diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/50751-h/50751-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/50751-h/50751-h.htm | 9580 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 9580 deletions
diff --git a/old/50751-h/50751-h.htm b/old/50751-h/50751-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 59ddb26..0000000 --- a/old/50751-h/50751-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9580 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Teacup Club, by Eliza Armstrong. - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - .faux { - font-size: 0.5em; /*this font size could be anything */ - visibility: hidden;} - -p { - margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - text-indent: 1.25em; - margin-bottom: .75em; -} - - .maintitle {font-size: 200%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} - .copyright {text-align: center; font-size: 70%; text-indent: 0;} - .author {font-size: 120%; text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} - div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - - - img {border: 0;} - .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; - padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; text-indent: 0;} - - .unindent {margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - text-indent: 0;} -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%} -hr.full {width: 95%;} - - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry-container -{ - text-align: center; -} - -.poetry -{ - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; -} - -.poetry .verse -{ - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; -} - - - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - text-indent: 0;} /* page numbers */ - - -.bbox {border: double 5px; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; - padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} - -.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} - - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - - -@media handheld -{ - .chapter - { - page-break-before: always; - } - - h2.no-break - { - page-break-before: avoid; - padding-top: 0; - } - - .poetry - { - display: block; - margin-left: 1.5em; - } -} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Teacup Club, by Eliza Armstrong - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Teacup Club - -Author: Eliza Armstrong - -Release Date: December 23, 2015 [EBook #50751] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TEACUP CLUB *** - - - - -Produced by Emmy, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<h1 class="faux"><i>The</i> Teacup Club</h1> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 510px;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="510" height="800" alt="Cover" /> -</div> -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> -<div class="maintitle"><i>The</i> -Teacup Club</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a><br /><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="bbox"> - -<div class="maintitle"><i>The</i><br /> -Teacup Club</div> - -<div class="center"><br /><br /> -BY<br /> -<span class="author">ELIZA ARMSTRONG</span><br /><br /><br /><br /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> -<img src="images/emblem.jpg" width="150" height="160" alt="emblem" /> -</div> - -<div class="center"><br /><br /><br /> -<i>CHICAGO</i><br /> -WAY AND WILLIAMS<br /> -1897<br /> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="copyright"> -COPYRIGHT<br /> -WAY AND WILLIAMS<br /> -1897<br /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>NOTE</h2> - - -<p>A portion of the matter in this little book -originally appeared in <i>The New York Journal</i>, -and is used by the courtesy of W. R. Hearst, -Esq.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a><br /><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - - - - - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> -<tr> -<td align="left" colspan="2"><small>CHAPTER</small></td> -<td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">I </td> -<td align="left">THE TEACUP CLUB IS FORMED</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">II </td> -<td align="left">THE CLUB DISCUSSES WOMAN IN POLITICS</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">III </td> -<td align="left">MAN’S REAL ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PROGRESS OF WOMAN</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">IV </td> -<td align="left">CONCERNING THE HEROINE OF TO-DAY</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">V </td> -<td align="left">THE CLUB SETTLES SOME CURRENCY PROBLEMS</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">VI </td> -<td align="left">THE PIONEER NEW WOMAN</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">VII </td> -<td align="left">WOMAN IN LEGISLATION</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">VIII </td> -<td align="left">AN EXECUTIVE MEETING</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">IX </td> -<td align="left">ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF POLITICAL POWER</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">X </td> -<td align="left">WOMAN AS A PARLIAMENTARIAN</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">XI </td> -<td align="left">THE CLUB INVESTIGATES THEOSOPHY</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td align="right">XII </td> -<td align="left">A DISCUSSION AND A SURPRISE</td> -<td align="right"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a><br /><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter I<br /> - -<small>The Teacup Club is Formed</small></h2> - - -<p>“You can never be sure of pleasing a -man,” sighed the blue-eyed girl, who was -calling on her dearest friend; “that is, if -you try to please him,” she added reflectively.</p> - -<p>“I suppose not,” replied the girl with -the dimple in her chin, “unless you succeed -in concealing from him the fact that -you are trying to please him.”