12
THE HESPERJ AN
time is this for mo. It has made mo fool
certain that if that if only "
They had strolled on very far now, letting
their feet carry them aimlessly, conscious
only of each other, and half pitying those
whom they had loft so far behind. There
was a silence of some minutes. Again she
felt that, had the world depended on it, she
could not have spoken.
Gathering all his forces, he went on.
"Such a time is this for me, not only be
cause I am so soon to receive the coveted
diploma which, for four years, 1 have been
striving for, not only because of to-day's
memorable experiences and to-morrow's an
ticipations, but for a much nearer reason.
1 repeat that I feel certain that that that
if only you think of this reason as 1 think
you think, there will bo nothing left for us to
fear from the world's buft'etings. " And he
allowed a sigh of relief and expectancy to
escape him, as ho turned to her for a reply.
Almost stifled with emotion, and finding
that all she expected and had thought to say
was escaping her, she struggled to open her
lips, and was horrified to find herself saying
almost involuntarily, and in her ordinary
voice:
"Tho Greek word of reason is aitia. Our
word comes from the Latin rori ratva, to
think, and thus has the same derivation as
rational. The form in Italian is ragione."
He looked at her, surprised and ofi'cnded.
Turning suddenly by a thick clump of shrub
bery, they found themselves face to face
with the world once more, in the middle of
the careless group from which they had
strolled away, it seemed to them, hours ago.
The Highest had not been spoken.
Tho Moment had come and gone, and had
been, after all, unfruitful; and they know
and felt, both of them, that it would never
como again.
Sho sighed, as a sense of the certainty of
this came over her, and her thoughts turned
once more, and more bitterly than before, to
the willowy junior maiden witli tho raven
bangs and cloar complexion.
Tho encampment at Nebraska City ma
be regarded in every sense successful. Tho
weather was perfect; when tho sun becaino
too glaring and hot the "officer of the da"
would just detail a small squad of clouds to
veil its brazen face and tho weather would
grow ploasant again. She camp regulation.
wore no doubt strict, much stricter than
usual but perhaps it was better to have them
so. A line must bo drawn somewhere; a
crooked ono will bo over-stopped and an
elastic one will bo strained beyond rccogni
tion, so let's havo it hard and fast.
Tho dovitlry that 200 fellows could per
petrate if unrestrained cannot be measured.
Indeed, to make an open confession, the
writer of this article wont to camp with tho
firm determination to 'swipe," or as Huck
Finn has it, "lift" a chicken or two and
perhaps conceal them in the tuba, but tho
fact of tho matter is he didn't have a chance,
and consequently the spring frys are re
tained by their rightful owners (unless
Haughton got the ones tho writer was
after.)
Everybody declares that Nebraska City
has scads of pretty girls, and the reporter
could see that during the four days in Ne
braska City hearts under bluo coats were
trumps.
It is generally supposed that this will bo
tho last encampment of the cadets, as tho
matter always raises a groat dispute in tho
faculty, as the encampments are not con
sidered by some to bo practicable. Tho
drills at camp wore especially fine this year,
the skirmish drills in particular. The com
petitive contosts were pronounced to bo be
yond the vision of mortal man.
Drum Major Wostermann: "Mr. Shafer.,
where aro tho buttons that belong to your
uniform ?"
Shafer: "Oh, DoWnif too 'em. He used
'em for cuff buttons."
0. of tho D.: "Mr. Scortum, after you
got those boots blacked I detail yon to
scratch ray left oar."
Scortum: "Yes, sir, Captain, file or sand
paper V
