Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-08-09
YES OR NO?

said the fluffy haired girl to agrour Of her
friends.
eyes, I admit" chimcd in the girl with
the arched eyebrows, "clopements are ro-
mantle, and that is precisely all they are,
md rhe omance quickly gets rubbed out
by the india rubber of poverty, misery and
cold dinners, which always accompany
runaway matches"
"You are of the earth earthly, my dear, ;"
said the cynical girl with the sweet voice.
"But looking at the elopement question
through the eyes of common sense, 1t real.
~ doesn't pay. II IL man Is not manly
enough to marry II girl with her parents
consent, he will hardly make n reliable
partner for life, to my way OF thinking
but s%upposing no is manly enough to
ask her people, and supposing they refuse
their consentY'
"Thcn, my dear Fluff, you must take It
that they, having IL wider experience Of
the world than you, must know what II
best, and you may always rely on this
that their parents would do all In their
power to promote the happiness Of their
children, even IL only from n selfish mo-
tive, for If their offspring marry well 1t ~
fleets credit on them, 30 to speak"
She has been a brilliant and conspicuous
figure in society for the last two seasons,
and the other day she slipped around In
the quiet dusk to tell me that she was 20.
ing to be married.
after all, " she said. with something
that was between u laugh and a sob, aft,
OF all, / am not making what the world
calls u brilliant match. l am marrying 4
man who has his fortune still to make,
and the most l M say for mother Is that
sho IL reconcilcd. Sho isn't jubilant like
sho was when Snllio married Colonel
Crnsus or when Mary married Jack Bon
ton. Poor motherl l am awfully sorry
for her, and it almost broke my heart h
disappoint her so, but what was l to dYS
There was Jim, and We were In love with
each other, and bread and cheese and
kisses seemed better to me with him than
trutlles and champagne and anybody else.
But you haven't any idea what l w&,t
through with trying to make mother SEQ Il
In any other light than = case Of preineai,
tatod suicide.
IL didn't blame her. 1t was Just heI
love for me, and her mistaken idea o.
trying to save mo from every hardship.
suppose it's inevitable, perhaps, that 4
time should come to us all when tho lux.
urics Of life outweigh its sentiments--kiDd
J of u you'll be romantic q little while, but
/ you can bo comfortable II long, long time
feeling, eh2 Only, you know, 1t hasn't
como to mo yet, and wo couldn't Sas
things from tho same point Of view.
"Did you over think, " tho girl went OH
with her voice II littlo unsteady, "thNi
I sometimes mother love can be the cruelcSt
thing In tho worldp 1t isn't often that II
Is n vulgar love Of money for mdney' q
sake that makes u woman want to soc her
daughter marry II rich man. She wants Vi
shield her from work, from prlvations,
from worry and cares, and she forgets how
many things money won't bay. II oui
mothers could have their way, they would
put us in nice satin lined boxes and pat VI
on tho head and say There, there, dear,
you IRE SO nico and comfortable. YoL
have everything a reasonable woman car
want. Now, just keep still and be good
Oh, of course you feel u bit smothery, aud
yoy want to get out and stretch your wiDgi
and tako your part In life, but you vii
got over that feeling after awhile, and Il
you went out in the world you might gel
hurt. Believe me, thoro Is nothing like 4
satin lined box for comfort, and thank
heaven that 1t gave you a mother who
didn't let you have your own way, but In
sisted Oh seelng that you were properly
provided for
"Of course l am not advocating u CIR
being left perfectly free and untrammolet
In making her selection of n husband
Any mother Is justified in doing anything
sl,o can to prevent II girl throwing herself
AWAY on II man who IL lido or dissipatet
or worthless. Any girl with u grain o
sense In her head knows that the mar wht
has never supported himself isn't going t,
be able to support her, and that kind o
grinding poverty would kill tho most TO
bust case Of sentiment that ever lived. i
u man won't keep from drink for his owl
self respect and manhood, no isn't goinl
to do 1t for any woman who over lived
and the quicker sho listens to reason an(
lots him go tho better for her. That Ia tn,
poverty and hard times that has no hop,
to gild Its horizon and no self respect t.
make its present endurable.
"Buu there is another kind" and til,
society girls faco grew rosy red and sof
and tender US u June rose, ''where a maj
has youth and health and ability and haI
already got IL foothold In tho world
He Is still poor. Yes, with the best o.
luck, of hard work and self denial, 1t will
be many years before he will DO ablo Il
afford his wife many luxuries, but u moth
er ought to think u long time and DO sur,
before she tries to keep her daughter from
saying Yes to him. Somehow that al
ways seems to mo the great American 70
nance, and l never SEQ a prosperous, mid
die aged American couple together ant
note the mans fondness for his wife, ant
his admiration for her, and his reliance OF
her Judgment without thinking that 1t Il
the flower and perfume Of our hard work
ing commercial life. They have workes
together and struggled together and Eat
] the same ideals and interests and hope,
and plans and have grown into q oneness
that people never know who have Away;
been rich and prosperous.
"That was the way my mother and Ia
thor married, y said the girl, with q smlla
land / reminded mother Of 1t In one ol
u arguments"
"And what did she sayY" I inquired.
"She said I needn't think / could hop<
to marry such u man as my father Is, " re
turned the girl. "And then I knew that
she vas romantic still. Exchange.