Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-09-22
Evening Stars
Daily Story
JUST HERSELF
BY MOLLY McMAsTER
Copyright, 1914

Eflck nau never limited either by
word or deed to Sylvia that he would
love her the more were she the sim
pie, domestic type of girl Yet deep
in her heart Sylvia felt that all men
preferred the old-fashioned girl who
could bake wonderful cakes and en-
broider still more wonderful linens.
sylvia sighed. She could neither
bake cake nor embroider with any
degree of intelligence. 1t is doubtful
If any of her friends had ever seen a
needle in her fingers. Sylvia was the
acme of modishness from the top of
her stylish coiffure to the tips of her
very latest slippers, Not single new
feminine eXtravaganc escaped Syl-
was watchful eye. If Boston bulls
were the favorite dog of the moment
it was that breed that followed her,
and If Pomeranians held sway then a
Pom 1t was that accompanied her.
i am hoping your taste In men Is
not so tickle as it is in dogs" Erick
| had once chided her upon catching
sight of a great Russian hound that
had usurped the hearth rug where
once a collie had basked 81 don't
want to be thrown over for a Dutch
| trader If they happen to come into
style"
you need not worry" Sylvia. had
answered him. Il love you, and that
fact will not alter
Perhaps it was the very strength
/ of her love for him that made Sylvia
sensitive to the charm of all other
| women. She was fearful always that
her own peculiarly frothy, frivolous
nature would in time lose Bricks af-
fectlon for her. and that he would
| long for the simple type of woman
II can't see what he finds to love
In me- she argued with herself while
! she struggled with refractory wisp
| of hair that fashion decreed should
lie like a bit of twisted amber across
her snowy cheek II am so dread
fully artificial, 1t seems to me- and
/ haven't an interest in the world
except my appearance and Erick''
From the reflection cast back by her
mirror no one could doubt the result
OF Sylvia's desire to make of herself
| a living picture. An artist of re-
nown could not have finished a more
beautiful picture than was the girl
who loved Erick Demand vet?
Sylvia longed to be domestic and to
do the little intimate things about
the mouse that only an old-fashioned
girl would think Of
After a more than usually deem fif
| OF depression Sylvia decided that she
would become the simple e,inging
type so adored by men. 1t would be
difficult, but in the years to come she
felt that Erick wV7ld love her the
more, and in so doing she herself
would gain happiness.
1T was quite behind closed doorw
that Sylvia began her new character.
| She wanted at least to learn how
to handle needle gracefully and to
put her thimble on the right finger
before surprising Erick with her do
nestle virtues. And all the time this
| thoughts uppermost in her mind
We're: j wonder if my amber beads
would clash with earrings of jadeg
It wouldn't surprise me if color In
| the cheeks returns soon, now that
the Vatican hats are in. Surely
pink cheeks and fluffy hair have been
out long enough. l, for one. am sick
OF oriental lips and wispy hair"
Yet she struggled with the needle
and tried her hair in various simple
coiffures. She burned her beautiful
fingers in a vain effort to bake edi-
BILE cakes, and she learned a few old
ballads to substitute for the little.
light repertoire she possessed.
The hardest of all her self imposed
tasks was the reading of classics.
! She realized, however, that discuss
Ing Dickens and George Eliot were
a part of the old-fashioned girls char
| acter.
Upon the night that she intended
to surprise Erick with her newly ac-
CURED virtues Sylvias heart was like
lead. The simple, ungraceful frock
| she had chosen brought tears to her
eyes. Her beautiful amber hair was
coiled in knot at the back of her
head, and her slippers were-just slip
pers. There was nothing alluring
about them, not even a tiny buckle.
When Erick came in that evening
| fresh from the horse show where he
had seen beautiful women by the
| score, each wearing more ravenous
costume than the other, he drew back
in amazement upon beholding the
simplified Sylvia.
| Holy smoked" he exclaimed when
he had looked her over from head to
foot. what have you been doing to
yourself? You look as If you had
come straight from the ark"
Sylvia smiled rather softly and
| picked up a piece of embroidery she
had taken lessons on and began sew
ing. Also she started a quiet CONVEX
sation on Dickens, and after she had
exhausted that eminent author, Syl-
via quoted little odd things that the
children of their mutual friends had
been amusing their parents with.
Erick gazed blankly a. her for a
long moment, when her domestic top
les had fallen on barren soil and
silence held sway.
Sylvia" he said finally, and his
eyes were serious. has anything af-
fected your mind? | never saw a
charming woman so altered. What
! ever is the matter?'
Sylvia drew a thread of embroidery
and glanced shyly at the frowninG
! Erick.
II have decided you will love me
deeper and longer if / develop some
domestic virtues" she said slowly.
II will do nothing of the kind!"
retorted Erick frankly. Some men
may love the clinging vine type, but
] am not one of those men. I have
no desire to be the old oak for you
to cling to, and l loved you because
you We're Just you and not anybody
else"
but. dear. feel sure you will
grow tired of my frivolous, beauty
seeking nature Sylvia said, and 1t
must be admitted there was a glim-
mer of hope in her eyes.
my darling girl" cried Erick ser
iously your wonderful beauty is as
precious to me as q Van Dyke or 8
rare bit of china would be, did / pos
sess either. Don't you know that you
are known to the bunch as 'Erick's
Orchid?' Welt am proud of every
inch of you, and | won't have you
| turning into a wild rose. We can get
| all the servants we want to bake
cakes and embroider linens, but
want you for my own special COM
panion at theatres, tangoes and dim
ners, and ] want you always to he my
beautiful, rarely wonderful sweet,
hoo t.t - 81