The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-03-14
THE COURAGEOUS WOMAN,
MRS. FRANK LESLIE SHOWS HOW 1T
SPRINGS FROM LOVE.
The bloodhound and the F<itten-How
the Young Woman Encourages the
Young Man Who Wants to Propose
She Faces the World and Dcfies It
A Breezy Essay.
Copyright 1884, by American Press AS
sOcfafion

IL Is Ine accepted lued OF the WoIlu
that courage is a masculine attribute
almost exclusively. and that all women
are timid creatures, needing all sorts of
protection and support, shelter and en-
enlargement from man, who. according
to st. Paul. lis the head of woman"
Perhaps he is, but l must say he does
not always keep ahead.
Now. my own theory is that this idea,
set up in the dark ages, when woman
was either slave or a servant to man,
has. like many other respectable ideas,
become outgrown and Anticipated. The
last fifty years have developed the ma
ture and capacities of woman with a
good deal of the instantaneous transfer
nation seen in pantomine when the
clumsy hoyden suddenly develops into
the fairy queen, all pink gauze, spangles
and acknowledged wand, or. TO put 1t
more prettily, the effect upon garden
of roses, which in one hour of hot sun
shine develop from half-blcwn buds into
flowers of glorious and fragrant matur-
ity.
II this blossOming goes on for another
century at the rate it has begun in this
the women of the year 2OO0 will wonder
what those quaint old writers of the
nineteenth century could have meant by
Directing to women as physicians, law
yers. preachers and legislators.
why, just fancy men trying to man
age the world without the advice and
direction of women some fair student
of that day will e1claim. And another
will add.
And oIoctr;ci4,- o,,l,. n, ;ts ;,farc,-t
What vital force was there in those
days to keep the world moving at all?'
Now. one of the errors which time has
thus far perpetuated and now is ready
to abjure and contradict is this of the
cowardice Of women and courage of men
as distinctly opposed to each other.
| don't say but what. in the case Of
mouse. a man is more courageous than
a woman, although in the matter Of mad
dogs L recently had proof that the wOn1-
an is the more Coura geouS. / was Wis
iting a suburban friend lately when a
dog began to show ominous symptoms
of madness just in front of the house
My friend called from the window 10 the
man working on the lawn and babe him
go at once and throw pail Of water
over the poor beast The man dropped
his mower came and looked at the dog
and fatty refused to approach him any
nearer. saying in so many words that
he was afraid tosdo SO.
Ny friend reiterated the order. but to
no effect, when of a sudden a brawny,
red armed woman dashed around the
corner Of the house. pail in hand. and
made for the dog. who after one dread
full backward glover at her rushed of
and was no more seen.
When the story was told at night to
the master of the house, ne commented
on it by shifting his knee, laughing de
lightedly and eXclaimiS: Give me a
woman every time when 1 want water
poured over a mad dog They don't
know any better than 10 try it on.
hope YOU gave the cook 81. my dear"
Then | was present when n sweet lit
tie curly-haired thing. n girl of some
twenty years old, seized a savage blood
hound by the neck and choked him off
her pet kitten. which he had chased into
the house-that is, | don't suppose her
tiny dimpled hands were really capable
of choking him, but he was so impressed
by the dauntleSs spirit behind them that
he dropped the kitten and ran. When
his master was told Of the exploit he
turned pale and exclaimed: MY God,
That dog has torn Il man to pieces be-
fore now
The strongest spring of action in a
wOman's nature is love, and the per
fectly reckless courage she will some
times display must have its root in love.
She must feel the need of saving or serv-
ing some whose life is dearer TO her than
her own, or like Joan of Arc or Char
lotte Corday. she must love her country
better than herself and despise the death
awaiting her in its defense.
In fact the truth is that mans cOlIr-
age is a matter OF calculation, and SO
NAV be served to order may be INDUCED
or restrained. may he sold to the highest
bidder, and If A higher appear may be
transferred and reSold without injuring
it's quality i'm the least That is not To be
taken as an ill-natured hit at mankind,
but n simple statement of fact as relat-
ing to mercenary troops and soldiers Of
fortune. and only point out the fact as
opposed to that other fact just men
tioned-namely that Woman's courage
springs only from the personal feeling Of
the moment and has its roots in love.
\ man and woman are mutually at
tached and are DESTROYS of further &C
abundance. Now, the theory is-a theory
established by man and consented to by
yvon1an-that she. whether maid or wild
ow. modestly COnceals her preference.
not confessing 10 even to herself, and
throwing all sorts Of obstacles in the way
of her wooer such as avoiding his So
rietv pretending not to understand his
advances, skillfullv evading his attempts
at a declaration, and when he has val
iantly conquered the opportunity and
confessed his love and offered his hand
much astOnished at the unforeseen dec
Iaration and In Il tremor Of sweet confu-
sion utterly denies any reciprocal fond
ness. Then a siege begins wherein the
man. bold. aggressive, persistent de-
molishes the defensive works wherein
the woman has intrenched herself, re-
fuses to take no for an answer, and
finally by courage and perseverance con-
quers all opposition and secures the
prize.
Well. now 1 ask again. are these the
facts i'm the case, O woman, SO far as
you are able to testify?
You know they are not. | know they
are not, and every woman in the world,
if sufficiently civilized to know anything,
knows they are not.
The man is attracted to the woman
He asks an introduction perhaps, apd the
acquaintance begins on his part with a
vague feeling of distrust and curiosity
He does not in the very least understand
this charming sphinx, and although con-
Tossing her charm is in his heart afraid
Of what she may develop. He has-that
is. all sensible men have-an innate con-
seriousness that the subtlety the quick
ness, the uneXpectedness of a woman 5
maneuvers are far out of reach OF his
comprehension, and he awaits what she
will do and say with very much the feel
ing Watt and Fulton may have had
when they first set their steam engines
going and stood by in admiring awe, I'M
certain whether this wonderful new
agent they had evoked would destroy
them in one splendid flash or deign to
follow their lead and prove "A blessing to
them and mankind.
Should the woman thus approached
feel disposed to torment her tentative