Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1890 — Mutual. [ARTICLE]

Mutual.

“It is hardly possible to be original in such a big world as this,” said a dear old lady. “I don’t feel very lonely in any of my prejudices. Somebody is sure to share them.” Two ladies traveling together recorded a solemn resolution, before starting,- that, if they made acquaintances bv the way, they would cannilv avoid telling their own destination. “For,” said they, “according to the tales we have heard, casual acquaintances are always offering their company on any route, and we don’t propose being saddled* with unwelcome companions. ” Now it happened that they did make acquaintances, and that all these people studiously avoided any reference to their own plans of travel. What could the reason be? Neither of the two ladies guessed, until one evening a chance bit of conversation, overheard on shipboard, enlightened them. “Don’t tell a soul where we are going, dear,” a lady was saying to her husband, “or we will have some of these small parties joining us. Don’t lie, dear, but evade them somehow!” Then the two travelers looked at each other with eyes opened to a wider worldly experience. For the first time, they realized that they were not merely avoiders of others, but persons to be avoided. The anecdote finds a parallel in the true story of three teachers who went for a few weeks to a summer resort, and resolved beforehand to tell no one their occupation. “I hate to be classified in advance,” said their spokeswoman. And with this, the others agreed heartily. Their stay was delightfully enlivened by the society of another party of cultivated women, and it was only when

addresses were exchanged, on the last night together, that the latter were discovered also to be teachers. “We determined not to let any one know,” said one, amid the general merriment that followed discovery. “We so hated to be classified!”