The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-12-16

And on the situation" concluded,
"and then YOU have TO reckon with
death, accidents and prylng land
ladies'"
Il suppose" said Polly, that the
safest thing for girl to do is to write
| with the idea that she is going to be
famous and that her letters are to be
published after death by . mercenary
progeny Then she will say lot of
clever, interesting things which viii!
charm the man in question and yet
would make good general reading, il
The public should ever take notion
to investigate"
"That, Polly" said I, "would be an
excellent idea for Il great many rea-
sons; firstly, because Il man never APP
preciates mushy, gushy letter that
seems to he stopping over at the cor
ners with sentiment like jelly roll.
You know, yourself, how, when your
plate is too full, the sight of it takes
away your appetite. Now, single
sip of something really good and spicy
creates desire for more"
"And a woman's first duty" said
Polly, solemnly, waving a packet of
letters, lis to create desire for more.'
Besides" / went on, ignoring the
cynicism, 'if the average girl who in
dulges in sentimental notes would pro-
ject herself into the future few years
and draw mental picture of the wives
of her correspondents in the attitude
Of q
UGH" cried Polly, with a charming
little shudder, shed never write any
thing but the 'do-come-tO me-
mother-sends regards Agnes wants-to-
meet-you- hope you are-well-with-love-
always kind, would she? Shed never
attempt to make herself plain or I'M
derstood or anything of that sort"
NO" / replied, flinging my cigarette
stump into the CRATE and gazing
thoughtfully at the fire. why is it
woman always longs to make her.
self understood, anyway? It's an aw-
full mistake. Because TO the average
man every girl is just like a geometri-
cal problem, quite uninteresting, after
she has been solved"
Polly was arranging the little packets
of white letters carefully into different
sized piles.
"Why do you tie them with colored
ribbons?" / asked, curiously.
1.-The ribbons" said Polly, represent
the men, I can tell whose letters they
are without even glancing at the en-
velope White, for instance, is for
Arthur Drake, the man with the whit
est soul l ever knew, and black is for
Jimmy Darlington, who died; red is
for Bobby McRae; he was an actor,
you know, and blue" Polly
stopped. you see," she went OH in a
moment, "every man who comes into q
girls life leaves 6 distinct impression.
For every man she has ever fancied
she always has g soft spot somewhere
down in her heart. Now, it's different
with a man. Nothing is so dead to him
as dead love. The girls he has flirted
with and tired of are just like your
bundles of letters, forgotten trophies
tied with an old string"
oh not at ALL" | protested thrust
ing my hand into my waistcoat pocket
and extracting small leather case.
Here, for instance, is a package OF |
letters that / keep quite separate. |
was going to take-I mean to ask-the |
privilege of keeping these" i STAN
mered.
But" said Polly, "if love letters are
like pudding, or burned cigarettes, or
roses, they won't keep
"These WILL" 1 said assurlngly, ''be-
cause they are quite unusual. The girl |
who wrote them knew how to write; |
Just how far to go TO be interesting, |
and where to stop before becoming
gushy. They aren't like roses, sac
charine and ephemeral. They are more
like immorteles, COOL crisp and ever
lasting"
Polly leaned over the table and began
sorting out little package of en-
velopes from her own heap.
"What are those, Polly?" I asked
curiously. "They look like kilograms"
"They are" said Polly, coolly. "Some
men carry on correspondence mainly
by telegram. When a man is really i'll
love, you know. it is the hardest thing
in the world for him to compose let
Ter. Hence he resorts to the telegraph
office. Some of the most bea Itiful
love letters ever written have been
Just kilograms
l picked mp the bundle absent-mind-
eddy, then let it fall suddenly.
Polly ! called. softly. But Polly
was kneeling beside the CRATE, watch
ing the flames that burst over the heap
IF papers.