Dodge City times., 1885-03-05
HER BIRTHDAY GIFT.

ublt DllGl ADh L Ol1 L.
Emily Reed ia Cooley Lady's Book.
I'VE should not count our years mis-
fortune, and TO be candid, this, my 40tf
birthday, is the one day of my life tina
L have constantly looked forward to with
satisfaction"
"Since yesterday" l asked. doubt
fully.
''Since | was mere girl in my teens
that is the period considered the happiest
in woman's life, is it not? / fancy an
constitutioDally timid, for L have always
had an almost morbid horror of putting
myself in a position that could not break
away from"
Marriage being one of them ?"
asked.
But she did not seem to hear me, and
continued:
: "And then there were constant difficult
teasing questions to decide, and even pro
vokingly trivial things grew important il
i had to deal with them, and [ was sc
easily frightened"
"And So" began, for Frances had left
of speaking and seemed to have forgotten
my existence.
"Apd So" she repeated, shaking her.
self out of her musings, Il used to say
when am forty life will be worth living
There will be nothing more to happen
that is unusual; no more important de.
c;sions TO be made. The rest of ones
days will be spent in pleasant monoto-
ny. A few everyday worries that no
mortal can escape; sickness, perhaps, but
fbiny nnt,cnol tn haar mot binu tho
future to torment me-"
"And is that your idea of satisfactory
life?"
l could only ask questions, for l had
no sympathy in Frances mood that
night.
questions, whether we have done right
or wrong; wisely or foolishly," she an
swered, irrelevantly. whether one has
sacrificed ones life, or escaped misfor-
tune. Now at 40. am 40 tonight, you
know"
Of course l knew it was Frances
birthday, for it was to keep the feast,
that sat, metaphorically by her fireside.
"Forty seems load of years to carry,
and yet wonder what it is that makes
one old, for to tell the truth do not feel
bit older than l did ten years ago, and
not nearly as old as / did this night
twenty-five years. Then l dropped my
youth as we might an ill-fitting gar
ment. There was no possible way of al
tering it, and so l rid myself of it alto
gether Certainly can say tonight that
1 am better satisfied, more contented,
and"
Happier" / suggested, but Frances did
not appropriate the word.
Comfortable, that better expresses the
idea, unless one could honestly say salts
factory"
was very sure Frances could not.
There could be little satisfaction in a
woman's life devoid of near kinsfOlk,
fretted by small economies, and without
a home, for third story back room, even
in comfortable boarding house has but
few qualities of home prevailing it. "YOu
had enough in your youth to make life
very satisfactory" l said, for l remem-
bered when Frances father had been the
leading lawyer at our bar, and had lived
in more style than most of us.
had more money" she said, with a
shrug of her shoulders; 81 would like
some of it now, for it needs more to keep
OQc = Scll ISSpSStdUlS az ~ Sbnh nO ~.
But am not unhappy from the want of
money. Ones greatest misfortune is to
have history. 1t has all the properties
of ghost, and is hard to lay. 1, for in
stance"
l looked up quickly at Frances, then
as quickly turned my gaze to the fire, l
was going to say, but in fact to the stove.
l felt the natural flutter of pleasure that
one feels when ones friends are conf
Dental, and place you on different foot.
ing than you ever were before. 1t is
subtle fattery as well as mark of trust
when some friends confide to your keep.
ing a personal history.
Whether it was the clock striking ten,
or something quite as trivial that gave
Frances thoughts turn, l could not
guess, for instead of history had long
wished to hear, she fed me on cake and
wine in honor of her birthday, which she
produced from a convenient closet. After
that We chatted quietly, gossiping little,
bat harmlessly, and working up yards OF
fluffy wool with our hitting needles.
1t was the growth of my work that re-
minded me of the lapse of time, for had
given my own servant a holiday, and ex.
pected to walk home alone. But / had NO
fears, no matter what the time, for our
village always grew more quiet as the
hours shorten their numbers. The moon
was full and the only disagreeable part oi
my leaving was to creep like thief past
the closed doors of the sleeping boarders
Goodnight, and do not let the ghost
of the past trouble your slumbers," !
whispered to Frances, as she let me out
the front door.
"You know l have entered into the
charmed age when there is nothing more
to happen" she answered in q low key
and do not know why, for we were moi
demonstrative women, we kissed each
other as we said goodnight.
knew Frances was watching me un.
Il I turned the corner, which, as did, ]