Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-03-13
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( Miss Elwyn \
I and Her Ideal \
BY N. w. CONNOLLY
Sessssssssssssesss
Copyright. 1911 By Authors syndioAts)
BY N. w. CONNOLLY

miss ELWYN was prominently of
M anintellectual makeup. IT'S true
there was a decided dash of emotion
alism running through her compost
ton, but the intellect was ever the con-
trolling force.
No mannishness about her, however,
none of those Objectionable up-to-date
''new-woman" ideas, which excite the
irascibilities of the most patient men.
A sweet and charming woman in
spite Of her cleyerness was Miss Ell
wyn, with hair like the ravens wing,
a face alive and yivacious, and beset
with a pair of bewitehing dimples.
/ To describe her in the glowing but
rather obscure phraseology of one of
| her admirers, a learned editor of
great daily, "there was an irresisti-
BILE potency to her personality, espe-
cially when she converted her dim
pies into catapults and fired barbed
arrows full and fair into the defense
less. She enmeshed the mind in the
warp and wool of what she was say
! ing, while arousing the subconscious-
ness with a seductive voice, which
stole in and made captive the heart,
without a challenge from sentinel or
| seneschal"
Another male victim to her many
| charms said enthusiastically of her
conversational power: "There was
flavor and tang to it that raised it
above haekneyed conventionalism,
and gave it autonomy, life and being"
For she always said just what she
really thought and felt
II was but natural that a woman so
gifted should elicit much admiration,
and, therefore, as the years slipped
by stealthily but quickly, people be-
gan to marvel that as Yet Miss Elwyn
had not seen fit to attach some sutton
for life
One summers evening when the air
was impregnated with the odor Of
early June roses and the stars hung
large and low and clear in the heay-
ems, with Something of human ten
derness in their lambert regard" Miss
Elwyn was seen walking in the star
light with a tall broad-shouldered
man. As they passed the light Of
street lamp, the young man was
identified by a curious female neigh
Dor to be none other than Mr.. Philip
Maber, a handsome blonde with pale
complexion and courteous bearing.
In business circles he was known as
an uplto-date hustler, and as reward
for his energy, pluck and grit pros
pectiye fortune of colossal dimensions
vhs looming up before him.
Miss Elwyn leaned rather clinging-
" upon the arm of the tall cavalier,
and seemed as contented as the birds
chirping in the trees overhead.
Later they sauntered into the "Bis-
marck garden" and when seated there
among hundreds Of other young cou-
pies, listened passiyely to the strains
Of music, deadened somewhat by the
chatter of dishes, the gayety Of laugh
ter and talk, and the hurrying to and
fro of clumsy and ofiicious walters.
After a half hour Philip, who had
tried to summon courage for a SUI
preme effort by ordering two "Man-
hattans" with bewildering quickness
OF succession and had consumed both
in fit Of Observation-Disclosures said,
TREMENDOUSLY: II am thinking Of spend
ing the summer months among the
mountains of Colorado. | shall ride
up the mountain paths on horseback.
Now, you love mountain scenery, and
adore horseback riding so, how should
you like to accompany me?"
At first Miss Elwyn looked startled,
then turned suddenly pale and seemed
downcast. While he was picturing his
contemplated trip, there had been a
delicious glow Of JOY transfusing her
uplifted face, for a soiourn in the
mountains had always meant an I'M
speakable eNhilaration 10 her, and
when perched on a good steed. pranc-
Ing through the clear mountain air,
II seemed that her whole being ex-
banded. Her intellectual and emo
tional nature uufolded as it were from
its swathings Of culture, and became
open and free, like fresh petals Of
flowers kissed into life by the warm
sunshine.
But when the picture ended by a
precipitate proposal for her to share
this pleasure. she descended sudden
" from her ideal sojourn to proffered
reality And the quickness of the
descent made her dizzy.
For to Miss Elwyn life was serious
affair, a grand and dignified but tor
tuous pathway through progress to
finer and loftier goal, and marriage
either a handicap or a help to the de-
sired end. And in truth, though our
heroine was possessed of much COM
mon sense, and otherwise had none of
the frivolous foibles of latter day
feminine creatures of fiction, she did
undeniably entertain visions of an
sideal"
Philip Maber had certain character
istics which were cherished in her
mental picture of what a man should
be-physically and morally he was al
most the incarnation Of her preeon-
ceiyed notions. But, mentality Was