Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-10-19

real reason, the paltry objection that
had Offset his words Of mAnlineas.
Ten years ago Caroline found a white
hair In the midst Of that cascade Of
black. She drew it over In front Of her
face, looked upward at it with slight
cast Of the eyes and petulantly pulled it
out. She was not old. Forty is not old
The following day she discovered al
other. Ithad root near the right temple.
Yesterdays gray hair had been upon the
left. If she must grow old virgin.
Providence at least intended that she
should grow old symmetrically, in per-
feet form till the end. Then, as she
swept the long wisps of black around in
front Of her, she discerned another. This
nettled her. She carefully separated it
from the wealth Of surrounding black
and fingered 1t to its source at the top
just at the very top of her well shaped
head. She pulled it out, exclaiming as
she did SO, "WeedsP"
But she was now growing old. She
would not have minded these tokens had
they been seasonable gifts from Father
Time. But 40 is not old.
The following day Caroline penned o
letter to q distant apothecary.
81 have friend whose hair is beepm-
ing gray" she wrote. "Please send me"
the pen tilted a moment. She was
writing for what in her younger days
she had called ''that horrid stuffw And
yet it was only dye, and for friend.
She finished the epistle and posted it
herself.
A few days later small parcel came
through the mail addressed to Caroline.
She took it to her room, and, although
there was no one in the house but her.
self, locked the door. She pondered. If
she should use the dye, would she be the
only one deceived? Would the rest of
the world pierce the deception at once?
She sat there awhile pensively listless in
her manner of thought, examining the
label. Then sudden revulsion against
the deceit of the world overmastered her.
She arose from her chair and drew in a
long breath. She applied the spark Of
self condemnation and shook at the ex-
plesion.
"Neverp
There was no danger now that she
would ever use the dye. She perused
the list of testimonials. "Mre." was the
abbreviation that prefxed each sigma
ture. 1t would be no disgrace to grow
gray If she were married now. Surely
not. Not SO much of a disgrace If she
were a widow now. So she thought.
But an unmarried woman! A spinster
She drew the cork from the bottle and
poured the contents out Of the window,
With penknife she scraped off the la
bel She put these scrapings, the testi
monials, the wrappers and inner wrap
pers into her pocket. She would burr
them later.
Five years ago an oculist examined
Caroline's eyes and told her she was near
sighted--a fact she had known for thu
previous decade. He prescribed glasses
and she purchased them. She concealed
them in that drawer of the bureau tina
was always kept locked, except when i
was necessary to take out or put ava.
certain valuables and keepsakes. Whel
nobody was about, she would wear them
She was reluctant to do SO, but they add
ed to her comfort. And the newspaper
and Thackeray and Hawthorne and Bal
zac must be read, even at the expense o
: personal vanity.
An unmarried woman, with no father
' no mother, an income of a pittance,
!, single servant, was excusable for doing
: almost anything. So she wore them
She did not dare to look at herself closel,
; in the mirror when she first put them on
She stood about 10 feet back, at whicl
distance she noticed that her hair ha.
J an iron gray appearance. She gaine'
courage awhile later, and examined her
: self in the hand glass. That iron gra.
: shade was her optical illusion. Their
were black hairs and white hairs
slight predominance of white. Rarel
, thereafter did she wear them when gaz
. !. ing into the mirror. She turned he
: head away when walking past it. Ever
time she put them on she did it with
wry face. Once she cried and was abou
to throw them away, but restrained her
self.
- v =
A few weeks ago Caroline plucked tn
= : last black hair from her snow whit
= head. She did it with the same petu
= lance with which 10 years before sh
had drawn out the first thread of white
the one ray Of light in the black darl
. ness. She took from the bureaus secre
: drawer small envelope, and from thi
: abstracted that original curiosity. Sh
: placed it by the side of this latter da
: curio, the black hair, the last remnan
of the cascade that had been the admira
: ton of her school friends. She woun
!, them about her fingers and tied then
then placed them in the envelope.
al 1t was the spirit of the gambler in hi
moment Of desperation with which sh
had done this. The world should kno,
now that Caroline could grow old III
: finchingly. She pick ed up a,yolume q
! "The Scarlet Letter." that was near @
: hand, to steady the envelope while sh
wrote simply:
e. am spinster. John loved m
and would have continued to love mt
q Now he is the statesman upon who's
/ words depends the welfare of nations.
! have discovered that loved him, but
was preiudiced. He wore glasses"---
She locked it in the bureau and trie
n the drawer to make sure.--Irving S. VI
: derhill in Buffalo Illustrated.
Thoughtlessness of Speech.
p It is not the pen that woman shoul
= fear SO much and try to control as it
q the tongue. The greatest lesson ths
woman has vet to learn is to think befol