Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-11-19
THE SPINSTER.


My fire is warm tonight and crackles
Inerrily in the open CRATE. Mycat is curled
up on her soft cushion and is bljssiully
purring herself to sleep. Two b.>oks lie on
the cozy little table near me, the ''Reveries
of Bachelor" and the love Affairs of
an Old Maid" My knitting, with its
balls of pale blue and deep wine red, rests
idly in my lap. I lean back comfortably
in my big chair, and with half closed eyes
I let my hayward thoughts wander where
free fancy leads them.
Who knows what tender feelings steal
into many lonely heart when the shades
are drawn and brooding silence settles
down on quiet little house2 l canDot
help wondering whether after all, my
neighbor over the way is more or less happy
than I, and my mind goes back to the
time when we were schoolmates.
Lillian at 16 was the prettiest girl in
school. Her wide open blue eyes, her soft,
round cheeks and her waving hair made
her picture Of girlish beauty. She never
cared for study, but q romp, a picnic or "a
married one of the "boys" and expected to
have gay time forever after. Her Jack
was good dancer and drove stylish
horse all the girls envied her, and what
more could one ask forP
But the first year brought severe disap
pointments. Lillian grew careless of her
personal appearance and wildly jealous of
Jack. He hated scenes and preferred to
spend his time where he would not be an
noyed by them After some bitter lessons
Jacks wife learned to keep within certain
well defined limits. With her fresh beauty
faded and with the knowledge that she has
lost her husbands alteration she drags
along weary life, in which there is neither
pleasure in the present nor hope for the
future Said to myself, 81 am far hap
pier in certain loneliness than in such
companionship, and looked around my
cozy room with a sense of relief to think
that no scowling face and no harsh words
marred my old maids paradise.
Then took up my half finished work
and knitted industriouly for awhile. l
was making some socks for little Ted my
young nephew. Who could tell the proud
joy, the infinite tenderness and love which
were in the heart of Ted's little mother?
There was an answering thrill when |
thought of her and contrasted her life with
mine. How closely she clasped the little
fellow in her arms as If she would shield
him from all the world With what eager
ness she watched for the first responsive
look, the first plain word, and the first
tottering step. And there was even an
absurd fOndness in those tender mother
eyes as she gazed Oh the antics of her young
son and imagined them vastly superior to
those exhibited by any other infant in the
wide world. Ted was not commonplace
everyday baby; not he. His wordless bah
blings were full of wisdom, only we poor
ordinary mortals could not understand the
mysterious language in which they were
uttered.
laid down my knitting and in the red
Goals of the open fire CRATE read the COM
Ing years, bringing the inevitable changes
for Ted and his mother. The boy is not
satisfied to live within the clasp of those
sheltering arms. He must see life be free,
go out into the world and judge for him
self The mothers eyes are dim with gath
ering tears, and she trembles with fore
bodings Her boy, her little Ted, is out
there away from her love and watchful
care. He may be cold or weary or ill. The
great world is pitiless, and there are many
SHARES. She reads the papers and trembles
at every sensational item Oh, if she could
only have kept him as he was, "a little in
nccent child, when she knew his thoughts
and directed his actions! Her solitude is
far more lonely than mine, and for the
moment am glad that the tiny sock in
my lap is for Helen's child and not for
mine.
But as the years spin on see Ted
man, no longer Il needless child, the
comfort and support of his mother. He
has gone through the fires and come back
to her, with his boyish fancies his egotism
and ignorance replaced by the quiet deci-
sion and self reliance of the mature man.
How his mother appeals to him, defers to
him and anticipates his wishes. In her
eyes he is the wisest and the handsomest
young man in the town. She is proud of
his loverlike attention to her, and with
flush on her cheeks and an added brilliancy
in her dark eyes she looks but few years
his senior These are happy days, but in
the height of their enjoyment the shadows
come stealing. 1t is at first only thought,
an imagined preference but it is soon
deepened into reality.
Ted's mother believes in marriage She
would say SO if you or should ask her.
She believes in it as the truest and happi-
est condition for man and woman kind
She has deliberately and firmly studied
the question and decided that there is not
a single girl in the town who would make
a good wife for her boy There are good
girls, pretty girls, accomplished girls, but
not one who combines the necessary gifts
and graces. Lately there has been diff
ference in Ted. He has not talked so freely
at dinner and has been strangely absent
minded He surely cannot be attracted by
frivolous little Miss Flossle the only and
petted darling of DR.. Everett? Ted's
mother always admired her son s taste un-
til now, but in this most vital choice she
cannot understand him In vain she ap-
peals to his reason. He says little and acts
much. Though he respects his mothers
opinions, she is forced to see that she is
alternating him at each expression of them.
So she decides like sensible woman to
make the best Of things.
Miss Flossie is invited to spend quiet
afternoon with her prospective mother-in-
law. She is found to possess shrewd
little head, warm heart and charming
manner.
After all that has been said and done