The Washington times., 1901-07-07
TIE TIMES, WASHINGTON. SUNDAY. JULY !, 1901.

my mind whether / shall see Maynard
| Bridges again. He both attracted and
| repeIed me from the first, but until last
night all my efforts to analyze his pc
, culiar personality were futile. Now, how
| ever, l understand; he is simply an alb
| normal development, helpless victim Of
this modern monster, Northern Journal
| ism. so unlike all men l have known that
! felt his peculiar individuality at once,
! although outwardly he resembles other
| men-of-the- world
IF I had not had this truly hideous
revelation, should 1 have loved and mar
| ried him? After referring to previous
entries 1 have come to the conclusion that
l should; for, despite the repellent force
l was fascinated by his brains, his mag
| netism, and his delightful manners
| which ne owes to his Southern blood; his
mother was a Maynard Am l safe now?
| That is the question. If not, / must go
! straight home, instead of going to Bar
| Harbor-for we are to visit at the same
houses there! The more 1 think of it
| the more J. feel sure that ! could not
| marry a man who is dominated by an ar
| titicial and revolving instinct / should feel
| as if We're living with sort of modern
| Frankenstein. Talk about the danger of
| the international marriage! l feel far
more in tune with the many Englishmen
l have met than with this specimen of
perverted Americanism. There are cen
turies between the South and the North in
| its extreme development; instead of the
| few generations which separate the Old
| World from the New"
A few dayes later she wrote again:
II have decided to let matters take
| their course. AS we are leaving town at
| once I should not see him here again in
any case. We shall meet at Bar Harbor,
but 1 anl now quite positive that here
after he will merely interest me as Gu
riosity."
They met at Bar Harbor in July; and,
as both were people of the world, there
was nothing in their manner, even when
alone. to suggest that a few weeks be-
fore they had been on the brink of mat
rimony. They made no allusion to their
former acquaintance. beyond the vague
generalities Of people possessing common
friends; and, although the bay with its
bristling porcupines glistened below the
terrace, and the roar of the Atlantic rose
high on windy nights the subjects Of
shipwrecks was avoided by mutual con-
sent. Nevertheless, for Miss Benham to
resist flirting with an interesting man
would have been as easy as to pinch to
death the joie de vivre, and Maynard
Bridges was as interesting as ever In
fact he was distinctly the most interesting
man at Bar Harbor, particularly-she
made this discovery suddenly, a week
after his arrival-as he seemed TO have
forgotten the existence of Journalism;
she never even caught him reading a
newspaper. He talked alone with her in
that happy land of liberty took her in his
smart traps for drives along the foot of
the mountain and out into the country
and punted her for hours about the bay
in canoe. He smoked on the veranda
during dancing hours, but he invariably
took her in to supper He sent to New
York for the new books and magazines,
beribboned baskets of bonbons and the
choicest flowers of exorbitant hothouses;
all of which were offered at the shrine
of the Southern belle in the nonchalant
manner of the American swain. who knows
his duty and has no desire to shirk it,
But he never gave her so much as
glance of sentiment
Il cannot make him out she announc-
ed to the little book inscribed Maynard
Bridges. when / knew him before, ne
let me see almost at once that he loved !
me. Now his air is simply: You are the |
most charming girl here, and, moreover,
a belle who commands the tenn |
porary devotion OF any discrimina- |
ting man. Or is he playing a
deep game? Trying to pique me? Doubt |
less, as he is giving his news sense a !
rest, he can concentrate on certain other /
faculties the more effectually. If he |
would tear it UP by the roots 1 would |
marry him tomorrow-at least I think l |
would; I'm not right positive how / do 1
g. IL /.
nature. and / am sure he was correct He |
is merely taking much-needed rest, and
when he goes back to his work that mon
ster will lie fairly gluttonous He stated |
the truth; we must take people as we find
them-and leave them at the right mo-
ment."
One morning they ran their canoe into |
the cove Of a small island and wandered !
about in the shade. They were quite
alone Mount Desert. which had hustled
with gay mroning life when they left it,
showed only at this distance the staccato
movement of an occasional trap. Sulli-
van, on their right with its long solitary
street and rugged background, might have
been an abandoned village awaiting its
poet.
Just think!' exclaimed Cora. as they
sat down in the heavy shade of a tree. !
Sullivan is two hundred years old and
has never had a church-a New England
village at that
Il am going to marry you" said
Bridges. by way of reply. He was smok-
ing, his tones were unimpassioned, and
he was looking at her with eyes IN which
there was no trace Of timid tcntativeness.
But if he had wished to take her by
surprise he succeeded. She started,
changed her position abruptly, and color
ed But she answered vehemently:
Indeed you are mott Do not fancy
am a chit of a girl TO be captured OFF,
hand by a 'nasterful man. l am twenty
four. and l long since learned TO use my
reason, and to balance it against my
wishes l would not marry yOu-not If
| never married"
Then you will never marry he replied
coolly. For you love me. You belong to
the old-fashioned Southern type that
would go through life cherishing an un-
fortunate attachment rather than seek
and compensation in a bril-
liant match. OF course you could go on
being a belle-but / doubt If you'd care
about it. Do you like the prospect of the
Anything would be better than marry
ing a man / could not possibly be happy
with"
She was so accustomed to dealing with
men in their proposing moods that she
was quite herself again.
You lump very nimbly to the COnCiu- Z