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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1910)
J. V ,. l VoL IX. No. 73. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1910. ricc 5-Gentirr" t I - i V " THE LITTLE-BOY- WHO-NEVER-WAS A SHORT STORY BY A. MAXON SPRAGUE. no bitterness that ho hnd como bo late, She lay very still, gazing botwuen half eloped lids straight beforo her. What was that Btrange glow? It re minded her of a atar miles and miles away. Many years ago, when she was a little girl, sho had seen a great golden star like that. There was a heavy fragrance of Japauese honey sucldo about her now, Just as there had been then. There was a sudden soft rustling. Between her and the star a woman stepped. Sho know now. The star was the shaded night Innip In her dressing room; tho woman Was her nurse. Slowly she lowered her lashes until they lay upon her white cheeks. She felt the eyes or tho nurse upon her. yet remained motionless. She heard the door open, and then a man's voice, curiouosly muffled. "Well, .Misa Bingham?" - "Still in the stupor, doctor. Sho has been thiAvay since midnight'." A I, I " ' " ; V. She felt cool lingers toucb Her wrist, yet she made no sign. She smiled in her heart. They thought her unconscious, but her mind waB as clear as theirs. Clearer, perhaps, for she felt strangely light and airy, as if her body worn gone and only her brain remained, comprehending abnor mally every sound in tho room about her, The mans-voice, sun muuieu, broke in upon her thoughts. "If she regains consciousness before dawn, I thing there Is hope. There will probably be no change for an hour. It might be well" The nurse and doctor passed toward the outer room. For a moment she heard them speaking in low tones, then the faint click or a closing door. Slowly sho raised her rashes. Tho shaded lamp glowed like a golden star; the nurse sat bCBlde it, her head resting on her hand. Again tho wo inair smiled -without moving her llpsr They thought her still in that land of shadows where Bhe had groped for s6 long. So long! It seemed years bo fore she had heard the call and como back. She remembored thoBO long, dark hills with the cold wind on her face and the sound of sobbing in her ears the sound or her ,ovn aobs as she hunted Tor the way 'back. Then suddenly the voice in tho blacknoBB, and sho had opened her oyea to the lamp, and the great white bed. Now she felt curiously strained 'and eager, as ir she wore waiting for some thing or someone. Y6t the heavy frag rance of honeysuckles Bcemed to weigh her, down; the light blurred, and sho folt herself climbing tho hills again, with tho wincl In hqr face. With an effort sho struggled back, arid lay watching tho light and tho drooping head of tho nurse. Sho muBt wait a little longer. Per aps 'not very long; perhaps now she turned her head until ner chook lay In tho warm hollow of tho pillow. Thenthen sho know why sho had como back. How glad sho was. A joy that was -passionate In Ub interest leaped up In hor heart and glowed on her smiling face. For there in thq doorway stood tho Uttle-Boy-Who- Slever-Was only a great joy that ho had coine-at all. He moved quickly toward her, j MMt t.l... nnn, ...ill. M uiwl.lfltl tMiall t i mill niiv aim niin v oiimiv;n i won ' tenderness, how lino and Blurdy ho waB.' If he had only como In time to grow up She Btffled the rising re gret, and -her eyes wore clear and beautiful as ho leaned against the bed looking down at hor. "You cailed- me back why?" Sho lifted hor baud and touched his hair; she wanted to hear his voice. "You know," he replied, with quaint gravity, drawing hor hand down to hia cheek and holding It there. He nl ways did that In hor dreams. "You were to come with me. The lilHs wore so dark and cold. I wanted to tako care of you always." You knew me 7" she queried. How she loved tho way his hair grew on his temples! "0, yes." he replied Bimply. "I saw you from Yonder. 