Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-10-04

they got for being men? Did yor
not write in my memorandum book
when my back was turned, and long
before Sarah Grand exposed us,
that we were both spotted toads and
masculinity was failure: Did We
not shake hands secretly in the
I billiard-room and swear to live only
for Art and Ambition, and never
outrage the race.by aspiring to win
one of the superior sexs
Do you recall that morning when
the sun rose clear, and you came
into my room and pulled the bed
clothes off," and said with a con-
vict's whisper. 'Get up. Phoebus
has opened the donien door, Maria
will give us cup Of coffee, q slice
of bacon and q smile before the ss-
perior ser is stirring. Get your rod ,
| know where the speckled trout
hides:"
Dear old fellow, there was q boy
choir singing somewhere that morn
ing. l think you remarked rever-
entially in the fields that it was a
comfort to know that "God did not
belong 10 the superior SEX" and
Nature took special pains to let us
know she did not despise us.
Now | come to it-that girl pick
ing the wild fieur-de-lis at 2 O'Clock
in the morning out of the little
bayous on the edge of scented
swamp. We both saw her at the
same moment, for we came upon
her suddenly, and she was totally
unprepared for us. She had taken
of her shoes, and was holding her
dress up, reaching for a bunch Of
flowers, when we both struck an
attitude of admiration and discom-
future.
When she saw us she couldn't let
her dress fall without getting it wet.
She looked at us inquiringly with
some confusion. Then she let out
a jolly laugh that sounded at that
hour very much as if somebody had
dropped a string of golden eagles
into a tankard of champagne.
What kind of inspiration was it
| that told us this was not spirit
wandering in the higher life, but a
part of Natures plan, and even of
her pageant? 1 suggested that we
cut and run. You said, "Never !''
1t was prophetic. You never did.
Gorgeous apparation as remember
her, old fellow and when she held
her hand out to you, what leap
you made! Now that / recall that
girl sitting on a bank putting on
her shoes and stockings while we
denuded the swamp of flowers and
tumbled them into her lap, one
thing comes vividly to mind.
And it is the way she put those
flowers together. Why, she scarcely
looked at them. She touched them
with her finger tips and they fell
obediently into delicious groups of
color. She had no compasses, no
theory, no botany to speak of. She
couldn't tell us how she did it..
She didn't think it was much to do.
She laughed and talked much in the
same manner.
She wore her dress, too, in the
same style. 1t looked as if it had
come out instead of being put on,
and whatever grace was under it
came with it. When | asked her il
she was offended at our familiarity,
she threw some more coin into her
tsnkard and said, "Why, you
haven't been offensive, SO far, and
you don't look like you wanted to
be" You remarked afterwards
that you felt q whole swarm of lit
tie Eurekas buzzing in your ears.
Well, old fellow, to cut it short,
you married her, didn't you? We
all thought it was a mistake.
But it wasn't.
You were smart. 1 can see Il
now. All the rest of us married
girls who were smarter than we
were. Those Of US who wrote, had
wives who told MS it was '.rot." IF
we painted they said it was conven-
tional. Ii we argued case they
said we missed the best points.
understand that your wife says that
everything you do is the best that
can be done because you do it.
That may not be superior, old fel.
low, but it's awful satisfactory.
Then, too, you can't lay on fiji
boughs in the swamps now and hea,
the boy choir i'm the morning and