The Penn's Grove record., 1896-03-20
LOVE AND JOY.

" there was 0ne thing IN All her ex-
eerience 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 oas 20 long II
would seem thai she should have be-
come accustomed t It. hui BY some
strange fatality women, that 10, the
majority Of veEnen, eve accept their
lot tn this fora with cain resignation
and beauttfzl Christian spirit which
has won for them tho e~ndeartng title
Of the eentIer sex.
And Susanna Morton had put up with
It Just as long as she vas 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 becans almost desperate
Now that q fifth had come her AIN
was made up. She would take the rsins
of Cupid in her own hands and drive
that harum-scarum little rascal in q
manner to suit herself. She knew her
good points, one Of which was that
she was 35 years old or thereabouts,
and possessed a pose and balance no
man who was looking for a real sensi-
BILE wife could afford to disregard. In
addition to this she had-what men sell
dom disregard-a comfortable fortune.
It was fortune that had been the real
stumbling block in the matrimonial
path OF Susanna, and not any lack of
attractive qualities In her possession,
for she was not homely nor was she
anything but charming. The fortune,
however, which was hers from her six
teenth birthday, had developed in her
q fear that men sought her for her
money and not for herself. and, "
having fallen in love with any Of her
courtiers, she did not hnd 1t difficult to
resist advances, believing. as she did,
that men were merceaary wretches, as
n rule, and that some day the n 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
udu ItdtIlCu an aSG dhd AihVS VI
character, to put 1t mildly, when her
fortune would have to be at least doub-
led to make her as attractive a. she
was at 20.
This knowledge had come to her grad
TALLY, but was mono the less forceful
on that account, and she was determln-
ed not to let this leap year pass without
results of a lasting character. .
OF the men In her train there were
perhaps half a 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
a man jack Of them had eve suggest
ed such n thing as matrimony to her.
and, possibly, this was why she liked
them. So perverSe is the nature of wOm-
an.
Among this half dozen was one who
found the greatest favor In Susana's
eyes, the others taking their positions
nfter 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
SteE.
And no less spry, for in the course Of
bis first call in the new year she be-
gan her operations But it was q dread
full task, and the evening passed With
cut a single step taken forward Tho
effort had been made, however, and
courage always comes with effort
When he came again abe was so
wrought 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, chow pretty you look this ever
Ing"
He was ten years older that she and
Always assumed that bless-my-soul
style affected by elderly men.
ooh, thank you. MI. Culver" she
twIttered. I'm sure you only think
so. l look Just as I always look"
"Of course, Miss Susanna, only slight
iy more So" he smiled, but there was
that In the one which had the ring of
l~nsincerity, or at least superficial and
social sincerity. which Is very nearly
the same thing, and which made Susan
ma despise the lattery Of men that so
far had meant to her no dissolution of
her spinsterhood.
She was good-natured about II, how
aver, and let Mr.. Culver 60 on with
whatever he had to say, for II there
was any man who could make 6attery
more palatable to her than any
other man, that man was Mr.. Culver.
But 1t was soon over, and when he had
6Ied himself comfortably in an easy
chair with which he was familiar, he
seemed to have forgotten whether Su-
sauna looked like a fright or a fairy
and began talking about all sorts Of
things, as people who talk for the mere
sake Of talking.
At all events, that's the way 1t pre-
sented itself to Susanna, and she felt
the spirit Of desperation slowly creep
Ing ove her. She took a 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"
"But they are happy" argued Su-
6anna.
81 suppose So" Mr.. Culver unwilling
~ admitted, lit takes a fool to be hap
by; wise people know too much"
Are you wiser" questioned Susanna,
%Ieryously. for she felt that she was
launching herself at this point upon an
unknown sea.
I'm old enough to be-" Mr.. Culver
frankly responded, for Mr.. Culver's age
was too well known to be denied and
roo great to be hid behind a bushel.
Isn't there something somewhere
About the old fools being the biggest
laughed Susanna.
But | am not so old as that yet"
"Ahg and her eyes twinkled, "is
yours a case of
Standing with reluctant feet,
Where the silly seasons meetT"