The Normal Record. January 1900

              12
THE NORMAL   RECORD.
tion, directness and searching tests." We
are proud of her, aren't we? But I must
hurry on; there are many I  must speak  of.
"While o'er my soul oceans of memory
seem to roll," I start at the many changes in
our lives. How vainly we builded; how little
we knew of fate's omnipotent power; where
are Mamie's vows of celibacy? Did the
drawn features of some old maid dampen her
ardor? Or were the smiles of the "long and
slippered" editor too much for her? And
who was this editor with the evil eye ? No
other than our old member-of-tbe-staff Edgar
Boyles, who has been twice a widower, and
now, with Mamie as his third wife, he hopes
to live happy ever after.
I suppose some day you may be fortunate
enough to go to the Philippines. My work has
called me there a number of times. Here I
found some of our number. I will name them,
so you may know whom to look for, if you
should go. There is Jessie Barnard, teaching in one of the large schools in the department of English. Mattie Cotton has the
laboratory in the same school, all to herself,
where she reigns supreme over the boys and
girls in that department. She is famous, as
she has discovered a means of obtaining
argon  by  bucketfuls  from   the atmosphere.
Belle Rader has found a sunny home here.
In this case it was the expected which happened— the doctor carried her off, and together they labor to heal wounds. Where
he fails she sometimes succeeds. Her life is
a happy song—tuaed to E major.
In the " city by the lake " (Chicago) you
will find a little home for orphans. Here you
will also find Ida Johnson. With her big
heart she makes every one of these little
motherless and fatherless children happy and
contented. They say in years long ago she
had a lover ; but never mind, she has many
now, and is true and loyal to every one. Here,
also, as a sunbeam, going hither and thither,
and taking light into many dark places, is
Edith Gustin, and many have been happier
and better because she has lived.
Will Graf made a wonderful discovery one
day, which has brought many sheckels to his
purse, even though it may not have brought
so much fame. It was a patent medicine for
making thin men fat. And now he is traveling through the world, with his pretty wife,
by the way, one of our number, Carrie
Mavity, who has made many years of his life
happy by giving up to all his whims. He is a
living example of the wonderful virtues of
his discovery, for as we remember him, he
was a man of only about 120 pounds, and
now I hear he tips the scales at 230.
Memory takes possession of my being, and
resolves all other faculties into itself. So
sadly sweet are its musings, that I can almost wish to be left trance-like upon this old
mountain's brow through all eternity. In
the dim vista of the past, scene after scene
emerges from the darkness and passes back
to the unknown realm from whence it came.
But of all the pictures, that of our old schooldays is the most reluctant to depart. But I
must hurry on as my letter waxes long, and
I have others yet to speak of. So it ever has
been, so it ever will be—mankind live by op-
posites. Note Stella, for instance. Where
is'her ambition to be the wife of a Senator?
Ah, Cupid, thou little mischief, what power
can ward off thy lightning dart ? But then
I have no doubt she is happier as the wife of
a Mr. Jones of Jonesville.    May  joy  be hers.
For another example of the failure to realize our ambitions, take the fate of Jerry.
Where are all his theories of the problem of
conjugual joys? Another of Fate's mockeries!
He still stalks through the world in the state
of single blessedness. They say he had an
early love, but I don't believe it.
And now I must name the rest hurriedly.
Will McClard was the Professor of Metaphysics in a university, and from delving into
the lofty thoughts of the great minds, his
theories became so airy and high flown, that,
with very little effort, he turned the current
of his energies and invented a flying ship. He
is now famous and wealthy. Mable Howard
is a teacher of mathematics in a school in
Alaska; she has always shown very marked
ability in her work. Cora Moyer has been
for some years a minister in Berkeley. I
heard her preach when there in 1920. Her
text was from John xv:13: "Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends," Her words showed a
key to the great universal love which her life
portrays. Grace Rittinger has been a nurse
for many years. Her home and workhouse is
the world.    She is the balm that heals   many