Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1910-01-12
A WOMAN'S WOMAN,
D. ALMA swARTz.

~ ALMA sWARTz.
copyright. 1903. by American Press Asso-
ciation.I
III / were thinking Of marriage" I
said to Edith. Il would not trust to
my own Judgment Of the girl Of my
choice. I would discover II she stood
well with members Of her own sex"
III l were thinking Of marriage"
replied Edith, II would 90 to the
mother Of the man thought Of mar
Sying and ask her II she could recon-
mend HIM"
/ could NOT say whether Edith was
speaking ironically or not. l dropped
the subject.
I 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
covertly draw forth the opinions of
certain members Of her own sex
There were a number of girls at the
same hotel with her, and | thought
might gather evidence from them. But
after couple of days stay among
them it seemed to me that Edith ell
Their 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 shock. l had supposed
that good opinions Of one who seemed
to me to be SO deserving Of them
would come merely for the asking.
But no. II were to sum up her
character upon the evidence of those
who must know her. rather than mar
~ her it would be better for me that
had 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 disdainfully,
they've got up 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 60 back
north and drop Edith from my mind.
But she was attractive to me-very at
tractive. She was pretty and engag-
ing. l didn't wish to give her up. I
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. I sub
ordinated my judgment to my inclina-
ton. Here were six girls. some Of
whom refused to speak well 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 l 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 II declined to
consider her superior to every one of
them she had no further use for my
acquaintance.
confess l was taken aback by this
Illogical method of handling the sub
ject. Take the evidence of one against
six! If were to make the most i'm
portant decision Of my life on such evil
dence. heaven help me! ! called her
attention to the fact that all these
young ladies' were her peers and their
concurrence in condemning her was
not to be put aside by her bare asser-
ton. She replied that If our &C
quaintance were to continue it 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- I went to my room
duO WTtSticu Will tuS oCiAs uot uAS IL
slept but little and the next morning
awoke with languid feeling. not only
Of body, but Of mind. All day strug-
gled to prevent myself from marrying
a girl condemned by her associates. l
went to the railroad station, but saw
the train leave without me. Edith
when l 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 a rose
In her hair, raised the white flag. /
asked her to walk with me in the
orange grove. Once there told her
that If all the saints in heaven con-
demned her l would feel honcred to
kiss the hem Of her garment.
"You told me-" she replied, that II
you meditated marriage you would