180 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



honor bestowed upon him. Miss Cross, a mischievous young lady 

 of eighteen summers, inclined to be pleasantly sarcastic, just to see 

 the effects on her victims, led Johnson to where the coffee was 

 being brewed. Miss Hattie Seller, a corpulent Miss, always with 

 smiles as wide as a frying pan and a rotunda as spacious as a State 

 capitol, nudged up to him, squat down next to him, spread out a 

 pretty white apron and squeaks, "1 brought the best one for you, 

 Mr. Johnson." Jessie Fream, Rob Cahill and Jack Colburn, with 

 Johnson, made their way to the main hall where scores were ac- 

 tively engaged in different games. In a certain game Johnson 

 was named the pride of Dixon. Soon after this reception Dr. 

 Holmes received a letter from May Stone, the belle of the town, 

 wanting to know who the young man was who held such popu- 

 larity. She was a tall, graceful blonde, with soft blue eyes, and 

 not long afterwards he met her at a reception of a local lodge. Now, 

 Miss Cross, "you can't play any pranks on me, an easterner, so 

 don't make up any schemes said Johnson; as some young ladies 

 were grouped together planning to make a laughing stock out of 

 him, but never "succeeded. Jess, let's take him snipe hunting. 

 Good for you, Effie, you make arrangements and hire a rig for 

 Thanksgiving, the 29th, and we will give Mr. Johnson a bully time. 

 Johnson promised to go, but ne'er to be fooled by Californians, a 

 thorough investigation revealed what snipe hunting was, and Jay 

 Thompson and the victim to be, laid plans to go, and when the 

 opportunity presented itself to turn the tables on these mischievous 

 females. In the meantime they found out that the snipe hunting 

 game had been disclosed, and Johnson the wiser for it, as Thanks- 

 giving came along, and through the long dreary hours of the day 

 with not a soul on the street, he mused over the steed which was 

 to take him to the hunting grounds but never made its appearance. 

 The game was to take a foreigner to a field five or ten miles from 

 town'in the dark, let him hold open a bag to let the snipe fly in 

 while the rest of the party walked over the field with lanterns to 

 arouse them. After being interested in holding the bag (perhaps 

 an hour) the rest of the" party would drive off leaving the bag 

 holder to his fate, and when he finally found that he was duped, 

 would have to walk or get back to town as best he knew. Some 

 weeks later Johnson accompanied INIiss May Davis, a charming 

 blonde, who was on a visit from Santa Rosa to a lecture held at 

 Vendome Hall. After the lecture they walked down the road about 

 half a mile from the town, to where Miss Davis was staying, and 

 such a beautiful night, with the moon hanging low o'er the foot- 

 hills, it truly tasted of romance, and a charming maid with rosy 

 hue to her cheeks, the gift of this glorious clime beside him, why 

 shouldn't his heart leap in inspiring tones. 



(Concluded in next issue.) 



