# The same old pantomine

Extracted from the Smart Set magazine, August 1900, pp. 139-140. Accompanying illustrations omitted.
THE SAME OLD PANTOMIME
By Burton Egbert Stevenson
SEE the girl— No, not that one— She of the blue eyes and curly hair, Over yonder, Clad in the brown bathing-suit.
How her eyes sparkle and her lips pout! Mark the plump whiteness of her arm, The dimple at the elbow, And the pink little fingers Which she holds out imploringly To the dazzled youth beside her.
She is going to take a plunge. And the surf is rather high to-day. She gives a little shriek As it curls about her dainty ankles. She declares she never will dare to venture Into that seething torrent— That she will die of fright. She clutches at his arm, And he turns red with joy.
He speaks to her encouragingly— He is not large, nor strong. Just an ordinary youth. But he feels like a hero now. He tells her there is no danger— Is he not there to protect her?
She raises her blue eyes to his— Oh, ye gods! His brain begins to swim— Perhaps he has water on the brain. Else how could it swim?— His heart is beating madly. And he feels very warm internally. But she is cool, She is calm. She knows the ropes. So she presses to him. She shows how much she trusts him. She places her life in his keeping. Instinctively his arm is about her waist. And they go down into the surf together.
But is she really frightened? Not on your life. She has been there many times before— Many, many times. She can outswim him two to one. If there is any rescuing to be done, She will be the rescuer. But she is wise. She knows she must appear a timid, shrinking thing If she would make his heart go pit-a-pat. She has tried it a hundred times before, With others, And it has never failed, For men's hearts are very much alike.
To-night, Beneath the old arbor back of the boathouse— How well she knows the place, And will happen upon it again by accident— He will tell her how he loves her, How he yearns To go through life protecting her Even as he did this afternoon. And her eyes will melt into his, Her head will droop upon his shoulder. She will breathe a little sigh Of love and rest and uttermost content— And he will feel, With swelling breast, That at last he has become a Man.
As she rests there And listens to his fevered protestations, His hopes and fears, and plans for all the future, She decides that this time it shall be for keeps. 'Twere dangerous to dally longer, For she was born in 1870— Although the 0 in the family Bible has been altered to a 6— And she begins to feel A-weary of it all.
She is ready to retire And leave the field to other girls Who have been rehearsing The same old pantomime, And who have already given her a point or two.
How can one win a race Handicapped by the weight of thirty Summers? 'Twere better to retire, Become a matron, and go decently to seed.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1962, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 61 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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