The Washington times., 1924-03-05
Continued from Yesterday.

eff that were true, Mrs. Blake,
I should think there could be an
other device-a better one-and
when a girl like Kathyrn was to
have child, it wouldn't be
thought crime and she wouldn't
be frightened off the earth.
They'd let her have the child.
But even you say it is an awful
thing-just awful"
Yes, Chickie-it Is awful to
bring a little, helpless thing here
when we know the struggle be-
fore it is so cruel; it Is awful to
bring a child here that the world
will not receive.
"That's the worlds sin, I should
think-not the girls"
Martha smiled: II think so,
too, Chickie. But rather the
worlds blindness. Some day
We'll have a different attitude to
this race Of ourS-to all children.
We will do homage to mother
hood. The coming Of the child
will in itself legalize the union
which produced it. We will
NWOhCA " LILO dD6uL UALy III pAG1C"
ing at the threshold OF birth q
paltry human placard reading:
Thou shalt not pass!'
Life laughs at this and ignores
it. The child comes! 1t is above
the law. It's right to be; to live
is the simple fact Of it's arrival.
Its coming is mockery, complete
and sublime of our barriers"
Without raising her eyes, but
keeping her hand over her
mouth to hide it's tightness, it's
pitiful working: THAT won't
make it any easier for a girl
like Kathryn or that Lily Tass-
man, will it? 1t seems hard that
many girls today do the same
things and get away with it."
They don't get away with 1t.
Chickie. A woman never does!
Life is not Knocked or cheated,
but these girls are. They drain
one shallow cup after another
and In none Is any vintage that
Satisfies
"Oh-you don't know, Mrs.
Blake! Why, they do get away
with it. And they're just as
Aoppy uS ally OHC CA0C ia liz
world. 1 know. Why. I've been
to house parties and all the girls
came with their steadies-"
STEADY, Chickie? What do
you mean?"
a "Oh-the fellows they go with
all the time and that other girls
aren't supposed to flirt with
Martha ran her hand across
her eyes: Observation-Disclosures
used to be servant girl talk"
Its slang, / suppose. But
these couples went everywhere to-
gether, and there were week-ends
galore. Some Of them thought
that as long as they were ell
gagged and were to be married
anyway it was all right. Lots of
them are married now and as
happy as any one else. So they
do get away with it! And others
don't want to marry-they want
to be free. They get away with
it. too. They have everything
they want and they go anywhere,
and it's just one good time after
another. You don't know
mo, I don't know, Chick!e!
Still i say they don't get away
with it. A few years Of this.
and what have they? They come
to the hollow forties and look
back upon emptiness-they look
forward to restitution of the
heart and Of the spirit. Saddest
Of all, Chickie, they are isolated;
they have no connection with
their kind, no link in the great
immortality of the race"
What good is that. Mrs. Blake?
Janina says old-fashioned women
are pawns that life uses for it's own
ends. She says the women of the
past were duped. Life beat them
over rough, hard places, and the
lash she uses Is love. And they
run along with their backs break
ing under their burdens. And in
their hearts they wonder what it's
all about and they envy women
who are free, but they won't
admit it. They get themselves into
this blind alley and can't get out.
So they rationalize their stupidity
and call it nobility or virtue"
Martha chuckled. her dark, beau.
tiful face lighting. Indeed! Ra-
tionalize our stupidity! I suppose
my stupidity means Jimmy and
Mary and Tommy, etc. But in ten
years, Chickie. how shall Janina
rationalize her license? Tell me
that. / can look at my children,
and it is easy to rationalize ouch
stupidity as mine. Janina will
look at her empty hands. What
shall she rationalize?"
Yes, but suppose your children
weren't so good-suppose one Of
them did an awful thing that
broke your heart? You wouldn't
have any more compensation than
Janina will have"
"Only a coward, Chickie, runs
from a fight because there's