Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-11-23
MANS DARKEST MOMENTS.
Waiting for a Woman to sect Ready

Deen so DuI Ill lucSt udio VI uiilpll
Gated costumes, and innumerable ap-
pendages Of the toilet, it is a stupen-
dous undertaking.s.You are infatuated
with Miss B. You invite her to ride
behind your span Of grays. You are
wise enough to know that all women,
or most of them, like a fine turnout,
and would much sooner be made love
to bya man who owns a nice team
than by one who takes his airings in
horse cars or %omnibuses.
You set the time at $3.50 pm. She
asks sweetly if you could not just as
we'll come at 4. 0fcOurse she would
like to 90 earlier, but she doubts if
she can get ready, and of course, as
you are notmaried to her, you are only
too happy to do Just as she wants you
to. After marriage, as the French
say, we change all that and when
monsieur bids her madame must be
ready or left behind.
At precisely / the nextday youdrive
to Miss BIS gate with agrand flourish.
1t looks old fogyish to be walking up
with your horses to the hitehing post,
and yo have been showing your ami
mats the whip a few blocks back,
They are stirred up by it, and toss
their heads and paw up papa BIS con-
crete, and snap at the s~hrubbery in a
vicious way and assure you equinely
that they had just as soon not wait for
a woman to get ready.
You think at first you won't hitch
them. for surely she is ready. but re-
membering former experiences with
those Of her sex. YOU change your
mind and give a small boy ten cents to
have an eve on them. You ring the
bell and are admitted. and the small
boy engages in marble playing with
another small boy, and trusts the
horses to Providence.
Is Miss B. ready you blandly
ask the maid servant.
She doesn't know. she'll inquire.
You stand first on Que foot and then
ON the other. and stare at the hat-trce,
and pull up your new style collar
which ought TO stand up, but which
has developed an obstinate tendency
to lop down, and you wonder where on
earth that servant has gone to inquire,
and YOU run out to see your horses,
and administer some sharp words to
your small delinquent groom, and be
thumbs his nose AZ YOU the minute
your back Is turned.
By the time you get In the housC
1Inz B. is coming down the stairs in Z
toilet made in evident haste. She /.
cordial, and invites you into the par
Tor. and says Marie VIII be down in a
moment, and she Is so sorry to have
Kept you waiting.
From above stairs you can hear the
sound Of the notes Of preparation
Much treading back and forth, open.
ing Of closet doors, shutting Of draw.
ers. scOlding Of the maid IN suppressed
tones. and liYeliness generally.
If you could look into Marie
chamber you would be in despair
Her crimps are not taken down
her boots unbuttoned, her pull-baek,
elastic cords are out Of gear, and tn.
maid is fixing them she can't fin,
her bracelets one cuff-pin is missing
she has put a%rnioaon her handkerehie
By mistake, thinking it was locke.
Club; there is a button off her basqu.
from hurried buttOning, and oh. dear
dear where are her lemon kids, AM
her parasol, and her lace scarf, am
that coral neck-chain. and a shawl am
a white lace veil, and a dozen othe
necessary articles.
She has hurried so that her face i
all ablaze and she is sure she look
like a washer-Woman, and she seize
her powdeT-puf, dabs a little chalk o
her forehead, and hopes it won't b
seen, as she is going out to ride with
gentleman and not with a woman.
All unconscious Of the trials Whic
beset your charming Marie, you an
striving to do the agreeable TO Mrs. b
with the sound Of your horses PAWN
up that sidewalk in your ears, and so
know the old man is particular abou
his grounds and directly you hea
something snap and rush out to fin
that one Of your spirited nags has BIZ
ten off a f%ence-picket and is trying h
best on another, by way Of desert.
Will ever she get rcady2
You 90 back TO tell Mrs. B. thi
your horses are 50 FESTIVE you muI
} stand by them, and you retire to III
p sidewalk, painfully conscious tn;
5 across the street in that big tenemeI
house half a dozen children and youn
G people, and as many more idle l0afer
$ are watching you and laughing at you
3. predicament, and telling each 9th,
{ that that is the chap that is trying
$ court Marie b., and she's had nh
q fellars already and every one Of 'eI
r went back on her
. You consult your watch, ; o'clocl
You feel inclined to swear a little. bl
c early piety forbids, and you try
possess your soul in patience.
s The door opens. She comes raider
T and smiling, in the loyeliest Of new co
/ tunes, pinned back so tight that 81
creeps toward you like a snail. and "
o mentally wonder how she is eyer eoii
to step high enough to get into d
d carriage; and her hat is so becomin
Q and her black lace scarfc increases Il
whiteness Of her neck so much. m
IS she tells you SO swcetly that you fo
infinitely obliged to her for doing
and feel for the moment as if I
It highest and most supreme delight
existence could be found only in wa
ing for her to get ready. IN
Thorn.
The Yellow Fever at GreenylII