The Washington herald., 1908-02-09
A Bachelor Girl Chat.

stepped into a sHOWdrift as she wheeled
around TO face the Aiere Man what DO
YOU mean. Mr. Porter
Il mean explained the Mere Man
hastily. that since stern parents and
goggIeseyed chapeTons and barred win
doWs and stone walls went out Of fashion
most of the excitement has been taken
out Of The love chase. There was nothing
left 20 make IL interesting bat tie chance
that a chap might be turned down. Take
that away and it viii be as tame as the
races al the circus where the lady al
ways wins and tine little pony always
comes in FIRST There's no fun betting or
sure thing and Doe fiickcd tine SNOW
rcsentfglly with thc point NJ his cane.
The Bachelor Girl swung her mutt inn
patiently
Bat dent you see" she argued. that
IL il bocdmg the fashion for women TO
propose il wouldn't bee a year before Il
would be bad form for "a man TO pro-
poser"
Great Scott"
And then all the uncertainty and anX-
iety and excitement would be on your
side she added tTiumpnantly. Men
would ba just as nervous about getting
married as women are now. You'd have
the same doubtful. delicious feeling every
time a girl coaxed you into the conseTva-
tory or sal ont a dance with you that You
do now when you pass "A woman ac-
quaintance on the street and don't know
whether shes going 20 speak 20 you or
not
The Mere Man shiyered.
Exquisite prospect" he mUrmured
cynically.
And besides. went on the Bachelor
Girl cheerfully 'if its a wOm3ns privi-
lcge TO decide nrst whether or not she
will acknowledge a mans acquaintance
and TO invite him to call or 10 dine isn't
it perfectly logical that il should be her
privilege 10 decide first whether or not
she viii marry him and TO invite him 10
the altar
And his privilege. broke in the Mere
Man desperately, Ito refuse the invita-
tom
The Bachelor Gin dropped her muff in
a sn0wbank
IL never thought Of that" she said
refiectively as the Mere Man recovered
the bit of silk and fur and restored il to
he's
"Of course you didn't" he retorted
brushing the snow from his coat sleeve
with perfect equanimity. You probably
4
privilege of refusing to return q w0man's
bow. we wouldn't have the privilege Of
refusing to return her love
You wouldn't gurgled the Bachelor
Girl deilghtedly. IF you were polite.
That's just il, agreed the Mere Man.
What you women want is not only your
own rights but ours, too; it's not u
chance. but sure thing.
Well sighed the Bachelor Girl. hold
Ing her muff pensively against her cheek
1T would be a much surcr thing than it
IS now"
What"
Happiness. rejoined the Bachelor
Girl, promptly Wed get the husbands
we wanted. instead Of any old thing that
happened to want US
But how about us?" protested the
Mere Man.
''Oh, you'd be much better off. retuTn-
ed the Bachelor Girl nonchalantly. It's
much more important that a man should
marry a woman who wants him than
one whom he wants; somebody who is so
delighted and grateful that she viii wear
herself TO q fragile trying to make his
life a path of roses. than somebody who
merely looks upon him as a last resort or
a means of paying the bills. When a
woman makes her husband miserable. it's
nine times out Of ten because he's not the
man she wanted to marry but the one
she had to marry; and she shows her re-
sentiment against fate by wearing soiled
kimonos and SLOPPY slippers and quarrel
ing over triiles and spending his money
recklessly. Besides. [ don't see, from the
matrimonial records and the divorce rec
ords. that men have made such success
in picking out life partners that they
should want TO keep on doing it, Women
could do 1t much more scientifically"
Maybe they could, assented the Mere
Man ironically But that doesn't make
US yearn to turn over all our fun to them.
A chap wants the pleasure of choosing his
own wife and running his own courtship
and doing his own loYe-making, just as
small boy wants the privilege of choosing
his toys and running his own steam en-
gine and winding his own top. It's mas
euline trait TO want to do things yourself
and feminine one to want them done FOR
you
But it's awfully hard. sighed the
Bachelor Girl, ito sit by and see q thing
all bungled up and stopped over and
spoiled. and"
"What?"
TO watch a proposal" continued the
Bachelor Girl. being blurted out and
squirmed through and twisted out OF
shape ard turned into a farce, when you
could have managed it like a Broadway
production of Romeo and Juliet Success
in anything, even matrimony, depends a
whole lot on how you begin Il; and when
a man begins by getting so excited and
frightened that he teTssts what he wanted