The Washington herald., 1912-01-07
Pedal ExtremitieS Indicate Much to One
Who Learns Human Nature by OBJ
serpation-Types as Seen Daily.

I were a pair OF nimble, patent feathers.
They were light, fiinsy shoes, built for
dancing. They were intended for the
dry, clean asphalt that runs along the
edge OF the path OF life: never for the
muddy middle path. wherein men fight
for success-and the privilege OF walking
on asphalt In the mincing step Of those
shoes you could hear the plant:
"Ah, mel Many common persons had
trod this same street Why cawn't /
have the velvet carpet2 A lounging room
IN the club. even. Anything but these
horrid, plebeian streets"
Education and Polish.
Then there arose the vision Of perfect
gentilfty that these shoes undoubtedly
possessed Rich. undoubtedly. weIl-edu-
Gated. unquestionably; most probably in
Bonn and Heidelberg. after a careful
course at Harvard Possibly. above those
shoes was a brain capable of great at
tainnfent with the advantages at its dis
posaL Unlike the square, solid shoes
these had not been forced to kick their
way TO success. The path had been
cleaned and dried before a step was
taken. Useful
All, well; we must have male butter
flies, as well as female butterflies or
the crop would disappear entirely from
the earth and women would never have
an opportunity to become envious-and
ambitious.
Manz, stIn savage after his first en-
counter, ran into the patent leather shoes
and all that went with them. He was
preparing TO get rough when the hat was
lifted and a soft voice drawled:
so sorry, old fellow. Ny fault en-
tirely."
And the shoes carried their owner into
the maze Of the passing crowd.
My luck" said MANI. 'I know I
could have whipped that man"
But what ahead7 A pair of suede shoes,
jammed to capacity until they resembled
nothing so much as a buriesque house
on a holiday night Excessively high
heels-Cuban, think they call EN-
were run over. in evidence Of the fact
that too much weight was being put IN
too small a shoe.
One We Often See.
Around the heels and the Ieathern rim
where suede met sole, there was a
markedly noticeable lack Of that liquid
tonic or polish or whatever It is they
call #. The whole effect was of girl.
vain in a pitifuI way. A careless, care
free, healthy girl who wanted to be
china doll and didn't know how. At
every step they took those shoes seemed
to apologize. You could hear them
moan:
"oh, we're SO dreadfully large. But
there weren't any small twos in stock,
you know. The poor girl has such a
dreadful time to keep us on that she all
but limps. Our fault. you know. We're
So big we chafe at the heel"
The poor girl weighed 165 pounds
Think Of 1t! One hundred and sixty-five
pounds Of girl crowded into narrow
twos-and-a-half And some benighted
persons still talk about the Spanish in
QUESTION.
As these shoes IImped into the dis
tance, there came to our ears the rap,
rap, rap OF crutch on pavement, and
looking down we beheId a single shoe.
II was a right shoe, half soled, mis-
shapen from abnormal use, yet a de-
termined kind Of a shoe that seemed to
say defantly:
'I know there's only one Of me, but
don't care I'm all right"
Not Asking Sympathy.
You wouldn't think OF giving charity to
a shoe like that. 1t wasn't the slipshod
shoe OF the beggar. 1t was the shoe OF
misfortuneN and pride-an unfortunate
yet one that seems to weld
character and create a spirit OF bravery
that laughs at pity. He was old, the
owner Of this shoe. Probably veteran,
though he wore no badge nor emblem
to carry out this Illusion. GrIm-faced.
yet dauntless. he pounded along on
crutches aided by the single sturdy shoe
that neither asked nor desired assistance,
Involuntarily We lifted our hats as we
passed, and felt better for doing so when
the veteran owner Of the single shoe
smiled pleasantly.
And then Manz nearly fell over.