</p> - -<p>“H’m; yes, I suppose there is something -in that. However, we ought not to be -hard on the poor things. The whole truth -with the sterner sex is that they are never -really practical. They—”</p> - -<p>“How clever you are!” cried the girl -with the dimple in her chin, admiringly. -“Sometimes it does seem a pity that you -are to marry Jack, instead of studying law,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -or—theosophy or something like that. -Really, a very little study would fit you for -the bar, but of course Jack—”</p> - -<p>“I don’t intend to marry Jack,” said -the blue-eyed girl, calmly.</p> - -<p>“O, my goodness, does he know that?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether he knows that -or not; but he does know that I’ve broken -my engagement with him. I sent back his -ring, and—”</p> - -<p>“Dear, dear; that ring must have already -cost its real value in messenger fees alone. -Let me see, how many times have you sent—”</p> - -<p>“And you may know that I am in earnest -when I tell you that I am to pour tea for -Nell to-morrow, and everybody will comment -on its absence.”</p> - -<p>“Do you want me to come over and -stay with you to-night, dear?” queried the -girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“No, thank you, dear. I can just as -well talk it over with you now. Of course -it was Jack’s fault.”</p> - -<p>The girl with the dimple in her chin was -silent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, Emily Marshmallow, I did think -that you, of all people, would sympathize -with me, and—”</p> - -<p>“Look here, Dorothy; of course I sympathize -with you, but you remember -when you quarreled with Jack the last -time I—”</p> - -<p>“I remember the last time that Jack -quarreled with me,” replied the blue-eyed -girl, with dignity.</p> - -<p>“Well, I sympathized violently with you, -and the consequence was that you wouldn’t -speak to me for a month after you made up -with him!”</p> - -<p>“O, of course, if you really do sympathize -with me, I—”</p> - -<p>“You might know that. But tell me all -about it. Is it that you want a new ring -which is too expensive for anything save a -peace offering? Or is Edwin coming home -on a visit? Or has—”</p> - -<p>“Nothing so frivolous, my dear; this is a -serious matter. Jack—that is, Mr. Bittersweet, -joined a new club without even letting -me know that he meant to do it. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -shouldn’t have minded if he had only told -of it beforehand—”</p> - -<p>“Of course not, dear; for then you could -have made him give it up!”</p> - -<p>“Exactly. Well, when I did find it out, -I told him that I plainly saw he did not -really love me, and that it was lucky I had -discovered the fact before it was too late!”</p> - -<p>“How very original you are!” murmured -the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“Go on, dear.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is all over and I never was so -hap—happy in my life! Where is my -hand—handkerchief? I—I got s—something -in my eye on the way here, and—”</p> - -<p>“Here it is, dear, and let me draw down -the window shade, so the light will not -hurt your poor eye.”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t, dear. I saw them coming -up the street a minute or two ago and -all I’ve got to say is, that if Jack Bittersweet -thinks he can make me jealous by -parading up and down with a made-up -thing like Frances, he is very much mistaken!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I suppose you have coaxed Edwin’s sister -to write and tell him that you have -broken with Jack?” queried the girl with -the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“No, I haven’t. I did that last time -and he was so unpleasant after we made -up!”</p> - -<p>“Who was unpleasant? Jack?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not, goosie. A man is -always nicer than usual just after making -up. No, it was Edwin; he—men are so -awfully selfish, you know! Just because I -was nice to him while I was angry with -Jack, he imagined I had treated him badly—did -you ever hear of such a thing? How -did he ever expect me to bring Jack to his -senses in time for the opera season, without -a little jealousy as an incentive?”</p> - -<p>“Well, you know, men are so awfully -vain that he probably thought—”</p> - -<p>“That I really liked him? Perhaps he -did. I never thought of that. Still, badly -as he has behaved, I can’t help a kindly -feeling for him. You see, I had such a -lovely new gown for the opera and everybody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -knew that I expected to go often, -so—”</p> - -<p>“You might even have had to give in -and acknowledge that you were wrong, but -for Edwin!”</p> - -<p>“No, dear,” replied the blue-eyed girl, -with great dignity. “Never that. I really -expected to marry Jack, you know, and it -would never have done to establish such a -precedent. How could I ever expect a -happy married life, if I began it by acknowledging -that I could ever be in the -wrong?”</p> - -<p>“Very true, dear. By the way, do you -think a peep at my lovely new waist would -do you any good?”</p> - -<p>“You seem to have misunderstood me -entirely,” retorted the blue-eyed girl, -severely, “I am feeling quite happy. Indeed, -I don’t know that I ever felt happier -in my life, unless it was the day upon which -I was mistaken for my younger sister!”</p> - -<p>“But what are you going to do in regard -to Jack?”</p> - -<p>“Why, Emily Marshmallow, how stupid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -you are to-day! You seem to imagine that -I want to be flattered, like a man, by being -asked to explain things. I told you, -didn’t I? that Jack and I quarreled about -his membership in a new club. Very well, -I too, have decided to join a club!”</p> - -<p>“Humph, that isn’t a bad idea. But -what kind of a club? An Ibsen or a Browning -one, I suppose. I notice that men -dislike particularly to have us members of -really intellectual clubs.