Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-03-25
LOVE AND JOY.

LIZ IL d1ND OO4s
II there was one thing In all her ex'
berience that Susanna Morton was
heartily tired of It was the evident
and continuous purpose Of mankind to
permit her to remain a spinster.
True, she had been one 30 long II
would seem that she should have BE-
come accustomed to II. hut by some
strange fatality women, that is, the
majority Of women, never accept their
lot In this form with calm resignation
and beautiful Christian Apirit which
has won for them the endearfn8 tts
OF the gentler sex.
And Susanna Norton had put up with
It just as long as she was going to-
Four leap years had passed her by
and she had submitted gracefully, but
each year less gracefully than she had
done the year previously. and there
were moments in the last Of the four
when she became almost desperate
Now that a fifth had come her mind
was made up. She would take the reins
OF Cupid in her OWE hands and drive
that harum-sca rum little rascal in
manner to suit herself. She knew her
good points, one Of which was that
she was 35 years old or thereabouts,
and possessed pose and balance no
man who was looking for real sensi-
BILE wife could afford to disregard In
addition to this she had-what men sell
dom disregard-a comfortable fortune.
r. o. I.S L,I Ia
stumbling block IN the matrimonial
path Of Susanna, and not any lack Of
attractive qualities In her possession,
for she was not homeiy nor was she
anything but charming. Ths fortune,
however, which was hers from her six
teenth birthday, had developed in her
fear that men sought her for her
money and not for herself, and, never
having fallen in love with any OF her
resist advances, believing. as she did,
that men We're mercensry wretches, as
n rule, and that some day the one man
IN all the world for her would appear
and claim her as his own.
However, he did not appear, and he
continued not to appear until Susanna
had reached an age and firmness of
character, to put II mildly, when her
fortune would have to be at least doub-
led to make her as attractive as she
was at 20.
This knowledge had come to her grad
oalIy. but was none the less forceful
on that account. and she was determin-
ed not to let this leap year pass without
results OF a lasting character.
OF the men in her train there were
perhaps half dozen who were eligible,
and any one of them would have made
a husband any woman could be proud
Of But they were merely friends Not
d man jack of them had ever suggest |
ed such 4 thing as mutrimony TO her. /
and, possibly, this was why she liked |
them. So perverse is the na ture Of wom- |
an.
Among this half dozen was one who |
found the greatest favor in Susanas ,
Eyes, the others taking their positions |
after him in regular graduation, and |
this one Susanna selected as her vic !
tim for leap year, resolved to try all |
the others in case OF failure in the first |
Instance
Truly, Susanna was a desperate spin !
Iter.
And no less spry, for In the course Of |
his first call IN the new year she be- !
gan her operations But it was a dread |
full task, and the evening passed with /!
cut a single step taken forward The |
effort had been made, however. and |
ofr
When he came again she was so
up over the work before her |
that her eyes sparkled and her cheeks
glowed in rosy color.
why, bless my soul, Miss Susan"
he said, "how pretty you look this even
Ing"
He was ten years older that she ard
always assumed that bless-my soul
style affected by elderly men.
"Oh. thank you. Mr.. Culver" she
twittered. I'm sure you only think
SO. look just as 1 always look"
"Of course. Miss Susanna, only slight
iy more So he smiled, but there was
that IN the tone which had the ring of
or at least superficial and !
social sincerity. which is very nearly
the same thing, and which made Susan
ia despise the fiattery Of men that so
far had meant to her no dissolution of
her spinsterhood.
She was Cood-natured about it. how |
fver, and let Mr.. Culver 60 on with
whatever he had to say, for II there
was any man who could make fattery
more palatable to her than any
other man, that man was Mr.. Culver.
But ii was soon over. and when he had
fixed himself comfortably in an easy
chair with which he was familiar, he
seemed TO have forgotten whether Su-
sanna looked like a fright or a fairy
and began talking about all sorts of
things. as people who talk for the nero
sake Of talking. -------------------
At all events, that's the way It pre-
sented itself to Susanna, and she felt
the spirit of desperation slowly creep
Ing over her. She took n long breath
for encouragement and tentatively
turned the subject of conversation up
ON the most recent wedding which had
occurred in their circle.
What a pair of fools they were and
ire" said Mr. Culver. sententiously, ito
marry on nothing but his salary and
nat not big enough for two"
Tut they are happy" argued Su-
sanua.
81 suppose So" Mr.. Culver unwilling
II admitted, lit takes fool to be hap