St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-18
THE MARR1AGEABLE GIRL.

THE MARRIAGEABL GlRL.
Of all the Bible heroines, REBEKAH
stands forth most conspicuously as a
model for manageable young women.
REBEKAH had blue blood in her veins,
for she belonged to one of the Oldest and
most aristocratic families in Mesopo-
tamia, but for all that there was not a
more unpretentious little woman in all
that country. She was not one OF those
foolish girls we meet with occasionally
nowadays, who imagine that descent
from an honored ancestry is all that a
woman needs to give her station in So
ciety. Neither was REBEKAH a power
ty-stricken lass; for old BETHUEL, her
father, was the leading capitalist i'll that
part of the East. He had money,
and lots of it, and herds of cattle
and sheep that would have surprised
a Montana ranchman. Ii REBEKAH
had been a giddy girl of fashion. and
wanted to shine in society, BETHUEL
could have rugged her out in tawdry and
sent her to Newport or Long Branch
for three seasons in succession, and
never have missed the money he spent
on her. Oh, no, there was nothing
shoddy about REBEKAH. She had
money and blood, and came by both
honestly. 1t was, perhaps, her supreme
consciousness of being possessed of all
the elements that entitled her to social
station which made her so Indifferent
about it. 1t often occurs that the girl
who is loudest in her social pretenSions
is the one who has the furtheSt to
climb before she gets on a solid basis.
In nine cases out of ten, when you hear
a young woman Dragging about what
she has done or is going to do in swell
society, you can safely set her down as
a society deadbeat.
REBEKAH was the beauty Of MeSOpo-
tamia. Oh, what loneliness there was
In that olive-tinted face, those lustrous
eyes, those red, pouting lips, that dark
hair, which fell in wavy mass over
shoulders that were the envy of all the
maidens of Major! But good looks
couldn't spoil girl of REBEKAH'S
good sense. 1t would have been par
donable if she had fingered for a mo-
ment now and then over the watering
trough to admire the image of reflected
beauty mirrored there. But that wasn't
her style. She was business girl, and
had no time for vanities. When hired
help was scarce about the house RE-
BEKAH was the first to lend her mother
a helping hand. She didn't mind dust
ing the rooms, or sweeping the
carpets, OF l1neading the dough, or bak
ing the cakes. REBEKAH was not a
girl to sit in the parlor all day and
thump away at the piano while mother
was scrubbing the kitchen or cooking
the dinner. If anybody needed rest it
was mother. and REBEKAH would go
into the front room and draw mothers
chair up to the window, where she could
inhale the perfume of the flowers, and
look out upon the fields, and then tell
the dear old woman to sit there while she
looked after the household affairs. More
than that, if BETHUEL'S men went out
OH strike, REBEKAH would take her
little shepherds crook down from the
wall and, putting Oh her cute little butter
cup hat, would go out into the fields and
herd the focks, while her old father re-
NAMED under the shadow of the home
roof to keep mother company.
1t is not much of surprise that RE-
BEKAH's fame spread beyond the con-
fines of her own country and that all the
young men in both MeSopotamia and
Canaan wanted her for wife. She
was just the kind of a girl to attract
beauX, and they were not of the butter
fly type either. REBEKAH had no re-
spect for the Mesepotamian dudes.
Away off in far country was grand
old man, the patriarch of his nation and
the wealthiest of his times. He had a
son-an only son-who would soon fall
heir to his imperial possessions. Nat
urally enough, the old man wanted to
see his son welded before he died. He
had heard of the good traits of the
lovely maiden in Mesopotamia. and he
concluded that she was just the
woman any prudent father would Sc
lect as a wife for beloved son.
Accordingly the truSty messenger was
dispatched to open negotiations with
the parents of the young woman, look
ing to matrimonial alliance with his
own powerful house. The story of the
servants meeting with REBEKAH at the
well land of how he made known his
mission is familiar to all Bible readers.
IsAAC's courtShip was done by proxy,
and with as little ceremony as it was
possible to invest it with. The average
girl would have been piqued that ISAAC
don't come in person and do his own WOO
ing. But there was nothing romantic
protracted courtShip with moonlight
nights and long promenades, and sitting
uuder the olive trees in the garden list
ening to what her lover said. nor
of hanging on the front yard gate,
and of squeezing of hands, and the
rushing together Of two love-sick souls
when the lips meet, and all that sort of
truck which goes to make up the sum
total of courtships in these modern days.
Far from it. REBEKAH was not in the
spooning line. She heard what ABRA-
HAMS servant had to say, and then, like
dutiful daughter, she turned with
pleading eyes to the old folks to learn
what their wishes were in the matter.
That was soon settled. The parents of
such sensible daughter must have a
good share of sense themselves. They
referred the matter back TO her for de-
cision. There was no begging for time
in which to make up her mind, nor even
a demand for postponement OF the we'd
ding until the trousseau could be pro-
yiled. She knew that her father had