The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-01-06
Kisses That Cheaper and Kisses That
Sweeten.


who would not smile in unconcealed
amusement could he realize the awful
depth Of conscious guilt and repen-
tance into which the youthful maiden
ever sinks Immediately after her first
kiss.
1t might almost be blow, so fear
fully aware is she Of its existence for
hours after its happening.
She bushes and Hutters whenever
eyes are upon her, and feels-Oh, lit
tie Miss Rosebud Innoncence!-as il
that kiss We're printed large for all to
read.
And without knowing exactly why.
she feels also that it ought not to have
happened, and that she and the other
person concerned are both vastly to
blame.
1t might be mentioned that, in the
confused medley of feelings that beset
her, she is 'acutely aware that she is
glad it happened! For the first kiss,
even when bestowed by a person of
no special Importance, is a landmark
in girls life.
Nothing is quite the same again.
Childish things are left for evermore
behind. In word-she has arrived.
or course. by the first kiss, one un-
derstands the first kiss that matters.
The first kiss from a lovers lips.
All the kisses in play by childish or
boyish sweethearts need not be count
ed. To the girl they were just as much
part OF the game as the handker-
chief that fell first on her shoulder.
But when a lover kisses her!
The younger she Is. the sterner the
social code and Judgment Of dear little
Miss Rosebud.
People have no right to kiss un-
less they are engaged" is, very prop
erly, one Of the most fixedly implant-
ed ideas in the mind Of carefully
brought up girldom.
the pleasing, flattered flutter that be.
sets her. Miss Rosebud is invariably
moro or less angry with the bold mas
culine person who has dared to take
a privilege to which he has no right.
She persuades herself that she must
have been behaving quite badly, that
he cannot respect her properly, or he
never would have dared
And that she should SO think and
feel is absolutely right and desirable.
1t is true that by the time she is a
few years older. she will probably re-
gard such lapses of conduct with a
somewhat more lenient eye. and the
fact that kiss is oftenest the pre-
lude to an engagement, as we'll as it's
leading theme. will have dawned upon
her.
The pity Is that as the weeks and
months go by bringing many gay
| wooer in their train. for when maid
ems are fair, many lovers will comet"
sometimes charming damsel drifts to
the other exteme, and comes to re-
gard kisses and embraces much as
she regards the roses and bonbons
that accompany even the mildest Of
firtations.
She no longer regards a kiss as. a
precious privilege reserved solely for
| those she loves, and who have a right
to take it. Without even the excuse
furnished by Christmas customs and
mistletoe boughs, she allows. Tom and
Dick and Harry the ri hts Of lawful,
engaged lovers. although in her own
heart she knows her interest in them
is as short-lived as the mystery and
moonlight of the walks and talks that
lead to such indiscreet salutations.
Without in the least desiring that
old heads should grow on young
shoulders, one can but grieve when
this is the case.
The fragrance is being insensibly
stolen from the rose, the bloom brush
ed off the peach
Love. it has often been said, is the
atmosphere in which a woman's beau
ty blooms. The consciousness of being
loved is, in truth. the greatest beauti.
fer in the world.
But to know herself beloved, and
to allow lover, who perhaps does
not even desire to become more than
a summer day admirer-to make love
ARE widely different things.