Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-04-30
THE CONFESSIONS OF A FLIRT.

tne days OF ner frivolous youth very
much as we may all hope to look back
from some future state upon the follies
and mistakes which we have committed
in this present life. TO this line of study
it may be promised, she has been melted
by Il faithful attendance upon the sum
mer sessions of the Concord school, and
the promoters of that much-laughed-at
enterprise may felcitate themselves upon
having in this instance, at least, gone far
toward unwilling the inscrutabe.
This retired coquette, whose revela-
tons it is permitted to cite, is not II sec
ond Ninon de L'Enclos, in respect of
years. Had she chosen to do so, she
might have kept on making willing slaves
of masculine admirers to this very day.
1t was only decade since she was at the
zenith of her power, and she was brought
to Il sense of her responsibilities by learn
ing how she d-speaking after the man
ner of men-brokcn the heart of her dear
est school-mate. The friendship between
these two was one of those which ire
sistibly remind us of the affinity of bodies
oppositely electrified. While Flora had
three or four engagement rings in her es-
critoire before she was out of school,
Alice never had lover until after she
was twenty. Then everybody said,
"What a capital match" and Flora was
among the most sincere and ELUSIVE of
all those who rendered their cOngratula-
tons. She had never met John, Alice's
atiianced, but the fates decreed that he
should leave the large inland city, where
she lived, and take up his abode in New
York. OF course, one of his first duties
was to call upon the dearest school friend
of his fiancee, and, to make long story
short, he presently fell victim to her
charms. When he had listened to the in
evitable "No," and passed through the
inevitable reaction, his heart returned
as the needle to the pole-to his first love
but, being an honest fellow, or possibly
fearing that Flora would not keep his Sc
cret, he made clean breast of it to Alice
and was promptly dismissed at once and
forever.
Now, it so happened that Flora busted
with fresh cOnquests, did not for many
years suspect the true reason of this es-
forsworn the world and joined a sister
hood, and John-well. to state it shortly.
he had gone to the bad, in altogether
hopeless fashion. This set Miss Flora to
thinking, and, as her conquests had been
falling off of late years, and she was near
ing the grand climacteric,' she, too,
joined sisterhood for period of tenn
porary reflection, and when she emerged,
went to Concord.
Her analysis of the mental processes
peculiar to the flirt is suggestive. Il do
not think" says, ''that | ever flirted with
the hope or intention of seriously win
ming mems hearts. 1t was fun to receive
their attentions and to be able to lure
them away from other girls, and espec-
tally was this the case when the men
were married or engaged. In most in
stances think they went back to their
own, and their own received them. Why
did | do it? Well, think the reason was
this: | really liked all agreeable men,
and anything that looked like lack of ap-
probation on their part was so exceed
mgly diStasteful to me that straight
way strOve to overcome it. The Young
;,,t,
as matter of course for several years.
but older men heard of me before being
presented, and fought shy. did not I'M
derstand this then. | thought that they
disliked me, whereas it was probably
caution or disapproval, and | set myself
forthwith to disarm the caution and
change the disapproval to liking. 1t was
simply unpleasant to me to have anyone
indifferent. have cried time and time
again on my way home in the carriage
simply because some one whom | wanted
to please seemed Indifferent. Several
times was actually caught with tears on
my cheeks by those of whom | was
thinking, and | always managed to let
them guess the reason of my tears. That
was always etlectual. 1t never failed to
bring about the desired end, but declare
solemnly that | never did it on purpose
cried, mean-and never intended to be
caught in tears. | suppose that most
men will refuse to believe this. but it is
true. | was simply at my wits end with
wretchedness, because | thought some
one had taken dislike to me.
''Of course | cannot tell what motives
govern other girls in such matters, but
this is the rationale of my career in soci-
ETY.. | never yet saw the man that |
wanted to have with me for life, to the
exclusion of others. simply liked them
all in light-hearted way, and craved
nothing more than a return in kind
When found that in one case had I'M
Willingly done infinite mischief, was
overwhelmed with remorse. | pictured
to myself the other similar cases of which
might not have heard, and in sincere