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I did think of either an Ibsen or -a Symphony club, but neither of them just -seemed to suit me, so—well, the fact is -that I’ve decided to found a club of my -own.”</p> - -<p>“But even then you can’t always have it -to suit you, because the other members—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I shall dear. You see, I’ll -make all the—the by-laws and resolutions -just as I want them, before I invite any one -to join the club. I think I shall ask Evelyn -to be the president, because she is married -and accustomed already to making somebody -do as she wishes.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Dear, dear, I’m only afraid that you -are too clever to—”</p> - -<p>“Succeed? Not quite so bad as that, I -hope. Now, you see, the chief objection -to Jack’s new club was that he wouldn’t -tell me anything about it. Said he didn’t -know just what its purpose was. As if a -man would join a club without knowing—”</p> - -<p>“I begin to see now. You mean to keep -the purpose of your own club a secret, -too?”</p> - -<p>“That’s just it, and when Jack hears how -nice it is, he’ll find out that we are a great -deal cleverer than he thinks. I shall make -the membership for life too, so—”</p> - -<p>“But you haven’t even told me the purpose -of the club yet.”</p> - -<p>“The Advancement of Woman, dear. -Jack hates advanced women and when I -make up with him—”</p> - -<p>“But you said a moment ago that you -would never—”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious, Emily,” cried the blue-eyed -girl, hastily, “do stop talking a moment -and let me get in a word edgewise:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -I’ve been trying for half an hour to get a -chance to ask you where the new waist you -offered to show me, is, and I can’t—”</p> - -<p>“Here it is in my wardrobe and isn’t it a -dream? You may try it on, if you like.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, dear; but no. I care so -little for such frivolities, now that I have -come to enjoy the real intellectual life. -Did you ever see such darling sleeves? It -does seem that a girl who could not be -happy in them must—”</p> - -<p>“Have at least a boil on her chin! Yes, -doesn’t it? But really, Dorothy, you make -me ashamed of caring so much for such -vanities. Why, those very sleeves cost me -two whole nights’ rest!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind about that, dear; we can’t -all be intellectual. Look here, Emily -Marshmallow, if you’ll promise never to -breathe it as long as you live, I’ll tell you -the last mean thing that Frances—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, do! She has a new gown that -would arouse the envy of Dr. Mary Walker. -All chiffon, spangles, embroidery and—”</p> - -<p>“I know. My story has reference to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -that very gown. You know how very mysterious -she always is about her new things!”</p> - -<p>“M’hm. As if anybody cared to know -about them! Do tell me if her waist is -made—”</p> - -<p>“Well, I—you see, it was this way: I -knew she was having her new gown made -at Madame’s, and I accidentally discovered -that she was to be fitted on Friday at two.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see. Then, you called upon -Frances at one o’clock, thinking that she’d -take you along, rather than risk offending -Madame by being late?”</p> - -<p>“No; Frances isn’t afraid of Madame—she -doesn’t owe her anything. I just happened -in at Madame’s at half-past two. -They told me she was busy, but I said I -knew she wouldn’t mind if I stepped into -the fitting-room for a minute, as I had a -letter from Paris and wanted to tell her all -about the new skirts.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you clever thing!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. So in I bounced, and there stood -Frances, all in billowy waves of turquoise -blue and—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But I thought her new gown was green -and white, with—”</p> - -<p>“And you should have seen how sweetly -she smiled. So sweetly that I knew she -was wild with rage!”</p> - -<p>“But did you make it right with the Madame? -Did—”</p> - -<p>“Pretended that I must have left the -Paris letter at home, and told her I’d fetch -it the next day. Then, after a good, long -look at Frances, I came away and—”</p> - -<p>“And ran in to tell all the other girls -how her new gown was made?”</p> - -<p>“M’hm. Annie first: you know, she -hasn’t a bit of originality and she said, at -once, that she’d have her new one just like -it. Then, I dropped in at Evelyn’s tea -and—”</p> - -<p>“Told all the others, too. M’hm.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. But what do you think that cat, -Frances, had done? She’d been there before -me and told them all that I had come -into the fitting-room out of sheer curiosity—I -curious, the idea! And the gown she -was trying on was not her own, after all,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -she said, but one about which Madame had -asked her opinion and—”</p> - -<p>“Gracious, do you suppose that was the -truth?”</p> - -<p>“Alas, I know it;” groaned the blue-eyed -girl, “it belonged to Jack’s sister, -Effie! Now, Effie detests Annie and when -she sees her in a gown which is an exact reproduction -of her own, she will—”</p> - -<p>“Won’t she, though? Well, my dear, -Effie was an unknown quantity before, but -now you may depend upon one thing—she -will use any influence she may have with -Jack against you.”