The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-07-14
Retribution
By BERTHA D. AlSOP
Copyright. 1910, BY American Press
Association.

lie was from childhood lady killer.
AS a boy IN knlekerbockers be had Civ
en- the little girls Of his acquaintance
flowers and invited them to have ices
with him They were not old enough
to quarrel about him. but they doied
on him oil the same. As youth he
resembled a young Byron With his
large blue eyes, bis negligee flaxen hair
and round white throat. Then came
young manhood By this time he
found more zest IN bis attentions to
girls. though fewer pleased him. Ho
and they we're still young enough TO
feel the sweetness Of nirtation. and
occasionally when the denouement
came be was obliged TO admit to him
self that be had been singed
lie had no thought Of marriage.
home. children. de didn't consider
himself old enough for that When he
reached tweDty-seven be began TO look
forward to Il as something that would
naturally come about. At thirty-iiye
be wished that 1t would come about
At forty he began to fear that It would
never come. Then It occurred TO him
that he bad better try 70 bring II about
But by this time young girls had be-
gun 10 consider him an elderly man.
And. as for those near bis own age, he
had no use for them. He knew that
men OF forty have on rare occasions
married girls half their age and both
husband and wife been very happy In
each other. Why not hel He re-
solved to make an effort.
An effort 10 love! He bad glided
naturally into so many affairs OF the
heart that to Try to get into one SEEM
ca repugnant 70 him. Why bad be not
taken advantage Of some one Of these
Affairs to preclude the possibility OF
the lonely old age that was overshad-
owing him whyl lie knew well
enough why. He bad always consld
cred the game. not the reality. To
have taken one Of the girls be might
have bad would have been to give up
a conquest at least so be had regard
ed 1t at the time.
Having lost bis position at home OF
young man and consequently not
being thrown In with young girls. be
determined to 60 elsewhere. II was
the season Of outing, and be determin
Cd 10 20 wife hunting By the sea- he
had made many conquests there. Moon
light shlmmering on the dancing waves
had called out that which bad moved
many a girl to love him. True. now
there were gray hairs IN bis moustache,
and his Byronic forehead was higher
than Il bad been. but be thought with
the same surroundings he might do the
trick as be had often done 1t before
II was sad to see a young girl pass
him without looking At him. whereas
twenty years agone another Of her age
could not have RETAINED from
glance. He became acquainted with
several OF them. but somehow there
seemed a gulf between him and them
that Bio could not cross These were
half or less than half bis age. Finally
he met one between twenty-five and
thirty who caught bis fancy. There
was this. too. about her that be did
not find IN the younger ones-they
surprised him by acting and talking 10
a way that seemed childish TO him.
They seemed TO him TO have grown
nearer the nursery than their proto-
types. Surely the girls he bad asso-
ciated with when be was under TWEEN
ty-6ye were not as frivolous as these
misses. The older Girl, on the contrary,
talked and acted like woman. she
could be a companion to him.
He made Up his mind that II he
could win her be would do SO. He
made few abortive efforts to make
love as be would have made Il fifteen
or twenty years before. What be
would have said ana looked and acted
then now seemed inslpid to him. He
desisted. contenting himself with the
girls companionship and showing her
little attentions.
One thing troubled him Though she
accepted his attentions and listened to
his chat. she did not seem to be inn
pressed with his superior wisdom. He
felt that. while she attended to what he
said, she occasionally let 1t be known
that she knew more Of the subject be