Sweet Briar College - Briar Patch Yearbook (Sweet Briar, VA)

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prove thai the general conception concerning the Platonic Doctrine of [deas had been universally misundersl I. Such a scholastic piece of work gained for her the chair of Philosophy a1 lolumbia. She was always busy, she said, and besides seeing her old friends, had no mind for anything else outside of her work. In appearance, Nan was aboul the same as she was twenty years ago, excepl hard work had caused many gray hairs. These, however, were still arranged exactly as the brown ones had been ai Sweel Briar, and, accordingly nol a single one was one-thousandth of an inch from its correct position. She was still wear- ing glasses, only two pairs now. The next morning was Sunday, so we spent the day very quietly. We were still talking when I heard the call that I recognized by this time as peculiar to Mother Goose. Looking out I saw thai it was indeed she, so I was forced to make hurried adieux to Xan. When 1 had mounted again behind .Mother Goose, I told my kind benefactor of my visit and the pleasure it had given me. She seemed greatly pleased and then informed me of our next stop. Two of your class-mates are abroad, she said, so we ' ll now go to see Annie Smith, nee Cumnock, who is living in Columbia, South Carolina. Bui Eugenia, she continued, I won ' t be able to locate her exactly. However, if I put you on the main corner of the principal thoroughfare, I think you will find her about four o ' clock. True enough, 1 did find Annie there and in such a strange way. I had hardly taken my stand at the appointed spot when I heard the sound of a l ass drum, a horn, and a woman ' s strong contralto voice. Turning, I perceived these strains came from three members of the Salvation Army, who were standing near me. 1 began to listen to the song the woman was singing, and as near as I can remember it, it went like this: There was a man whose name I think Was I! — r — o — w — n. lie talked against Prohibition and He voted for r — n — m, lie helped to put the poison in His neighbor ' s c — u — p, And then he had the face to say He was s — a — v — e — d.

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) Why, I said, is she still Xan Powell V Indeed she is. She is one of the few women who have sense enough no1 to marry, lint don ' t ask any mere questions and yen can find out all about Xan when yen see her. For a long time after this we rode en in silence. Gradually it began to grow dark and from far below faint lights began to twinkle. As we advanced these lights grew brighter and more uumerous until they looked like myriads of fire-flies. Why, Mother Goose, I exclaimed, almost in awe, what wonderful place is this we are approaching? I expected suc h a scene to astonish yon, -he replied. Why that, my child, is New York City. Don ' t fall off, for we are going to land in just about one minute. Even a- she wa- speaking, I could feel we had begun to make a gentle de- scent. We went down and down, and finally came to a stand-still. We had alighted. I found, en a very small balcony off from an upper window of a tall building. Mother Goose leaned over, tapped upon the window-pane and emitted a series of sounds such as she bad first used to attract my attention. Several seconds passed and then I saw coming toward the window one of the familiar faces of by-gone days — Xan Powell. When Xan raised the window I stepped in, and I leave it to you to imagine the look on her face when she recognized me. for an instant neither of us moved nor -poke, and then such greetings! We were both so excited that Xan didn ' t even notice Mother Goose, and in fact 1 was on the poinl of forgetting her when she called : I ll return for you, Eugenia, to-morrow afternoon at the o ' clock. Good- bye until then. And before I could speak she had gone. Well. Diary, Xan and I talked ami talked. We discussed and reviewed every detail of the past, and exchanged personal histories from the year nine- teen-ton. Xan, I learned, was now holding a position in Columbia University never before held by a woman. She was Professor of Philosophy. Xan told me all about her experiences as school-teacher after finishing college, and also of how she had gained her M. A. degree, and of the years she had then spent in gaining her Ph. I . degree. She worked hard, ami at last when almost despairing, she met with success. She solved her problem, viz., to

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Oh it ' s g — 1 — o — r — y to know You ' re s — a — v — e — d, I ' m h — a — p — p — y because I ' m f — r — double e. I once was b — o — Ti — n — (1 In chains of s — i — n. But now I ' m full of j — o — y Because I ' m pure within. The words were so peculiar that they interested me greatly. I began to study the singer ' s face, and on the last line the truth dawned upon me that this was Annie Cumnock. Eagerly I rushed toward her. She did not recognize me until I had called my name. Then, after we had exchanged salutations, she to the man who had been beating the drum. lie was a little man set off by a heavy suil of bright red hair. • ' John, my dear, Annie said in tender tones, this is one of my old class-mates, and this, she added, addressing me and bringing up the other mem- ler of the party, is our dear sister Jemimy Smith. We all shook hands and entered into quite a conversation. This was put to an end by Mr. ainl .Mrs. Smith saying they had to move on to the next corner. They insisted heartily that 1 come with them and do the collecting, and after- wards a mpany them home. However, from what I had heard about their strenuous work, I decided it would lie best for me not to accept their invitation. So pleading previous engagements, I thanked Mr. and Mrs. Smith for their cordiality ami promised to look them up again the next time I came to Columbia. I returned to the spot where Mother (loose had put me down, and found the good old dame awaiting me. She laughed a long lime over my experience, and told me not to forget the fact that 1 hail conversed with the most famous leaders of the Salvation Army in the world. Prepare yourself now for a trip to England, was the next remark of Mother Goose. England! Why, can we go there on this goose? I was utterly dum- founded at the thought. Such a speech shows that you are not very well up on modern methods of aerial traveling. My goose beats any airship that has ever been fashioned tor crossing the Atlantic ' . Why, almost before you know it, child, we will be in the old country. And true enough, such was the case.