The Washington times., 1914-09-01
Peters
AdUentnreS
TN
MatrlmOny
By EONA DAtR1dPiE
Author Of tAs NV novel. Diane q
the 0rssn Van" awarded q vrtss
oe $4,000 By IDA n. Taroeii and
O. q Mcclure - 5Sd0sA
By LEONA DAiRYNdPiE
LXIf.
FEMININE SYMPATHY.

| FEMININE SYMPATHY.
. THINK perhaps Mary and 1 got a
little more upon each others nerves
| / during an enforced ten days ILL
ness with my lame foot than We ever
had before. I never realized 30 keenly
that Mary and I have not single
taste in common-that we disagree on
| nearly every subject under the sun.
The books like. Mary loathes; the pic
lures and music find interesting, Mary
says bore her to death. Therefore. We
banal trivialities. with deadly results.
It was bad enough to sit by the hour
| talking petty gossip with Mary. 1t was
worse when Mrs. Penfield, my mother
in-law. putfed in upon the scene to en-
tertain me and related dolefCl tales Of
| the catastrophes that had happened in
termittently to her various friends. I
never realized how stout and senti-
mental Mary's mother was until she
patted my lame foot and gushingly
called me her dear boy and Peterkin!
Save us-Peterhnl I blush to tell 1t.
My mother-in-law makes sentimental
nicknames out of the most dignified
combination of syllables you can offer
her. A horse Is a dear old horse-uns,"
when she addresses 1t lovingly; a dog
is a "dog-un:" Mary's cousin she calls
"Fred-uns," and have become Peter
kin. Thank goodness 1t isn't Peter-uns.
though it may be in time. why she
has alighted upon that syllable, ''un."
as the one most, capable of expressing
her kittenish excess Of affection to, 1 don't
know. But she works it to death, along
with a generous sprinkling of deanes
and dears and honeys and darlings.
Whenever Mrs. Penfield came I found
my only ray of enjoyment in the reflec-
ton that she was getting fatter Also I
reflected synically that the quality she
had bequeathed to Mary-a vacillating
indecision-was the cause Of my tumble
through the broken cellar stair which
Mary had postponed telling me about.
AS Mrs. Penfield grows older aid
stouter 1 notice an increasing tendency
in her to dress in the most ridiculous
extremity of fashion. Heaven alone
knows why fat women wear narrow
skirts They do. however. and Mrs.
Penfield's is a little narrower than the
narrowest. She looks like an elderly
top bent upon spinning in Juvenile gy-
rations whether it's getting old or not:
Mary's mother is losing years with
miraculous speed. Frequently find she
doesn't remember things that 1 do.
Whether is Is a fault of memory due
to increasing years. or peculiartty OF
memory due to insistent rejuvenescence.
don't know. 1 know that mentioned
something the other day that happened
when I was a youngster of four or five,
and Mrs. PenfieId said: Dear me,
Peter, that was before my time"
1T wasn't" I said ungallently. for
was for or five years old. and You
must remember."
"Oh. WELL she assured me airily. It's
probably slipped my memory
But I've heard her use that subter-
fuge with others, who didn't know her
quite so well, and get II over.
The whole truth of the matter is that
Mary's mother is growing amiably kit
tenish. Lacking genuine youth. she des-
perately strives for the semblance of II
with pitiful results. I wonder why wom-
en- don't try to realize that youth is a
thing of the heart and not of the hair.
And speaking of hair. I've lately been
watching my mother-in-law's hair in
the sunlight and wondering what makes
II look so queerly rusty. Now mother
is a little younger than Mrs. Penfield.
yet her hair is growing very white in
front and the effect to me is wonder
a choke in my throat. The front OF
Mrs Penfield's hair Is different from
the rest. and I'm afraid the truth OF
the matter is she's fighting Father
Time and dyeing her hair,
To me it is the most pitiful of sub
terfuges elderly women adopt.
Copyright. 1914. Newspaper Feature service)