Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1910-07-30
Retribution
py BERTHA D. ALSOP
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association.

IN the little girls of his acquaintance
flowers aud invited them to have ices
with him. They were not old enough
10 quarrel about him. but they aoied
OIL him all the same AS youth ne
r.sembled a young Byron with bis
large blue eyes. bis negIigee faxen hair
and round white throat. Then came
young manhood. BY this time ne
found more zest In his attentions 10
girls. though fewer pleased him. lie
and they we're still young enough to
fee, the sweetness Of a Irritation. ana
occasionally when the dencuernent
came he was obliged tc admit TO him-
self that be had been singed-
He had no thought OF marriage,
home. children. He didn't consider
/ himself old enough for that When he
reached tventy-seven he began TO LOOK
forward to it as something that would
naturally come about At thirty-nve
he wished that 1t would come about
AT forty he began to fear that II would
never come. Then II occurred 10 him
that he had better try 10 bring 1t about
But by this time young girls had De-
! gun TO consider him an elderly man.
, And. as for those near his own age. he
had no use for them. He knew shat
men of forty have on rare occasions
married girls half their age and ootn
husband and wife been very happy In
each other. Why not he? He re-
/ solved to make an effort
An effort in love, He bad gllded
naturally into so many affairs or the
heart that to try to get into one SEEM
ed repugnant 10 him. Why bad ne not
taken advantage CT some one OF these
affairs to preclude the possibility OF
the lonely old age that was overshad-
owing him-why? He knew well
enough why. He bad always consid-
cred the game. not the reality. 10
have taken one Of the girls he might
have had would have been to give up
J a conquest. At least so he had regard
| ed 1t at the time.
! Having lost his position at home OF
young man and consequently not
being thrown In with young girls. ne
determined TO go elsewhere. II was
the season Of outing. and he determin'
ed TO go wife hunting by the sea- he
had made many conquests there. Moon
light shimmering on the dancing waves
had called out that which had moved
many a girl TO love dim. True. now
there were gray hairs in his moustache.
and his Byronic forehead was higher
than 1t bad been. but he thought with
the same surroundings be might do the
trick as he had often done 1t before
II was sad to see young girl pass
him without looking at him. whereas
twenty years agone another OF her age
could not have refrained from
glance. He became acquainted with
several of them. but somehow there
seemed gulf between him and them
that he could not cross These were
half or less than half his age Finally
he met one between twenty-five and
thirty who caught his fancy There
was this. too. about her That ne did
NOT find In the younger oses-taey
surprised him by acting and talking IN
way that seemed childish TO him
They seemed 10 him to have grown
nearer the nursery than their pFoto-
types. Surely the girls he bad asso-
, ciared with when he was under TWEEN
ty-tiye 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 III he
could win her he would do So-;- he
made a sew abortive efforts 10 make
love as De would have made IL fifteen
or twenty years before What he
would have said and looked and acted
then now seemed ips;pid to him He
desisted. conrenting himself WIKI fee
girls companionship and showing her
) little attentions
One thing troubled him. Though she
accented his attentions and listened TO
his chat. she did not seem To be i'm
pressed with his superior wisdom He
felt that. while she attended to what ne
said. she occasionally let Il To known
that she knew more of The subject ne
was talking about than hr knew niin-
sels. Surely there was nothing near
the nursery here He wa~ uncomf"rt-
able at the thought THAI this young
woman felt him intellectually beneath
her. IL was ruther that be felt Der 10
be his superior
t, When the season was. drawing to
/. close he wished to bring matters TO
; focus This used to he easy enough
when ne was a yonnsster pic "e
/. game. But now thst be vas fiddle
: aged man. intending to- tell mature
. young woman that he loved her a"1
ASA her 10 be his wife. II SEEMED that
the many times be had done the san
thing came up TO mock him
However. he got il out
How times change u.s. she saS1'