Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-02-20
THAT sIMPLEToN.

her as she quietly glided to her place
q one OF the tables reserved for regu-
.sr Doarders. Those of romantic ma
sure might have imagined the face Of
an angel appearing through white
clouds floating over a sea Of bright
oiue sky. There was not the slightest
doubt that upon the faces of the men
tnere We're expressions Of admiration.
Inc Dig husband by whose side she sat
made no effort to conceal the fact that
TINS exquisite piece OF femininity-who
nad been his wife for ten years-was
stu the object of his ardent and ever
increasing worship. As he deferential-
y Dent his head to her In reply to some
ehgnf request, the big woman sitting
JUST opposite glanced reprovingly at
ner own husband, as If to say, "Mr.
Leslie Is a model husband. II you
We're only like himr' But the express
sion of reproach was Immediately sue
ceeded by a frown of indignation as
she noted that Mr.. Leslie's chiyalry
was quite lost upon her mate. as he
was evidently absorbed In the vision Of
beauty at Mr.. Leslie's side.
The vision was only talking common
place; but with such genius-or was
1t magnetism?-%h every one seemed
helpless under Its influence, although
the women present were evidently not
quite in harmony. with the situation
nor the fragile looking woman of thir-
" with the child's face. In spite of
this antagonistic undercurrent they
were however, almost as irresistibly
attracted as were the men. Women
are usually more analytical than are
men, and mentally dissected Mrs. Les
lie, although they inwardly rebelled
that she possessed the power to claim
second thought. When discussing her
together they denominated her "a silly
chit" doll face" "simpleton," "know
nothing" and SO on. They never adj
mitted her attractions, but openly Won
,dered what there was in Mrs. Leslie
that all the men went wild over. If she
did have one grain Of sense-they aver
red to the contrary-she certainly pos
seesed little education. and would Of
ten make the most astonishing blum
ders.
Yet she always held crowd OF male
admirers around her, while the intel
lectnal women who could talk politics,
literature, science or art, were quite
neglected II she were present. She
was no coquette, however, and in spite
OF much Jealous watching was never
discovered to be guilty of a moral in
oiscretion. The women were jealous
OF ner. Ihe men enjoyed her because
they were not jealous.
She always seemed unconscious Of
either admiration or censure, and
tnough she had the most exquisite
taste In dress, there was no apparent
ys"'ty In her nature. To-day. in spite
tain whispered comments and
g Of disapproval, she innocently
Chartered on, her delicate, child-likS
face flushing prettily at times, al.
though she could not. as Mrs. Adams
said, .talk fifteen consecutive minutes
without displaying the most egregious
ignorance even upon ordinary sub
jects." Yet the men always ignored
her mistakes. Just now she caught the
word tariff from conversation be
tween Miss Adams and Mrs. Smith.
and she quietly interrupted In bird-like
tones: ooh, has that bill passed? LET'S
see, what was 1t called?" One Of the
ladies giggied audibly as Mr.. Smith
gallantly replied:
aoh YES: the Dinrlev hin ~,
meanT ~
eyes that's II. Who Introduce, 4. ~,
sn,,a from tho women aaa ~. :.
Tito and oniet renly. 'e po
asr n,nplev introduced .. !. t. ;. :,
"a sor him" = % Ia ~
.sh !. that 90, How Mo-, ~,
n,n.,ov IL an EnoI,shman. ,o,,S l'
her noww
"a ..roo,r, ,vhisnared Mise Ad.,,a ,
Mrs Smith applied her handnaroh h,e
nm,cr,v 10 her mouth and faiona1, e =
cnnoh a,thouph abe knew bar rnsa ~. :.
detected NV the look of scorn Mr. "a, a.
Tia goya her as Mr.. Smith again mod :
courteous reply. and then With cbo m.
inp tact changed the snbiect tn ono
more adapted to Mrs. Leslie,s canocitv
That night. {, \ en- the puests wera q -
sembled upon the commodIous hote,
norch the men. as usual. forminp n c,r-
cle around Mrs. Leslie. the women time
isolated discussed more sotir,co1,,
than ever "the siren" and her chs ro =.
teristics. One declared she WINS mt
onlv brainless but soulless. incanah,s
Of any great and noble thought or ac.
ton.
.But." responded Mrs. Smith in sar.
castle tones, Initiative of Mr.. Ellis. "she
is so genuine and sympathetic; such
a sweet, womanly woman!"
Eyes, indeed, my dears," said Miss
Adams, "and Mr.. Smith informed me
only yesterday that she gave fellow
such noble aspirationsv'
A merry laugh rang out at Mrs.
Smiths expense, but ere she could re