The Washington times., 1914-02-08

I was born a big sister," being
the eldest OF eight girls As a little
girl, l did not enjoy this position
very much. 1t was always Now,
be a good girl and take care Of little
sister. You are the Oldest, you
know"
Later in life, when ! went to
school IL would be: You must re-
member that all the other girls viii
20 to school, and the record you
make will help or hinder them You
are the oldest, you know. When
Hent to boarding school at the Ar
lington Institute, then the best fin
lshing school for young ladies, and
where my three daughters were sub
sequently educated, ] was told the
same thing. Even when l wanted to
select a husband to suit myself,
had 1t impressed upon me that the
kind of man 1 married would likely
AFFECT the marriages of all my
younger sisters. Y
You are the oldest, you know"
with the attendant responsibilities,
became a sort of watchword of my
life.
My home was Clifton, STAFFORD
county, Va. "Old Stafford'-the
same yesterday, today, and forever.
NV family had lived there since
Colonial days, and the greatest am
bition that any Of them possessed
was that some Of their descendants
would still be living in the same old
house when Gabriel blew his trum-
pet Conservative, generous, high
minded, hospitable, and nonprogres-
Sive was the atmosphere.
Even the court house, consisting Of
ten houses, was taboo" TOO con-
spicuous for any girl to be seen
there"
Longings for Freedom.
L remember my greatest ambition
OF seeing the world would have con-
sfsted in going to the court house
20 eat dinner at the tavern on court
cay. It seemed to me that all the
legal lights of the world gathered
there on that august occasion which
happened once a month, and was the
topic of conversation for the sue
ceeding weeks.
Ny family was generous to me to
a fault. Anything they thought was
good for me, might have If it cost
them their lives But what they
thought was not good for me, it
mattered not what / thought, or the
world thought, 1 H6nld have had to
cross over their dead body to COM
pass. How their tender solicitude
srated me, how longed to be friend
less il that would mean freedom.
How even the good things they pre-
pared for me lost their SAVIOR, no
one will ever know but the man who
took me from it all. Fortunately.
he was a good man and So filled my
life with good things, that l loved
and wanted with my whole soul an
opportunity for growth and service.
Had he been bad man, God only
knows what the end would have
been.
Let US draw the mantle of charity
over the unknowable.
Life, Love and Pleasure.
l remember one day when I was
about thirteen, and well developed
for my age, had been baIked in
some petty matter that I thought
affected my dignity. and 7 went
down TO the beach. Ny home was
on the Potomac river and the gard
en- sloped down to the waters edge.
This was my favorite spot to talk
ont and weep out my sorrows. On
this occasion the burden was even
heavier than I thought il usually
was and so gave myself up to a
tempest Of tears. I stormed and
wept with no one near but the big
oak that was my friend and conf
daDt. / tore up the grass and even
broke of some Of its branches, the
way 1 showed my anger when it was
very great.
Just as I had about spent the
storm of danger I heard the "chug
chug" Of an excursion boat on its
way down the river. with a crowd
"f merry pleasure-seekers. The
lights glanced on the waves and
above the sound of the water and
the boat. I heard the strains OF
music and l knew what the black
sides Of the vessel covered from my
sight.
Life, and love, and pleasure all
that makes life worth living, to a
girl III her teens.
How l wished that ! had lived in
the oldea days or somewhere that
there were giours, or pirates, or bad
men Wild stole girls from their
homes and took them ont into the
big world.
Fortunately for me there was no
stopping place on the Virginia side
Of the river and so the boat sped by
and ] was safe.
All! How often an accident. like
the placing OF a steamboat landing,
may change q whole life
No pirate came to take me away,
but the Pirate Of Love. visualized in
one Of natures noblemen. It is