Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-26
THE SLEEPY PARTNER.
One Of the Unfortunate Situations OF . Bos.
ton Dancing Party.

One Of the Unfortunate Situations OF Boz
ton Dancing Party.
From the Boston Transcript
Probably no situation has appeared more
often in fiction and on the stage than the court
ing OF an heiress. In fiction and on the stage
it goes almost without saying that an heiress
has an advantage over other women in win
ming the admiration Of men. But il Is not 90 at
Boston party. At a Boston party wealth and
social position fade before the danger Of being
Obliged to talk to ayoung woman for more than
nfteen minutes at time. Society and fortune
are not to be weighed in the same balance with
such an ordeal
Many funny stories are told Of how young
men have conspired to ''reIieve" one another
from too long q conversation And what an
attitude OF gallantry is suggested by thus word
rehefF Ayoung man is rescued by volun-
teers, as he were shipwrecked mariner in
distress or 10 left to his fate without "relief"
And II by chance he has been presented to q
stranger to our city, he might 40 we'll give up
all hope OF subsequent liberty.
At every party there is a varying percentage
OF young men who wonder, when .ney seek q
partner for dance, whether they are making
a mistake, and lose all sense OF expected friend
Illness In the wearing uncertainty. Often un-
certainty develops into probability, and prob
ability develops into certainty, that their lib
erty is gone. II q man is q good partner he
wlii feign undying cheerfulness in his hard
lot; he will dance repeatedly with his partner
and stop with her like q fresh conner in some
new corner Of the room.
His very kindness will deceive the reserve
supply OF young men standing in the doorway.
But your bad partner will succumb to his fate.
bis last gasp will be, Don't YOU like to sit and
watch the dancing2" He then will sit and
watch, with eyes slowly closing and head q
little on one side-the embodiment Of unob-
trusive patience.
And his partner, left between tho Scylla and
Charybids of accepting his sacrifice and sitting
alone-what is her frame of mind? Usually she
chooses Scyila. 1t is better to have a partner
even If his eyes are half-closed and his head ID
on one side. and he has long ago ceased
TO speak, than to be quite alone in the CAV
world. She knows that the drowsy man will
never dare speak to her again.
She has ruin ed his evening and perhaps she
has lost a fr:"ai She hopes that he has los,
all ambition for self-enjoyment, that he il
thinking Of his business, that he is no longer
unhappy. but is almost as comfortable as II he
were at home and abed. Her other friends
stroll or dance by her. Some of them have been
In the habit Of calling her by her Christian
name; many have visited at her house; all
nave been entertained there. She would
like to feign cheerfulness. but she fears
sleepiness which his eyes would disclose
should he raise the lids. She thinks Of asking
him to get her glass Of water. in the expecta-
ton that he will disappear with the glass. But
she feels that he is the soul of honor, and
that he Will sit with her in his comatose con-
dition to the last trump.
Under such circumstances your heroic younp
woman will go to the dressing room and SIT
down there in her beautiful dress, which she
has unpacked from the dressmakers box with
a thrill Of expectation. She is pretty, she can
dance well, she is amiable. she is rich, her fam
NY is OF the best She can play the piano indif-
1erently well, she knows something of three
languages, she has made a beginning in phil
osophy and polical economy, and ply sizes and
chemistry and philology.
great deal has been done for her socially,
and she is bitter at heart when her friends
come painting into the room to have their torn
dresses repaired. That awful. sleepy partner
and the needless gayety Of the others is all the
society that she knows
The trouble is that popularity and neglect
are intensified at our Boston parties by their
peculiar conditions. In Europe every girl has
her chaperon to whom she goes after her dance,
and 1t Is not burning disgrace to be seen with
her mother. And any man may dare to speak
to her, knowing that be may have her after the
dance which he asks for. Here too, in years
gone by, when the german was more in vogue,
there was not the same difficulty, for every lady
then had both seat and partner she could call
her own, and every man, being bound to his
own partner, was free to have other women
when he chose.
But now girl who is ''stuck" is in q misera-
Bile plight. She must beg for pity somewhere,
II only for seat by some older lady. And TO
many young woman the prospect Of q party
Is matter OF great nervousness and anxiety;
and many man finds his better nature warped
by selfish motives Of petty but most exasper-
ating kind.