Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-01-31

"HChCA am IlSnI- In q nrSt place
she is tall and dark"
You are right, so far" replied Dun
bar. glancing almost unconsciously
at a mirror that hung opposite.
And she is very handsome, is she
not?"
"Well, no, 1 am afraid not" was the
h~esitating reply. AT least not par
ticularly So" he added, seeing the dis
appointment in the face of his fair
questioner.
But l know she has lovely eyes,
large, and dark and soulful"
Dark eyes? Oh, yes, certainly"
"And SOULFUL" insisted Miss Tres
silis.
"They are full of something" re-
piled Dunbar; perhaps it is soul, /
am sure L don't know. You see, I
never gave the matter very much
thought
Il can see her. said Miss Tressilis,
with a dreamy look in her own beau
tiful eyes, sitting in her office, fitted
up like a boudoir, with lovely pictures
n knick-knacks all about her. No
n could nave such beautiful
thoughts unless they were surround
ed by beautiful things. No woman
at least"
There was a minutes silence, and
then Miss Tressilis turned 20 her COM
p%anion.
Il am going to conffde in you," she
said. Il am enc of Iolanthe's most
constant contributors"
Yes, l know You are" replied the
young man. ahsently.
GLOW could you possibly know
that?' asked the girl. opening her
eyes. II enclose my name, but my
nom de guerre. or whatever you call
it. is quite different. no clue at all.
How could you possibly know? Sure
ly. surely. IOlanthe does not show the
letters she receives to others in the
office. Oh, that would be horrible.
If l thought some man had seen those
letters l should die with mortifica-
ton"
ID not disturb yourself he said.
"On my honor, no one sees those
letters but Iolanthe, who would de-
serve a good thrashing if it were
otherwise"
what a horrible way to speak of il
woman!" said Miss Tressilis, evident
ly much relieved. "But tell me, how
did you know that l was a contrib
utor?"
Dunbar flushed a little. "Well-
you know" he said, "any one not 4
fool could see that. No woman could
take such an interest in the editor of
a page like that without-oh, with
out writing to her and telling her,
and all hat sort of thing, you know"
But you spoke with so much GER
tainty," said the girl; quite as if
you knew all about it, not as if you
merely surmised it. But l suppose it
is all right. Oh, yes, 1 write to To-
lanthe constantly. 1 tell her all kinds
of things, and ask her advice about,
oh-lots of things that a girl wants
to know"
Personally" said Dunbar, 81 think
these question columns for women's
pages are rot. They pay the paper,
of course, or we wouldn't run them;
but-don't be offended don't think
they are quite healthy. A girl writes
to me-that is, of course, supposing l
am a woman editor-and wants to
know whether l think the young man
who is paying her attentions is really
in earnest, and then she tells me what
he does or says, and how he looks at
her, and all that sort of thing. How
am / to know from such data?
If I reply, L fear the young man is
trif1ing with your Affections l may be
doing a very estimable young fellow a
great injustice; if, on the contrary, I
encourage the girl to receive the at
%tentions, I may be helping a worthless
scoundrel. And then, again, it's not
good for the girl to he exposing her
secret thoughts to a stranger like me,
instead of her mother. I-er-I am
still speaking, of ourse, from the
standpoint of a woman editor"
"It seems almost a pity you are not
one," replied Miss Tressilis, with some
resentment. "You seem to Know a
good deal about it; and I don't agree
with you at all. 1 think it is good to
have some one-some kind, loving
woman, such as 1 am sure Iolanthe
is-to confde in and ask advice from"
even in matters of the heart, as I
believe these affairs are called?" haz-
arded Dunbar.
YES, even IN JnaL, l. knO" a girl |
who was saved from a great deal of
misery by Iolanthe. She wrote the
girl a private letter, exposing a young
man who was paying her great atten-
tons"
"But that was because the girl men
toned the name of the cad in ques-
ton in her letter. Iolanthe happened
to know a good deal about him."
ST suppose you would think that
rather a sneaking thing for a woman;
but pardon me, how do you know that
the name was mentioned"
Dunbar looked slightly nonplussed.
'FNhy, how could Iolanthe have pos
sibly warned the girl against any
special man if she did not know him?"
he said.
mo. I suppose not" replied Miss
Tressilis, in rather a doubling voice.
''Tell me, Mr.. Dunbar, do you know
Iolanthe very well? And do you adj
mire her very much?"
ST can't say much as to admira-
tion," repIis1 Dunbar, 'but I will adj
NIT that J lib exceedingly solicitous
about hef welfare"
"One Of 6ef best friends?" queried
the girl in a low voice.
Dunbar laughed rather bitterly. ST
don't know" he said. "Some people
would teli Jru that 1 am Iolanthe's
worst enemy"