Arizona republican., 1892-08-20

SO that, although one feels quite sure Of being forgotten the moment one is out of sight, it is very delightful to bask in the sunshine for the moment. l pity her. too, because so few persons under stand her and almost everybody planes her for being the flirt she really cannot help being. As well blame a humming bird for not being barnyard fowl and laying good, useful eggs. Me, prefer humming birds to poultry-at least sometimes.
 In distinction to the unconscious Hirt we have the scientific flirt. She by no means practices her little arts because she can't help it, but lays her plans and studies her tactics as seriously as Napo- leon or Wellington ever did. She tlirts just as men go gunning or fishing, be- cause they enjoy the sport of stalking their game oy playing their trout, and when the deer is killed or the fish landed it immediately becomes lost to interest and the sportsman is absorbed in look ing out for tie next prize.
 The scientific hirt does not beam upon every conner as the unconscious llirt does--she selects her subject with skill and care. A man must have the power of amusing her; he must have quickness of comprehension and the capacity of suffering and of feeling to mako it worth her while to throw hook and bait in his direction. Great stupid fel- lows, or men filled with an absorbing love of some profession or of art or of their own selves, are quite uninteresting to the scientific flirt. To carry our simile a little farther, they are not game fish," and she treats them with supercilious indifference or good natured contempt. She likes man who will tilt with her, break spear in his own defense, but finally succumb to her su- perior prowess; she likes, of all things, to see him try to persuade himself that he likes some other woman better than he does her, and to calmly swoop down and bear him away.
 But perhaps this sweeping operation belongs more exclusively to class of experts who may fairly be ranked as predatory flirts. This class cares very little for any man not already appropri- ated by another woman. They like young married men, or men engaged to be married, and it is with an unholy joy that they survey the conscientious strug- gles their victims often make in the be- ginning. Twas interested once in watch ing the progress of such an affair, which ran its course literally under my eyes at fashionable summer hotel in SwitZer- land.
 The firt was q woman of singular charm of manner and voice; not es- pecially handsome, but with great gray eyes, which she managed to perfection, and cloud of soft dead gold hair, out of which she looked upon the world with innocent surprise and inquiry. The sub ject was an English army officer, and as fine looking fellow as 1 ever saw, but awfully spoiled by fiattery. The bride was nice little person with common piace written all over her pretty little face and figure and her highly respect able English toilets. They sat opposite each other at the table d'hote, where l also took my dinner for the sake of studying the company.
 My seat was next to the bride and my attention was at first attracted to the sport by perceiving her disturbance--in fact, if the expression is not too coarse, could not but perceive that she was "squirming" in a manner suggestive of some unseen but vicious little enemy such as are the constant danger of trav- elers in Europe. It was not long, how ever, before l perceived that the poor little brides assailant was tlirt, and not flea, and l sympathized with her all the more sincerely that her troubles in- volved no danger to myself.
 It was really an artistic study to watch the proceedings of the next few days; the growing annoyance and ter TOT of the bride; the hOunderings and plungings of the victim before he fairly swallowed the hook, and his perfect in- fatuation and docility when he had done so; also the cynical interest with which the hirt's father, very wicked old gentleman, as l should judge, watched his daughters maneuvers. As for the tiirt herself, feel deeply indebted to her for the insight she afforded me into the science of her favorite amusement. l never saw any flirting done so me- medically, so calmly and so unrelent- ingly. don't think the girl herself was in the least moved either to fancy the man or pity the woman or care for the consequences to either; she simply pursued her amusement with just the dispassionate and educated interest with which the angler lands his trout or the entomologist nets and pins his butterfly
 But just before we were to leave Lu- cerne took occasion to suggest to the bride that it was pity her father and mother should not have peep at the lakes during this lovely weather, and that if l were in her place l should write and urge them to join herself and her husband at once.
 Poor child! She flushed rosy red and glanced at mo with big interrogation mark in each eye, but l only laughed and kissed her goodby.
 Another variety is the iufantile fiirt-- the young woman who carries the in- genue business to its bitter end and thrusts her baby hands into mems heart strings as ruthlessly as a veritable in fant would make tatters of the priceless lace vestments of the pope himself.
 The ingenue business belongs to that school of superb cunning advocated by Edgar Poe in his story of "The Pur. Joined Letter" where the apparent ab-