Chicora College for Women - Nods and Becks Yearbook (Columbia, SC)

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 “I will read you what is written on this monument,” the Lady said: “TO THE MEMORY OF MAFY OWEN Died June the Twenty-ninth Nineteen hundred and eight AGED TWENTY YEARS g ’Tis sad to think that one so young must die; Yet die one must if one be broken-hearted. We mourn her loss, but we knew that so ’twould be When from Miss Tyler she must needs be parted.’’ A silence—in which I mourned—and then “Lucy Harris shall go as a missionary to Korea. She shall be a most successful missionary and shall be deeply, wonderfully loved by—everybody.” The next time she read: “Flossie Jones shall decide that to complete her education she must study dentistry; and after a while there shall be two little offices opening into each other, and one sign hung out reading, Dr. and Mrs. Dr.----------Dentists.” “Mary Gordon Greenlee shall go to Boston to study Physical Culture, and shall become so very expert that she shall be employed by the president of the United States for awhile. After a time, she shall stop teaching gymnastics, though she shall never change her name. ” The next time the Lady just showed me a flaring poster on which was written in gorgeous letters: “Coming Soon! Famous Prima Donna Cranford! She comes direct from Paris where she has just finished an unusually brilliant season. She is held in high esteem by the royalty of both England and France.” “You know what that means” said the Lady, and I did. ‘ ‘Melva Carr shall always be practical, with good strong sense. She shall marry a country minister and shall mend his clothes and help him along like a good little “frau” during the week and make use of her music by playing the organ for him on Sunday.” Then the Lady unfolded a picture and showed it to me. I saw a woman with a most beautiful and ( N 30

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failing in this, she shall be content to ‘bide at home,’ and too, she shall be content with the same name forever!” The lady frowned a little when she opened the next acorn. “I am not sure that this is befitting the Presbyterian College” she said. “Cornie Fore shall become a famous lecturer, known all over the world, and her subject shall be ‘Higher Education for Women.’ ” Again: “Ethel Patrick shall go on and advance the art she studied at school, strangely, for she shall become an architect. She shall become most famous, so that to all other styles of architecture shall be added the ‘Patrick,’ and people shall vie with each other in trying to own the most perfect Patrick house.” A soft, sweet sort of a smile came over the lady’s face when she opened the next acorn, and she read: “Janie Knox shall reach the height of her ambition as a trained nurse; but after a while she shall decide that being a trained nurse is not the height of her ambition, but to become a doctor is, so she shall become a doctor’s wife, which is all the same the two being one!” Again: “Ethel Todd and Esther Shannonhouse shall go together to the North Pole to teach the Eskimos music. Many of the Eskimos shall be frozen from holding their mouths open so long in wonder at the sound of soul inspiring music coming from the depths of those snow huts.” The next time she read: “Macie McGinn shall be one of these new and stylish creations called ‘Bachelor Maids.’ The place of the proverbial cat shall be taken by a Teddy bear!” “Zaraida Bailes’ great love for Philosophy shall increase as the years go by and she shall have the chair of Philosophy in some college. The philosophical theories of ‘Bailes” shall go down the ages like those of Aristotle and Kant.” “Agnes Martin, being much interested in the poor and their temptations, shall make it her aim in life to alleviate their sufferings and here’s to her success!” The Lady’s face was very sad when she opened the next acorn, and when she showed me the picture of a monument on the paper I knew the reasen why. 0, my heart!

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holy expression on her face. She seemed to be telling a story to a crowd of half-clothed little black savages sitting around her on the ground. “Mary Parker? A missionary to Africa?” I asked, and the Lady nodded her head. “Jessie Dobbins shall go to the mountain and teach a mission school. Her influence for good shall be wonderful, and all the people shall love her, especially one widower with sixteen children. After a while Jessie shall decide to stay in the mountains always!” “Susie McMurray shall marry a minister and her life shall be happy, happy. Unlike most minister’s wives she shall not be criticised by the congregation. ” This time the Lady read: “Elizabeth Pilson shall be the lady principal of a girl’s boarding school. She shall be most successful as lady principal and she shall be greatly loved; but the girls will know that unless they see that sad light in her eyes, it will be useless to ask anything then. ‘Because’ they will say. like Mrs. Gummidge, she is ‘thinkin’ about the old un.’” “Now, yours,” said the Lady and she gave me a compassionate smile, “I am sorry, 0, little daughter of mine, but you are doomed to be an old maid, and the most of your years shall be spent as a matron in an orphan asylum.” “Now, good bye,” she said and was gone, and I was left alone in the soft, warm glow of the twilight, dreaming, dreaming still. M. T. M.