第28章 The Debating Club(1)

"Look here,old man,we ought to have a meeting.Holidays are over,and we must brace up and attend to business,"said Frank to Gus,as they strolled out of the schoolyard one afternoon in January,apparently absorbed in conversation,but in reality waiting for a blue cloud and a scarlet feather to appear on the steps.

"All right.When,where,and what?"asked Gus,who was a man of few words.

"To-night,our house,subject,'Shall girls go to college with us?'

Mother said we had better be making up our minds,because everyone is talking about it,and we shall have to be on one side or the other,so we may as well settle it now,"answered Frank,for there was an impression among the members that all vexed questions would be much helped by the united eloquence and wisdom of the club.

"Very good;I'll pass the word and be there.Hullo,Neddy!The D.

C.meets to-night,at Minot's,seven sharp.Co-ed,&c."added Gus,losing no time,as a third boy came briskly round the corner,with a little bag in his hand.

"I'll come.Got home an hour earlier to-night,and thought I'd look you up as I went by,"responded Ed Devlin,as he took possession of the third post,with a glance toward the schoolhouse to see if a seal-skin cap,with a long,yellow braid depending therefrom,was anywhere in sight.

"Very good of you,I'm sure,"said Gus,ironically,not a bit deceived by this polite attention.

"The longest way round is sometimes the shortest way home,hey,Ed?"and Frank gave him a playful poke that nearly sent him off his perch.

Then they all laughed at some joke of their own,and Gus added,"No girls coming to hear us to-night.Don't think it,my son.

"More's the pity,"and Ed shook his head regretfully over the downfall of his hopes.

"Can't help it;the other fellows say they spoil the fun,so we have to give in,sometimes,for the sake of peace and quietness.Don't mind having them a bit myself,"said Frank,in such a tone of cheerful resignation that they laughed again,for the "Triangle,"as the three chums were called,always made merry music.

"We must have a game party next week.The girls like that,and so do I,"candidly observed Gus,whose pleasant parlors were the scene of many such frolics.

"And so do your sisters and your cousins and your aunts,"hummed Ed,for Gus was often called Admiral because he really did possess three sisters,two cousins,and four aunts,besides mother and grandmother,all living in the big house together.

The boys promptly joined in the popular chorus,and other voices all about the yard took it up,for the "Pinafore"epidemic raged fearfully in Harmony Village that winter.

"How's business?"asked Gus,when the song ended,for Ed had not returned to school in the autumn,but had gone into a store in the city.

"Dull;things will look up toward spring,they say.I get on well enough,but I miss you fellows dreadfully";and Ed put a hand on the broad shoulder of each friend,as if he longed to be a school-boy again.

"Better give it up and go to college with me next year,"said Frank,who was preparing for Boston University,while Gus fitted for Harvard.

"No;I've chosen business,and I mean to stick to it,so don't you unsettle my mind.Have you practised that March?"asked Ed,turning to a gayer subject,for he had his little troubles,but always looked on the bright side of things.

"Skating is so good,I don't get much time.Come early,and we'll have a turn at it.""I will.Must run home now."

"Pretty cold loafing here."

"Mail is in by this time."

And with these artless excuses the three boys leaped off the posts,as if one spring moved them,as a group of girls came chattering down the path.The blue cloud floated away beside Frank,the scarlet feather marched off with the Admiral,while the fur cap nodded to the gray hat as two happy faces smiled at each other.

The same thing often happened,for twice a-day the streets were full of young couples walking to and from school together,smiled at by the elders,and laughed at by the less susceptible boys and girls,who went alone or trooped along in noisy groups.The prudent mothers had tried to stop this guileless custom,but found it very difficult,as the fathers usually sympathized with their sons,and dismissed the matter with the comfortable phrase,"Never mind;boys will be boys.""Not forever,"returned the anxious mammas,seeing the tall lads daily grow more manly,and the pretty daughters fast learning to look demure when certain names were mentioned.

It could not be stopped without great parental sternness and the danger of deceit,for co-education will go on outside of school if not inside,and the safest way is to let sentiment and study go hand in hand,with teachers and parents to direct and explain the great lesson all are the better for learning soon or late.So the elders had to give in,acknowledging that this sudden readiness to go to school was a comfort,that the new sort of gentle emulation worked wonders in lazy girls and boys,and that watching these "primrose friendships"bud,blossom,and die painless deaths,gave a little touch of romance to their own work-a-day lives.

"On the whole I'd rather have my sons walking,playing,and studying with bright,well-mannered girls,than always knocking about with rough boys,"said Mrs.Minot at one of the Mothers.'

Meetings,where the good ladies met to talk over their children,and help one another to do their duty by them.

"I find that Gus is more gentle with his sisters since Juliet took him in hand,for he wants to stand well with her,and they report him if he troubles them.I really see no harm in the little friendship,though I never had any such when I was a girl,"said Mrs.Burton,who adored her one boy and was his confidante.

"My Merry seems to be contented with her brothers so far,but Ishouldn't wonder if I had my hands full by and by,"added Mrs.

Grant,who already foresaw that her sweet little daughter would be sought after as soon as she should lengthen her skirts and turn up her bonny brown hair.