be better to run. Ramsey chased htm all the way to the "frat house." CHAPTER XI. I Ramsey was not quite athlete 1 nough for any of the 'varsity teams; Neither was he an antagonist safely "countered, whether In piny or in amest, and during the next few days taught Fred Mitchell to be caution cau-tion The cnolTer icanled that his own agility could not save him from Ramsey, and so found it wiser to contain con-tain an effervescence which sometimes threatened to burst him. Ramsey as a victim was a continuous temptation, he was so good-natured and yet so furious. After CommeneeniBnt, when the roommates had gone home, Mr. Mitchell's Mitch-ell's caution extended over the long sunshiny mouths of summer vacation ; he broke it but once and then in well-advised well-advised safety, for the occasion was semi-public. The two were out for a stroll on a July Sunday afternoon; and up and down the street young couples lolled along, young families and baby carriages straggled to and from the houses of older relatives, and the rest of the world of that growing city was rocking and fanning itaelf on its front veranda. - "Here's a right pretty place, isn't it, Ramsey, don't you think?" Fred remarked re-marked Innocently, as they were passing pass-ing a lawn of short-clipped, bright green grass before a genial-looking house, fresh in white paint and cool in green-and-whlte awnings. A broad veranda, well populated just now, crossed the front of the house; fine . trees helped the awnings to give comfort com-fort against the sun ; and Fred's remark re-mark was warranted. Nevertheless,' he fell under the suspicion of his companion, com-panion, who had begun to evince some nervousness before Fred spoke. "What place you mean?" "The Yocum, place," said Mr. Mitchell. Mitch-ell. "I hear the old gentleman's mighty prosperous these days. They keep things up to the mark, don't they, Ramsey?" ' "I don't know whether they do or whether they don't," Ramsey returned shortly. Fred appeared to muse regretfully "It looks kind of empty now, though," he said, "with only Mr. and Mrs. Yocum Yo-cum and th.eir married daughters, and eight or nine children on the front porch I" "You wait till I get you where they can't see us !" Ramsey warned him fiercplr. "You can't do it !" said Fred, manifesting mani-festing triumph. "We'll both stop right here in plain sight of the whole Yocum Yo-cum family connection till you promise not to touch me." And he halted, leaning back implacably im-placably against the Yocum's iron fence. Ramsey was scandalized. "Come on 1" he said hoarsely. "Don't stop here 1" "I will, and If you go on alone I'll yell at you. lou got to stand right here with all of 'em looklu' at you until" "I promise ! My heavens, come on !" Fred consented to end the moment of agony; and for the rest of the summer sum-mer found It Impossible to persuade Ramsey to pass that house In his company. com-pany. "1 . won't do It!" Ramsey told him. "Your word f honor means noth-!n' noth-!n' to me; you'ne liable to do anything that comes into your head, and I'm gettin' old enough to not get a reputa- Ramsey Chased Him All the Way to the "Frat House." tion for bein' seen with people that act the Idiot on the public streets. No. sir; we'll walk around the block at least, we will If you're goln' with me!" And to Fred's delight, though he concealed it, they would make this detour. de-tour. The evening after their return to the university both were busy with their trunks und vnrlous orderings and disorderlies of their apartment, but Fred several times expressed surprise thnt his roommate should be content to remain at home; and finally Ramsey Ram-sey comprehended these Implications. Mrs. Meigs' chandelier Immediately jingled with the shook of another crush upon the floor above I Tou let me up!" Fred commanded thickly, hts voice muffled by the pile of flannels, sweaters, underwear and raincoats, wherein his head was being forced to burrow. "Y'ou let me up, darn you! I didn't say anything." And upon his release he complained that the attack was unprovoked. '1 didn't say anything on earth to even hint you might want to go out and see if anybody in particular had got back to college yet. I didnt even mention the name of Dora Yo Keep off of me!. My goodness, but you are sensitive sensi-tive !" As a matter of fact, neither of them saw Dora until the first meeting of the Lumen, whither they went as sophomores sopho-mores to take their pleasure in the agony of freshmen debaters. Ramsey was now able to attend the Lumen, not with complacence but at least without shuddering over the recollection of his own spectacular first appearance there. He had made subsequent appearances, far from brilliant, yet not disgracful, and as a spectator, at least, he usually felt rather at his ease in the place. It cannot be asserted, however, that he appeared entirely at his ease this evening after he had read the "Programme" "Pro-gramme" chalked upon the large ease! blackboard beside the chairman's desh Three "Freshman Debates" were announced an-nounced and a "Sophomore Oration," this last being followed by the name, "D. Yocum, 'IS." Ramsey made immediate im-mediate and conspicuous efforts to avoid sitting next to his roommate, but was not so adroit as to be successful. suc-cessful. However, Fred was merciful ; the fluctuations of his friend's com plexion were an inspiration more to pity tnan to badinage., The three debates all concerned the "Causes of the War in Europe," and honors appeared to ret with a small and stout, stolidly "pro-German" girl "Well, What I Say Is: Dora Yocum, as an Orator, Is Just an Actual Perfect Per-fect Wonder. Got Any Objections?" debater, who had brought with her and translated at sight absa-loot proofs (so she called them), printed in German, Ger-man, that Germany had been attacked by Belgium at the low instigation of the envious English. Everybody Knew It wasn't true; but she made an impression im-pression and established herself as a debater, especially as her opponent was quite confounded by her inti-oduc-tlon of printed matter. When the debates and the verdicts were concluded, the orator appeared, and Fred's compassion extended Itself so far that he even refrained from looking inquisitively at the boy in the seat next to his; but he made one side of a wager, mentally that if Ramsey had consented to be thoroughly confidential con-fidential just then, he would have confessed con-fessed to feeling kind o' .funny. Dora was charmingly dressed, and she was pale ; but those notable eyelashes eye-lashes of hers were all the more notable no-table against her pallor. And as she spoke with fire, it was natural that her color should come back quite flam-ingly flam-ingly and that her eyes should flash in shelter of the lashes. "The Christian Spirit and Internationalism" was her subject, yet she showed no meek sample sam-ple of a Christian Spirit herself when she came to attacking war-makers generally, as well as all those "half developed tribesmen" and "victims of herd Instinct" who believed that war might ever be Justified under any circumstances cir-cumstances of atrocity. She was eloquent elo-quent truly, and a picture of grace and girlish dignity, even when she was most vigorous. Nothing eould have been more militant than her de nunciation of militancy. "She's an actual wonder," Freo said, when the two had got back to Mrs. Meigs' afterward. "Don't you look at me like that; I'm talkln" about her as a public character, and there's notion' personal about It. You let me alone." Ramsey was not clear as to hl duty. "Well " "If any person makes a public speech." Fred protested. "I got a perfect per-fect riclit to discuss 'em. no matter what you think of 'em" and he added hastily "or don't think of 'em !" "Look here " "Good heavens!" Fred exclaimed, j "You aren't expectlne to interfere with me if I say anything about that I little fat W'enler girl that argued for ! Germany, are you? Or any of the j other speakers? I got a right to ta,; about 'em just as public sponkf-x. haven't I? Well, what I sny is: Dora Yocum as an orator Is Just an actual perfect wonder. Got any objections?' - "N-no." (TO BE CONTINVED.) j |