El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-20
Helen's Self-Consciousness Is
a Cause Of Much Irritation
to Warren.
to Warren.
GG- RY a piece Of bread-some Of
the crust"

d u
the crust"
Helen broke off tiny
piece and nibbIed at it painfully
Take enough to DO some good
Here" and Warren broke off larger
piece and handed it to her That's the
trouble with shad-it's fun of those
Internal bones"
Helen Obediently swallowed the
crust as best she could
Cone
She shook her head.
Take some water
She gulped down another half glass
u Now stop thinking about it. Just
go on and eat your dinner-itll go
down itself"
bone, however tiny, lying oosunately
- 0-'' A different Attitude.
Whenever anything happened to
Warren. he always took it most seri-
ously. He nursed all his little ills
with almost lUdicrOus gravity But
when anything happened to Helen MS
attitude was .Oh. that's nothing. Just
don't think about it-itll be all right"
As a rule she tried to keep from him
all her slight complaints, knowing she
would only be hurt by his lack of SYM
pathy. And now she tried hard to for
get the irritation in her throat
But instead OF passing away Ii be-
came more painful and more difficult to
swallow. After dinner she went to her
own room. closed the door and with the
aid of a hand mirror and buttonhoOk
wrapped with absorbent cotton tried to
dfslodga the bone But ii was too far
down to be reached Just as she was
holding her mouth open at the widest
angle. Warrent suddenly appeared at
the door
Flushing, she hastily put down the
hand morrOr and the buttOnhOOk Helen
was always painfully self-cOnsCiOus
n 81
her in an awkward or ridiculous posi-
ton With this self-cOnsciousness not
only did he never sympathize, but for
some reason it always irrttated him.
And now he frowued as he saw her
very evident confusion
That bone still there"
She nodded.
Here. come over to the window and
let's see"
'Oh. no. no." drawing back hastily.
Come here, I say" taking her by the
arm and drawing her to the window.
NO open your mouth Let's see if
can't get that out"
"Oh. no, no. Warren I can't" turn
ing her head and trying TO draw away.
Why can't you2 open your mouth 1
tell you"
Warren l can't can't stand there
with my mouth open You know can
never do anything like that always
feel so ridiculous
But Warren forced her none too
gently to the window Now open your
mouth. That's about enough Of this
tomfOolery."
But as he released her arm to turn
her face towards the light she Jerked
away with an Indignant
Il won't I'd rather have ten bones
in my throat. Surely you won't use
force
He Is Furious.
Furious at her resistance, with q
muttered oath Warren flew out II
the room, slamming the door so hard
that the whole floor shook And in
few moments she heard him getting
into his coat in the hall Then the
Helen stood by the window and gazed
ont with REDEEMED eyes Oh, why
should Warren never respect her eslf-
consciousness2 Why did it always ir-
rltate him2 No doubt she was foolish
she was willing TO admit that. But
II it was a sensitiveness that she
could not help-why should he resent
it so?
There were many little things that
she knew she was absurdly sensitive
and self-cOnsCiOus about. She could
never bear for him to see her in
dental chair with her mouth stretched
open, nor would she curl her hair be-
fore him, nor let him see her in curl
papers, or with cold cream on her
face
Tt was one Of Helen's most deep
rooted instincts that Warren must
have no mental pictures Of her which
were ridiculous or repelant
If more wives had something Of this
instinct the proportion of unhappy
marriages would be less As rule
to what mental pictures their hus-
bands nav have C them. But Helen
carried her sensiveness about this to
the extreme.
It was after II o'clock when Warren
come home. He took his bath ano