The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-11-26
Her Lesson
In Loving
Il Wa. a Severe One, but 1t
Brought Her Happiness.
b. LOUISE oLNEY.

AAVor q HoO0 1lgnC so lstlees
that her mother sighed at the
change in her daughter Anne Nor
ton went to her room and locked
the door. Throwing aside her lace
cloak, she turned on all the lights
and, tall and graceful in her cling
ing yellow gown, studied herself in
the mirror.
Richard Hunter had not asked for
single dance, but had devoted him
self to Mollie Pierce. Anne began
to realize that this had been the or
der of things for some time. Nor
ris Trevor also had not come near.
And only a year ago, before she had
broken her engagement with Rich
ard, there had not been dances
enough to satisfy her admirers.
Surely at twenty-seven a woman has
not lost the power to attract! Was
she becoming a wallaower?
The mirror was reassuring. Her
fine brown eyes were large and clear,
her heavy dark hair perfectly ar
ranged, her oval face and small head
certainly distinguished. She smiled
ruefully, and a dimple deepened in
her cheek. But when her face fell
to repose she noted critically that
she looked bored, almost unhappy;
the corners of her mouth dropped,
and two cross little lines showed be-
tween her eyes.
Anne began to take stock of her
self. Tonight she had actually sat
out three dances with the chaper-
ons. She faced the fact that her
friends were becoming fewer; that
the men called less often, invited
her less often to share their pleas
ures. "The girls no longer drop
ped in to gossip of clothes and mer-
rymakings and beaus. Yes, even in
the family things had changed. Her
mother, always loving, was also pa
tient. Harry, with the frankness of
fourteen, remarked when she was
irritated with him that she was be-
coming a cross old maid. Jean as
sumed condescending younger sister
airs.
She was quite sure that it was
Richards place to make the first
move toward reconciliation, even
though she admitted to herself that
the fault had been mostly hers. At
last she went to bed and cried her.
self to sleep. But she awoke early,
so much earlier than usual that, as
she lay thinking, it came to her that
not for months had she really seen
her father, not for months had she
breakfasted with the family. On
impulse she rose, took a cold plunge
and dressed for the street. She had
nearly finished when the rising bell
rang.
. She stood nervously adjusting her
collar at the mirror, a little sensi-
tive about going down lest some
member of the family might CON-
ment on her unwonted presence,
when she noted that she looked pos
itively cross. 1t made her seem old.
She by an effort made herself smile.
and the dimple again showed itself.
Then she started for the door, Just.
in time to- encounter Harry, who
was coming with an. old gong to
awaken her. Yesterday she would
have complained to her mother; to-
day she laughed as he scampered
back to his room to finish dressing.
When she heard the breakfast
bell she started slowly downstairs,
and as she reached the lower hall
she caught her own name spoken by
her mother in an anxious tone. In
voluntarily she paused. Her father
replied:
.Don't worry, mother. Anne
needs a lesson in loving. She will
have to suffer till she finds out that
no woman is loved and sought un-
less she is loving-lovable. She will
not be her old attractive self till
she stops being bored and sarcastic
and is pleased and interested, and
shows that she is. She is getting
selfish, and nothing but thinking Of
others will do her any good"
"But, Fred" her mothers voice
continued. "Richard never came
near her last night nor Morris nor
Henry Parker. Do you suppose
they resent her treatment Of Rich
ard? And she is never about when
our older friends call and never up
in the morning. Has it occurred to
you that Richard may have shown
her he wanted to break with her
and that she is unhappy about it?
Last night he was 90 devoted to
Molly Pierce"
aNonsense! Richard simply had
a real mans self respect. She dis.
missed him for nothing, and I don't
blame him for not crawling back
like q whipped puppy. Perhaps he