Litchfield enquirer., 1881-12-29
I sfs9y 10l hiIR ,sEif57I 10 s.j-t IA SOCIAL FAILURE.

! 7ulqfn2 bsixi li1apL8ilsI ou bs5asi7sgxs Q 1 Ieis aidisastrous thing for < t,,af to- be so-
 cial failure. Worse. ladies, than for one of yourselves Hear my confession. xsS Three years had elapsed since I, q would-be gay thing of a bachelor, started in chambers Mayfair. and tiiere was DO more blinking the
 truth.6 Society had tilted me cruelty inde--
 fangably though l continued to court het In-
 troducti6ns, good family name, unblenished
 character. private means. excellent intentions,
 had ali failed miserably 10 float me on the tantalizipg sea of pleasure, fashion. filtration,
 that surged around me. 4 | ! The fourth of May came, bringing with it's
 spring blossonis a magnificent crop of spring | gaieties not for me, John ,Anstruther.
 Thirteen posts passed my door daily, nor left
 me so much as a card for . ball had eeas-
 ed even to dream of invitations to dinner l Why was h. 'dropped" thus I bisteriy in-
 quired.. Had | not invariably gone when in- 1 sited. arrived puuctually, and called within
 forty-eight hours1 For society, ladies' society,
 young ladies' society, was to me the one sweet
 thing that made life worth living To daily | awhile in, the ,srosebud garden of girls, "d de-
 liberatelY select thence sthe queen rosebud | should aDrefer-sucb was my hearts hope quenched. my youths ideal uncouditionally denied me. iel, ss.gi 4fs niniI TgG11ssI My disappointment, which amounted to de- spar broke out one day to my friend and fel- 1 lpw-lodger, Francis Barry, whose brilliant | butterfly life wfetched | had once inspired to l emulate. The mere sight of his mirrtr stuug me to frenzy It was maze of pretty notes \ and cards my Lady This, and ,he Hon. Mrs. That competing for his precious company at dinners, dances, fetes water parties and every | conceivable variety of alluring entertainment. 1 saw names that sent a thrill tO np bosom : | addresses Il would have forfeited gold mine for the right 10 enter those walls l.R szi.elsf | "Favorite of aFortune," I cried euvieusiy, "what 8 heaven is earth fora Prince Charm l ing like you!" He is a fool who complains to handsome
 and popular fellow that he is neither the one
 nor the other.~ But passionate longing bore down seff-respect.
 Francis twisted his black mustache, and asked, with affected surprise. ,I .s3sf~} q Whats wrong with you, Johnny 7"
 ''i should like to know," 1 rejoined with
 grim itony 9go Wh4tev yer the cause, Pm
 failure. Il Barry. dismal failure, in the 3D. ciety to which was born. If were a con vict, or an idiot, or .deformed., they couldn't give me up more unreservedly Compare our lots (pointlng eloguently to the mahteshelf. "Yet you art not, like myself, Government Office young man? Are not our fanliies on g
 par ?" Ispoke generously, for my father was col onei of aserack cavalry corps, Barry's but an officer of marines. ..f,, ..st .as'a ..tf 4, Ranks not everything nowadays" he re- minded me. All depends on circumstances leaning his tall spare figure hack against the chimneypiece. his bisck hair and provokingly good features displayed in becoming frame of invitations to dinner.
 Circumstances? Ha. ha! He sang like
 bird, did Barry; acted like Charles Matthews redsuscus; and decorated any room he was in. could not sing, stammered intermittently in
 my talk, and spoilt the only farce. I ever play ed Tn by speaking my part-"Dinner is on the | table"Ain an inaudible voice. My shyness,
 intensified by repeated rebuffs, was like de. 1 moniacal possession that seized me when in company. lnever opened li.y lips now but to say the wrong thing -never made q step without stumbling, or treading on someone's ''You look ready to cut your throat. 1" re-
 marked Barry laughing-the william!
