Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1925-09-19
A Filtration of
Convenience
BY J. A. WALDRON
(Copyright.)


ocean travel relaxes some of the
~ formalities that obtain in society
when society Is on its good behavior.
and many romance develops aboard
ship even more speedily than 1t could
at the seashore. although no field of
:he am0rously sentimental can APP
preach the Seashore for ephemerality
and irresponsibility of attachment.
Men and women at sea make quick
acquaintance even outside of that sym
p"thy in misery that Neptune often
lnlcts. And the very freedom from
The conventional code that the ever
changing deep suggests gives impulse
to the rOpantically inclined.
I,,!Ind Bangle, on the good ship
Utopia. was a day out from Cherhourg
before he caught sight of pretty
woman who pleased his fancy. He
had been trying to spend his income
curing d six months tour of Europe,
incidentally making love in various
lands. His infatuations in New York
had been many. and once in while
he had been fortunate enough to in
spire what seemed to be responsive
feeling. But young women are not
so ingenious as they used to be. and
although the aphorism that money
makes the mare go is an important
i:enI in their more or less ornamental
"d"ration. some of them still are hard
!" please.
Nobody that knew Harold ever Won
dertd why he diuu't marry. Inevitably
when he had reached the stage of
courtship that gives girl hope and
inspires reflection us to the latest
modes In trousseaux. Harold would
find some other young woman more
attractive and begin all over again.
lie was so volatile that he never yet
had been melancholy because some
girl threw him over.
During his travels Harold had made
love tentatively as best he could, not
being an accomplished linguist, to
divers mademoiselles, frauleins and
signorinas, but never with any promise
of success, and at times with expert,
ences which called upon valor and
found valor absent. In Paris he had
been challenged to a duel and fled the
city in such haste that he forgot some
of his luggage. In Berlin he had felt
the prick of petty officers sword as
those in regular warfare feel it when
in full retreat. In Naples he had
escaped the stilettO of young mem
Der of the Camorra whose signorina
he had approached, nothing saving
him but something in reserve held
over from the days when he was a
crack short-distance man at Harvard.
These experiences led him at last to
more fully appreciate the beauties of
his native land and the damsels there
of.
Repeated defeats of amOrous i'm
pulse had made Harold more suscep-
tible than ever. So when on the deck
of the Utopia this one day out from
Cherbourg he saw beautiful girl
who looked at him with an archness
that seemed to invite overture, he
actually blushed with enthusiasm. The
sea was high and the wind blew
gale. Just as the girl was about to
arrange chair for an airing. one of
her rugs took flight. Harold rescued
it from drowning, and the rest. at least
on his side, was cOurtship.
From the moment of this uncon.
ventional introduction Harold was the
very shadow Of the pretty girl. The
next day they arranged their chairs
together on deck. and happy CONVEX
sation flowed.
you don't mind venture, to give
me your name?" he asked handing
her his card.
mot in the least" she replied.
"Claremont."
"A beautiful name-ah-if you will
permit the opinion" said he.
do you really think so?''
And do you mind telling me your
baptismal name?"
mot at all. Virginia.
Really a lovely combination" said
Harold, and he emphasized his adj
jective. They talked and laughed till
the call for luncheon. and again until
dinner.
The next day Harold arranged her
rugs, got her footstool, ran for tea.
brought her confections, and in fact
anticipated her every wish. She
smiled upon him and entered charm
ingly into every subject he intro
duced. If he had not been more in
fatuated than he had ever been in
his life, he would have preached the