The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-10-26
.APLATONIC FRIENDSHIP
By MARoARRr uANNls.

Z lie was quite girl, anu sue talkeO
~ very enthusiastically to a lot Of
other girls about "Platonic friendship"
That Is an old theme yes, ever since
the days Of Plato himself men and
women have discussed 1t; particularly
women. You win find that 1t is true,
If you stop a moment to think about
It, that men do not talk much about this
sort Of regard for each other between
men and women, Imean. Plato's great
est number Of converts are women.
You will also find that the man who
talks most about Platonic friendship
has been educated along that line, or has
first had the notion put into his head
by a woman.
But to return to the girl who one
day talked to a lot of other girls about
this sort Of friendship.
All the other girls listened to her In
tently. She was superior sort Of girl
1t Is only such one that can attract
the attention of other girls. She was
q "co-ed," which made her all the more
interesting to the other girls who were
not "co-eds,s but thought what love
ly, jolly thing 1t must be to be one.
The "co-ed" girl-was bright and
brainy and healthy, She had studied
as hard as any student who was not
burdened with trailing skirts and be-
rufied bodices, and many times had car
ried of honors that these same other
students, minus the referred-to badges
Of femininity, envied her. Her cheeks
bloomed and her eyes sparkled and she
was good to look upon. With all her
ability and little out Of the ordinary
advantages, she was not masculine
Had she been, that would have spoiled
It all. As It was, abe was q very charm
ing advocate Of poor old Plato's philos-
ophy. 5he could reckon her "Platonic"
friends In goodly numbers, for these
admirers Of the Aco-ed" girl told them
selves that 1t was long way from
being unpleasant, even this sort ofphil-
osophically regulated devotion to the
@co-ed."
But there was one out Of all this num-
Der that, had Mr.. Plato been about, he
would have shaken his head over and
said: my dear child, far from sticls-
Ing close to my teachings, and thus
keeping away from that wicked little
Cupid's way, you are getting nearer and
nearer to the danger and further away
from what I would have" But Plato
was not about. Lol he had been dead
these many years-before there waa
such thing thought Of as @co-e0
girl. And so the girl never knew until
but this is getting ahead Of the story,
10 this very particular "Platonic
friend" "co-ed' told moro Of her affairs
than she did to any Of the rest. They
said over and overto themselves and tc
each other that they were.shemost con-
genial and matter-of-bact friends In the
world. At least the "co-ed" girl said
this unhesitatingly. She seemed "a
have been the first to discover how
.matter-ot-iact'' they were. And then
you know, the man on whom she Law
ished this particular friendship fell In
with her way Of thinking. Didn't he
know from the first they were only 'Pla-
tonic friends p'n Well, don't know. ]
think he admired the "co-ed" girl verJ
much and felt little chill when philos.
ophy was brought TO bear in the case
But after the manner Of men he tool
hia cue from the woman. Women arr
the leaders Of men in matters Of love
and friendship.
They talked OF love and marriage
and did not blush. When two are stiIl
young and do this, then Cupid gathers
mp his arrows, let fall disappointed
ter or two, and seeks a spot where
two say nothing OF marriage unit
there is a ring ready to plight a troll
with. And SO the ''co-ed" girl and the
man were never to be lovers. Tn,
',co-ed~ girl was quite sure that Plal
tonic frsendship was not only possible
2
but ideal.
This was some time ago. The year,
have passed by. adding much to tn,
.sco-eds girls store Of knowledge, but
adding also to herstore Of womanlinesn
Her particular Platonic friend has nevel
failed. Even Plato himself must hav'
been pleased to see a man 30 much aftei
his own heart.
There came day when the man wen
far away. Before parting he and til,
eco-ed" girl talked It all overflow
happy they had been together for i,
4 many years, and that II she, the "co-ed'
girl, needed him, the PlatonIc friend, a
any time. that she must send forhi
and that he would come to her, his elIt
tie sister Y from the ends Of the earth
There was not even a good1by lSIss-
wish there had been for though lSisse
might properly be a part Of platoni'
4 tiisA tlliiiz N Il even more prdc
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