The National tribune., 1892-07-21

w | ffN " usually get over thei
"a ideals just as success
fully as children
over the mumps, and then they settle dow
to substantial basis of fact and find that, afte
all, the world as it is is a very good pa Ice
quite as good as the world of Imagination.
That is what happens to a girl who has th
ordinary run of ideals. These usually consis
of man who is a combination Of Richar
CHur de Lion, Adonis and tho Angel Gabriel
That is the kind of ideal the average younj
girl sets up for herself. 1t does not occur 4
her at first that in order to be fit for the societ,
of snch man she herself ought to be combi
nation of Joan Of Arc. Venus and Amelia Sed
ley. By and by she finds out that women ar,
not built on that scale, and then she concludes
that man may be little lower than tho angel.
and still do. Florence Craven, however, die
not begin life with such u tremendous demand
on human nature. Her idea of a man was moi
that he should be like Virgil's Dame Rumor
| with his feet on the earth aud his sublime head
| among the stars. All she asked was that n man
| should be tall. handsome, strong, kind of tenn.
| per, frank, patient humble, forgivng, earnest
| sincere, affectionate, Industrious clever with
his hands, intellectual, and passionately in love
with her, 1t was not much for young girl5to
| ask, and so Florence demanded it with ali her
soul and with all her strength. And the first
| thing she knew the man arrived
| lie had tho whole Of the above catalog of
| qualities except one. He was not in love with
Florence. That, however, did not discourage
her She set out to make him love her. 1t
/ was at a Summer resort that she met him, and
at first he regarded her sprightly allurements
| with sort of pat-oniZiug good nature, which
stirred Forencs's spirits to their depths. She
vowed with a deep determination that she
/ would bring him to her feet. Several times he
| seemed to be On the point of saying something
very earnest to her. and then the amused look
would come back into his eyes and he would
say something else. This happened so often
that Florence became fiercely hungry for that
earnest utterance which always refused to
! come One night she even went up to her room
and wepi bitter tears of vexatioB, Of course, be-
caHse he would not say ii. The next day she
ished more vigorously. They walked, danced,
rode together. The gossips OF the hotel mar.
ried them regularly every day. and still he did
not say it. And Florence wished more than
ever &c hear him say it.
Finally the end Of the season came. The
September breezes whispered around the cor
ners Of the hotel, and the September stars
locked down upon piles of trunks ready to be
taken away the next morning. That night
he spoke. He said he had been trying to tell
her something all the Summer, but his courage
had failed him every time. He felt that he
had not been quite right in keeping it to him
self so long, but she had made his Summer SO
pleasant that he had really been unable before
That minute to tell her that he was going to be
married that Winter. His sweetheart was in
Europe aud would be home in about two weeks
And that was the earnest remark Of the man
who was tell, handsome strong, kind of tenn
per. etc.
Florence took it bravely as far as outward
appearances went. She laughed in his face
aud told him that she had known it all along.
Then she wished him joy..and ran upstairs. In
the inviolate secresy of her own room she fell
fiat on her face and stad there for two hours.
at the end of that time she arose, looked at
herself in the mirror, and smiled miserable
snlle At that moment her ideals went out of
the window, and were blown out to sea by the
west wind. The next day Florence Craven
was manhater aud flirt of the most desperate
character. For two years she cut swath.
Her change Of heart was most sincere She
simply despised men. She took pleasure in
transfGing them with the arrows of love and
seeing them writhe. She had 10 more pity
than seal hunter, and she was as devoid of
sentiment as Buffers Analogy" She never
made the slightest pretense. She treated all |
men with sarcastic contempt, and they seemed
to like it. She counted her victims by the |
score She broke up engagements by the dozen. !
She made regiments of girls jealous. She |
played Venus Vjctrix to perfection, and had all |
the mothers in society wild with desire to |
cast her into the bottomless pit
All except one Mrs. Chasby Soden had a |
daughter who didn't go Off She hung fire |
dreadfally. The only man who had ever
shown disposition to gather her to himself |
had been switched off by the Unsuitable Flor
ence Craven, who wrnng his heart dry, and
then sent him packing. Then Mrs. Chasby
Soden rose Up and said
That Craven girl has got to be married."
Ihe only question was who was TO marry her?
Mrs. Chasby Soden studied that problem long
and carefully, and finally she came to the con-
cluson that she knew the man. Then she
sat down to study out plan by which he could
be led to devote himself to Florence and to
conquer her. She spent the whole morning in
deep thought. At luncheon she appeared with
q severe headache and q written letter.
!" II that does not bring him, she said to her
self must simply give it up"
it did bring him: He was Jarvis Murray,
Mrs. Chasby Soden's nephew, the son of her
Oldest brother now dead, Jarvis Murray was
80 years old and not pretty to look at. He
had knifes scar just above the bridge of his
nose, aud the rest Of his face was corrugated
with smallpox marks. He was not tall but
his deep chest and long arms indicated
strength. He was not especially bright or
cheerful in conversation, having been close
enough to death on several occasions to make
him rather serious Jarvis Murray had begun
life as naval cadet, He had been ship
wrecked once and had two desperate fights
with pirates. He got that cut over the
bridge of his nose in one of them. Then he
resigned from the Navy to accept the command
If merchant vessel. A collision, fire, and
i've days on a raft finished his career there
though he was honorably acquitted of all
blame. He decided that dry land would suit
aim thereafter. He secured position with
III electric company, and was now in fair way
o become millionaire. But he was not an at
ractive man. He knew it, too, aud. as rule,
teered clear Of the fair sex. But Mrs. Chasby I
soden succeeded in setting him after Florence,
md he opened up a campaign that for variety G
md movement has seldom been equaled in the
history of love. 2
1t began with some mastery inactivity. f
The first thing Jarvis Murray did was nothing, =
nd he did it well. He was introduced to d
'lorence locked at her critically, and then
walked away. That made Florence angry, s
nd fiIed her with deep determination to a
nake him notice her-and to his sorrow, Of +
curse.
Excellent" said Mrs. Chasby Soden. "I t
hould say that the first skirmish is decidedly 8
D your favor"