1 chqso .you for mine even beforo you thought of there being a mo." He laughed sortly, brushing his lips across her hand. "I'm twolvo now." Twelve! So she had dreamed of him that long. Ho was a big boy now, able to tako care of hor. It was so Kood to bo takon care or. All those years when she had struggled on alone; when there had only boon her lonely dreams ; j?jSt- "'You inustn'tthlnk or that," said the Llttle-Hoy-Whq-Novor-Was, read ing aright the shadow on her eyes. "I'm here now that 1b all. You nuiat come It's almost dawn. Come." Ho smiled as he slipped his sturdy arm beneath hor head. Suddenly, where she had been weak she was strong. She had been too tired to move Tor so long; at times It had been an effort hardly worth the trouble to lift her heavy eyelids. Yet now sho felt light and airy and full or eagerness, as ir her body were gone, leaving hor soul burn ing like a clear flame. Sho felt as young and strong as that night long ago when as a little girl sho had seen the golden star. She was glad, glad that tho years had slipped away leav ing her a lit companion for tho Little Boy.who'had come at last. AVith his hand In hors Bhe roso. Hand In hand they went to the door. There she stopped and looked back In the ontor room tho shaded lamp glowed faintly; tho nurse still sat with drooping head. "It Is almost dawn." Banl-the Uttlo-Boy-Who-Nover-Was again. "Wo must go." So hand in hand thoy passed down the broad staircase. Tho hall door stood ajar, allowing a heavy fragranco of JapaneBO honqysucklo to como stealing In. Without in tho garden, where a faint light was beginning to glow, there waB a rustling and Btlrrlng as of myriads of tiny wings fluttering. The dawn waB coming fast, yot tho two lingered a moment bororo an open door. Standing on the. threshold they gazed silently. At a long table U a man with his head sunk upon his' breast; the flngors of hla outstretched hand clasped a half empty glass. Tho woman shivered. Tho long, lonely years Then sturdy Angora closed on hera and 'alio met tho gravely tender eyes of tho Uttle-Boy-Who-Had-Nover-Been. It was very good to bo takon care of. Together they turned and passed down tho hall. With this issue "The Dally Nebraskan" presents its first LiteraYy Number under the su pervision of the English Club. I J rjf 7 p Ti T Tl T MACEL WAVES FEW TIPS ON VERIFICATION WITH 'ILLUSTRATIONS. When a rollow Is out or college; ho ruiiB across a bunch or things tho pro rcssors do not teach him in school. Thoro'B tragedy and comedy and ro mance lots or romance! And you know they don't teach those things here at school. Ho also bumps up against barriers or facts solid, re-en forced concrete facts! For Instance: In the onjctnlnan art or verification, he learns that, in addi tion to the proverbial f7 varloUt-s of rhyme schemes and motors, lie must "produce goods" 'hat will suit the cc cnBloh, regardless what the occasion may bo. Like tho girl from Nuckolls county, Who had been proposed to, en gaged and disengaged from hor twelfth to hor twonty-ilfth birthday, he must bo prepared ror any emer gency when It comes to rurijlshlng the "linoB." To illustrate: An amateur actor, aspiring for vaudeville notoriety, places an order with you for tho lyric or a song to be sung In a merry little sketch, entitled, "Aly Wife; or the Hunch of the Hon-Pecked Husband." Ho will call for It tomorrow. Now, you are tho poet In the case. You smoko three dozen cigarettes (all poots smoko cigarettes!) throw your self Into an hynotlc state of inspira tion (some poets substitute Porunn!) then, hair racing your stenographer (no poet Ib without one!) you Im pose upon tho unsuspecting public something like this: When a rellow's working hard, work ing hard all day. Trying to pay the landlord and keep the woir away; Tho nurBo rose and entered tho AVhal'r the use or nagging him, nag ging him, I auy-"-Just because ho happens to h" a husband. Refrain. Why should a rollow linger? Why should a rollow stay?. Why Bhould a rollow tarry when It's peck! peck! peck! all day? I don't belleVe In single llfo, but 1 think you'll all agree That when a wife begins to peck' it should be Strike 1, 2, 3. That when dear wlfby starts to peck Strlko 1 Strike 2! Strike 3! ' (Note: You supply verses by the yard.) "" Had the customer been an embry onic Mary Chatman