</p> - -<p>“True. And all because of such a silly -thing, too! But, then, people are so -frivolous. Well, you will join my new -club, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, yes. You had better invite -Frances, too; she will tell Effie all about it, -and the first time Effie is offended with -Jack, she will tell him, thinking to annoy -you both—”</p> - -<p>“I shall, though it is hardly necessary, -either, for, once started, everybody will talk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -of nothing else. But, whatever you do, -don’t tell Dick a word about it. Evelyn’s -husband is sure to tell him, anyhow, and -then he can’t say that women never keep -secrets.”</p> - -<p>“What utter nonsense. Of course women -can keep secrets! Why, I once knew a -girl intimately for two whole years and in -all that time she never told me that her -curls were false. I wouldn’t have known -it to this day, if I hadn’t walked into her -room one day when she had washed them -and hung them up to dry. I’ve told that -story to a dozen men, and I’ve never -yet found one of them magnanimous -enough to acknowledge that it proved my -point!”</p> - -<p>“You can’t prove anything to a man, -dear, unless he wants it proved. Well, I -must go. You’ll not fail me at the first -meeting of the Teacup club, then?”</p> - -<p>“The Teacup club,” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin, disappointedly, -“Why I thought it was to be a really intellectual -club, and—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<p>“So it is. But, you know, real merit is -always modest. If a lot of men get up -such a thing, they give it a six-syllabled -name; but we wish to evade, rather than -seek, notoriety and, besides, as I said before, -once we get it started, the whole town -will talk of nothing else!”</p> - -<p>It fell upon a bright sunshiny day, and -the meeting for the organization of the Teacup -club was well attended.</p> - -<p>“And all the girls are wearing their newest -gowns, too,” whispered the blue-eyed -girl to the girl with the dimple in her chin, -“that shows that they appreciate the importance -of the undertaking.”</p> - -<p>“And what an awfully becoming hat you -are wearing,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “If I owned such a milliner’s -dream I should not mind anything that -could happen to me.”</p> - -<p>“Which means that you have something -unpleasant to tell me,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “You need not be uneasy,” she added, -“I’ll not move a muscle, for Frances is -looking this way.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, then, I heard her tell Nell that -Jack comes to her almost every day for -sympathy and—”</p> - -<p>“Humph. When a man says ‘sympathy’ -he means flattery! Is that all?”</p> - -<p>“All? Why I thought—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear. You see, I thought perhaps -you had stronger proof than her own assertion. -Why, Frances, dear, how well you -are looking to-day! I have not seen you -for such an age that I thought you must be -out of town.”</p> - -<p>“Has it seemed so long to you, dear?” -returned the brown-eyed blonde. “Now, to -me the days go so swiftly that, as I sometimes -tell Ja—Mr. Bittersweet, I mean—I -often forget whether it is Saturday or -Monday!”</p> - -<p>“So you have seen the poor fellow, have -you?” returned the blue-eyed girl, with an -angelic smile; “it is so good of you to console -him. But, indeed, you are always -good about such things and so modest -about it, too, that but for the men themselves, -we should never know how hard you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -work just to induce them to come and be -comforted!”</p> - -<p>“I—why,—I—” stammered the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, I was defending you only -the other day. I was quite angry with -Marion for saying that your house should -be called ‘An Asylum for the Rejected.’ -I was so indignant that I just told her that, -for my part, I thought we all ought to be -grateful to you for consoling the poor fellows -and helping to keep them out of mischief -when they are feeling so badly. I reminded -her, too, that you must do it out -of pure philanthropy—for you never seem -to get anything out of it. Really, I never -saw you looking quite so well; you have -such a fine color and—oh, here is Evelyn, -at last, and we can call the meeting to -order!”</p> - -<p>“Why, Evelyn is wearing her old gown,” -cried the girl with the classic profile, “I -call that downright mean! I had thought -I could get such a good chance to study the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -draping of it while she was on the platform.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps, that is why she didn’t wear -it,” returned the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Mercy, is it me they are calling to order? -Why, didn’t you tell me before; I—”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, girls,” the little woman on -the platform was saying, “I don’t know -that I ought to be president. It seems to -me that we should have an election or -something.”</p> - -<p>“That is not necessary,” said the blue-eyed -girl, “don’t you remember? I asked -you to be president, in the first place. But -if you’d rather, I’ll move that you are to -be the chief officer, and Emily, here, will -second the motion, won’t you Emily?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes of course,” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“That does seem more regular,” said the -little woman on the platform, in a relieved -tone. “I wonder if I ought to make a -speech of acceptance?”</p> - -<p>“Not unless you choose;” said the blue-eyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -girl, “harmony is the chief study of -this club, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, if it is to be a club for the study of -harmony, I can’t join;” said the girl with -the eyeglasses, “I don’t know a thing -about music and—”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid you have not been paying -attention,” said the blue-eyed girl, severely. -“The club is organized for the advancement -of woman and I don’t know a girl -anywhere who would be more benefited by -it than yourself. By the way, Evelyn, I suppose -we ought to assess dues, or something. -I know that Ja—I mean a man I know—is -always talking about dues at his clubs.