The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1911-02-21
A MatrOn'S
Confession
She Tells How She Gave Up Her
Doll For a Lover
By EVELYN D. WILCOX
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.

Father has neveredone a days work
In his life. I have often heard him say
that to go to store or an Office every
day and attend to details such as buy
Ing and selling and shipping and finan-
ciering and such matters that have no
Importance except for the time being,
dying as fast as they are born, like GER
tain insects, would soon wear him ont.
But to sit in q library and read Inn
mortal works such as the Greek poets
and the Latin prose writer's father
reads them in the original Greek and
Iatin-that is a way of spending ones
time fittedenot for commercial slaves,
but intellectual gentlemen.
When was child we hved-my
parents live there yet-in the country
not far from great city. Father had
inherited some property from his an
cestors that had been handed down
through several generations, and our
income, though small, was sufficient
for our wants. So father was at lib
erty to spend his time in a way that he
considered profitable. sometimes
overheard people sneering at him for
living the life of a drone;i as they ex-
pressed 1t. but since have grown old
1t seems to me that even the real
drones in colony Of bees must have
their place in natures workshop or
they would not be there.
Another singular thing about Dame
Nature is that, while she'requires years
to transform boy into man, she will
turn girl into woman in a twin
king. At any rate 1t was so with me-
When was thirteen was sitting one
morning on the porch at home, my doll
being In a chair beside me. Seeing
young fellow-he appeared ODE about
seventeen-come into the grounds, /
seized the combination of china, cot
ton and sawdust and flung it In an
open window behind me. There were
some books on a table near by, and,
taking up one of them, pulling down
the short skirt Of my dress at the same
time SO that it would cover my knees.
pretended to read.
The young fellow came along by the
winding walk under the great trees
they had recently putt forth that sea
sons leaves-and approached the
porch. Though my gaze was bent on
my book, / saw not the printed
words, but the advancing youth.
have a miniature portrait made Of
him at that time, and many who have
seen 1T have taken 1t for an ideal ,crea
ton. He was tall for his years, and
his beautifully shaped head was set
ON as beautiful neck, his collar be-
Ing of the open sort, which showed
the throat to advantage. His face was
a perfect oval, his eyes large and lus-
trous, his hair falling about his tenn
pies in disordered waves.
| have spoken from experience in
saying that Dame Nature will turn a
girl into woman in twinkling. My
own transformation did not occupy
more than a minute. Within that pc
Rod caught sight of the youth. flung
away my doll and was in love.
The newcomer paid no more atten-
ton to me than If I had been made,
Ike my doll, of sawdust- / was stung
to the quick that he did not look at
me. He rang the bell, asked for ia
Their and was shown into the house. I
went upstairs and, stationing myself
beside window overlooking the walk
by which he must pass out of the
place, waited for him to do SO. When
he departed was watching him from
behind curtains. He walked with a
satisfied step. as though he had come
for purpose and had accomplished 1t.
wished to go right down to the L.
brary and learn all about the visitor
| from father, but feared to show an
undue interest in him. / tried hard
to wait a long while. but Eve minutes
was all my Impotence would allow.
Going into the library, pretended to
hunt for book, at the same time
asking as If incidentally:
who was your visitor, papaT
Julian Trowbridge."
what did he come forf'
TO ask me to coach him for his col
admission In Jnne."
"Are you going to coach him?"
Eyes. I couldn't very well refuse.
He'h the son of my old friend Trow-
bridge. who was In college with me-
Trowbridge has devoted himself to
ignoble pursuits and got rich. pulled
him through his graduating examina-
tons"
"Oh, my goodness graciousr' said to
myself, putting my hand to my heart
to still its wild beating Then asked.
ais he coming here for instruction."
"Yes. every morning at IL"
And so should see this young god
whom l had suddenly set up in my
heart every day till June. II father
had known the tumuit within me ne
doubtless would have ordered me to
the nursery every morning before his
pupils coming. Father had publish
ed a translation of -Ovidls Art of
Love" with copious notes, but he did
not know enough about love itself to
suspect that his own daughter had
already been pierced by one of Gu
pid's arrows. The natural he stud
led in his library from the ancients;
the artificial came to him the moment
he left 1t. His daughter must go to
college, and that meant absence OF
love for seven or eight years to come
That he had right under his own nose
but repetition of what had occurred
ever since human beings were born
into the world was furthest from his
thoughts.
In nature the first step in mating Il
to build nest In my case there wal
lot Of preliminary work to do. Ny
first great object to accomplish was II
induce my mother to procure somt
dresses that would reach at least Il
my ankles. After much trouble per
suaded her to engage dressmaker t
come to the house and make me som,
summer costumes. BY day mothel
would give her instructions as to thu
length of my skirts and by night
would surreptitiously lower then
while they were merely basted. whel
they were finished mother would scolt
the poor woman for not obeying he
orders.
"How is your pupil getting on
papa?' / asked one day.
"Not at all. He's stupid as an owl
He can't even conjugate the presen
tense of the verb ito love-"
do you think hen pass his entranc
college examinationsf
mot this year."
Father was not looking at me, so
was at liberty to raise my eyes u
heaven with mute thanks and resoly
ed that II the coaching should continu
for another year In case the instructo
could not teach the pupil how to con