Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-11-10

didn't attempt to converse. There was
q string of questions and answers, just
like a royal commission, and about as
romantic. But the whole thing, her
face, her voice, her easy chat, the frou
frOu, was a perfect holiday for me. and
felt some Of the acQuiescence Of sleep
without any of It's Inconsistencies. l
am a unitarian person, but l never
reckOned the time wasted. The sum
shine warmed my fallOw mind and
made It stronger to bear more drastic
Impressions. It strikes me now that
the Encouragement which I displayed
may have looked like patience to her IN
genousness, and that there may have
been a trace Of gratitude for the i'm
piled compliment, though all the thanks
were certainly on my side. However 1t
came about, It did come about or
course, l might be wrong In that case
It wouldn't matter what I did but |
knew / was not wrong. At any rate. 1
elected TO assume / was right, and had
to do something.
Certainly, l couldn't run away In
the first place, this was practically in
convenient. Like other people, | am
tethered I'm the Fh1llows Of clrcum-
stance. And, sec6lHily, it smacked OF
the heroic, of which. of course. / have
a horror. 1 was afraid. too, that she
would take feminine pleasure in feed
ing q sentiment for the absent, and my
obvious policy was to discourage not
inhame, her imagination. Externally
l had TO maintain the old attitude, but
it would have been false pretense to
do so with the old Donchalance I took
the first opportunity of denying myself.
"Have you been to see the pictures?"
she said
Not l." I replied.
what do you mean? Don't you like
beautiful things?'
Only when / am looking at them.
and even then I am haunted by the fear
that I am wasting time and might be
more proftably employed
"More proftably?'
eyes storing up sources that will last
facts, thoughts, goods, money, any
thing but fancies."
"You are coming out in a new light, "
she said.
"a new darkness, You mean" I re-
piled.
"I suppose YOU are what is called q
dark horse" she rejOined.
We both laughed and she went away
puzzled
Next time 7 managed TO startle her
we were talking Of the newest novel.
Romance" l said, lis all very well
but it mustn't be contemporary. Put 1t
into bygone days in as large quantities
as YOU Ike. but the tale of to-day
which deals with us and our friends
ought only to encourage sober business
principles
She ought to have retorted. "Such as
answering a fool according to his fol-
ly." or by referring to the fact that
most fiction was designed to stave off
bankruptcy, quite in accordance with
my theory. But she only said:
Don't You think we want change
from our everyday life?'
Il don't" I said. because my chief
amusement consists In watching other
peoples
Il didn't know You were such a critic
hope YOU haven't reckoned me up"
The critic ! said, Shuts one eye in.
order to get a better view; the clynic
Durposely puts on glasses that don't fit
him; the philosopher sees one thing
with one, and the opposite with the
other"
Have you got better yiew?" she
asked
Il have no view or views" said. 81
am the plain man who is supposed not
to exist Now, the plain woman"
q know lots" she said, "and very nice
they are"
What q pity It is." said. that only
women can understand women. That's
why it is that men never really make
them good companions We think TOO
highly OF them for instance, we think
that they are all beautiful
But you know better all the time"
"Of course we do in practice but the
theory is a good one all the same. II is
an attempt to take their own view to
put ourselves In their place for a mo-
ment. The fact is that very few men
take any interest In individual women;
it is the sex that they think abOut-the
whole lot at once; it's so like school
book: hate anything dry"
"Tea?' I said.
with pleasure" said she. smiling
for the first time; and we went off to-
gether.
Well, we were getting on, but still I
didn't see the end. Chance came 10 my
rescue. as IL does 10 everyone if they
only wait long enough. There was a
new play. the great situation in II was
the heroine. who was universally sup
posed to be a light and unsubstantial
woman. demonstrating quite without
design her love for her husband; every
body was talking about il. On this oc-
casion conversation was general, and
some canious remarked that his only
objection to the new woman was that
She was so hopelessly old she was al
WAYS relapsing into weakness Of this
sort there was no strength In such
character. 4 strong woman would have
acted quite differently in the second
scene. where she could have deserted
with honor.
A well-groomed youth sitting next TO
her remarked pointedly that, if she did
not love her husband. you know, that
made all the difference. She said if
r-ifee didn't love their husbands il was