Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-07-31
Broken by
The Tango
By MARJORIE cLoUCH

From the time when l came to be
old enough to think of marriage l look
ed upon it in a feminine way. l didn't
say when I was grown I'd be a teach
er or a lawyer or anything like that.
l said l was going to be married and
live in a nice. cozy house and thought
of my dolls as real children.
When l was eighteen years old my
father died and left me little or moth
ing. 1t looked very much like my be-
ing forced from the domestic life l had
laid out for myself when a child. VIII
Isham and l were spoons, but viii
was such an easy going fellow that he
didn't fill my ideas of a husband at
all. What l wanted was a strong
character. who would make up my
mind for me, relieving me of forming
decisions, which l always disliked.
Will was an amiable chap. and l was
very fond of him. but it seemed TO me
that we were too much alike.
l was hesitating between VIII and
stenography-Wil was perfectly able
to take care of me-when Warren Rob-
bins came along. 1t seemed to me
that Mr.. Robbins was just the man l
wanted. 1t was not long before he
proposed to me. and l accepted him at
once.
l confess 1t seemed very nice to have
some one to obey. There are two d.
visions of mankind and womankind in
these days. l may call them pleasure
ties and nonpleasureites. Formerly
the pleasureites played cards and the
nonpleasureites didn't. Now the pleas.
ureites dance the modern dances and
the nonpleasureites are shocked there
at. | found very soon that | was a
pleasureite and Warren was a non
~pleasureite. l became infatuated with
the tango. Warren declared that any
woman who danced the tango was not
the wife he should like to marry.
We hadn't been long engaged before
Warren made this known to me, and
1 felt called upon to defer to his
wishes. Somehow this particular def
erence was not pleasant. | didn't see
why l shouldn't dance the tango so
long as | danced it properly. Warren
argued that l could not always rely
on finding a partner who would dance
it properly with me and that, the tend
ency of such dances being bad, by
dancing it was encouraging vice. |
told him that l didn't agree with him
and should dance the tango.
Warren was somewhat surprised at
this and reminded me that | wished to
follow a leader. To this / replied that
in the tango the man guided the wo-
mans steps.
Ivu .sssoafG nave seen efsc rocn &c
gave me. THAT'S the most brilliant
bit of logic l ever heard" he said. Its
worthy of Archbishop Whately, who
wrote a book on categorical ~syllogisms
and other points pertaining to the sub
ject. If he heard 1t he would turn over
in his grave"
II don't see anything the matter with
it or the tango either" l replied with
some c~urtness.
"It's about like the clinging vine and
the sturdy oak. A 1agpole set up near
the oak. the vine unclings from the
oak and cllngs to the iagpole."
"The vine wouldn't do that unless
the ants had got in under the oaks
bark and rotted the trunk"
"Perceiving that your logic and your
SMILES are altogether beyond my poor
intelligence, | bid you good evening"
l didn't feel very good e this.
Somehow l felt that. irrespective of
the morality or immortality of the tan
go, in dancing it despite my iance's
wishes l was not following out that
for which l had agreed to marry him.
While l was thinking about it | was
called to the phone. Will Isham was
ct the other end. Will and / were
good friends. We had simply not mat
| ed, that was all.
do you go to the - ball t~onight?'
be asked.
mo. Warren doesn't approve Of
these modern dances, and just now
the old ones are not danced. He won't
take me-"
"Do you suppose he would let you
go with me?"
"Let me?'
Eyes. Haven't you said you were
going to marry for the purpose of hav-
ing a master?v
"I,l go with you"
'.Thanks awfully! I'll call for you
at O."
When 9 o'clock came / was dressed
in a new ball costume just come In
and waiting in the drawing room
when who should call but Warren. He
had come to make up. but when he
saw my clinging skirt and my decollet
waist, with only a little lace over n
shoulder. he forgot all about what he
had come for and began to abuse my
costume.
"Looks Ike an elegantly folded
sheet" he said sarcastically, "only the
sheet must have been taken from a