The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-03

yourself may some day develop into his
likeness. But now, to be frank with
you, you are still yourself-a splendid
friend to have and" she added, try
ing to be merry, to hold"
Philip Maber, however, was just the
man OF all men who refused to be held
by any such unsatisfactory and unfat-
ter1ng claims as the bonds of cold
friendship. What he wanted in every
day Technology was a wife, an at
tractive, clever wife, perhaps, but pal
plating with warmth and affection.
What he never dreamed of wanting,
however, was a poetical chimera of
woman with fiimsy impractical no
tons at bottom, and liable to a sud-
den overflow
Thus it developed that these two
people drifted apart. Miss Elwyns girl
friends were mildly sympathetic, think
ing 1T too bad that after Philip Ma
ber's marked attentions no more in
teresting denouement had transpired.
A few years passed and Miss Elwyn
was again seated in the Bismarck
garden" this time in the society of one
of the most promising physicians in
Chicago.
Neither her winsome smile nor her
personal charm had attracted him. He
was the worshipper of her mind, and
the humber slave, who did homage to
the brilliancy of her wit. So elevated
| and impersonal was his attraction that
he had once told her: "Were you ten
years older, and as ugly as night, l
should still be your bondsman. For it
is your spirit, your soul 1 reverence"
Tonight he asked her to share his
| life, live his ideals, and help him carve
| his future.
And again she hesitated. But this
| time she was almost ashamed of her
| self. For here was at length man
who Appropriated her ideal more close
| ly than any other she had ever met.
| That is, in regard to the breadth of his
mentality, the cleanneSS and purity of
| his soul.
But, physically, this man was decid-
edly wanting; for he was puny and
sallow and save for lofty brow and
| intellectual air, hopelessly insignificant
in appearance.
TITS true she had read somewhere of
late words to this effect: Man may be
| considered as body with a soul, but
| it bespeaks a much higher stage of
| evolution when we can consider him as
! a soul with a body wrapped about it,"
At the time Miss Elwyn had approx
| ed of those words; she was thrilled
| with their spiritual significance, but
now, alas. she felt keenly that this
| conception did not tally with her own
| ideal. Body was not subsidiary to soul
Each were equally important compo-
| rents of man.
For the heroes of fictions who had
unconsciously, perhaps, interested her
| most were tall, brawny men, with Wig
| orous bodies as well as vigorous
| brains. The character Felix Holt, one
| of George Eliot'S best creations, in
Miss Elwyn's opinion had inspired her
| greatest admiration and satisfied her
| every demand.
Yes, a splendid, heroic soul en-
| wrapped in a strong, powerful frame"
| Why should she not expect to meet
| such a personality in real life?
Thus, upon the firm rock of her ideal
was the craft with her life's hopes
| wrecked.
For the young physician and she
also drifted apart.
In these latter days Marion Elwyn
is often seen walking through the
slums of the city, and many are the
noble deeds she. administers to the
lowly. Indeed she is fairly idolized by
every dirty little ragamuffin of those
| quarters. She is a Veritable goddess to
them as she walks through their
streets and back alleys. bringing words
of cheer into their sordid lives.
Still some people have noted a Ger
| tain sadness seated upon her pure and
noble brow; the expression, as it were,
of an unsatisfied yearning.
One buxom dame, the mother of a
group of happy children, who had
| Watched Marion Elwyns career at
| first with interest, said: 81 have no
Epatience with women like Marion Ell
wynn If she had only had one drop of
| common sense she would have loved
| some deserving man, rather than
waste her affections on a lot of dirty
| urchins Anyway, l should like to
/ know why a girl, if sensible. will not
love and marry first and then turn
| philanthropic."