The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-06-09
NEWS OF THE BOOK WORLD
The Price Of Vanity Told by a Woman
Who Processes to Write the Truth About
Herself-The Spider and the Fly Again,
!. But the Fly Escapes.

Is It possible for woman to write the truth
about herself? It has been attempted often,
perhaps not often with success. In the belief
that 10 can be done, have set myself to write
what follows; to write the bare truth, 80 far as
1T is known to me. without finching. 1t is not
the portrait Of an ideal woman which results
but of woman Of the world, not quite the
basest Of her kind, but farther yet from the
best. Let those who read discern, and let those
who are Without sin first cast stone.-The Au-
Very safely may it be said that few
women, who had to tell what the author
Of has told, would attempt to tell the
truth about themselves. The story Is not
one for the immature.
Tt is the story Of the spider and the
fly, in which the fly is saved, however.
The spider is a railroad king, man of
great power and wealth and at the same
time Of marked personal charm to those
who do not know the real man within.
The spider is IT, the attractive, tho not
beautiful, wife Of an architect in an east
ern city. Her husband seeks a commits
sion in the building of palatial home for
the railroad king. She realizes that he is
not equal to the task and seeks to aid
him. Her artistic sense helps, and her
husband gets the coveted prize. He goes
to Europe, taking her with him, in search
Of tapestries and other works Of art for
the palace. With diabolical self restraint
and craftiness the spider keeps himself in
the background.
/ The sparlor'' in this case the palace, is
completed at last and with it an ingenious
and costly temptation by which the spider
feels sure he will be able to lure the fly
to her downfall. Despite all the en-
chantment Of the place, as the author de-
scribes it, the reader sees only the APP
palling picture. of human being on the
brink CT a moral abyss. Foolish she has
been, and brought to her present danger
only by her own disregard of warnings
she would not heed because she did not
wish to jeopardtze her husbands chances
of success and because Of her love of lux.
ury, yet shc escapes the spiders clutches
but scorched by the deep humiliation Of
the fact that he had felt so sure of his
prize as to. go to such vast expense t.
SEba ready to celebrate IT'S winning.
Ruin comes upon the architects bust
ness thru the resentment Of the railroad
liking, the woman's good name has beer
smurched, and deep miseries follow in tn,
itrain Of the indiscretions born of her van
i ity. And this is the lesson she gets ou
of It all (and there is no excuse for sucl
"a book except in its lessons):
i 1T has been the fire Of vanity-tha
poor, trite, pitiful thing which I fanciet
belonged only to an old-time Pilgrim
! Progress notion Of things. It is oh, S,
real, I have found, so cruel mercenary
devouring-a consuming fire, starting, too
from such a little spark. Why wa
there no one in those years to warn me
, No cne to tell me that but one life wa
mine, and that If I gave that to the sens
: could not give 1t to the spirit?''
1t had been better If the book had ende,
there. 1t is almost enough to condemn |
: that it has been given a 'happy ending.
: 5ut we forget, it is autobiography we hav
: been reading. i