Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-23
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Story Of Woman 5 Transformation.
BY MARION RUBINCAM.
A DISCOURAGEMENT.
Protected 10y GeorGe Matthew Adar
Chanter N\\N

80 | put mvself into the hands oil
the kindly, Jealous little neighbor who
ran tearoom successfully, and success
fully let off seven or eight years OF her age
And as the winter went on. my trans
formation became swift, instead of grad
ual. Before this | had made little falter'
ing attempts TO redeem myself. In time
would have succeeded. But Helen came
and with rush changed me from a smlrk-
lng little old lady into a-well, YOU Will
see.
You'll have 10 spend money on your
suit and the corset. Those things arc
most important and YOU cant make
them" Helen said And | went with
her obediently She picked out the suit,
reduced. but still costing a sum that
made me hold my breath She picked
out a corset with long, slim lines. and
had II fitted 20 me. She made me the
hat had worn one OF Esther's cast
of bonnets-and made me purchase
furs
"Furs soften tho face. she said. "And
now about face powder
- ] got that too-and rouge though
! protested for DAYS against this, and
decided would never. never use II, and
that | was only buying il because Helen
wanted me to- And then | bought ma
terial in sales. and made il up at home.
And eventually !, too, had what Vi
called a CITY wardrobe
And there was the tr n formation,
complete before NV ewes. / found that
the corset was 20 cleverelv made il turn
ed my bonv awkwardness into lines of
slim grace found the face powder lent
whteneSs TO my skin that was not
really artificial and not unbecoming |
found that the care ! was giving my hair
had coaxed back some of its old color
and little OF the wavlness it once possess
ed Helen dressed it high up on my head
IN very fashionable way.
~ on know. YOU have a profile" vi
SAID watching the proceeding from her
position on the couch. II Was late after
noon and she was studying and Helen
had dropped in for a visit
"Of course she has a profile. She iso
really very pretty, only she's afraid
admit II Helen intelligent eyes squint-
ed up as she smiled al me. ] flushed-and
turned to the mirror
! saw suddenly that my small nose
really made my face rather young Esther
had always made fun of my pug nose.
j found the high piled hair gave me a
look Of sOphisticatIon that was rather
nice. The gOwn-the satin one-clung
around me. and the figure il revealed was
slender and youthful
looked-not so as on that other night
when j dressed up before nv mirror
looked possibly 40 Yes, 40-but rather
a Young and well preserved 40. ] decided
! would have some more face treatments
IL was not the cOrsets, not the clothes.
not the powder, at least. it was not en-
tirely these The change was mental
more than physical Before ! lived in an
atmosphere heavy with discouragement.
In Henly Falls there was nothing to strive
for-but here, there seemed to be so many
things worth working towards. 1t was this
that was making me young
And then, curiously enough, Esther
came into my life again. Whenever |
was in this light-hearted mood, She
seemed 20 reach out and choke me Again,
II was a letter from her, delivered in the
last mail that afternoon:
81 wish YOU come home" she wrote.
81 don't approve Of two women living
by themselves IN q house built on one floor
like yours IL don seem decent having
the kitchen and bedrooms and sitting
room all scrambled together like you
describe. Besides. il costs a lot of money.
O' course ITS your money and it ain t
Tor me 70 tell you what to do with what s
yours. But VI can just as well board at
tho college and you can come home.
Besides. ] got a special reason. Mark
tpJohn and Anna Lee Vernon amt going
20 get married after all so YOU can get
him still, II you'll stop these fool ideas of
yours and come here. Her sister died. out
m Omaha, and she had to 90 out to the
funeral, and stayed on for visit while
she was there, and it appears someone
she liked better turned up. Anyway, she