Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-19

or merely an impoverished school friend of the
daughter of the house she has hardly been unwse
as put herself in the power of these people before
insult after insult is meted out to her matter
of course.
The son of the house refers to her as a dowdy"
and refuses to dance with her. The daughter apol-
ogizes for her to the gded youths who frequent
the drawing room The mother, whose mercenary
plans have been completely upset by this fascinating
stranger, attempts to her out of doors, until
the poor girl in selfdefense marres the great pa of
the season lin such works, no self-respectng sea-
is without its pdrti). who up to the very last
moment has shown himself to be the most narrow
minded of cads and so she becomes with apparent
satisfaction member of this agreeable circle, able
in her turn to insult and browbeat.
Whenever you read this sort of story you may
feel toleraby that its author is drawing upon
fertile but conventional imagination. That
women of this type are insoent and even rude no
will deny, but it is only the delightful egotism
of the outsider that suggests this rudeness is de-
signed and prearranged
1t Stevenson, | think, who bet that if he
walked down Pccadilly without his coat of
his friends would recognize him. and most outsiders
in the position of the coatless Stevenson-not
that his friends refused to know him, but that
it not among the coatless that their eyes in
stnctively roved in search of their acquaintance:
So with many of We come home Tuning
and contemptuous, because the great Mrs. Some
body-by far the grandest person with whom
had bowling quantance-with whom we
spent delightful half hour at the charity bazaar,
has Just passed in Fifth-ave without the slightest
sign of recognition: Deliberately cut us we explain
to astonished family. How despicable the rich
perfectly, and looked the other way!
Facing the Unwelcome Truth
A LAS! my poor friend, is that not pleasanter
belief than to face the truth? Mrs. Somebody
very suave and gracious on the memorable occasion
when you first met her, because she knows how to
be gracious whenever she wants to, but unhappiy
you made the least impression upon her
mental vision. She did not remember you, because
she really you at all. In theory she will
always remember you 6 that nice little man, who
so helpful at the bazaar, and she would have
been perfectly willing to bow to you if anyone had
make the effort impress your features upon her
memory is just little more than she feels called
upon to do
This is the truth that you must recognize if you
going to swim with these hard and self-sufcient
iron pots. They are lazy and selfndulgent, and it
is great deal of trouble without any certain re-
ward to exert themselves for outsider. But, you
say, am l not just amusing and ten times better
informed than theye Probably you are, my poor
outsider; but you do not speak their dialect and
ask yourself, if two books at your elbow,
frivolous in your tongue and an instructive one
in a foreign tongue, which you would select OF
course it is irritating to be ignored or to have your
best anecdote interrupted. No wonder you jump
to the conclusion that nothing but deliberate
desire to snub you would induce the whole company
to leave you STRANDED half a minute away from
so. They would have been willing enough to listen
and prepared to laugh, only just at that
moment some at the other end of the room
began talking about some mutual friend, some little
scandal in which they were interested, and they
found they preferred to listen to that. They for
got all about you-forgot that you there
But such manners, you will say, make bear
garden, not society. True, and SO let us keep out
childhood's friends, who are of course always
polite, always considerable, who interrupt,
and have the bad taste to prefer anyone
to ourselves.