The Washington herald., 1912-01-07

Twinkling past US came a pair Of snowy
white shoes-January. mind you, and
white shoes-and between them and the
short white skirt was an inch Of delicate
siIk hosiery that locked as II II might
have been woven from cobwebs.
Not for Mundane Affairs.
Those shoes were never meant to tread
on plain earth. They might trample
hearts. or even souls. The street. how
ever, was too prosaic. They were the
light, gossamer shoes that fairies must
wear IN slightly reduced sizes. Had that
pair OF shoes started across a muddy
street as wide as Pennsylvania avenue
in Sir Walter Raleigh's time. Sir Wal
ter would not only have taken on his
cape but-well. Sir Walter would have
gone home clad in an ash barrel before
he let those pure white ornaments touch
mud. And its safe bet that in these
more prosy times when mopey supplants
capes. those shoes VIII be as safe as they
would have been three hundred or 50
years ago.
1 woke Manz up as he stood there
opening and shutting his mouth and gib-
bering something about the ideal OF his
awt"
And there came before US vision OF
home, a quiet nreside with a cat sprawl
NOhACLNNuAg bn Aobl Nng
patent alcohol burner heated the water
for the evenings tea No red-necked,
brutal man disturbed the harmony. Be
side the gas log sat
No Longer a Bachelor Girl.
Well, you see these shoes were high.
pIain-button, slim and trim and prim.
They were carefully blacked out OF re-
gard for neatness and not for personal
adornment They were devoid OF any
ornament. No extravagant tip or bright
coIored leather. nor buckle nor clasp de-
stroyed their severe simplicity. Every
night when those shoes are taken on
the owner looks under the bed-search-
ing-um, er-looking-oh, hang it. fearing
possible male burglars.
In other words the owner OF those
shoes was past forty and unmarried.
Go up to the owner Of those shoes in
a perfectly friendly way and ask what
time II is or where to find Umpsteenth
street and you'd get look. doubly re-
enforced by a pair OF eyeglasses. that
would take the heart out OF an Egyptian
sphynx The cold shivers would begin 10
percolate up and down your back and
each separate vertebra banged against its
brother like a string Of castanets-
Then she would sniff. Considered as
a sound that snif would not amount to
much. About as loud as q Eood-sized
wheeze. But as & medium Of soul-de-
vouring. awe-inspiring. whole-hearted
contempt II couldn't be beaten outside
Of the charge Of an angry rhinoceros.
Il Easily Insulted.
She would snii twice while you waited
for her 10. call for the police. Then,
when your general expression would
have convicted you Of first degree mur-
der before any jury in the country she
would appeal to some protector" to save
her from this person" who mad in
suited" her.
And about that time you would leave
Washington a la Dorsey Foultz and
probably be q confirmed pirate the rest
of your life.
Stin no one can say she was not peace
full when nobody was around. And she
less Iggrinotes with magnanimity and
weeps when a visiting missionary tells
the folk of her church how four black
brothers sacrificed the principles Of their
faith and became Christians. for three
square meals a day and no harder work
than singing hymns on Sunday.
Those shoes will never lose their rigid
slimness. They VIII remain in their set
path, sverse to vice, In favor Of good
anu SuuNcIuAnb
grays that go between the border OF
black and white. Life for those shoes |
has no shadows.
1t was getting late when MRnz and |
reached Fourteenth street on our return |
homeA
Ono of Life's UnfOrtunates.
From some corner a pair OF shoes came |
forth, walking slowly and hesitatingIy, |
without purpose, yet having a |
purpose that has long been fought from
pulpit and rostrum. They were dowdy. \
No other words, Do dictionary can de-
scribe them as tsiat single combination
of five letters. Expensive eyes. Bespan-
gled and cut low, with pointed tips and i
heels-all OF their glitter and I
yild added to their pathos. even as the l
rouge and powder brought out every line
of sorrow in the pretty. faded face.
You could hear their cry amid the
naughty laughter OF the theater crowd