Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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Tlic Mary IhiliUciu Seminary. ) gathered fast in my eyes at the sad sight, and when I had wiped them away the scene had changed. There now came before my vision a room filled with men, who lolled at ease round a table loaded with wine and cigars. Con- versation went smoothly, and puns and gibes flew from mouth to mouth. A man, who seemed to be the leader of this war of words, sat at the head of a table in a raised chair. His crooked figure was decked in full court .suit, and his eager, burning eyes glowed in his sallow face. Now and again through his gay banter, ran a decided vein of venom, and I straightway decided this deformed body and .sharp tongue could belong to none other than the wicked wasp of Twickenham. Once when he had sliot an unusually rancorous dart at humanity in general, a man who had been standing in the background, came forward through the curling wreaths of smoke, and laying his hand on the speaker ' s shoulder said, Right, right, when you think of the world give it an extra la.sh for me. What a shame to encourage him in ' ' I shrieked in my dulcet tones but was not allowed to finish, for invisible hands caught me up and set me outside a fast shut door, over which the sign of Kit-Kat Club was suspended. I suppose that man was the Dean Swift who wrote those sickening hieroglyphics to ' Stella? ' I asked, when I had gotten my breath. And if he was, you had better show more respect in speaking of your superiors, growled the dwarf, w hose temper was evidently ruffled by the sudden exit. Wisely holding my peace, I followed in my sullen compan- ion ' s foot-steps. Soon we entered a theatre and I found myself surrounded by a gayly dressed throng. The boxes blazed with the stars of Peers; great Lords and Ladies flirted on every side. Beneath me Sir Gilbert Heathcote, mighty governor of the Bank of England, sat wath his attending satellites. What is it? I whispered to my deformed cicerone. He flashed a glance of disgust at such ignorance, then said: Presentation night of Cato. ' ' Those men in the pit are the representatives of Will ' s Coffee House; over here are the Kit-Kat; those on the right are Lords, and on the left, Whigs; the but he was interrupted by the tinkle of a cracked bell and I turned eagerly toward the stage, .soon becoming deeply interested in Juba,

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IS 77 1? Annual of lazy little idiot, willing to defraud the world of the charming writings of Goldsmith, in order to save jj ' (?z the trouble of study- ing them? Ah! I have no patience with you! And, now, recognize in me the Spirit of that Shaw, doomed to walk the earth as man until students shall cease reviling it. Year af- ter year girls have dragged me further from my celestial home, but this class of ' 96 has almost destroyed forever my hopes of rest and peace. ' ' There was high tragedy in his tones, and I wondered in a shame-faced way, how many hundreds of times I had pulled him back b} insulting epithets heaped on the book which he guarded. Soon, however, he recovered and continued in his former uncomplimentary fashion. You reviling nuisance, come with me and see those men you have been hating, come and feel your own littleness in the presence of those master minds. The dwarf was growing eloquent, and — or was it my imagination ? — - seemed to be increasing in size and dignity. He strode toward the volume of Shaw that had fallen to the ground, pointed to it and said in commanding tones, Kick it. In spite of the tirade I had just heard, this exactly ex- pressed my sentiments toward the prostrate gentleman, and I willingly endowed him with a far from gentle tap, expecting to see him fly to the four corners of the room. Picture my aston- ishment then, when the book grew and changed in a swift, terrible fashion, enclosing me, and shutting out the view of the old room, till suddenty I found myself deep in a dungeon cell. Damp grey walls arose on every side, and from the bar- red window a few struggling rays of light fell across the figure of a man seated cobbler-fashion on the floor busy making tag laces. Hopelessness was plainly written in every line of the stooped form and in the sad, emaciated face, but a grand pa- tience and fortitude was stamped on the broad brow. A woman and five children crouched in ragged wretchedness in a far cor- ner, and by the worker ' s side sat a young girl, her wide, un- seeing eyes turned upward toward the light. ' ' As I walked through the wilderness of this world I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, murmured the dwarf in my ear, but I needed not the words from the once despised Pilgrim ' s Progress ' ' to assure me of the identity of this prisoner. Tears

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20 The Anmial of Marcia, Cato, and the rest. I did my dut) ' , faithfully clapping hits that I didn ' t understand at all, till finally the curtain fell in a wild thunder of applause. The crowd now began rushing in one direction, carrying me with it by main force, and soon halted before one of the boxes. Inside stood a stout man with a genial, benevolent face and shy, awkward manners. He was shaking hands with all, but was evidentl} ' hopelesslj embar- rassed by the congratulations showered upon him. Suddenly like a cyclone some one rushed by me and precipitated himself on the neck of the portly gentleman. Oh, my dear Jo ! thou hast surpassed thj ' self, it was glorious! fine! and I realized that this impulsive person must be the lovable Dick Steele. Raising mj self on tip-toe, I caught a glimpse of the two as they left the house. ' Dick ' s eyes were shining with triumph at the success of his friend Addison, whose neck he still encir- cled with a protecting arm. The dwarf caught me by the dress, and pushing our way through the throng, we once more stood before the Kit-Kat. The lamps illumined with feeble rays the long crooked streets, and I caught sight of a vague figure approaching through the gloom. This person, whoever he might be, took the greatest care to touch each lamp-post as he passed, and once when he missed one, he calmly retraced his steps, touched it and then came on. Arriving before the club he paused, biting his nails in evident indecision. Wy heart gave a leap as I recognized in this uncleanly individual with snuff-colored suit, big hands, and scorched wig, the writer of that famous classic — Johnson ' s Dictionary. The illustrious Samuel was joined by an ac- quaintance, and they immediately plunged into deep conversa- tion, slowly wending their z.y toward the Kit-Kat. As the mighty door swung slowly to on them Johnson ' s voice came floating faintly back — No sir! why sir, you don ' t see your way through the question at all, sir! The spirit and I now strolled through the foggy night air, halting at last before a large house from which came music and the sound of many voices. This we entered and, preceded by powdered footmen, who struck awe to my unsophisticated heart, were ushered into a drawing room, filled with a crowd of chattering society people. The central figure of one group,