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but this is to be entirely different -from a man’s club,” said the president, -“and, then, what is the use of assessing -dues, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“We might give the money to charity,” -suggested the girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, if we did that, why not let -each of us give what she wants to charity -and be done with it?” said the girl with the -eyeglasses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, of course,” said the president; -“dear me, I had no idea that it was so easy -to organize a club, or I’d have done it long -ago. It isn’t half as much trouble as giving -a tea and you don’t run any risk of -offending people by forgetting to invite -them and then having to convince them -that the card was lost in the mails.”</p> - -<p>“Talking of teas,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, “I—”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me,” said the president, gently, -“but if this is a club for the advancement -of woman, ought we to talk about -teas?”</p> - -<p>“But you began it, yourself,” said the -girl with the Roman nose, “I only—”</p> - -<p>“I think I said merely that the club is -ever so much nicer than a tea,” said the -president.</p> - -<p>“And so it is,” said the blue-eyed girl, -“though, by the way, Nell’s last one was -lovely—there were enough men present to -amuse us, whereas—”</p> - -<p>“There are usually so few that they have -to be amused, lest they get lonesome,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -broke in the brown-eyed blonde. “Oh, -girls, have you heard that Clarissa—”</p> - -<p>“Oughtn’t we to be attending to business,” -said the girl with the Roman nose, -“instead of talking about Clarissa? I saw -her myself only an hour ago and if there -was anything exciting to tell, she would -have—”</p> - -<p>“But this <i>has</i> a connection with the -club,” insisted the brown-eyed blonde. -“She wants to become a member!”</p> - -<p>“She just can’t be anything of the -kind,” said the blue-eyed girl, “the idea! -A girl whose reputation for intellectuality -rests upon the careless combing of her hair -and a habit of wearing hats six months behind -the mode.”</p> - -<p>“But how can we get out of it, if she -says she wants to join?” said the president, -with an anxious air.</p> - -<p>“Tell her that one of the rules of the club -is that no person over the age of twenty-two -years can become a member,” suggested -the girl with the dimple in her -chin; “she celebrated her twenty-third<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -birthday about a week ago, you remember.”</p> - -<p>“But it isn’t one of the rules,” objected -the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Then, we can make it a rule, right -now,” said the blue-eyed girl, calmly. “I -know just how it would be if we let Clarissa -into the club—she’d insist upon having -everything her own way right along. I -hate such selfishness myself, and—”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” said the president; “by the -way, oughtn’t we to make a note of that -rule, at once?”</p> - -<p>“What would be the use of that?” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin, “we -have all heard it. Oh, girls, I already see -the benefit we are to derive from the influence -of this club! Not a single soul has -said a word in regard to Clarissa’s pretentions -to being only twenty-three!”</p> - -<p>“Why, that’s true,” cried the president, -“and very considerate of us it was, too, -when we all know how ridiculous it is!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls, I must tell you something,” -cried the girl with the eyeglasses. “I went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -with Clarissa to a reception given by her -literary club the other evening and it was -simply awful!”</p> - -<p>“Not a decent toilet in the room, of -course,” said the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t expect that—I knew it -was a culture club. It seems that there -had been an awful time over the programme. -Some of the members wanted to -have an Ibsen evening, while others declared -for Browning. Finally, they decided -upon a mixed programme, selections from -them both, you know. I did not know -that when I went.”</p> - -<p>“I should think not,” said the girl with -the Roman nose, “otherwise, you—”</p> - -<p>“Would gladly have accepted the invitation—and -been suddenly taken ill on the -appointed day, of course. Well, when the -papers and selections were being read, I -studied my programme to keep my eyes -from those appalling coiffures, and when I -saw the word ‘Music’ on it, I felt like a -person who has found an oasis in a desert!”</p> - -<p>“And had you?” queried the president,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -who had left the platform and joined the -group about the narrator.</p> - -<p>“No. They played something from -Wagner!”</p> - -<p>“And you?” said the girl with the classic -profile.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I was in a comatose condition by -that time. Nothing mattered. After the -interminable programme they served refreshments.”</p> - -<p>“You felt better then?” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“No, I didn’t. They had tea and wafers! -Tea and wafers after Ibsen, Browning and -Wagner! And then Clarissa vanished and -I couldn’t get away. The people present -were all very distinguished; one of the -members had written an epic poem which -would have appeared in Harper’s if it had -not been lost in the mails; one of them had -invented a rational dress for men and another -had once been asked to deliver a -lecture upon ‘Thought Transference’ -before a mothers’ meeting at an orphan -asylum!