Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1896-12-20
CHAPTER Y.
lie FOREsT or sTEEL

When we descended from the air snip
at Chicago. / was hOrrihed to notice
that Eva retained the hideOus old IeInl-
nine nineteenth century habit or graO-
hing her skirt violently at the rear
with one hand. and holding II up, os-
tensibly to prevent It's dr@GginS on the
pavement. She did Jhis only On street
crossings. or wherever according 10 her
theory. there ought to be dust or dlrJ
or mud or dampness-no matter no"
drv and clean the crossing might be.
Then she would compiacenJly let the
skirt fall AGAIN and trail at will as
sidewalk sweeper, with the proud con-
seriousness that she had done her whole
dutv. wondered whether our van
ished sisters of the past had ever real
lied how Objectionable they made them
selves aupear by this ugly trick and
what would have been thought OF men
if they had adopted the custom OF hoist
ing their trousers by such a rearWard
seizure.
There was not much to be seen at
Chicago beyond the big garrison Duio-
ings from fifteen to twenty stores IN
height. and the deserted streets shaued
nv these piles Of stone. No one lived IN
the CITY now. unless drafted by govern
ment and compelled to do so. mere
we're even pleasant little borders and
Towering weeds along the once tumui-
tons thoroughfares, which were now
covered with noiseless asphalt or gutta-
nercba pavement; and some OF the IN
necessary great buildings had been al
1o1red IN cTumble into mounds or hills.
which were planted with trees ana
shrubs and laid out as pleasure GROUNDS
giving variety TO the topography ana
Iandscape. which was sadly lacking IN
tbe old times. On the whole we were
much refreshed by the ruraliZatlon ana
the ouietness Of Chicago; and l enjoyed
some delightful strolls with Electra
over the crumbled building and among
the ruins of the ancient World S tairs.
I could more than fancy that ham
merfeet did not approve OK these eN-
cursions He made his distaste Tor
Them very clear. in his solemn, unde-
monstrative way. But I took the op-
nortunitv have one or two frank con-
versations with Electra. Briefly, /
made love to her, in strictly honor
allie above-board way. That is, l eX-
Dlained that I had been in love with
Eva Pryor three hundred years ana
more ago: thai Eva mad then rejected
me. and that I had since undergone
some change of feeling myself
We were standing on the mouidering
crest of the old Auditorium, the slope
of which went down toward the shore
of Lake Michigan in charmingly brok-
en- terraces of yerdure and blossoms ana
gurgling fountains. Electra had been
recalling to me how. when women rrst
entered politics. they had swayed large
conventions Of intelligent, reasoning
men. by swinging a parasol or nag ana
raising some wild shout for q candidate.
But this was a so much greater tribute
10 the blind intelligence Of women,
thau il was to that of men, and the wo-
mon decided it would be more conyen-
lent to sway q small group of men than
To excite a mob of several hundreds
| ar a coupIe of thousands of male crea-
lures calling themselves delegates. So
{ the women had reduced the member
shin of political conventions to few
/ dozen. every man being carefully Sc
looted for his constituencies to paraSOls
] ana FEMININE luAAtINN anu '.ttNtf +-N
| lessening Of the number of delegates
( had been @ great ADVANTAGE to the wo-
men. for it saved them effort; and, in
: cidentally. it was good for the country.
Hence there was no more need Tor
! audtoriums. colosseums. or large halls.
! A convention could now be held any
where. and quite ineXpensively. under
! the spread Of a few japanese umbrel-
las held by women and judiciously
waved by them at the proper moment
well Electra, - I asked. why should
not women rule the world o.
"Ah. if the world is wiling she
/ said softly. deprecatingly.
"It must be willing" l responded;
/ Since every man is ruled by woman.
But how is thst9' she inquired.
by his love for her. said I. you
/ Electra. can rule me AID precisely by
/ that means-I love you
she smiled. with clear. pure, genial
/ amusement Then suddenly she wept:
and there ives the light of q rainbow
/ on her face-the mingling of sunshiny
mirth and Of fearful sorrow;-such q