Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-05-05
!, THE EVENING STORY
A MANS EQUAL.
BY LOUISE OLNEY.

f1du-uIuueu from Tie OluSlS III -
corner, almost forgotten by them,
Elaine bent her fair head over her
dainty bit of sewing and listened I'M
heedingly through her dream of Jerry,
a dream that would soon be reality.
He would be home any day. sur
prising her as on ali his college vaca'
tions, save that there would be no
more vacations. He was through the
law school and they would be mar
RED They had been planning it for
five years-since she was eighteen.
1t had been long wait. and she
had felt, uncomfortably, that his sis
ter Anne, his housekeeper since their
mothers death, did not approve Jer-
RVS choice. Now at the little neigh
borhood sewing that represented
society to same extent, where much
opinion went forth. but where gossip
was theoretically tabooed, Anne was
holding forth to the rest. The talk
had been largely of college and col
lege people, and Anne was saying IN
her sententious manner:
"Well, college does change man!
And I believe mans wife should be
his equal If she's to take any comfort
herself or be anything but drag on
him. There's Mary Stevens, for
shining example of misery. Don
Martin got engaged to her before he
went away to school merely because
he was idle and she was pretty and
always about Then, while he studied
four years she sat at home and read
his letters and embroidered doilies.
She simply lived from one vacation to
another, and never had an indepen-
dent thought of her own, or read
book that she was note forced to
read! She waited for him to marry
her, and that was ALL You know, as
we'll as l, that finally everybody but
her saw he had outgrown her.
1t was evident that he gave her both
a chance and an excuse to break the
engagement. But she wouldn't
though Mark Towne. who had re-
manned right here and adored her and
was on her level, was wild to get
her. She would marry Don, and she
did. Now-he's different and she is
jealous and it's a bad mess. He
has known women who think and
need mental mpaniOnship, thing
she can't give him. She had nothing
but mere youth and selfish devotion;
now, the youth is slipping away and
what is left?" Her needle pricked
back and forth through the garment
she was making.
"But surely" defended the min
listers wife gently, and remembering
Elaine and her. tender young sensi-
bilities, "surely love does not depend
o. mere mental companionship.
Mary's case was but one instance.
Many men want the simple sweet
hearts of their boyhood, the girls who
have always known and understood
them. They can get intellectual slim
illus from men friends and other wom-
en-. From a wife they want love,
which the intellectual woman cannot
always give
Anne still pursued the theme. "Of
course, exceptions occur. But main
tain that most men find small inter-
est in the girls they leave behind
them. They may marry them, If they
have promised to. Lut it will be, gen.
orally, because the girl has not the
sense to see that his interest has
wandered and that he would be glad
of his freedom if he knew how to get
it without seeming like a scoundrel
to himself and the home town. I'm
sure could tell whether man really
wanted to marry me or not, and /
would at least give him chance"
Just then a new arrival and
silencing gesture Of the minister's
wife toward Elaine, whose cheek had
gone white. put an end to the talk.
But it had been wantonly cruel, and
the others firmly believed that Anne
had done it purposely. They knew
her ambitions for Jerry, her brilliant
brother. and the interest Alma Terris,
a young artist friend Of his, had token
in him. The town had thought he
would jilt Elaine and marry Alma
Terriss, and the town had said so.
Now Elaine folded her work and
slipped out into the June sweetness OF
the late afternoon, a new thought
tearing at her heart. Would Jerry
like to have his freedom? Had he
cared for Alma Terriss Had she not
been Jealous of the young artist who
had visited the Terhunes the summer
before. The air was full of bird-song
and rose-bloom, but the ache at her
heart hid these things. And he might
he home anytime. tonight even.
She had waited with sort of rap
ture for him. for the final arrange
ments for the wedding. But now
WELL she could not go home. Half
unconsciously she went over the hill,
taking the little path that led to the
wood where they had told their SIM
pie boy and girl love. She must think
1t out. A sort Of agony folded in
upon her as she remembered that Of
late his letters had been brief. full OF
the homely, simple past, with very
little of life now. his thoughts now.
Had he tired of her? If she tried to
break the engagement would he le.
her Would she have the courage to
try? She could not imagine jerry
taking dismissal from his meek
Elaine! Then, with sudden decision,
her pride arose in arms. She would
do it if it killed her-he would have
the chance of freedom. She. would 20