The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-04-12
THE TESTING OF A MAN.

Long ago, SOInc person more OF
less wise-they are woeful1y tiresome,
these sawmakers-declared that when
a woman will she will. That's all
very well, and perhaps it is, for the
better part, true; but there are slips
between lips and cups, pitchers are
often broken by making steady
company of the well curb, and, in
fact, one can't always safely bet on a
sure tip. I have little doubt that a
woman will when she will, if she can
but there's the rub, as Shakespeare
wrote, and was most uncommon1y
abused by Critic Goldsmith for being
SO disagreeably vulgar, thereby prov
ing that poet is without honor in
his own generation.
If she can. One must reckon with
this essential eff she cam 1t was
because of this lack of reckoning that
Medora Folsom-something very dear
to woman, her pride, entered into
the shackles of matrimony with a
rude and husky male person who had
big feet and coarse hands. which is
quite contrary to all the conventions
of maidenly expectancy, when maid
emily expectancy is delightfully."- dwell
ing upon the prospect of marriage.
All properly constituted maidenly ex-
pectancies do that, and Medora Fol
som was altogether a most properly
constituted girl, and had been we'll
taught, having a good mother. In
itself this last is full marriage por-
tion for any young woman who is not
looking for coronets.
Medora lived on the North side, up
near Lincoln park, in one of those
pretty by streets running lakeward,
which are by no means aristocratic
and by no means plebeian, but just
good, comfortable, respectful, we'll
to-do American-which is fine enough
for anybody, even a crown prince or
the rajah of Singapore.
And Medora, who was 20 years old
and as sweet a girl as ever bloomed
IN the CountIeSS myriad or girl gar
dens this old world has looked on
since Osiris was only man and had
not thought of becoming deity, had
given her the rare happiness of being
wooed by two ardent lovers at one
and the same time," as the ringmas-
ter would say. It had looked for
quite awhile as if John Brown would
carry away this winsome prize and
bear it to his tent triumphant. He
had the first innings-which always
counts. and Medora really liked him
which helps-and her mother ia
vored his suit-which may or may not
have been an advantage. Upon this
latter point one may be pardoned a
tolerent degree of skepticism. The
basic quality of glorious woman is
contrariness. If you want her to, she
likes to make you believe she would
rather not if you urge her, she SHES !;
if you command her, she bolts. My
opinion is that it was largely because
of her dear mamma that Medora re-
fused John Brown the first time he
asked her.
She didn't send him away peremp-
torily, fatty, about his business-that
would have thrown the poor fellow at
the feet of some other girl-the bold,
saucy, thing-and have outraged all
of Medora's finer feelings, but she
pleaded that she didn't really love
him yet enough to want to marry
him, forever and forever (this was in
Chicago, but Medora was a good
Episcopalian, } and that, for the time
being, there was no hope. Besides
that, Folsom is prettier name than
Brown, don't you think? It's mat
of taste. 1 know a woman whose
name was once Miss Angela Beatrice
Montgomery, yet now her calling
cards bear the title, Mrs. Adam Potts.
And she is proud of it.
So John, poor John, fingered, and
used to make long calls on Sunday
evening after servic. len all the
family was in the parlor, and talk
about the weather, the new vested
choir and what sympathetic voice
the rector possessed. 1t was rather
slow for Medora. l think she rather
resented this accomplishing adora-
ton, which accepted its fate and kept
its mantle sheet. l think that at
times she half wished she were a
Sabine maiden and John was Roman
swashbuckler with no twentieth cen
tury foolishness about so plant a will
low as mere girl.
And, resenting, when Aylmer Hast
ings came along, gay, self-centered,
tall, dark, with white hands-so diff
ferent from Johns, who was an en-
gineer and sometimes conveyed fra
GRANGE of oiled rags-she seemed to
yield to his impetuous suit and to
poor John grew very naughty, dis
dainful and coldly polite. Soon she
let it be quietly understood that she
and Hastings were engaged. There
was no formal announcement. and no
wedding day was set, but Medora
wore a pretty new ring upon her fore
finger-and John was very unhappy.
Mr.. Aylmer Hastings, let it be un-
derstood, in way too vague to be
convincing, that he was ION the
board of trade" He had glib fund
of conversation relating to wheat and
pork, and the operations of Phillips
in corn, whispered mysteriously of
"inside operations" and once had
confded to Medora's papa. who was
an unsuspecting gentleman given over
to the purchase of butter at 1917 cents
and its sale at 22 cents. that If the