Catt, you would liavo talked thuBly to your 'Stenogra pher, "lines" to bo chanted to soft music: The WJfe-Worshlpper. A aero llttlo mink of a man Haa a mook .modest maid of a wlfof And their days are as droama, at leaat ao it seome ' To tho'&e who know not their home lire. m But ah; 'tia not thus, for wo know How thoy fuBs, spat and quarrel every day; "The stuff's horn but gad! how. It's mndo!" When sho displays a now gown, ho oh , serves with n frown: "Whew! Cost enough! But Say, won't It fade?" In tho wlntor he rails at the gas bill: "Great heavens, woman, that's high!" Eastertide. It's the hat bills: "You might break mo up ir you try!" When Bummer comes then tho Ice man: "I am no millionaire, do you hear?" But his wife is yet sane, and as there Is naught to explain, She smiles: "1 know; and I am sor ry, my dear." Sometime, w suspect, he will sue hor For, divorce oil the grounds or abuse, Then to him frlonds will say, "Well, It's always that way When you worship your wife, you gOOBo!" Your Cuddlln' Babe. Suaphruillu Johnson was a bashful man; Saspharllla Johnson was in love; Saspharllla Johnson was a bashful man; Punic Llctus was ills tur tle dove. V y Now Sasphrl being very wise, went courting by degrees; Read to Punlo much poetry or kings and goldon seas: But Punic tho a patlont girl, was anx ious to bo wooed, So she cuddled fcloso to Saph ono night ami cuddling coftly cooed: Rofraln. Call me your Cuddlln' Babe, .dear- . ('all mo your Cuddlln' Babe. Call mo your Cuddlln' Babe, doar Call me your Cuddlln Babe. There are times I will admit When It loqks like a sort of an epi leptic fit, But Call mo your Cuddlln' Babe, doar! Call mo your Ctuldlln' Babe. If you aro aifked to wrlto tho rag time hit of tho musical year, you will probably digest threo volumes of George Ade or something like thut tako a sovero Turkish bath, then penj Tour CuddlInT3ab6. " THE NATURE OF OUR ENJOYMEOT OF TRAGEDY 80ME CONCLU8ION8 DRAWN . FROIvl PERSONAL EXPERIENCE " Sho had never seen him beroro, but always, always, her hoaHt had known him. There could bo no mistake. She know ho would have just such curly blaclf hair; just auch,gravo blue eyes. Then as Bhe watched him ho smiled and Bhe knew, before sho aaw it that thero would ,bo the little three-cor-nored dimple in hia cheek. As ahe lay with hor oyea upon him all tho lonely yoara which were bo- hind hor, tho years when ho had only lived in her dreams, passed in Blow procession beforo her. Yet' she folt inner room. For a moment alio paused beside tho groat white bed. "How beautirul sho lsj" she. murmured. "To think that sho can smllo so!" Thon somethlpg In tho attltuSe of the beau tiful figure struck hor. Sho bent for ward. The jqy in tho white faco held hor Hpollbound and silenced .tho cry on hor Hps Out in tho, fragrant garden, tho -Lft-s tle-Boy.Who-Neypr-Was said, softly, ak thoy turned tholr faces to tho dawn, "I shall take caro of you alwaysIiit! HO . Ul 13 11 III HIVlHCli ' f i When you go In ror tho flrBt prize offered by some musical comody pro ducer for a collego refrain that will get tho boys "whistling It In tho gal leries," you muster up tho courage to mail him lines that run somewhat Uko those: When Friends Must Part. Boys Days have como and days" have gone; the years have fluttered by: At last tho hour, dear friends, la here when wo must say goodbye. Aflhotlio years will roll along until this life Is oor, Tho memory of these dear old days we shall chorlsh for evermore. ' i . GIrls-r ,It'8 sad to leave our dear old school the parting of tho ways: . It's sad to leaVo our doar old friends, frlonds of our collego days. But there are times when frienda must part, tho host of friends thoy bo, And nil that la left of the olden times is frond sweot memory. Refrain. Olden times Oldon times In future years Uko silvor chimes. Echo Boftly from afar Echo!. Echo! from afar! WhlBpprlng tales of thoao we knew For, tho charming' to meot at church, on tho street, ' At homQjiUHbjuiilJs not quite that In tho morning, ho finds fault with tho " pancakes' ; Whjr can't we- have waffles In stoad?" At lupcheon 'he makes war on f tho beefsteak; ' 