The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1904-03-18
peauty and
The Man
BY Keith Gordon
~ Keifb GORDON
Copyright, 1903, by T, 9. Mcclure

In the long talks that those two ex-
cellent friends Baird Durham and
Barbara Somers had from time 4 to
time about life, the world and the men
and women therein he had more than
once confided to her that never could
he fall in love with a woman who was
not a beauty. 8s 88 giS
~ can't exactly explain how l feel
about it." he said one day as they sat
together in an art gallery, where his
worshiping eyes returned ever and
again to a pictured face of rare beauty
that looked down upon them from the
warm red walls. TT isn't that l think
they are the most fascinating. Wit
and beauty are not too fond of each
others company. Besides, the most
attractive woman Pve ever known was
ugly-so ugly that at first she made
you gasp. After that-well, she was
your criterion of charm. When you
left her things became staler4an life
less. All the color and sympathy went
from the scene. You simply hungered
for her. M1snnYsa tAa4Ma
He paused and turned toward his
companion with a waiting, expectant
hook, as If be wanted to be sure that
she understood, and she. answered the
unspoker question of his glance with
a slow smile that did not betray, by SO
much as a flicker, the warm, reproach-
full, woman wrath in her hearts ira
She had heard practically the same
thing from him before, but today for
the first time her patience gave way
utterly. Apparently all sense Of her
womanhood had been sunk in their
comradeship. Instead of rejoicing in
this state of affairs, feeling of injury,
outrage, suddenly fiared UP in her
heart.
Did he think that because her fea-
lures were irregular and her complex
ion dull she was girl who did not
need to be reckoned with? Did he
suppose she was the less a woman be-
cause she was plain? Had he no idea
Of the sting in the remarks he was for
ever making about feminine beauty?
These were the questions she asked
herself holly, but her voice that low,
vibrant voice that thrilled one with
it's rich difference from other voices
betrayed in its full evenness no trace
of the resentment that surged within
her.
"You are right" she agreed with i'm
personal candor. "All women should
be beautifur'-there was a slight pause,
a hesitation just marked enough to give
force to the conclusion of her sentence
"tust as all men should be big and
strongr'
Durham glanced at her quickly. For
one startled moment he half thought
But, no; Barbara was too good a fellow
to give man fieck on the raw like
that. 1t was a mere coincidence.
Durham was but five feet six, and,
though he was well knit and substan-
tial, with clean bred look that was in
itself a recommendation, he was a
trife sensitive on the score Of the six
additional inches of height that he
felt should have been his.
"A mans appearance isn't of much
consequence" he observed, somewhat
stifffy. "His field is action. 1t is what
he % rather than how he looks. ''s go
There was more heat in his tone
than he liked. but he wasn't able to
suppress 1t. Somehow he didn't enjoy
being made to feel that he was not
at all like her ideal man, even though
they were nothing but friends.
@Perhaps you are right" was the
mild reply, and the conversation drift
ed to other and safer subjects. But
there was a speculative look in Bar
bara's eyes for the rest of the after
neon, which would have told careful
observer that she was turning some
plan over in her mind.
Her usual hour of rest before dinner
she spent lying at full length on the
divan in her room, with her hands
ciasped under her head and her eyes
fxed ON the open fire, thinking Efs
80 Baird couid never love any one
but beauty She carefully refrained
from asking herself why this should
piqHe her particularly, since her plain
ness had never interfered with their
friendship, and he spent far more time
with her than with any Of the pretty
girls OF their set. Still
HWell, I don't care" she said aloud
as, glancing at the clock, she arose and
began to roll up the masses of her
dark hair. sticking the great shell pins
in here and there with reckless iHdif-
ference. "I'm tired of hearing him
talk that way. He deserves to be pun
ished. Beauty may be the greatest
thing, but it isn't greater than all other
things put together.
"a few weeks of Amy will be good
for him." she soliloquized as she went
on with her dressing. Then, when she
was ready for dinner, she sat down at
her desk and wrote a letter to a former
schoOlmate-the beauty of her class
urging her to make her long promised
visit f
IN the course of a week or two the
inyitation had been accepted, and Miss
Averill arrived. That she was beauty
was q fact as self evident as that the
sky is blue (when it is SOY. 1t was
fact that admitted of no difference of
opinion.
Her skin was like La France rose,
her eyes deeply blue and her hair sug-
gested mingled gold and copper The
curves of her gracious figure swirled
n~A Aoxrad A., Rv.o@ ao syrOCoFtVI oil