The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1916-03-17
YOUTH
AND ACE
By F. A. mitchell

heIie SAi Sue pTeleTIeu Tie COIupduy
of boys rather than girls; not that she
was tomboy, for she was very femi
nine. When she was thirteen she cap.
tured a boy Of ten and gave him a
genuine case Of love. At fifteen she
enthralled man of thirty. At eight
cen her adorers were numberless. At
twenty her mother insisted that she
should stop flirting and marry.
She promised to think about it. but
before she had finished her thinking
she was twenty-four. and by that time
a woman is hard to please. At TWEEN
ty-s1X she was not only harder to
please, but had fewer eligible men to
choose from. Then she woke up one
morning to find herself an old maid
She did not like the prospect before
her. She declined to accept it. She
set her jaws and resolved that she
would marry for a home and children.
She did not agree with the poet that
knowledge comes, but wisdom lin
gers" She believed she could select
a partner who would fulfill all the
conditions Of a desirable husband. As
for romance, bah. Had she not been
very nearly in love with Charlie Ash
urst, who had afterward gone to the
bad? She had been engaged to Tom
Chester, who was now fat, baldhead-
ed pig. Her mother had interposed be.
tween her and Jimmie Ludlow. who
had married and had been divorced for
cruelty. well established. This was
or had been romance. No more Of it
for her. She wanted a man who would
60 to business in the morning, return
in the evening and not bother her for
those little attentions husbands usual
ly desire. She would lavish her affec.
ton on the children.
She met a man few years her sen.
Tor who seemed to fill the bill On
meeting her he seemed interested in
her.. He did very little talking, but
was first rate listener. So far as
she could discover there was not a
spark Of romance in him. She deter
mined to marry him If she could.
Realizing that the coquettish ways of
a girl In her teens would not avail her
now, she tried to make herself accept.
able to him as companion. She
talked sensibly, acted sensibly. She
admitted that she had made a mistake
in not marrying when younger and
would like to rectify the error before
it was too late. Any time was time
enough for home, but would soon be
too late for children She also init.
mated that the man she wanted was
one who would make her comfortable.
Love after marriage, she had heard
married persons say, was, after all,
but an intensified companionship.
He neither assented nor dissented
from this. He looked at her curiously
while she was saying it, and she Won
dered what he was thinking about
Perhaps it was his reticence and her
own curiosity that gave her an inter
est in him, the strength Of which she
ola not reaI1Ze. she norrceu 'InaU,
though he said very little what he did
say inspired confidence After an even
ing spent in his company she felt her
inferiority. He paid her few compli-
ments, but when he did praise her
she felt that he meant it and she de-
served it.
Notwithstanding that they were much
together and she had admitted that
she wished to marry, he did not pro-
pose Either he was obtuse or he
preferred to remain bachelor. New
ertheless his vi its increased in fre-
quency, and at last he was with her
every other evening Finally he said
to her:
Your philosophy has converted me.
A marriage based on common sense
is worth dozen with no other foun-
dalton than infatuation. That's what
it is. infatuation. Like you, wish to
marry for home and children"
Its coming at last" she said to
herself
AT my time of life | look for the
woman who is most likely to make my
home comfortable. | have been con-
sidering two women-not that | have
any assurance that | can get either
Yourself and another. | think the 9th
err will make me the more comfortable,
though she is not as attractive as you"
This was too much for her philoso-
ply. She looked at him. trying to find
voice to make reply, but feared to
betray herself by quivering lip.
Il would like you to meet my fiancee,
he continued "She is not intellectual,
but practical One thing about her
that has gone far to decide me in her
favor is that she is an excellent cook"
At last she found voice to speak.
Your words are positively brutal?'
He burst into laugh, at the same
time taking her into his arms.
"Am | more brutal" he said, than
the girl who drove Fred Jones to at
tempt suicideT
Erred Jones!'
Yes. am that Fred Jones whom
YOU lured to a proposal eleven years |
ago and who left you to jump into a
river. from which he was unwillingly |
rescued. He recovered from desire !
49, I,r1&