1 v- ' " ' "v t ( "You know that I wanted sweet bread." '"-t't 'jn.tho evening he besieges the' omelet: Tales or friendship,' AUI so truo Bringing visions of those we loved In Uio dour old goldon days. , But there aro times you fprget to smoko your cigarettes "and half-faco your stenographor. For example, you seo some poor damned nigger getting it' rubbed Into him from nil Bldeg sim ply and jtolely because he is black. You seoiii to hear him Bay: Must 'the. Dark Couds Hang? Dark clouds hang over tho mountains, i Dark cloudtf hang ovej tho soa ."''' Continued oil Pago 3 MIsb Ethol Puff or, In "Tho Psychol ogy or Beauty," summarizes her ex planation or "tho-phonomonon or our aesthetic reaction on the drama" in part as follows: "Thoro Is an undoubted emotional oxporlonco or gront intensity; and yot that emotion turns out to bo not the omotion in the drama, but rathor the' emotion from tho drama a unique in dependent emotion of tonsloh." "ThcTo must bo a very vivid emotional effect, but it is tho spectator's own, and not a copy of tho horo's omotion, because it is a product of tho essen tial form of tho drnma Itself, tho con frontation of forces.'' .Tho tragic situ ation "nuiBt bo inovltablu, and it must have movomont, because only so is tho confrontation reinforced." Miss Puffer's theory rathor appealed to me as I ilrst grasped it. I can dlo tlnctly recall that feeling of tension, and of detachment at tho Bamo time, v that flows underneath tho moro or loss ecstatic sadness I havo experienced in tho reading or hearing of tragedy. I can agree equally with the statbmont that tho more Inevltablo tho tragedy tho more ovouly matched and well jus tified .the contMidlng forcoa tlioT -greater the motional effect producod. But as I thought It ovor I rebelled at tho notion that wo do not feol with tho herof or even for him, we simply feel with ti tin. A weak and watery sentiment that, to break down tho cul tured roBorvo of educated play-goers and flbtion-readcrs! I cannot speak for others, of courso, but I want to ga Into a somowhat lengthy analysis of ono particular "aesthetic experience" that Ktands by Itflolf, n Hlnglo com ploto nnd vivid plcturo, in my unun- ory. It novcr occurred to mo before to try to explain tho oxporlonco; It was enough just to havo folt It. Two years ago r was a momUor of a ,class In clomontary Gorman, which was studying Wilholm Moyor-Forstor'B tale of Gorman studont lifo, "Karl Helnrich." It is a story told in an es sentially direct, dramatic stylo, and has boon staged with omlnont succoss in several Europoan countries. Rich ard Mansfield mado a distinct hucccss of it lu tho eastern part of our own country. Tho critics do not call it a great book, hut thoy do ascribe its popularity, not to any shallowness, but, on tho contrary, to tho genuine sincerity of subject and Btylo. Well, wo of tho class stumbled along me chanically through thd- first pages of the book, paying llttlo attention to tho story while wo tussled with tho un familiar medium that convoyed It. But 'one night, na I sat in tho-honio H biary dutifully toiling through my next day's assignment, I reached tho place where tho lonely, shy young prlnco, attending his first bauquot of tho "Corps' ac old' Heldolberg, dlscov- f ors for tho first tlmo In his llfo what it meuns to havo froe, equal, human rotations with his kind. Tho youthful, reckless .Joy of tho festivities goes to his head, and he. is Intoxicated, be side himself, carried up Into a sev enth heaven of bliss. . . s Here w,as something I lundorstood. T hiul pnwqpfl through ft fnlntly almllnr oxperlenco myself, and ,tho . romom- brance was fresh in my mind. Eager ly. I oil owed thci adventures of the en raptured boy. Hla love-affair , with charming'littlo waiting-maid Kathie at flrBt made mo Jfrown disapprovingly. But what ' could you expect? Tho prlnco, during his twenty years pr,o" In hla grandfathor's gloomy old castle, had 'seldom eVen soen a woman.rbon" the childish nnturalnoss .oMneYr ;ovo J '. ... .I'lU i'. won my ueart compieieiyr- ij rojpicoa In their sanguine, ingenuous plans tor Continued on Page 4 ' V 1 -v O t &