 Il am. Other fellows would fail back on low eompahy nIshan't do that sut I'm
 tlredto death ef niy own ''a a5 iJz llA3 sskL
 s'Tahe my auviCe, he said. ''Cut Vanity Fair. Try the opposition shep-the ladies of
 intellect and learnihg, ahe camp of.the Am | azobs, the emancipated. Don't make faces. knew a man much in your predicament last J d
 killer among the sisterhood. , D. s@'.. + ."The shrleking sisterhood of outrageous
 spinsters. broke in savageIy. '''They will ! put up with bloekheads like me because fine | fellows like you detest them. s -.t .4 -,5. s'Oh. I'm, told they've crowds of pretty and
 charming women among them now, aud that
 shy fellows like yon get on there like house
 on fire, he pursued, ehaffing on heartlessly Heres tbe Very thing for you-a ticket Lady Gay has sent for the cOnsersass0ne of the La l dies Athen@um to night at the Cassandra l Rooms, with a note-'I have promised to
 scatter these cards. Help me-, if you have
 any old frumps of friends ... to send to the l Cassandra Rooms Don't forget that you dine
 with me at S. The Duchess has promised, !"
 etc. We'll" tossing me the card, .show
 about Cassandra Won't you go and see the I land ?" -f,l
 Confound Cassandra and her club '" ex- I claimed stridng out in rage, and heard 1 the scoundrel laughing behind mo-
 That night, finishing my solitary chop at
 the club, had vision saw Francis Bar | ry dining with duchess, charming her by
 his empty talk, peeling peach for her. My
 brow burned. As drew out ply handker-
 chief. card fell on the floor I read Gas
 sandra Rooms-Ladies' Atben@um. had
 pocketed the hated thing unawares in my dis
 traction. l ''lil go,' said madly s'If stay here
 shai: cut my throat in good earnest.
 entered the Cassandra Rooms, my mind
 made up f9r bad dream of plain women with
 cropped hair, neutral .attlre, and spectacles. But there was hon in the path to be faced
 hrst, namely, lady by the door, doing the
 honors. She glanced at my ticket-I had
 filled in my name-then at re
 | Wretched experience has rendered me mor
 bidly acute to the first impression"I make.
 Was it possible that this, for once, was not
 gnfavorable? felt strange soothing sensa- 1 tion. And she was not SO uncomely a mat
 ron and rather we'll dressed h "a
 l saf lou are stranger here, 1 think, Mir. Ans
 truther s"' she said kindly, but with no ex- l asperating pity. Let me introduce you to
 our Secretary, Miss Priscilla Hale"
 1 lntroductions are my moments of suprem-
 est anguish. My stammer comes on, my bra in
 evaporates. I rack the remains of it, but no
 words nor ideas will come, A flul, crossed
 my eyes. Then loud cheerful voice said, l 'Are you in favor of Ladies' clubs ?" in a
 oraclng tone, that somehow gave me nerve to
 articulate intelligibly,
 | "I call that question for the ladies. What 1 are your views, Miss" 4 l Confusion! There-Pd forgotten her name !
 Priscilla Hale" she supplied it calmly. I "Well. I hold that if our clubs mostly fail it
 is because they are too mixed. Put butter
 flies with bees they will fight The Ladies'
 Athen@um admits workers only This bril-
 liant assemblage" q stared) lis an suspicious
 inauguration. Oh you're, quite among the
 blue-stockings tonight, Mir. Anstruther. Shall we walk round II can tell you who's who. and what's what, if you care to know" | 1did not aobject-I never can. Were la yto say tome, Shall we jump out of the
 window ?" should acquiesce. As we paced
 the rooms she made good her word. and prov
 ed besides a'snost amusing cicerone.
 That angel-faced, golden-haired creature
 is Mrs. Haller, the grand bulwark. of female
 suffrage. The fat little old person, whose gray hair is coming down, is ..zephyrine. g who writes such passionate romances The pretty girl hehlnd us isI Jamie Somers, great
 Greek scholar, and the translator of Aga
 memnon-" Those glass cases contain col, leclion of flying sdragons fossil fungi, and a