Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-16
Copyright, 1902. ty Doubleday, Page & Coz

ever see a Chinaman in love? But that's
another story. About this proverb. 1t
looks like a dismembered spider; but my
Chlnaman said 1t meant, DO nothing too
much l wish l had pocketful of those
charms, Bobby. I'd like to distribute them
among the men l know best
The judge was well educated. but he
needed to read the Chinese classics. He
was delightful. but 1 yearned for novelty.
Even the maids have their Thursday after
moons and Sunday evenings off.
Just when my yawn was getting beyond
polite control, something happened
The judge had been at the house on
Saturday evening, and l had promised to
go for walk with him at O'Clock on
Sunday-not that the judge loved walking.
Bobby, but that he hated other Sunday
callers. Sunday morning one of my aunt s
friends telephoned to me. She was to have
a Cleveland man to dinner. He was rich
and handsome and clever and jolly, and he
liked all the things l liked, and he could
flrt in six languages. In fact he was a
registered lady killer, but was himself in
vulnerable. She wanted me to meet him.
l positively must help her. The baby had
been croupy all night and she wreck.
Her husband was down with grip and
stupid as an owl. Humanity demanded that
| should save the Paragon of the World
from a stupid time Wouldn't I. couldn t
| come to the rescue and dine with her, at
l o'clock?
Now, Bobby, that Cleveland man seemed
like direct answer to prayer. l couldn t
consistently turn from the gift of ii kind
Providence. To be sure, there was the
judge. He was off in the country for the
morning. so l couldn't send him word.
Then. too, | doubted his thinking the ex-
cuse valid. Men have absolutely no sense
of proportion in such matters. and I've
often noticed that altruism isn't the ma
gerfGF mans browning virtue
Il hesitated | was too fond of the old
friend to be willing to offend him. but my
a f-rr T,1s{ a,,I .,-t,, rNr
new. l could have stood the wealth. beauty.
cleverness, etc. but the 1ady-killer' and in
vulnerable caught me. Never, never, should
the name of my fathers daughter go ring
Ing down the corridors of time with a
stigma of cowardice clinging to 1t. A
lady-killer and invulnerable-
The judge went to the wall. 1 went to
the dinner.
to need his mother. The father was grippy
enough to sleep. . The Cleveland paragon
was most of the things in the advertise
ment-but invulnerable? Well, 1 don't
know.
Il had thought I might hurry home after
dinner and that possibly the judge would
wait. So l had ordered the carriage at
2:30. 1t came. and l offered to set the
paragon down at his hotel. 1t was a glori-
Gus October day. We climbed into the
trap The air was like wine. The paragon
sighed simething about the beauty of the
country on such day. l felt that ! was
retiring from the HeId 100 early III the en-
gagement. My heart made one last effort
to be true to Poll-meaning the Judge
Then 1 said:
would you like a country driver
He would
I'VE had it.
AT 6:15 l drove up to my aunts door.
The paragon had been dumped at the hotel.
The sun down. The color had gone
out of the day, and the pangs of remorse
had set in l knew I hadn't been decent,
and l had an awful conviction that l had
offended the judge and that he wouldn't
come around easily. l liked him better than
sixteen of the paragon, and l didn't know
how to propitiate him.
I've always cOntended that the way of
the transgressOr is hard-to find but had
found it, and it seemed that the Sunday
school books were quite right. I was even
ready to believe that a little boy who would
fish on Sunday would be drowned.
IF any other man had been in question
I would have told him the truth calmly,
and allowed him to like it or dislike 1t
he chose but 1 didn't want the judge to
dislike t-or me; and l was afraid of him.
Let this story be warning to you Bobby.
Don't be awesome. You may win the girl
by II; but you will probably drive her from
the path of chldike frankness and
Il said to myself;
Nancy. my child verify. descensus
Averni is appalIingly facilis. You must lie.
lie stoutly and consistently. So may you
keep your friend with the bad disposition,
though you may lose you self-respect.
You would probably miss your self-respect
much less than you would miss the friend
with the bad disposition
Monday morning I called up the court
house on the telephone. The judges voice
was honeyed. That made me uneasy. l
apologiZed He quite understood. That
was uncanny I COMPOUNDED myself in ex-
plantations / descended to trivialities.
There made a fatal error. A well-told lie
never goes into details, you know. 1 told
the man at the other end of the phone
how worried I had been because had to
go to the dinner. how l hurried home the
moment I could escape. how reached there
Just after he left. how sorry l was that
he was too impatient TO wait even few
moments.
..He said yes. yes to everything. His
voice was as the voice of cooling dove.
Bobby He begged me not to bother my
head about the matter. He hadn't misun-
derstood me for moment.
II rang off 1t all seemed too good to
be true and his angelic confidence In me
made me feel ike a houn dog-as my
Virginia cousin would say. But | made an
Offering TO Mercury. god of lies; and
that evening I put on my new pink frock.
The Judge didn't come He didn't come
the next evening. bobby, he never sa"
that pink frock, 1t was worn out before
he spent another evening with me. L DIDN'T
meet him anywhere in society. for he DIDN'T
go out at all during the rest or that
winter. Occasionally l dad meet MIN on
the street He was as genial as a May
morning He beamed on me. He even
stood by the carriage and talked to me, II
some one else was with me. Really, you
know, II was maddening. | couldn't ask
hfm what was the matter. when he gave me
no reason to think he was offended ana
treated me most amiably. He had a right
to stay away from the house II he wanted
10 do it. and l was too proud to protest
felt sure there was something wrong about
that Sunday business, but what could l
do?
In February 1 came home. In June l