Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-07-18
A BURNED LETTER.

There it lies A small heap or ashes
and few futtering, blackened leaves
And this is all that remains of once
crested sheet of gray letter paper, ex-
haiing perfume of white violets.
l wonder to what extent it really
represented the sentiments and
thoughts of the charming society girl
from whom it came. A fascinating
young woman whose eyes are as blue
as are the violets whose breath seems
always to cling to everything she
wears
What a pity women are not as hon
est as are flowers A man could then
reach to some satisfactory conclu-
sion about them and with them a
flower may be beautiful but odorless,
like the camelia. in which it makes no
ipretense at pleasing more than your eye.
Or. 1t IS less perfect in shape and color.
but with SO sweet breath that one
never grows tired of having it around.
There is no sham in fiower-but with
women I'm inclined to believe it's all
sham. Humbuggery and sham! The
prettiness and outside charm are ap-
parent enough. But when it comes to
the genuineness of the perfume ofsweet
thoughts and tender graces, and to the
splendid charity of sentiment, which,
if women only knew it, enwraps them
around with an attractiveness far more
potent than the most subtle and pen
etrating perfumes, man is all at sea.
He can't for the life of him tell the
honest. can't say whether they are
divinely constituted, or if it is merely
the imitation article. He is charmed
one day by unexpected revelations of
deep feeling and an appreciation of
the lofty and the beautiful In
life, or at least by what looks like
it, and he is repealed the next by
a clear and distinct exhibition of
careless heartlessness which would
forever and day disgust him in a
man, but which only serves to upset
him mentally by creating a thousand
and one doubts as to which CT the two
phases of character is the preponder-
ating one in the complex feminine ma
ture he happens to have under consid-
Grafton. If she is fair of form and
face-as Alice undoubtedly is-he gen.
orally gives her the benefit of the
doubt and resolutely closes the eyes
and ears of his better judgment against
those ugly, villainously small traits
which are as great a Disagreement to
her mental and moral graces as would
be deep crack across some exquisite
Sevres porcelain vase, a fatal blemish,
by which all the beauty and value are
ruined and destroyed.
That's where the constant and ever
lasting mistake of a mans life is COM
mitted. He can never judge of a wom-
an by the same standard, the same
clear-sighted mental gauge, which he
applies SO easily to his fellow man. For
every one knows that to properly con-
duet any kind of business correct in
sight into character is essential. That
we manage to acquire easily enough in
school, college and practical every
day life, and for the reason that we
deal with each other. But 1 defy a
man to be certain sure of anything on
earth or in Heaven when his calcula-
tons must rest on some feminine basis,
where instability is inevitable.
But perhaps other men are cleverer
than am. Cameron seems to get on
swimmingly with all his lady friends,
and to understand them, too, which is
altogether another matter; even Alice
Dacres-thats more than / can do,
hence this small pile of burned letter
paper.
And now that I've destroyed the lit
tie girls pleasant words and sweet
scented missive, I'm fool enough to re-
gret it, and to half-believe she was gen.
uine in her wish that call some even
ing. OF course, when she says must
L e.
nine way of helping me to an excuse
for a visit Then again, when a man
wants to have friend around for a
smoke and chat, he says: drop in, old
fellow. this evening at eight. Glad to
see you.'' and there's an end to. He
wants you, and you go or you don't, as
suits your convenience and fancy.
Little Alice being essentially and
charmingly feminine, writes a sweet
rigamarole, very suggestive or mean
ing absolutely nothing. And yet, she
must know how gladly 1 would call on
her this evening and tomorrow even
ing and every evening of every year if
i could But she tells me to bring her
"Trilby." and winds up with stiff
"Yours sincerely" and the information
that she is 80 glad she leaves shortly
for Europe"
Does she or does she not want Inc
to call? Ii she does care to see poor
devil whom she knows down in the
bottom of her heart is infatuated with
her. who is ass enough to dream of her
sweet blue eyes, and to stuff violets in
his coat pocket because they remind
him of her, why does she write she is
$50 glad she will leave shortly for
Europe?- If she does not care rap
(which is clearly the easel whether q
fellow eats his heart out in vain long,
ings to be with her and to hear her
careless, sweet laughter, aad to watch
all her dainty prettiness and probable
frivolities, then why does she cruelty
throw the temptation in his way to
call, just to force him to undergo the
heartbreak of telling her good-by and
bon voyage?
Cameron goes abroad this summer.
I suppose he will take the steamship
she goes on, and they will firt out
rageously on the way across They
are sure to meet in Paris and among
the Alps, and suppose will come home
In the fall, engaged to each other.
!; Another foregone conclusion of