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> - -<p>“My goodness, no wonder you wanted -to go home!” cried the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“I did—badly. By and by, while I was -wandering about the rooms in search of -Clarissa, I found a woman who looked as -unhappy as I felt. I was afraid to speak -to her, lest she be somebody very remarkable, -but she asked me, timidly, if I was -the lady who had actually worn a rainy day -dress, in public. I assured her that I was -not, and after that we got on famously.”</p> - -<p>“But who was she?” the president asked.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know her name, but after we -had discussed Ibsen and Browning a little, -I asked what she had done. She replied, -modestly: ‘Oh, I am the person who always -read the Woman’s page in the daily papers!’ -After that, we talked just like ordinary -people, and I didn’t see Clarissa when -she came to look for me!”</p> - -<p>“My goodness, girls, we really ought not -to laugh so,” said the girl with the Roman -nose, “because this club is devoted to the -advancement of woman, and—”</p> - -<p>“That is entirely different,” said the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -president. “Did Ibsen, Browning or Wagner -ever do anything for the advancement -of woman, I’d like to know?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the blue-eyed girl, -promptly. “How very absurd!”</p> - -<p>“Besides, our club is laid out on entirely -new lines,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin.</p> - -<p>“Yes, isn’t it?” returned the president; -“Oh, girls, I quite forgot to tell you that -we shall have to pay rent for this room if -we hold our meetings here, and we haven’t -made any provision for paying it.”</p> - -<p>“But what is the use of making provision, -when it isn’t due yet?” asked the blue-eyed -girl.</p> - -<p>“Why—er, that is very true,” said the -president; “I only wish I was as good a -business woman as you!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I often feel that I have a great -deal to learn yet,” said the blue-eyed girl, -modestly. “By the way, Evelyn, what did -your husband say when you told him that -you had decided to join a club?”</p> - -<p>“He said—Oh, girls, I’m almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -ashamed to tell you, but then Tom is -only a man, after all. He said: ‘Then, -may the Lord have mercy upon my -wretched digestion!’”</p> - -<p>“As if women had nothing to do but -cook and keep house! when lots of us -know nothing about either of them,” said -the girl with the classic profile, indignantly. -“Girls, I wonder why it is that if a woman -studies law or anything like that, somebody -is sure to say that she is going outside of -her sphere, while nobody thinks anything -of the kind if a man becomes a chef or invents -a food for infants?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, if you expect logic from a man!” -said the president, shrugging her shoulders; -“however, I expected it, too, before I was -married. I know better now.”</p> - -<p>“Dear, dear, isn’t the Advancement of -Woman delightful?” cried the girl with the -eyeglasses. “After this, when we want to -know anything, we needn’t go to the -trouble of looking it up in the dictionary or -the encyclopædia; we can just discuss it at -the club, and—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why do you bother with those horrid -books? I never do,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “They are so heavy -and always dusty, too. Now, I just ask -the nearest man what I want to know. If -he happens to be wrong, I can always cite -my authority and it gives the next man a -double pleasure in setting me right.”</p> - -<p>“What a clever thing you are,” said the -girl with the eyeglasses; “you always make -me think of what somebody said about er—Juliet, -I think: ‘To know her is a liberal -education.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that is nothing. Why, I know a -Vassar girl who has studied Greek and all -that sort of thing and she invariably misspells -several simple words whenever she -writes to a man, so he may think himself so -much cleverer than her and—”</p> - -<p>“And I know a girl who asks every man, -the first time she meets him, to explain -the Australian ballot system. You see, -it is a thing they all have to know, so -they—”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me, I should think she would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -get awfully tired of the answer,” said the -president.</p> - -<p>“She does. She told me not long ago -that she really must invent a new stock -question, for she could hardly keep from -yawning now, while—”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of yawning,” broke in the -brown-eyed blonde, “Teddy Crœsus -doesn’t send Molly flowers or bonbons -any more!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see what that has to do with -yawning,” said the girl with the Roman -nose.</p> - -<p>“More than you may think, dear. You -know Molly always asks a man if a premonition -of danger has ever been the means -of saving his life. She doesn’t ask it the -first time they meet, but saves it for some -special occasion. Well, one evening at a -reception, Teddy seemed disposed to talk -to Florence too much, and Molly asked him -the question then, because she knew—”</p> - -<p>“That he would stay with her as long as -she allowed him to talk about himself! Yes, -of course,” said the blue-eyed girl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> - -<p>“M’hm. Well, he was in the midst of a -long story about how he once escaped from -being in a railroad wreck by missing his train. -Molly was listening with breathless interest -when she saw Florence stop within two -feet of her. She couldn’t resist one -glance of triumph and that glance was her -ruin.”