Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1909-04-28
A PLAN OF
CAMPAIGN

eIIpllOHS ONeIpOhST uSt SHS uhSOA-
sciously brushes harder slowing down
in the more meditative moments.
These are her thoughts)
1T is simply atrocious and unforgiv-
able! I've considered the subject very
carefully, very carefully indeed, from
all sides, because ! believe in always
being just, even when you are the in
jured person. Why, I've considered 1t
fully Is minutes and l believe my
head aches from the intensity with
which I've devoted myself to it, and
headaches make wrinkles and I'm not
going to be such goose as to start
wrinkles in my face because of man
like Winchester Henderson! Not l!
I'm not going to give him the sat
isfaction of knowing that anything he
could do would affect me in the least.
That's the trouble-how to show
proper resentment that will be notice
able even to stupid person like him
self without giving him ground to fiat
ter himself that he has disturbed me.
"Men are so frightfully conceited.
They think all they have to do is look
at girl and she is simply overcome
with gratitude at being noticed. And
Winchester is as bad as the rest, even
if he does cover up with that air OF
retiring modesty. 1t really Is deceit
full when you come to think about 1t.
IF he thinks for one minute that
I'm going to stand his forgetting an
engagement with me he is very much
mistaken! What If the head of his
firm did come to town and keep him
and what If his sister did telephone
that the baby had the measles and her
husband was away and she was scared
to death? Little things like that
shouldn't entirely upset his mental
processes. l wonder that he dared put
such feeble excuses on paper!
IT suppose he fancies that when he
calls tonight, as he says he will, I'll
receive him as sweetly as usual. Well,
I'll fool him!
ut won't do, however, to go in with
a tragedy queen. air. think on the
whole I'll be downstairs when he
comes, and reading. A person can be
almost insultingly rude and absent
minded looking up from book with
an instant's faraway stare as though
she couldn't quite place the caller who
had just entered. Her subsequent
elaborate sweetness doesn't remove
the shock he has of feeling there was
even an instants time when she could
forget him. But then I'd have to con-
tinue being sweet and that wouldn't
do!
1T might be better to come down.
stairs with my chin not up in the air
but perfectly level, greet him with
elaborate politeness and keep the con-
versation on the most perfunctory so
ciety plane just as though he was
some one / didn't in the least care
about, but was going to be courteous
to If | died for it. And be so nice to
him that he wouldn't have a single
thing to get offended at and yet keep
regular stone wall between us! 1t
would take clever handling, but I
could manage that kind of situation
very nicely. There's nothing that will
so battle and infuriate a man as that!
"On the whole. that's too much ef-
fort to waste on Winchester. 1t doesn't
matter sufficiently to cause me to ex-
ert myself as much as that might
act just plain bored, reply absent
mindedly and when he tried to repeat
his excuses say carelessly, almost as
though l were amused at his thinking
anything he did affected me, that 1t
didn't matter in the least, that other
things which we're more important
had quite swept 1t from my mind.
81 could say, oh, did we have an en-
gagement that night?' and then laugh
kind of helplessly and murmur some
thing about how shockingly | forget
things. That would beat into his brain
the novel idea that maybe he wasn't
SO important after all!
"Td lust like to stir him up bit
and make him humble and apologize.
I suppose he's too devoured by conceit
To have anything like that affect him,
though. He knows there are plenty
more girls on earth besides me-silly
ones, too, who would be only too glad
to have him come to see them.
"You really can't blame the men
when girls are so foolish. Annette
Billings, now would simply break her
neck IL she thought there was
chance to get Winchester away from
me. and goodness knows when girl
like that starts in it is all up SO far
as any other girl is concerned. Men
are such idiots that way-they always
run after a girl who fiatters and
cajoles them apd takes such an inter
est in them and their careers! Ouch!
NV how pulled my hair!
81 expect the real clever, subtle
person would let even her desire for
revenge 90 if she wanted to outwit a
rival who was lying in wait. 1t would
he nv cue to receive Winchester as
usual listen sweetly, and forgive with
generous magnanimity, thus putting
him in my debt He'd be entranced
with nv lovely nature, because he
really crawls in that note. He lid
seem to be dreadfully ashamed OF