The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1894-07-13
THE REFoRMER BRATTLEBoRo. VT. FRIDAY JULY 49, 1884,

dress prettily and boast of when at he
club with other women. 1t seemed t
her that it ought not to be unreasonabl
to expect man to be as intelligent a
herself.
Her friends were alarmed when the,
heard her make such statements. The,
said that il her ideas obtained societ,
would be overturned and tho home lif
destroyed; that men would become un
sexed; that women would be crowded
out of the labor market and could nj
longer support themselves and theil
families that, in fact, they could no
take time to have families, for wages
would be so low that they would b.
obliged to work throughout the year
Some of the DIRECTORS went SO far as t.
teach that If men were allowed equa
suffrage there would be revival of the
whisky trade which fourished in the
nineteenth century, and that families
could no longer be regulated as to mum.
Der by woman's ability to provide fol
her children. The we'll read offered az
proof of their arguments the historical
fact that many charitable institutions
had been organized during the days OF
mans supremacy to care for the chill
dren who came into the world when
there were no means for their support,
and that every county had place of
detention called Jail, where they were
cared for who should never have been
born, but who had grown to manhood
as best they could in a world where they
were worse than parasites. There were
few INTEL gent women in the twentieth
century who could be made to believe
that men were capable of exercising the
moral self control suggested by Nautilus
as needful check to meet the growing
danger Of overpopulation, and for that
reason more than for any other the doc
trine of man Is suffrage made little head
way. 1t might have died had it not
been for Miss Letty's curious desire to
find husband who should also be a
companion, and for her belief, formed
from much thought on the subject, that
only in perfect equality could be found
the relation which the Omnipotent
meant should exist between the sexes.
"Such talk is wild, " said her friends.
''There can be no such thing as perfect
equality between the sexes. The world
Is used to the existing order of things;
we are comfortable: men are happy or
ought to be. for we do everything to
make them so-let we'll enough alone.
But still Lefty chung to her ideals,
and every year the number of men made
dissatisfied by her glowing representa-
lions of future in which they should
stand side by side with women was
slowly but steadily increasing.
1t was not difficult for Harold to find
the house where Lefty lived. How often
he had been there in the good old days
when Letty's grandmother was to him
the most attractive girl in the world!
The house was small compared with
the more modern structures which tow
cred beside it; yet it, like the Winthrop
residence, had been considered fine in
his day. Now they were looked upon as
unsightly nuisances which should have
been torn down long ago and would
have been had it not been for an untir-
ing sleeper and sentimental young
woman.
When Harold paused ut the gate, he
saw woman sitting on the porch in
the very place where his old love had SO
often waited for him. She glanced up,
and their eyes met They were Lefty
Mays eyes-deep blue. steadfast, ten
der, beautiful. The mouth and chin
were Letty's, too; but Lefty had been
small and sylphlike, while this lady
was tall and magnificently proportional,
like most of the women he had seen
since awakening. Lefty s face had been
as dimpled and full Of wonder as a ba-
by s: it had indicated a spirit of loving
dependence which Harold had thought
charming. This woman's face was
strong and resolute. She looked like one
accustomed to being obeyed, not because
she was woman, but because her COM
mands were reasonable. Harold had
never liked such women. A feeling of
arose in his heart, which
would have driven him past her door
had she been any one else. but she was
the granddaughter of his old love, and
sentiment and loneliness urged him to
make her acquaintance. As Ire opened
the gate Miss Everett came forward to
meet him.
Pardon me, 4" she said, with smile,
but am l not speaking to Harold Win
throp:"
THAT is my NAME" replied Harold,
and you are Miss Everett, | think.
Il am Miss Everett, at your service.
We know each other, SO why should we
not dispense with ceremony and consid
Or ourselves old acquaintances2' I
In her heart Miss Lefty was thinking
hat this young man had in reality very
little regard for ceremony to seek her
---e~A~y. : -
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