Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-28
DAILY NOVELETTE,
THE FIRST LOVE

BY Edna w. Swift


scornfully in the faces of the women
grouped on the hotel piazza. "Why is
it that the majority of people, other
wise scnsibly inclined, look back over
this period of cerebral paralysis re-
gretfully, and in the sanctum of self
weep over its grave of pressed rose
caves and old letters?' With pretty
maliciousncss she pretended to analyze
the varied expressions in her favor.
No one spoke for moment. Then
the frail little voice of Mrs. Smith broke
the silence. "My child" she said, ''for
you are child to me; (thirty years
seem brief. indeed to those who have
spanned seventy. I want to say with
the privilege accorded my years that
YOU are talking fooishly. Yours is a
trite philosophy, and not in keeping
with woman who has life ahead of
her do not lose faith at your age. my
dear. or the sweetness of remembrance.
for first love is the sweetest. the most
dlSintercsted thing in the world. It
comes at time when we are not in the
least disillusioned when we are trust =
tullN receptive. so to speak This is
the reason we should cherish its mem
ory carefully in the years to follow.
which. alas. bring many hard lessons
Many of the pitchers of young love do
not go to the we'll they are broken on
IN" way-more'S the pity, So we yearn
over their fragments as a mother, bc :
f"tt' NcarnS for n little soul that has
gone You see. I am scntimentalist
at seventy. DO not be an iconoclast
dear smiling.
Apparently. Mrs. Raynham was diff
cult to divert. ''I am sorry to disoproe
with YOU. Mrs. Smith," she said "AIv
experience. teaches. however, that nil
Young lovers are in that idealistic stato
"nlch makes couple of transformers
wings tied with a true lovers knot suf
hrlent food for n hungry man. Man
himself at this period Ca very short, NO.
rl"a' remember) is as idiotic as the fr-
male of the species. only he recovers
more quickly and his stomach reassarts
Itself Then the glamour of grassbon-
pers wings disappears and he longs for
a thick juicy steak. And if il is NOT
forthcoming. well cooked and tender oh
bien, the young bride hears sometb;ra
Perhaps it is better that nil +Lo
pitchers do not go to the we'll bo
cause If they are not brokon -,
the way they are ant to bit ,;rn.
.me tn ROCKS inside Sorry to have to dis.
iIlnSlonlz" the droamers. but I sneak
from experience. But I must away -,
waving careless hand she disan.
pear"d down the broad stems. lnav;no
group more or less angered bv bor
sophistry. ~ "er
AS she rounded the corner of th,
orte-roch"re she nearly rolIided viii,
=" man coming from the opposite dircc
uon' a hurried look, an astonisbod
gasp. and she extended an embarra ssoJ
hand. ""'co
ny Jack Reed. is this really vou
Az hrSt | thought it was your astral
Seii' Dut You are far too substa ntiaI r.
be ghost "''''"i 10
The man looked down ot be- fro,,,
ms superior height without speakinp
,or moment. Then: eyes. il is
Murlel' and there is nothing gbostlv
ABOUT me. l assure YOU" Then with
an air of the most delighted astonisb
ment. "Why, you have cbangod
hardly a bit. I have not seen To,,
since you were nearly twenty. and Won
look scarcely more than that now And
TO think you are almost forty ~ Tb;y
with true masculine fnesse.
Mrs. Raynham turned bright anor,
eyes on her first love. Forty indeed
Will have you to remember. Jack Reed
you were three years older than 7 and
you are onlySthirty three. I see ya,,
have not lost the faculty of matino
pretty speeches" She paused, clasnine
her hands nervously.
The man continued to look down q,
her. smiling little sadly under tbo
whimsicality 'It still follows lis. tbe
old hoodoo, docsn' it. Muriel? We nj .
ways fought over the most trivial mat
ters. You know what the immortal
bard wrote about the course of true
love? Has it ever occurred to vo,,
child, through all the intervening wears
that there is no truer saying?" He
looked at her keenly.
True love?" Mrs. Raynham STAN
mered and turned little pale under
the question. Then she threw her head
back, defantly. why, love and dreams
are thing of the past. I never think
of them now But with thrill, such
as she had not felt in years, she knew