The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-09

~ Young Man who was ASKED Out a
great deal and who had so many Acquaint-
ances that he seldom paid a Dinner Check
began TO understand that any one who
gets in on the Ground Floor of h the
Sunday Papers cali Society must either be
in the Hetty Green Division or else be able
to do a Turn.
This Young Man never had more than
One Weeks salary at a Time, so his only
chance of elbowing in among the Tiaras
and White Side-Whiskers was to play En-
tertainer to the Unfortunate Rich so that
they might momentarily forget what the
Public In General was saying about them
He never had learned any Card Tricks.
and his one or two Attempts at Parlor
Magic had marked him as a Shell Fish
and a Shine. His Voice was so. weak and
wobbly that no one but a Comic Opera
Star could have used Ii for Singing Pur-
poses. AS for a Monologue Speciality. he
was all in as soon as he had told a couple
Of Ezra Ken6alrs Latest and sung a
Chevalier Song in what he said was an
East End Dialect, but no one believed him.
When he was tried out at Amateur Theat-
ricals for the Benefit of the British in
South Africa he stepped on his own Feet
and did not know how to take hold of the
Antique Matron who played the Ingenue
because the had the Show at her House.
He seemed to be a Killing Frost until he
fell back on Palmistry. AS a Matter of
Fact he did not know the Difference be-
tween a Life Line and a Clothes Line, but
he was a keen Guesser and a Demon with
the Hot Air.
When any Woman who had heard of his
Power to Conjure up the Past and Rubber
into the Future merely by taking a Peek
at the Cross-Hatching on the inside of the
Hand asked him to tell her All he threw
himself.
He always led her into a Secluded corner
and begged her not TO get Hot, even If he
told her the Plain Truth.
He would make a Bluff ar studying the
Lines. Then he would tell her that. al
though she was a Woman of Intellect. her
Heart rather than her Head would be the
Guide of Destiny. She was Capable Of
Great and Lasting Affection. although the
Object of this Affection probably would
prove to be a Dead Weight and a Handi-
cap.
He would tell her that Two Men had been
tangled up in her Life. One was Light and
the other was Dark.
Inc frightened woman always nOOueu
her Head-a Manner of Confession.
The Palmist would whisper to her that
both of these Men had loved her, although
neither had any License to walk on the
same side of the Street with her.
He would tell her that as nearly as ne
could read the Wrinkle that meandered
from the Little Finger down toward the
Thumb a Certain Woman had crossed her
Path and tried to Trip her up and make
her look Foolish.
What KIND of a Woman" she would
ask just to Test him.
The Smooth Palmist would reply that the
Woman was not Beautiful, but she was
Bold and seemed to have an Influence over
Men of Weak Character.
My, if that doesn't just Describe her to
a t." she would Exclaim.
He would say that although this Enemy
might seem to be Scoring at Times, she
would Eventually get all that was Coming
to her. The faint Transverse Line indi-
Gated that Goodness and Virtue would
sooner or later make the Designing Adj
ventures look like Thirty Cents.
The Palmist would tell her in all Candor
that although she had Exquisite Taste in
the Matters of Personal Adjournment, Books.
Music, Art and so forth, she might as well
understand first as last that she would
Rule Men, not through the Agency of these
Superficial Accomplishments, but because
of a Natural Charm of Manner. a Superb
Tact and the Fact that she was a Honey
Cooler to look at.
He said he did not want her to be Of
Tended if he went ahead and told her Some
thing for her own Good. He said he could
read it there in her Shapely Hand just as
if it were in Long Primer.
She invariably said that she was Dead
Willing to have her Faults and Weaknesses
revealed to her by a True Friend.
Then he would say that, such being the
Case, he would have to Tip it of to her
that she was making a Great Mistake in
being Kind and Gracious to a Lot of Char
ley Horse Parvenus and Fourth-Rate Hens
who were clinging to her Skirts so as 10 be
Pulled to the Front where the Calcium
could hit them. In other words, she was
too Unselish. That was her only Failing.
Then she would put her Hand on his Arm