The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-12-22

might continue to write her brief,
cold notes until she, of her own &C
cord, came back to him.
| Was that what he wanted? Was
that what he was waiting for? Was
| that why he didn't write, was he
| trying, in this way, to make her re-
turn? Her heart leaped at the
thought.
How many women have tried to
persuade themselves that the neglect
and GOODNESS of the man they love
| is only an expression of his hurt
pride And how often they have let
| this belief lead them to further over
lures, to further concessions and hu<
Mutations!
The Delusion of Women.
| 1t is one of the inconceivable
| things of wonan's nature that when
| she is separated from the man, she
/ loves, however cruel he may have
been to her, she dwells not on his
cruelty, but on his rare moments Of
/ tenderness. She cherishes those mo-
| ments and lives them over and over
again. And so she feels and keeps
| burning the flames of her love.
| She persuades herself that in those
| few tender moments was shown the
| real nature OF the man. And that all
i his selfishness and harshness is not
the true part of himself, but only the
result of an unfortunate combina-
| ton of circumstance" which have
! tended to ..irritate and eXasperate
and make Finn not himself
| How grimly the gods must smile,
and weep too, for very pity, when q
woman tries to make excuses for ne
glect and mistreatment from the man
they love, because he is mot him
| sef'-because of the worry of his
business, or of his health, or of in
Vulnerable other things.
| She will never admit to herself the
| truth-that the man is small and
| selfish and cruel of nature. She goes
! on trying to believe, and to make 9th
ers believe, that if he seems to be all
these things, it is only because he is
the victim of unfortunate conditions.
That-at heart, he is fine and big
and true, and that some day things
will come right" and he will be
himself again"-and will give her
the love and tenderness for which she
has been starving so long
And new, Helen strained after ex-
cuses for ~Warren-and found them
He had not meant to be selfish. He
had not realized that he was MAX
ing her unhappy. His coldness and
Indifference were only the result of
worry about his work and the respon-
sibility of having a family on so
small an income
And now, she put aside all the I'M
happiness since and dwelt for hours
on those wonderful months before
the coming of Winifred when he had
been loving and thoughtful-when
he had bppn rpaiVss him self ~
A Dream of the Past.
One of the Incidents she loved
most to live over, and that always
brought the tears to her eyes with
a rush of tenderness was that of
one afternoon when he came home
from the office, just after dusk. and
she had run into his arms and he
had held her close without speak
ing. She had led him to the big chair
and curled up in his lap, burying her
face on his shoulder. And he had
rested his lips against her hair as
he held her still in silence.
And at last she had whispered:
ooh, Warren, it is so wonderful! It
means so much to me"
And he answered gently, as he
drew her closer: "And it means so
much to me-"
When she would think of that mo-
ment, her heart seemed to beat in
tenderness and she would feel. if
only she could see him now every
thing would be Fright All the
wretched months since then had been
only an unhappy dream.
The man who had held her and
whispered to her that day was the
real Warren, her husband, who still
loved her as he had loved her then.