Original Voices from the Past

“Love at First Sight”

In the little college town up the river from the big city, no more popular boy could be found than Tom Sheldon, or “Tommie,” as he was known on the campus, probably because of his sturdy bulk and merry, boyish face. The boys termed him a jolly good comrade and a fine fellow—the girls were pleased and puzzled by his disinterested attentions and evident admiration of the “co-eds” in a general disconcerting way. There was decidedly nothing sentimental about him, and if he had ever given the fair “co-eds” more than a second consecutive thought, it probably was to class them in his mind with the many other very enjoyable things which made up his college life, for he was most truly an optimist.

And so a certain fact was naturally very far from the minds of anyone, except his faithful room-mate, and this fact was the existence of a certain little miniature in a plain gold frame which rested snugly though handily in the confusion of collars and cuffs in the top drawer of his chiffonier. But since everyone is known to have some pet peculiarity, his room-mate regarded this as Tommie’s, and never molested the photograph after the first explanation when Tommie had said that he had found it in the refuse heap in the shop of a friend of his, a photographer.

But beyond this one eccentricity, Tommie was certainly a very sane and likeable chap. He was also a favorite with the faculty, and he especially delighted the instructors of mathematics and philosophy by his willingness to grapple with problems and theories. One day in the philosophy class the discussion had fallen upon love and the argument grew warm and vehement. Tommie stoutly maintained that “love at first sight” was impossible and absurd, while several others as resolutely defended it. Finally, as the class broke up, Tommie said to his room-mate, “I’ll wager you that photograph that I’ll never fall in love at first sight. ”

The wager was accepted and Tommie’s room-mate thereafter, at all parties and receptions, kept a watchful guard of him lest, unforewarned, his light-hearted chum should fall a prey to Cupid.

One evening at a reception which began the second semester, Tommie, in his search for fun and diversion, strolled up to a group, whose wall of black coats parted at the appearance of this favorite, and immediately one of the girls was saying to him, “Oh, Mr. Sheldon, I should like to have you know—”

Mr. Sheldon stopped abruptly for the ghost of a second, while his eyes rested with an incredulous, joyful expression on the face of the stranger. Then with his eyes still seeking her face as though in fear lest it vanish, he was murmuring as he took her hand “I am delighted, Miss Blaine”—while Miss Blaine also looked delighted, though a trifle startled and bewitchingly rosy.

Quite late that night when Tommie sought his own room he was greeted with the derisive laughter of his room-mate and the words: “So there's no such thing as love at first sight. Now, be a man, Tommie, and own up that you fell in love with that new girl tonight, and hand over that photograph.”

Tommie balked at first, but would not deny the allegation that he was in love. But when he could stand the teasing no longer, he strode to his chiffonier, and taking out the photograph, he held up before the astonished eyes of his tormentor the sweet, smiling face of the new girl.

“It may be love, but not at first sight, ” he said, with a defiant, red face.

So Tommie kept the photograph, and when he was a Senior he also won the right to keep the fair original of the miniature.

     Myrth Bartlett