The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-11-27

ment for me. Both these girls are
pretty. They are Is years old and
have been everywhere and have
seen all the plays. One is engaged
and I think the other likes Hugo;
in fact I know she does, and so
do Nom and Dad.
'I was so stupid that night that I
hate to think about it, and when
Hugo made fun of me I said felt
as if ! was getting a cold and went
upstairs. Hngo said to Mary that
when ! was a kid had been his
little sweetheart and we had made
great marriage plans and were 60
ing to build a house up in an oak
and live up there. Which made me
seem like baby.
"Last week Hugo wrote me quite
frankly, saying that he is sorry that
I misunderstood his attentions,
that he will always love me as a
big brother, almost old enough to
be my father, and that he would
like his letters back. My mother,
who now says she is sorry she did
it since it disturbed me so much,
Immediately without consulting me
sent back all his letters, from my
treasure box.
''I love him as much as ever. He
is so wonderful, there is nobody like
him.! If I live to be go, and marry
10 times, I will always love him
better than anyone else! What can
I do? How can I get him back?
Please, please help me keep from
despair"
The Price of Love.
It is a cruel thing, Brenda, that
any human being should be given
power to hurt another as Hugo has
hurt you. But it is the price Of
love. Love is the dearest commod-
ity in life, the thing for which we
pay highest. It is painfully obvious
now that his affair with you was
just what he calls it, half-paternal,
haE-bretherly affection for the little
girl who so openly adored him. He
might indeed have made you his
wife, and he might have been a
faithful husband to you. But it
wouldn't have been the usual mar
riage, the usual mating of human
beings balanced in age, interests,
responsibilities of living together.
There are men who have petted
and adored a child-wife until her tall
sons seemed older than she, but as
a general thing the man to whom a
girl gives her heart at II isn't the
true mate, and the real love affair
comes along six or seven years
later.
You have a lot for which to be
thankful. Evidently you have sensi-
BILE, affectionate parents willing to
stand by you, help you in your diff
iculties, make your home center
of Inequalities. Those are invalu-
able assets just now. Also, you
didn't, in your infatuation for Hugo,
throw away your self-respect when
you threw away your heart.
It might help you to read some
of the letters I get from today's
girls; girls who don't regard love
affairs as their mothers did; girls
who argue, in moment of passion,
sit isn't anyone's affair but our own
what we do, and if I love him, and
want to do anything he asks, I'm
free to do it"
There is no way to get back
lost sweetheart, Brenda. But it
seems to me that you have very
little with which to reproach your
self. For awhile the companionship
of other boys and girls will seem to
you very insipid, but gradually fun
and laughter and dancing and
moonlight picnics will begin to fill
your calendar again, and it is highly
possible that as happy wife, some
Is years from now, you suddenly will
encounter Hugo and have a small
daughter ask you innocently, Moth
er, who is that fat old MANI" Then
you will see what I mean.