Annie Wright School - Shield Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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26 THE HYAK. Lucy— That s Just what I think. Adelia Now, when we would go to a house to sell our medicine, John would try to sell the mother some hair dye, or something of that sort, while the poor baby was almost dying with the whooping cough or croup, and then I would bring on Mrs. Winslow ' s Soothing Syrup and it stands to rea- son that she would take a bottle. So you see I wasn ' t a bad bargain after all. Lucy— So you are all happy; Sara with her Pete, Edna with her poet, and Adelia with her patent medicine man, but you have not told me who is the lucky man that got Amelia? Sara— Why, didn ' t you read it in the papers? She married that great actor, Gerald Russell, who was leading man in a comic opera. Lucy— Ilow r exciting! An actor! And Amelia is married to him! Tell us about him, Amelia? Amelia— Well, you see, after I left the Sem., after I graduated, I went on the stage. It was my voice that got me the position. Lucy— I remember that Miss Fitch always wanted Amelia in Chapel. Amelia— I was in church one Sunday and the manager of the Tacoma Theatre was sitting behind me and heard me sing and wished me to join the company. So I did, and it was there I met Gerald. Lucy— How interacting ! Amelia — He always said that it was my beautiful voice, that first at- tracted him, and now we are married. Sara — And you are the only one who cannot tell of such experiences. Poor Lucy, you do not realize what you have missed. Edna— O h! I don ' t know whether you have missed so awfully much. Adelia— Why Edna! such a remark from you, and you the possessor of such a husband as a French poet. Edna— W ell, you know, poets are such queer people. Not like other men. Amelia— N o, I suppose not. Edna— They are so queer. It is their poetical temperament, don’t you know? Everything has to be just right. Sometimes his breakfast is served too cold, and sometimes too hot, just as he feels, but it is the poetical temperament.

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THE nYAK. 25 Lucy— T his promises to be interesting! Adelia— I was out in the country one summer for my health. Edna— Adelia ’s health! What seemed to be the matter? Adelia (irritated)— Nervous prostration! Perhaps you don’t believe it, but it was brought on by over-study during my four years at the Semi- nary ! Well, a young man came along selling patent medicine, and he made my boading house his headquarters, while he was canvassing the country. Amelia — H ow romantic! Adelia — I thought he looked familiar, and come to find out, he was a chap I met going over to Tacoma on the Interurban one Sunday, when I was coming back to the Seminary, and I thought then, that he was pretty nice. LuCy (laughing) — I guess we all remember that. Adelia — So when he came out there, I said to myself. “Now Dill, if you’re bright, you won’t let him escape, and I didn’t. Lucy— B ut how did you manage? Adelia— Well, one night we were sitting out on the front porch, and we got to talking, and pretty soon I didn’t say anything for a long time, and he thought I was ill, and was going after some of his patent medicine, but I told him that all the patent medicine in the world could not cure my sickness. Then I told him all about it, and asked him if he could cure it (my heart) and he said “yes.” Edna— A nd the end was— a wedding. Amelia— Now, if that isn ' t an original way to get a better-half! Delia « lways did like original things, even those in Geometry. Sara — Yes, the way she got him was original, but I don’t think I should like the sort of life she leads; I like the comforts of a home and the attention of a host of servants. Lucy (aside to Adelia) — Sara does revel in her newly-found wealth. Sara— I should not like such an unsettled life. Always on the go. Lucy— H a ! Ha ! And do you really make up part of his traveling outfit ? Amelia— Y es, and the better part of it, too, I imagine. Adelia— W ell, I must confess that I was a paying investment. But men are so stupid.

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THE HYAK. 27 Lucy— Don ' t you get very weary? Edna— S ometimes; but he is such a great man;; so bright and so witty, and he -has written some of the most beautiful sonnets about me. You should read them. A deli a— Say, Edna, have you ever tested his true poetical nature by making him read Lycidas? You know that is the one sure test. Edna— Why, my dear, he knows the whole thing by heart, and thinks it is the grandest thing ever written, almost. Lucy— W ell, perhaps he says that because Lycidas is the sure test for a poetical temperament, and he would have to say it, if he were a true poet. 1 have heard of such things. Sara— But to change the subject, Lucy, won ' t you show us your beau- tiful garden? And if you have any flowers, I have not, you won ' t mind giving me slips, will you? You should see my garden. It is simply mag- nificent. Such a delightful place for evening strolls. Oh, Lucy, you should be married in order to enjoy your garden. Lucy (aside)— Perhaps I do enjoy it, without an Esquimau as a blot on the landscape. Sara — If you could only have met a man like my Pete, who would have loved you as my Pete does me,— but then, there isn ' t another man in the whole world like my Pete. Edna— Nor like my poet. Amelia— Nor like my Gerald. Adelia— Nor like my patent medicine man. Lucy — N or like my cat and parrot and tea, but come, and I will show you the garden. Exuent Edna, Amelia, Sara, Adelia and Lucy. scene iv. Lucy (from outside) — I ' ll be back in a minute, girls. Enter, Lucy, and from opposite door, enter Martha Chapin, inifred Higgins and Alma Stoddard. Lucy (embracing) — My dear, Martha! and Win.! I could tell you if I hadn’t seen you for a hundred years! (Looks sidewise at Alma with puz- zled air, and turns back to Martha.) Martha (laughing) — Why, Lucy! Don ' t you know Alma?