The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1878-12-05
Shy Sixteen.

She is close on sixteen years OF dge.
Seventeen may be sweet, but sixteen is
unrythmical, unlovely, angular. There is
no poetry in her movements, no music in
her voice. The hue OF her cheeks, which
In twelve-month's time may soften to
the velvet ruddiness of the peach, changes
with startling rapidity from its normal
tint to an unromantic scarlet Her action
IS Jerky; she has way of coming into
awkward contact with every available ar
tlcle OF furniture, at as many points as
possible. She takes her seat at the table
with an air of sudden and sharp decision,
which causes her friends to open their
eyes and herself to subside into silence,
blushing, ashamed and terrified, she ad-
dresses herself to her plate, her cup, but
her arms and hands are unmanageable-
they fy off at a tangent, and plate and
china ars sent spinning on the floor. She
has iong fife of moody cilouUu, aud wlIru
she opens her lips for monosyllabic re-
plies, it is with the alarming effect of the
patent back strap action. Her eyes wan
der restlessly around the room, first dwell
ing upon one object or individual and
then on another, till she seems suddenly
to reco!lect herself and to be filled with
remorse and awe at the curiosity of her
gaze; her face puts on the deep crimson
of the peony; she gives her body a violent
wrench as if to straighten out the distorted
conscience within, and, with vision de-
jected Upwards, seems lost in some
strange trance. The conversation passes
by unheeded, and her meal remains un-
tasted before her. Presently her eyes be-
gin to wander again; but this time the
truant orbs are more readily reduced to
obedience; and the expression of penitence
which comes over her countenance is no,
so agonizingly patent. She appears COM
parati:ely at her ease; she has dared to
nibble morsel, or even lift her cup to
her lips. Growing bolder by degrees, she
displays some intention of taking more
active part in the social life around her;
she ventures upon little laugh, and then
is aghast with horror at the audacity Of
the sound. And SO the ordeal continues;
series of internal struggles, of desperate
attempts followed by manifest penetential
qualms-to show that she is at ease, a
combination Of innocence and clumsiness
born of that morbid ever-haunting self
consciousness which is the bane of tho
transition period of feminine hobbledehoy-
hood.
The grl of sixtee may be said, so far
as those to whom she is an object are
concerned, to exist in the future and the
past. She is pretty memory and fond
prospect. She has been a charming child
she will yet be delightful maiden. But
her loveliness is that of anticipation, and
her grace is that of hope. She may be On
the threshold of fairest womanhood, but
in watching her we stand in closed ves-
tibule, midway between landscape of
fascinating freshness and vision of per-
fection. Her childhood was thing Of
beauty, her ripper girldhood will be a Joy,
her present is as grabbed, harsh, and un-
musical as the dullest fool ever supposed
philosophy to be,--Sba ia in fact now
passiri- tl.zzss s7,i,, TIC the experience of her
brother q few years later. 1t may be
questioned whether it ould not be desir-
able for brief space of time to seclude
her completely from the social world. A
year hence she will be the most charming
of companions. Now she is but an incar-
nation of blushing, shuddering, self-con-
sciousness-Home Journal.