The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1910-05-19
A WOMAN'S WOMAN.
Rx ALMA sWARTZ.

choice. | would discover If she stood
well with members Of her own sex"
IF ! were thinking of marriage, "
replied Edith. II would go to the
mother Of the man | thought of mar
rying and ask her If she could recon-
mend him"
could not say whether Edith was
speaking ironically or not dropped
/ the subject.
had gone to Florida where Edith
was spending the winter, TO ask her
! to be my wife. Since we did not re-
/ side In the same place when AT home
! | had had no opportunity of knowing
how she stood with any one except
myself Therefore before making her
! aware Of my intentions | resolved to
covprtly draw forth the opinions of
certain members of her own sex.
There were number of girls at the
same hotel with her, and | thought |
might gather evidence from them. But
after a couple of days stay among
them II seemed TO me that Edith Ell
/ ther kept herself voluntarily aloof
from them or had been left out of
their little coterie. ! soon became good
friends with them and proceeded to
elucidate the matter What was my
surprise TO discover that not one of
them would speak well of her, and
many of them spoke Ill of her.
This was Il shock. | had supposed
I fhuI mod nt.tnfntag Of xt.hn gnnpna1
to me to be so deserving of them
would come merely for the asking
But no. If ! were to sum up her
/ character upon the evidence of those
who must know her. rather than mar
ry her 1t would be better for me that
| bad never been born. One declared
! that she was vain, another selfish. an
other untruthful. Indeed. every one
attributed to her some fault. Not
willing to condemn her without a
hearing. | asked her why she did not
make companions of the other young
ladies In the hotel.
"Oh." she replied disdanfuly,
they've got up u mutual admiration
society and have no use for any girl
except themselves"
The reply was not satisfactory.
was bitterly disappointed. The only
thing for me to do was to go back
north and drop Edith from my mind.
But she was attractive to me-very at
tractive. She was pretty and engag
ing. | didn't wish to give her up. |
made up my mind, however to be true
to the principle | had enunciated to
Edith herself at the beginning of this
story. packed my trunk and paid my
bill at the hotel. Then | did what men
are constantly doing when they apply
principles to their love affairs. | sub
ordinated my judgment to my inclina-
ton. Here were six girls. some of
whom refused to speak we'll of Edith,
while the rest condemned her. Her
own testimony In her own behalf
would on principles of evidence be
worthless. Nevertheless. on the even
ing before my departure | walked with
her into an orange grove and asked
her how she had come TO antagonize
so many girls Of her own age.
Her reply was that If | declined to
consider her superior to every one OF
them she had no further use for my
acquaintance.
confess | was taken aback by this
illogical method OF handling the sub
ject. Take the evidence of one against
six! IL | were to make the most i'm
portant decision Of my life on such evi-
dence, heaven help me! ] called her
attention to the fact that all these
young ladies were her peers and their
concurrence In condemnlng her was
not to be put aside by her bare asser-
tlon. She replied that II our ac-
quaintance were to continue 1t must be
upon the condition she had stated.
We walked back to the hotel In ST.
lence, and at parting Edith didn't
even look at me. ] went to my room
and wrestled with myself. That night
| slept but little aAd the next morning
awoke with a languld feeling, not only
of body, but of mind. All day strug-
gled to prevent myself from marrying
a girl condemned by her associates. |
went to the railroad station. but saw
the train leave without me. Edith
when | met her on the tennis court
took no notice of me. She seemed to
have forgotten me over the net. In
the afternoon when she appeared,
beautifully appareled and with rose
IN her hair, | raised the white flag. ]
asked her to walk with me In the
orange grove. Once there / told her
that II all the saints In heaven con-
demned her ! would feel honored TO
kiss the hem Of her garment
'You told me-" she replied, that If
you meditated marriage you would
discover II the girl OF your choice
stood we'll with her own sex. You
know what the girls here think of me-"
"They are unworthy to express an
opinion Of you"
She laughed.
II admit stammered, "that have
gone back on my principle. Perhaps
l have been a fool, but can't help 1t.
"Yes, you have been very stupid.
In the first place. knew what you
came down here for AnV airI would