The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-12-20
AND so THEY MARRY.
AFTER A SHORT ACQUAINTANCE,
NEITHER KNOWING THE OTHER.
Soon After They Find They Did Not
Wed the Person They Supposed
Mrs. Frank Leslie Says Woman Is "A
Conundrum to Man.

zleS of various kinds ever since the
world began. 1t seems to be an instinct
of the human family and almost always
Of disagreeable nature We are told
that Samson, by way of making things
pleasant during his wedding festivities,
asked a riddle of his best man" and
ushers, with a sort Of wager attached TO
it. If they guessed it within the week
the bridegroom was to give each of
them a new suit of clothes, and if they
did not each of them was to give him
one. 1t is a very entertaining story
throughout, but not in place just here
except as it is the earliest recorded in
stance Of a conundrum. 1t was not
fairly guessed, and the result was
good deal of family unpleasantness. a
divorce and the deaths Of several hun
dred persons. including the bride and
all her family.
Then comes the sphinx with her stupid
little riddle about the animal that In
the morning walks on four legs, at noon
on two and in the evening on three. 1t
is very poor affair looked at as rid
de- but pretty serious when one remem-
bers that Nine. Sphinx was in the habit
of devouring those who gave it up"
What an advance the world has made.
TO be sure, since the days of Edipus
and the sphinx! Nowadays instead of
being devoured if you do not guess a
conundrum some one kindly explains it
to you. and you have the opportunity
to smile satirically and blandly while
saying: "Oh, really! Is that all?"
For my part 1 never try to guess
conundrums, the other course is so much
more amusing.
But as in most other things, nature
excels man in this sort of puzzle MAX
ing, and the best of it is from her point
Of view that she can inflict her own pen
alties for the failure To give a correct an
sWer, and we are quite pOwerless TO re
sist her DEGREES. Perhaps the cOmpletest
puzzle of all those in the dear old lady's
abundant store, and one that has never,
so far as 1 know, been successfully an
sWered by any son Of Adam or daughter
of Eve, is a series of questions relating
TO the due relation of the sexes to each
other, with minor queries as to the ma
ture Of woman and the nature Of man
asked in each case of some member Of
the opposite sex. The beauty Of 1t is,
that the questions are so fascinating
that both man and woman insist upon
studying them and unwarned by the
example of others they put so much of
their time and life and interest into the
matter that when the time comes that
they must give it up" they are too
weary of all life-s problems to care to
take up another.
Oh, the mistakes that men and women
make with regard to each other! Oh,
the fatal shipwreck they encounter in
trying to personally test their theories
as TO the true solution of the puzzle
upon which all their forefathers and
fOremOthers have broken their teeth and
yet never come at the kernel of the mutt
hot l..
new aspirant comes before the sphinx
and says: II can guess your charming
riddle. although these others have failed.
l understand the nature of at least one
woman or one man, and / will stake my
whole life upon giving the correct an
swer.'
The sphinx smiles and that cold, sa-
trio. incomprehensible smile was caught
most cleverly long since by the Egyptian
sculptOrs and fixed upon the immortal
stone which after the lapse Of ages tells
its story more clearly than words can
put it.
The sphinx, as those great artists
knew, is the prototype of nature in her
conundrum asking moOd-the subtle
amusement the bitter satire, the yelled
and conscious power Of the great mother
as she plays with her children like a
tigress with her cubs is all there. She
is but n spOrtive mother at the best,
that old naturei She filings her children
into the water to teach them to swim
for their lives. If they have nerve and
strength TO strike out vigorously they
are safe, but if they are weak or timid
or mako mistakes. why. she lets them
drown not worth saving. In the old
story Of Saturn and Ops the children
were devoured by the parents, and earth
and nature are but one. And so the poor
little wretches go on century after cen
tury sinking or swimming, as the case
1a a1v 4r-x-frn To he hot
of nature and very seldom succeeding
even when they plume themselves upon
having done so.
Look al the manner in which men
and women practically reply to the que
nv as TO which member of the opposite
sex is the one best adapted for a life
long cOmpanionship, this being, we
all know, one of the most important Of
natures conundrums. Every one of us
at some period or other has found it
propounded to US, ard probably every
one Of US has decided it in a manner
differing from that we should have Sc
lected had we better understood the
matter.
A man sees a woman at some social
gathering. it matters not if it is at the
reception of a duchess or a queen of
society in our country or if it is at
a "sociable'' or a dance in some little
country town. Nature is pre-eminently
mo respecter Of persons" and works in
the one case precisely as she does in the
other. The girl is well dressed. gay,
smiling and evidently pleased with the
young mans attentions. They pass an
hour together and part with mutual
good will a Dozen or so of such inter-
views. a few calls at the family dwell
ing a ride a drive, a walk or two and
he is prepared TO offer himself and she to
accept him If any one having the right
demands Of him the raiSOn d'etre the
solid foundation of his selection and
consequent engagement he replies that
is all right, that he understands Fanny
thoroughly and is quite sure she will
make him happy. As to whether he is
quite sure TO make her happy, ii is
usually the last thing he thinks about.
What sort of a girl is she?" asks the
mother of the happy youth, recalling the
mistake she made in guessing lifes
conundrum.
"Oh, she's a jolly girl; as jolly a girl
as ever you saw" replies the wise young
man judicially. "She is as light-hearted
as a bird, always full of fun and laugh
ter always ready for anything pro-
posed in the way of amusement, good
natured and obIging, great taste in
dress and as neat as a pin-in fact, she
is lust the kind of a girl L like and can
get on with. ] hate these prim, mopish,
proper sort of girls who are always
getting tired and faint and frightened
of everything from a spider to a COW
and mustn't get their feet wet, and all
that"
So they marry, and he finds that ne
knew as little about his wife as she did
about him. The high spirits and con-
slant cheerful alacrity in matters of
amusement were the gift OF youth and
health and shade with beautiful ease in