The Savannah morning news., 1901-06-23

long girl strides with longer and quicker
steps, and the pretty girl, who is trying
to look absolutely natural, seems to be
walking on peg legs. Some one should
get out recipe for walking, something
on the order OF how-to- be-natural- though
self conscious. The woman who can look
natural when she is thinking of herself
is an artist. Women who go on the stage
study a proper walk, and II would be
well for women in private life to do the
same. 1t is quite as important as art as
the painting or music a woman takes up
as part of her education.
The girl who disliked her chaperon had
just remarked grirnly that she wished she
had been born a widow. The pretty young
widow, says the New York Sun, sat up
in the hammock and looked tragic.
''My DEAR don't ever say such a ridic-
ulous thing again"
The girl lapsed into apology.
well, of course, / know it's dreadful
to lose ones husband and I'm sorry for
real widows, If they did care. 1 didn't
mean to offend you. But you see 1 didn't
say ia like to become a widow by the
natural process. l wanted to be born so
TO have the freedom and none of the
hurt"
but / wasn't offended. l was only de-
ploring your Judgment. Freedom? A
nice widow has less freedom than any
mortal on earth. She can't avoid criti-
cisrn. She can't get simple justice. Every
move she makes is misconstrued. She is
always credited with discreditable mo-
tives Sometimes L think that the best
thing to do is to have the game as well
as the name, or else to marry again, in
self-defense. l don't want to be giddy
1 don't want to marry. l don't even want
to be admired, but l might as well be a
sly, designing cat, so far as reputation
is concerned. It's abominable. It's cruel
It's wicked"
She stamped her small foot viciously
and the girl looked impressed.
IF l were a writer" went on the vic
tim of social prejudices I'D write reams
in defense of the widow. She is like the
nother-in-law She's tradition. It's a
beautiful piece of logic. There are de-
signing and dangerous widows; therefore
all young widowh are designing and dan
gerous-unless they are too ugly to count
Take another cushion, take two cushions.
l i; going to tell you the story of my
life, and 1t will probably make you very
tired
The girl settled herself comfortably and
tried not to look guilty, but remembered,
with painful distinctness, the conversa-
AlOh abOGN tllG W1uOW lilttl size Ildu nedIu
on the hotel veranda earlier in the day
Il was an orphan began the widow
1T starts we'll" suggested the girl.
Doesn't It? 1t gets better as I go on,
for l was pretty and poor think may
say 1 was pretty without exaggerating
That was years ago. I'm twenty-five
now
There's some salvage from the wreck, &"
remarked the girl, looking jldicially at
- - 49,
II married early, at IS. He was twice
my age and the best man l have ever
known. l wasn't violently in love, but
! believed in him and he made me won
derfully happy. He had a great deal Of
money, and there was nothing in the
| world that money and consideration could
| do for my happiness that wasn't done.
After awhile l found that he was all the
| world to me. Then he died. l was left
quite alone again. There wasn't soul
| to whom l could turn. l was q, and
pretty, and very rich, and lonely Oh,
| my dear, how lonely
DO you suppose that people were sorry
| for me? Not at ALL Nobody took my
mourning seriously From the very start
! they smiled and shrugged their shoulders
and prophesed. For a while shut myself
away from everything. but 1 knew that
was unnatural and wrong and. after the
| first shock was passed, / felt the natural
| longing of a girl for some brightness and
eompanonship and Joy in Rife. was sad,
but my heart wasn't broken. and there
were things worth while left, even if the
best thing was gone.
80 I lightened my mourning and tried
to be little happy That settled it. !
was giddy widow. 1t didn't make any
difference that l was absolutely indiffer-
ent 10 men, That was only my sly way
! turned a cold shoulder even to the men
who had been my friends and whom !
liked. / might as well have thrown my
self at their heads so far as avoiding
gossip was concerned.
II was pointed out as a beautiful and
dangerous young person. II a man
stopped TO speak to me on a hotel veranda
there was a buzz among the tables; and
when he Joined the men, they laughed
and clapped him on the shoulder, and ]
knew some one was quoting, iSamivel be-
ware OF vidders.' 1 wish Dickens had
never written 'Pickwick Papers
when a married man was nice to me,
his wife was catty. When young boys
liked me, their mothers ruffled their
feathers like anxious hens and maneu-
vered transparency 20 get their chicks
out of my clutches-clutchesl When
there wasn't a man OF them all worthy
to fasten my husbands shoe laces, and
l knew it so well that they bored me to
extinction
Il didn't care for men anyway. but !
wanted women friends. A good many wo.
men were nice to me, because could DO
things for them, but they all saw through
my little game. SO clever of me to pre-
tend TO be n woman's woman. and not "a
care for men. Such a good way OF dis
arning criticism. OF course. when was
so intimate With Mrs. So-and-So, Mr..
so-and-sos admiration for me wasn't
noticeable, and under cover OF such chap
eronage I could do 50 much more execu-
tlon. oh Il took a widow to be polite"
But how ala you know they said these
thiugsy" asked tho girl,
1T was IN the air. There were thou
sands Of signs, J had my temper tried
a dozen times day and was insulted by
n host OF things that were not ia a form
I could resent And then there are al
Ways friends 10 tell you unpleasant
| things, for your souls good. or course,
| they only repeat the gossip because Il
y hnn ritf them aurI u Nuss frlnos ~ lntIi1.