The Washington herald., 1912-06-09
Rr FRANCES sHAFrER.

From the time when Adam lost the
wonderful rib that helped In the creation
Of the great Mother Eve down 70 to-day,
suppose there never has been plain
woman who at one time or another IN
her life has not ionFsd ffon the very
depths OF her heart, 70 be fair 20 look
upon, sweet and appealing BY grace OF
the wonderful gift Of beauty.
And II she turns away from her own
uncompromiSlngiy ugly face 70 that Of a
friend or a mere paSsofsby, with a bit
Of protest IN her heart roboiiiousiy ask
ing whRy the good fairies had been 30
unfair. nobody need wonder, because We
are sent 70 earth with q love of the
beautiful deep down IN our nature. And,
little more than anywhere else, We
long to see beauty begin right at home.
But sor the Ugly Duekilng, with nsvsr
feature, never q bit Of charm 70 COM
mend. there is always hood Of advice.
She = told 20 cultivate an erect car
riage, 10 think poise, study poise, dream
poige, and At last 70 stand forth the
proud posseEsor Of something worthy Of
Q second look, something beautiful 70
can her own.
Then she iS advised to marshal any
humble little talent or near-taient that
she possesses, 70 brush Il Up, work upon
It until that too, evolves Into . modest
art. Maybe Il 70 Just the art Of q SYM
pathetic accompanist, always ready 70
bring out the charms OF another'H voice.
always willing 70 Bervs-in time she will
be sure to catch some Of the reelected
glory, and win q bit OF her own.
And she turned into every possible
avenue that the ugliest Of all Ugly
Ducklings may learn to travel and come
out with clear title TO charm II not
beauty; but in spite Of Il all, unless the
good fairies did make her graciouslY
sweet In temperament. very submissive
under the hand Of fate, there are the
days when she still asks why she was
not favored with Just one feature that
spoke OF beauty.
Truth in Balm.
There is generally a lot Of truth IN
the offered balm: sometimes It reaches
home, oftener not. But read little
story q while ago quite worth while
and bristling with truth. It was all
about an Ugly DucklIng. shy as well
as plain. Self-conscIous and devoid OF
anything that looked or sounded like an
accomplishment And In the foreground
there were sisters, as lovely as she was
plain. the kind who could say pretty
things, act the gracious mart. each with
an accomplishment all her own.
sciousness she was always just on the
edge OF pleasures, and so IL happened
that one day when a lot OF Jolly guests
were at the house, she sat on the out
skirts as usual, looking on and listening
while the others had the royalty good
time that is the birthright Of youth,
when youth is unafraid, normal, and
free
But some one-there's q man in the
story-found her out and dropped in
upon her. sitting there In the shadows.
alone and wishing with all her might
that she could learn to be like the rest
in pleasures. II not in beauty. He asked
her what she was doing, and when
told, ''Oh, Just listening" he seemed to
be struck by the fancy and replied that
that was the greatest gift in the world
The Greatest Talent.
As the mingled sounds came floating
in from the rooms where all was frolic
and fun, she noticed that everybody
seemed to be trying to outtalk every
body else-there were no listeners. And
she realized that her mentor was right,
that the very rarity Of the art would
give her something to draw upon in lieu
OF beauty and in default Of charm. And
then and there she determined that the
girl with no art at all. the Ugly Duck
ling, who had really shed some bitter
tears over her own physical defects. was
going to develop that greatest talent
Of all, Intelligent listening.
It is too long a story 10 carry to a
inish, but, with the goal OF the in