The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-17

OUR IDEALS.

|
| Lake mountain.
| IT was Il summer morning. The
mountain side on which the park was
situated faced east. and the Slin Shnnc
| bright ana warm on the face of every
| house, sparkling on the dew il had not
| vet dried from leaves and flowers Ey-
| cry garment we wore was white Isa
| bells being lawn, believe: mine, thiE
| flannel. | would have scorucd to wear
Il hat. Hats in summer for young
| bloods have gnue out of fashion.
| There was walk shaded by many
| trees beside Il rivulet running through
| a deep ravine. We turned from the
| road into this ravinc Presently we
| came to q large Hat stone on which we
sat. Below Us the water gurglcd and
dubbed and sparllled. | love the
sound of running water.
We We're at that agc-I was twenty
Isabel nineteen when Il boy and u girl
must talk philosophy or at least what
they think is the bedrock of those priu
cipleS which are TO govern their lives
The visible world they have already
seen. They are Just getting their first
glimpse Of the world of thought Be
meath both is Il mingling of the spirit
ual ana the sensual. the former Of
which charms them to want of rec
ognition of the latter.
'Rohhins is back from college" | re
marked. ''IIc spoke the valcdctory ut
commencement. | believe"
Il haven't seen him yet" said Isabel
in1itfercntly
'Pcrhaps You don't fancy scholars?"
Not if scholarship is all there is to
them
what is Your ideal in a man."
We'll" meditatively. Il think
should like him tail. slender and with
raven black hair His eyes
Il don't mean physically: | mean his
moral and intellectual makeup"
ooh. I should want him to br
morally brave. He should always
choose the nohlcr part He must never
do anything mean, he always generous.
kind. for@iving. honorable"
| was troubled. | feared | was not
quite up to her standard. Indeed if
she knew of s,lndry small acts of mine
she would dcspise me.
"Then should like him smart" she
went on, warming with her subject
mot one of those blrar eyed spec
taclcd persons who if you speak to
them appear to wake up as from n
dream and cape at you: I mean. rather.
Que of those fellows who can take
prizes with theses ut the same time
they are winning the game for their
college on the gridiron. who can leap
streams and walls on horseback. who
sing delightfully."- always prefer -
tenor voice-who are sure To take .
high stand when they get into The
broader battlefield OF the world
II did not occur to me that this
ideal demigod was not likely to he
realized in one and the same person
[ was intent only on the great height
on which he stool that is. The dis
lance between him and me- ! was onr'
of the kind who could not learn with
out "digging" and confess ] was too
lazy To dig. | couldn't engage in
games because ] was nearsghted, rath-
er small and Il trifle lame. though the
latter defect | managed to conceal.
What under heaven could Isabel see
in me to love with this ideal hero in
her mind?
"Shall give you my ideal of u
woman" ! asked
She stirred the dirt with the tip of
her parasol mpditatiyeN.
NO" she said after consideration
Il know your ideal Of woman"
This was remarkable. since | had no
ideal. Young fellows don't spend thei'
time conjuring up ideal girls. There are
lots of other things to take mp their
attention.
What is my idealE'
"Nettie Sackctt."
| had spent some time with Miss
Sackett at the tennis court the pre-
vious afternoon. Isabel being present
Miss Sackett didn't play tennis, and
couldn't, on account of my lame leg.
We couldn't very well help being to,
gether
IutI YOU DuN I oblH W give lllc MISS
Sackett's traits to express my ideal"
"YOu don't care for beauty Miss
Sackett is not beautiful, you know
nobody pretends to call her s~-and an
intellectual girl would bore you. Miss
Sackett wasn't remarkable ut school
Indeed. she failed at the final examina-
ton. You like wit in girl and you'll
find it I'm Miss Sackett Her tongue il
sharp as a razor. The only objection
have TO this feature is that she slashes
people behind their backs"
| picked mp stone and threw it into
n little pool in the stream below.
There was Il sound | always like to
hear-a sort of PUNK. | was med
tating on the difference between Isa-
bells ideal Of man and mine of q
woman. Isabel sat unconcerned. Since
she pictured my ideal herself it didn't
require a very high appreciation of
herself to rise above it, There WAS
something unfair about the proceeding
but my limited knowledge of the lido
syncrasieS of women did not admit of