The morning call., 1891-11-15
THE TRIALS OFA PRETTY GIRL
A Story About Girls ard Written for Girls
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX
BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.


her parents she was accustomed to seeing
anybody turn to look at her. and to hear
fiattering expressions about her hair. her
. eyes, her teeth, her complexion. All this
. would have spoiled her long before our story
begins but for the counteracting effect OF her
mothers influence.
Dolly adored her mother, who WAS most
sweet and tender woman, and quite an in
valid. So when she saw her mother weep
ing it broke her little heart and made her
very serious One Of the first things which
Dolly remembered was having her mother
take her aside and say
=. " You are very, very pretty, dear. but In
stead Of being proud and vain you want TO
consider il dangerous gift and something
: to make you very, very careful in your cou-
- duct. You never want to speak about your
beauty, but you want TO reaiza in your own
. heart that il makes you 4 sort of target TO
attract public attention. Any bad conduct
or careless behavior on your part will be
noticed and talked about and IT viii be
said that you have nothing but pretty
lace to recommend you; and If you are
poor scholar and backward In your lessons
: people will say you have an empty head
behind your pretty face. You can never
know what real privacy or retirement is,
for you will always be noticed; and selfish
. men will try 10 make you believe all their
silly and false words, aud jealous women
will wound your feelings. on. it is very,
very 5au kullRf very grave illluB 70 Dt
. the possessor OF such beauty as yours, and
it makes me so sad to think of all the
trouble il may bring you as il brought your
auutV' And then Mrs. Sumner usually
ended in tit of weeping, which made her
little daughter very sad indeed, aud filed
her with tremendous sense of response
bility.
:. SO at Il. instead of being a vain, spoiled
d. child, with tilppaut disagreeable manners
and conscious airs, as most beautiful girls
at lYuf 81 Ia ly mo .asr
assuming and remarkably serious for her
years. And she was, too, an unusual
scholar, having applied herself earnestly to
her books, for fear Of hearing il said that
her pretty face had an empty head back of
Il; and as she was not quick to learn, she
often was obliged to remain indoors at
recess to study, or 10 rise earlier in the
morning TO con over some lesson.
Already she had found the thorn in her
rose of beauty. One day she came home
from school and tArew herself on the floor
at her mothers fePt weeping bitterly.
oh, mamma" she cried, Il wish | were a
real hOmey grill | am so tired of being
pretty aud having to give up all the fun at
school. To-day | stayed in both recesses
aud part OF the noon hour, so as to have my
lesson, ana Ellen Graves said they never
had so much fun in the court as to-day.
- She failed in lots of her examples and
couldn't answer ole of the questions in
. grammar and she didn't seem to care,
!. either; and the teacher did not reproYe her
. 81 all. Everybody says Ellen is the home
lest girl in the school, but she seems to
rave the best time of any of us, and the
: teacher gives her her way in everything"
70" " Well, dear, that Is because Ellen's
father is n very rich man." answered her
mother geEty. " Ii IS great shame that
-:-schOol-teacheEs so often show Partially
toward their rich pupils but such is the
=. case the world over, Ellen's plain face
- VIII never attract attention to her de-
fciencies, and her money will gid them
over If they are noticed. But as you have
beauty and no wealth, you must strive to
make yourself invulnerable TO the worlds
criticisms
- Gne day Dolly overheard a neighbor re-
mark TO her mother: " How delighted you
: must have been when you fIrst saw that
yOEr little girl was the pOsSesSOr OF such
..ruu,Ual beauty and she heard her mother
: reply: "On the contrary, it was the saddest
and most troubled time OF my life. | was
: ::1eartbr0ken when | saw that her childish
beauty was going to develop into something
greater than a woman, for | saw in her the
reproduction Of my beautiful and unfortu-
mate sister. l would rather see Dolly in her
fin to-day than to know she would live
through such mlSfUTtuues as my sisters
beauty brought to her and to all who loved
. her
Dolly was then II, and after the neighhor
had gone she asked her mother to tell her
the story Of her aunt's life. You always
say look ike her, and you always weep
j
mother looked earnestly at the young girl
" l think you are now old enough" she said.
ito understand and be warned by the sad
stury Of your aunt | have never told it 10
You because | feared TO have il become a
trte aud pOintless story before you were
Old enough TO be impressed by 1t. II is not
long story, \ our aunt was several years
younger tnan L She was very beautiful as
a child, and every one who saw her told
her so. This 50 worried and annoyed my
- nat iah
thing possible. Shs ridiculed my sister:
made fun OF her mouth ana nose and eyes,
and told her sAs was awkward and uu-
calmly, and that people were only amusing
themselves at her expense when they
praised her. This made poor Edith weep
with sorrow and modification, and caused
her to be self-cODscious and awkward until
she was old enough to know that her mother
had led to her and strangers had spoken
the truth 80 soon as the knowledge burst
upon her that she was rarely beauti-
fui, and that her mother had ridiculed her
a. preventive of vanity. she became self
Uilled, domineerlng and vain beyond eX-
g. preston. She no longer believed ANYTHING
mother said, and she drank in the fattery
which she received from strangers with
greedness. She was entirely beyond
:. mothers control, and before she was II
!. gossip had begun to haDdls her name
lightly. She was utterly selfish, and she re-
garded mother a. an old fOgy, and she was
:. sorry for me because Was plain, aud looked
=: upon me as an old maid. She made ac-
-quaintances whom We did not know. and
ran away from home and married stranger
: before she was H. The man WAS no doubt
=: unworthy Of any good woman, but in less
: than one year Edith had listened to the fat
tery If another and had eloped, only TO find
lac possessed vile already. He abandoned
:: her in a few months, and she came to US to
Ue within the year In the meantime, |,
whom Edith had so pitied for my plain
- faee-l had married the most desirable man
III our circle-yOur father. dear Dolly. l
= was % and Edith was IS when we first made
=: She acquaintance of Mr.. Sumner. His first
call L supposed Was intended for hsr. but he
soon showed his preference for me. he
tuld me afterward that nothing could haYa
=; tempted him TO marry so handsome a girl
as Edith; that sensible and desirable men
seldom married beauties, if | would take
:, notice to observe the fact They were afraid
= of girls who had crowds of loyers-afraid
the desire for admiration would follow them
into their married lives. And he predicted
that EQIth would make an unfortunate mar
rage. as she did. We'll, child, that is the
story. Do you wonder that | felt distressed
when saw your infant features tho repro
: d ucton Of our Aunt Edith's face? God
grantyOu may not have her life p
:: Dolly was weeping wildly now, and bury
:. ing her face in her mothers lap, she sobbed
out, ION, mamma, mamma, / am afraid ?
-. Can't you do something for me to hinder
Inc from being pretiy5 | think IT'S an awful
Dollie brooded over her words night and
. day. until the sad story OF her aunts life
!. was seldom absent from her thoughts, and
: she became I'D monomaniac upon the
: subject She WAS sent away to boarding
- school for a couple oil. years, and her beauty
was the talk of the school as well as the
: town in which the school was situated.
. But while other girls, her companions. were
casting coquettish glances at the young
men they met In their daily promenades,
and exchanging notes with them. Dolly's
eyes were never turned to right or left
But one day bold YOUTH who had met
them every day during the last month In
their afternoon promenade with the teacher,
walked close to Dolly and pressed small
three-c0rnered note into her hand that hung
at her side. 1t was done very quickly, and
then he was gone. Dolly glanced at the
r note in her hand and let II fall like hot
coal. The girl behind heE picked it up and
the teacher saw the act and asked for the
epistle. When they returned to the seminary
Dolly was sent for and reprimanded for re-