The Penn's Grove record., 1889-11-23
Fond and Foolish.

The fond and foolish womeni They
are all about us, and Pearl Rivers well
describes them in q late number of the
New Orleans Picdyune.
The one who is left behind-ah, the
one who is left behind! 1t is almost
always o woman, What does she do?
II she lovesthe careless, happy-go-lucky
young fellow or the deliberate, saneti-
monious old fellow, she will gaze after
him through o vista of tears as long "a
there Is . piece Of him in sight and
then she will rush up stairs and grab
one Of his old vests or coats or plunge
her head into an old hat that has been
left behind, too, and cry like the big
baby she ia. At breakfast her coffee
will taste salty like tears, and at dinner
her sou will be tasteless. If she
sleeps at all for the first few nights. she
dreams that she seesher beloved afar of.
He iscoming towards her with q smile OF
love on his face. He m nearer and
nearer. She stretches out her arms to
embrace him. A dark cloud falls be-
tween. She calls, but he does not an
swer. : She gropes ---..@-.cfs
ness. dut she c~annott -rtsburo
wakes, sobbing, to fn,II vH-
up in bed with her arm; Hon''9ues
and the tears streaming ding. me
All, is there q woman who NJ
who has not dreamed such Dire,
parted from her beloved2
Careless Charlie or solemn Sole
promised to write from the first 81,
ping place. They forgot to do it, L,
course; but the one who is left behind
does not forget to look for the letter.
She starts and trembles at every sound
Of the door-bell, and If it rings unusu-
ally sharp and quick, she is sure it Il
the telegraph messenger bringing the
news of q railroad or steamboat disas-
ter, in which her beloved has been
mashed as fiat as a founder, or blown
sky high. 1t was not q telegraph mes.
senger. She thanks God for that.
But it was not the expected let.
ter either, and she plunges her head
into the old hat again for comfort.
In what strange ways we women COM
fort ourselves when parted from q be-
loved onel
know q woman-a literary woman
who develops a sudden fondness for
needle and thread and thimble when
her husband leaves home. She over
hauls every article Of his wardrobe, and
sews on buttons by the dozen, and tape
strings by the yard. Ihalf suspect the
ely man takes a short trip from homo
once or twice a year just to get his
clothes mended.
I know another wife who always
mounts her husbands old slippers on q
pedestal of some kind. and says her
prayers to them night and morning IN
til he returns. l know Q woman who
has q vest belonging to her sailor love,
who has gone OIL q long cruise. She
keeps 1t hidden carefully away in tho
bottom of her trunk. I caught her
kissing and crying over it one day and
I said: "Why didn't You ask him to
leave you a pair of his old boots?" She
turned her eyes on me with q glare and
answered: "Do you suppose his heart
Is in his feet
II hope not" I replied, s'but it GER
tainly is not in the pocket Of that old
vest"
sNo," she answered, ''but il used to
cover his dear heart, and I'd rather
have ii for q keepsake than the diamond
locket Kate years with her sweetheart's
picture in it,"
s.How tastes do differl" I said TO my
self, thinking of the comfort Kate gets
out Of the locket hidden away in her
bomfn. and what comfort Mary finds in
The ring that her Harry left her to re-
member him by when he went TO New
York on . business trip ten days ago,
ny how fondly Jennie treasures 3
,lessi et handkerchief that belongs to the
reSSshs loves.
openev what fond and foolish creatures
70 on2en arsl-Pearl Rivers in Nsw
.ster at
aSfad Inr