Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1910-12-17
THE MAN And
THE HOUR
And the Sin of Omission Alice
Charged Against Herself.
BY KEITH GORDON.

Elinor for the first time IN her life
was looking the future squarely In the
eye Hitherto she had been content to
nibble AT life. munching away content
edly enough, satisfied with the joy OF
the moment And she might have gone
ON so for an indefinite time had Ii not
been for the occurrence OF the Sd OF
June.
New Years day is significant only
because then, by common consent.
time moves up a number. This partic-
ular June made an indelible impress
sion on Ellnor's mind because on that
day she began to be thlrty-two-began
at the very beginning. of course. but
still she began.
II shall say I'm thirty-one all this
year anyway" she announced defiant
ly to that other self that receives our
dearest condolences. "'It's such bad
form to say you're thirty-one years
and two months old. or whatever 1t
may happen to be. And II have to
write IT I'll make 1t thirty-one In round
numbers-not even thirty-one plus"
All of which, as the reader can see.
was very interruptions
However, as she found, by far the
worst thing about beginning to be
thirty-two was the fact that you
couldn't forget it. The harder you
tried the better You remembered #
well what If amY''
This was the remark that our hero
inc slung into space when, after a
week of torment, she sat down with
her chin resting on her hands to have
the thing out. what IL I am? So
are plenty Of other gir-women.
mean. Alice is thirty. Mary thirty-one.
Mabel twenty-eight"
She paused In her enumeration, struck
by the thought that all these friends
were married Matrimony was a sub
ject to which she had given the mimi
mum of thought She supposed she'd
come to ii some time. but she was in
no hurry TO enter that narrow pasture
so long as there was pleasant browsing
to be had outside
When she had thought of it at all 1t
had seemed TO mean chiefly a tiresome
round Of housekeeping that resulted in
three perpendicular lines Just over the
nose, a memorandum of worry that she
secretly determined 10 avoid as long as
possible But now that she was be-
ginning to be thirty-two the thing was
different.
Could It be. she asked herself, that
she had made a mistake after all and
that those three incisive lines were as
much of an honor as an officers bars?
Could it be that there was a point
when one began to be thirty-two. for
instance, when becomingness demand
ed that one should lay aside Miss
Just as it required that one should
stop wearing pink?
she faced her plight with stfH up
per Lip, realizing that she had no one
but herself to blame There had been
a number of men-the mischievous dim
pie at the corner OF her mouth danced
into sight for second at the thought
OF how many-who had done their best
to stop her in what she now recognized
for the first time her mad career. She
had declined their offers kindly. but
with certain royal carelessness that
rocked not Of possible dark hours to
come When did any woman born to
the belief in the divine right of queens
ever IOrGSee QeL1rO0eLuGnIg
She had inadvertently lived over"
as she had once heard IT quantity
phrased. There was no doubt about II,
she was an old maIdl She repeated it
aloud in all it's brutal truth. seOrning
such euphemisms ms 'spinster- and
bachelor woman"
You're nm old maid-jnst q plain old
maid!s she said audibly- But It sound
ed like Joke-ffke one Of those things
too bad to be true She would proba- /
bly, wake UP after a bit to end that !
she had been married since her eight |
zenith year and had a son ready TO en- |
ter college and a daughter about TO |
make her debut
No such happy awakening came. |
however. and with desperate philoso-
ply she decided that since she was
an old maid she would enter into the I!
rule for an it was worth At least
she would avoid the error of being |
kittenish
Little by little her plainest gowns
were brought into requisition Certain /
little graees and frivolities OF the toilet
were one by one abandoned She tim /
idly asked Alice. her closest friend. TO
teach the children 20 cali her -'auntie.-
n thing which she had hitherto forbid
den under the penalty Of n sudden /
death TO the cherub that should FIRST
be guilty OF Il
what Is the matter with your
gnsped Alice. with n stare Of amaze
nent And what have you been do
Ing with your hair. and why are you
wearing that ugly old dress. with all
he handsome things that you hare7"
I'm Just wearing the things suitable
10 nay age before the dear friends have
/ chance 10 point them out TO me-
YVES the answer And that night her
tr1end confided TO her husband, with
regret. that Elin0r WAS be-
,oming n regular old maid
Another OF her friends and CON-
rades. Max A9derson. also noticed the
subtie change Theirs had been a sort
1f brother and sister friendship OF long
standing. For years he had scolded
md criticised and buIlied her. The
Colonel Roosevelt has found his
EAn-r- r. III Il I