The Washington herald., 1908-02-23
nr HELEN ROWLAND.

manded the Mere Man, with sniff, as
ne entered the studio
The Bachelor Girl glanced at the ORR
entail incense burner hanging from her
chandelier with smile OF satisfaction
DO 70" she asked thoughtfully. Per
haps." she added. its because I don't
want to remind you of paint and turpen-
tine and cooking cheese. man gets a
woman so confounded with those things
# she has them round her long enough. -
''With-which things?" inquired the
Mere Man. depositing himself on the
divan with a comfortable sigh and a
gratified inhalation.
with anything" returned the Bach
elor Girl, as she put down her palette and
leaned lazily back in her Morris chair
'with potatoes and cabbage and dish
pans and coal scuttles II it's his wife;
with ham and eggs and washing soda II
it's his cook: with ink and Office smoke
If its his stenographer. and with jasmine
and triple extract and scented rufiies
II it's any other woman. Masculine SEN
timent takes its cue from the feminine
scent bottle oftener than man has any
idea Of, and gets so mixed up with vera
vloletta and stephanotis sachet that half
the time he doesn't know which is
which"
"Humph,' grunted the Mere Man. Il
can't see why any woman should want TO
be confounded with Turkish harem or
an Oriental dance hall"
shed rather be cOnfOunded with
those" protested the Bachelor Girl, than
with kitchen soap and fried eggs and cof-
fee It's because wives allow themselves
TO get mixed up with such things that
they lose their charm for their husbands.
A woman's fascination lies mainly in the
atmosphere she creates about herself
But wives are so busy buying matches
and potatoes and lettuce that they forget
20 buy perfume and sachet powder. They
are so busy trimming the house that
they forget to trim their frocks and their
pocket handkerchiefs. They are so busy
cutting down expenses that they cut all
the lace Off their petticoats and al the
frills off their toilet"
In q word. they cease being parlor or
naments. commented the Mere Man ap-
prOvingly.
And become kitchen utensils" added
the Bachelor Girl 'and are laid on the
shelf with the old spoons and the muffin
rings The worst shock a man can re-
ceive is TO discover that his wife's hair
doesn't curl by magic and that her skirts
don't grow on her and that her color
only comes and gOes-when she comes
and goes
"Boshr' exclaimed the Mere Man dis
guestedly. Every man knows that the
Lord didn't send woman straight from
heaven smelling like perfumery fac
tory, with forty rufies round her feet and
her hair already marcelled." "
Not at all" retorted The Bachelor Girl.
swinging her toes excitedly. "As far as
women are concerned. every man is like
a jury; he doesn't know anything until he
has heard the evidence and seen the
proofs. And even II he did. it wouldn't
make any difference. Everybody knows
that an actress isn't the ravishing crea-
ture she appears across the foOtlights.
but, nevertheless, we always somehow
get her confused with the fascinating
heroine. And in just the same way a
man always gets a woman confused with
her clothes and her surroundings. II
isn't what Sine is that matters. it's
what she seems 10 be II isn't
the cleVerness OF her remarks nor
the brilliancy Of her wit that he is think
ing Of when he looks at her. but the turn
of her hat and the kink in the curl on
her forehead and the way her jacket
fits around the wiast It isn't the deli
cate sentiments of a lost love that he
remembers longest. but the delicate
scent on her gloves and her laces and the
way her skirts frou-froued when she
waited. A man doesn't love a woman
because she's good or noble or strong
minded. but because she's delightful And
as for cleverness, reputation for brains
Is worse for a girl than-than-no repu-
tation at all, Mr.. Porter" and the Bach
elor Girl kicked her rufled skirts with
her toes impatiently. Tell me-" she add
ed leaning over and fixing the Mere Man
with searching glance. could you
marry an angel from heaven-if she ate
onions and wore her hair in a bum"
The Mere Man started and tried to gain
time by lighting a cigarette.
Gould you?" demanded the Bachelor
Girl, inexOrably.
IL never tried he answered eva
sively.
"of course. you didn't" retorted the
Bachelor Girl. triumphantly. you prob
ably ran away at the irst-''
I never tried to love an angle from
heaven. pursued the Mere Man calmly.
but I fancy I could love a nice girl lust
as well II she didn't soak herself in pat
chouli and rice powder. Beautys only
skin deep at best; and when it's only pad
It's just as good as any other kind"
broke I'm the Bachelor Girl. cIasping her
small hands about one knee and regarding
the Mere Man defiantly above her tilted
chin. - girl doesn't need to be really
beautiful in order 10 be charming All she
needs is the feminine instinct and the
fmoney 20 buy tho best quality of ribbons
and chiffon and-scent. It's not beauty
nor brains nor character that counts with
a man; its the eternal feminine that
catches the eternal masculine by the
throat and-and makes lump come
there. 4 -siau doesn't know the real thing
IN beauty from the imitation: and II he
did he wouldn't care II doesn't matter
10 him where a woman gets her complex
ION Of her figure, so it's there; and she
can use the same brand of scent so long
that he will begin 10 believe that God
gave it % her after a while"
It's too bad. sighed The Mere Man.
stretching himself lazily on the divan.
that we're so easy"
Easy The Bachelor Girl laughed
mockingly. "Do you suppose it's easy for
woman 20 live up TO a role that is part
angel part houri, and part cook? II
would be much easier IL you loved US, as
We love you for ourselves alone instead
OF for what we pretend 10 be-
IF you didn't pretend to be so much. !"
retorted the Mere Man. "and we could
ever find out what you really are, we
might
DO YOU suppose" continued the Bach
elor Girl. ignoring the thrust, that that
woman in the play who stole money 10
buy furbelows with did il as a pastime?
No; she did IT because she had discovered
just what effect one yard Of floating lace
had on her husband"
What effect did 1t have. ?" cried the