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

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I bad found ii besl nol to ask questions of Motber Goose, so we were nearly ready to land in I- Ion before she voluntarily told me whal I bad been dying to know. Do you see thai big marble palace in the distance ? she inquired, pointing with her wand. I assured her that I did and she continued: That is the dwelling of the Lady Algernon Reginald Up de Starl Pancake. Vmi will remember the lady as Louise Hooper. Why, id ' course, I rudely interrupted, I was reading of her marriage when ymi lapped mi my window. How little 1 dreamed I was going to see her so soon. I hope ymi wmft find her very much changed, said Mother Goose, but yen knew three matrimonial ventures are enough to change anybody. After this remark I felt extremely dubious concerning the kind of welcome 1 would receive at the hands of Lady Pancake. When I reached the palace grounds, it was with faltering steps I went up the long avenue to the palace itself. My fears were in no ways relieved by the endless retinue of liveried lackeys who finally admitted me into the dwelling. It was purely an accidental happening, I learned, that milady had no engagement for this afternoon. I sent up my card and then wondered if Louise would deign to honor me with a glimpse of herself. After exactly fifty-five minutes of waiting, a soft, luxurious swish as of heavy silks trailing slowly across the floor announced the fact that her ladyship was really approaching. A flood of college memories came over me, and I rose to meet Louise. But the vision that entered the room was so entirely different from what I had expected that I nearly fell into a faint from astonish- ment. Aw, Eugenia, came in slow, carefully drawled accents, ah am so very chawmed to see you. I caught my breath and advanced to take the outstretched hand. I don ' t know what answer I returned, for 1 was too busy looking at Louise to remember. Instead of a dark-haired woman of forty that I had expected to see, here stood before me a blonde of the most pronounced type, dressed in a costume suitable for a girl of twenty. I tried to gather my wits together, and after quite a long while succeeded. I found that Louise showed, as much as her affected A

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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.

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rffalMfeHttMM N ft languid style would permit, a great deal of interest in all that I had to tell her concerning her friends in America. She in turn told me of her life since nine- teen hundred and ten. I can ' t write all of it down, Diary, but some day, with her permission, I ' m going In turn it into a book. Sufficient to say here, Louise had just married Sir A. R. U. de S. Pancake, and seemed extremely pleased with herself for having done so. She showed me a picture of her husband, Sir Pancake, and yon will have to excuse me, Diary, while 1 smile. He was a funny little man of thirty years and was not over five feet five inches in height. With a monocle in one eye and the haughtiest of banality smiles, yon would have taken him for the ruler of all lands, if you had not at first taken him for an absurdity. Louise was very hospitable and promised to give me the honor of sitting with sonic of the highest of English nobility it ' I would stay for dinner that evening, but I felt if would be too greal a demand on my nerves, so I thanked her kindly, but took my departure. All right, if you don ' t like so much formal elegance, I ' ll take you to where things are less formal, said my kind guide when 1 related my story to her. And then I knew our last destination. For the only one of my class- males that now remained to be seen was my deal- former room-mate, Frances Alurrell. I had kept up with her rather well. The year after graduating we had gone together to the Philippine Islands, and though I bad returned home at the end of two years, Frances had remained. Three years later she had written me of her marriage with an army officer. Naturally, I was most anxious to see her again and meet her husband. We rode on, or rather we flew on, in silence for a long time. At last the town of .Manila came into sight, and not long after .Mother Goose left me at Frances ' home. I couldn ' t help being disappointed at the sight of the house. It looked as if it had mice been very comfortable and rather pretty, but now there was an air of dilapidation over (lie whole place. The house needed painting, many of the railings were missing from the banisters, and the appearance of the lawn was something disgraceful. There were four or five children playing around, all of them with unkempt hair and torn clothing. I tried to get the children to pay some attention to me, but as I failed utterly in this endeavor, I went up the steps and pulled the broken bell. A frowsy maid admitted me and took my card.