</p> - -<p>“It was? Did he look up just then and -remember Flo—”</p> - -<p>“No, dear. But just as Molly looked at -her, she gave a mighty yawn. Well, you -know, yawning is contagious and Molly had -been at a ball the night before, so she -yawned, too. Teddy’s eyes were on her -and—”</p> - -<p>“And now Florence gets his violets and -bonbons! Well, isn’t that a story without -a moral?” cried the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“It certainly is,” groaned the president. -“Well, girls, I fear we must adjourn, -though it is hard to break up such an intellectual -talk. For my part, I shall go back -to the petty cares of life with renewed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -energy after a breath of air from a higher -plane.”</p> - -<p>“I, too,” said the girl with the Roman -nose, “I feel now as if petty gossip and -scandal could never interest me again.”</p> - -<p>The president and the blue-eyed girl had -walked four blocks, when the former suddenly -stopped.</p> - -<p>“There, I knew I had forgotten something,” -she cried; “at first, I thought it -was only to order dinner, but now I remember -that I did not suggest a topic for discussion -at our next meeting!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw, that makes no difference,” -said the blue-eyed girl, “nobody would -have had time to prepare anything for it, if -you had; there is so much going on in our -set this week, and—”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” replied the president, “and -all the members are so much interested in -intellectual topics, anyhow, that they are -quite prepared to discuss them extemporaneously -as we did to-day.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter II<br /> - -<small>The Club Discusses Woman in Politics</small></h2> - - -<p>The Teacup club was called to order fifteen -minutes before the appointed time at -its second meeting. “We are all here, -you know, and there is no use in waiting,” -observed the president, as she rapped for -order with a jeweled hatpin.</p> - -<p>“Hear, hear,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, who had been reading up in -parliamentary usage.</p> - -<p>“I am so glad to see you all here,” said -the president, “I was afraid that Effie’s -luncheon might—”</p> - -<p>“Keep some of us away? Not from this -club,” said the girl with the classic profile. -“I believe she chose the day just on purpose -to break up the meeting, so I declined -her invitation.”</p> - -<p>“Did you?” said the girl with the Roman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -nose, “I didn’t. Effie is not popular -enough to offer her guests badly cooked -food, so I went and excused myself as soon -as we rose from the table on the plea that I -should be late for the club if I remained -longer.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I might have seen Effie when -you said that,” remarked the girl with the -eyeglasses. “However, your turn came -when the door closed after you.”</p> - -<p>“I think not, dear,” said the girl with -the Roman nose, calmly, “Effie is not -yet distinctly engaged to my cousin -Clarence, so—”</p> - -<p>“She has to be on decent terms with his -family! I might have thought of that,” -said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“If they had been married, now of course -I shouldn’t have dared to do it, but—”</p> - -<p>“I should think not. Oh, girls, speaking -of what happens after the door closes, -makes me think of what happened to Effie -herself once. It was just after the affair -with Teddy Crœsus, you know.”</p> - -<p>“The time she thought to make people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -believe she was engaged to him, and took -him to dine with her grandmother—”</p> - -<p>“And her grandmother failed to understand -the situation and congratulated them! -Indeed, I do,” cried the girl with the -Roman nose, “although, on account of -being her dearest friend, I failed to hear -it until two days after everybody else -had.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you know she went to a breakfast -at Nell’s a few days after that,” went -on the girl with the eyeglasses, “and left -early. As she reached the corner, she remembered -a message for Nell and went back -to deliver it. She burst into the room unannounced -and found all the girls talking at -once.”</p> - -<p>“About her, of course! What did—”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Any other girl would have known -that, but Effie said: ‘Oh, girls, do tell me -all about it; what has happened?’”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“And it was so sudden that not one of -them could think of a thing to say until she -had flounced out in a rage!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> - -<p>“The moral is: Never go back after once -saying good-by,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“True,” said the brown-eyed blonde, -“by the way, Dorothy, why weren’t you -at Effie’s to-day?”</p> - -<p>“I fancy my invitation was lost in the -mail,” replied the blue-eyed girl. “I shall -mention it to Effie as soon as I see her, so -she will not feel that I’ve slighted her intentionally. -Why, Frances, dear, did those -mean things let you sit all through luncheon -with the end of your, ah—detachable hair -showing and a dab of powder on your nose? -How mean and envious some people are!”</p> - -<p>“I—I think it is cooler over on the other -side,” panted the brown-eyed blonde, “and -besides I must see Emily a minute.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Dorothy, you must have just -heard something awfully nice, you look so -happy and smiling,” said the girl with the -classic profile, “but really this delightful -club is making us all amiable.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, isn’t it?” said the blue-eyed girl, -“I couldn’t be really mean to anybody -now, if I tried.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Excuse me for interrupting you, girls,” -said the president, “but I want to announce -our topic for discussion, and if I don’t do -it at once I may forget it. Suppose we -choose “Woman as a Political Factor?” -That is a broad enough field even for us, -and—”</p> - -<p>“So it is,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Well, I know one thing—whenever -a woman really knows what she wants -in a political line, she gets it.”</p> - -<p>“She does—and has ever since Eve held -that first caucus with the serpent in the -garden,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin.</p> - -<p>“Hear, hear!” cried the girl with the -Roman nose, who had been furtively consulting -her book on parliamentary usage. -“Oh, girls, have you heard that the man -Nell expects to marry is a politician?”</p> - -<p>“No; but it seems a very suitable -match,” said the president, “for I don’t -know a girl anywhere who can shake hands -as gracefully as she does.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, Evelyn, how generous you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -are,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. “I -believe you could find something nice to -say about everybody.”</p> - -<p>“I really believe I could,” said the president, -modestly, “and, after all, it is easy -enough, for if you don’t like the subject of -your remarks, you can always say it in such -a tone that it does more harm than good.”</p> - -<p>“You are so just,” sighed the girl with -the classic profile, “and yet, men always -declare there is no real fellowship among -women!”</p> - -<p>“They confuse their own wish with the -true state of affairs,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “They know that one -woman is often more than a match for the -whole male sex and when a number of -women band together they—”</p> - -<p>“Usually get more than they want,” -said the president. “I often wonder, -though, why it is always so much easier to -convince other men that you are in the -right than it is to persuade the men of your -own family?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps we put it in a more flattering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -way to strangers,” suggested the girl with -the dimple in her chin, “we just can’t -help it, though, for we can’t always -be—”</p> - -<p>“Looking up?” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “Of course not—if we were -our necks would grow so stiff that—”</p> - -<p>“We could never see our own boots; besides, -we would be such frights that no man -would look at us and so—”</p> - -<p>“It would do no good in the end,” finished -the blue-eyed girl. “Still, I sometimes -fancy, after all, that it might be well -to be as nice to papa and the boys as I am -to the men I dance with!”</p> - -<p>“My goodness,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin, “we must be getting -into metaphysics now! I’m not quite sure -as to what metaphysics may be, so I always -conclude that everything I don’t understand -must—”</p> - -<p>“Be metaphysics? Do you? For my -part, I always confuse metaphysics with -hydraulics, though there is some difference -between them I know,” said the brown-eyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -blonde. “Let us ask Evelyn to explain -them right now. She—”</p> - -<p>“Some other time, dear;” said the president, -hastily. “You know we are discussing -Woman in Politics to-day and—”</p> - -<p>“It would be unparliamentary to discuss -anything else,” said the girl with the -Roman nose.</p> - -<p>The president looked at her gratefully.</p> - -<p>“What a logical mind you have, dear,” -she said. “I only wish you could be with -me sometimes when Tom comes home late -from his club. I know that there are all -sorts of flaws in the stories he tells me, but -somehow I never find them until after he -has given me money and I’ve kissed him -and made up.”</p> - -<p>“What a pity,” sighed the girl with the -Roman nose, “for if you found out the real -flimsiness of his stories sooner, you could -get more money.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear, so I could,” wailed the president, -“it is an awful thing to have a husband -and not a logical mind!”</p> - -<p>“So it is,” said the girl with the Roman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -nose, “but, Evelyn, don’t tell anybody -your opinion of me, for if you do, it may -end in my having a logical mind and no -husband, which is worse!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t this beautiful!” cried the girl -with the eyeglasses, suddenly. “Really, -girls, I am so stupid—that is not stupid as -compared to a man, of course, but to the -rest of you—that I wonder you allow me -to belong to the club!” and there were -tears in her eyes as she spoke.</p> - -<p>The president came down from the platform -and kissed her.</p> - -<p>“Stupid! the idea of a girl with such a -genius for hairdressing being stupid,” she -cried.</p> - -<p>“And that girl a chafing-dish cook whose -Welsh rarebits are sometimes successful, -too!” cried the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Oh! speaking of chafing-dish cookery,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“You know that Annie used to be engaged -to Eustace, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. But what has that to do with -chafing-dish cookery?” said the girl with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -the Roman nose. “Girls, I have the loveliest -recipe for making—”</p> - -<p>“It has a great deal to do with it. -When he married Claire, Annie just smiled -and selected a chafing-dish as a wedding -present. She knew that Eustace was a -confirmed dyspeptic and that Claire’s hands -are so pretty that she could not possibly -resist an opportunity to display them, so -she would cook all sorts of dishes and—”</p> - -<p>“By the way, I hear that they have -agreed to separate,” said the president. “I -met Claire on the way to the manicure the -other day. I wonder where Eustace is?”</p> - -<p>“He is in a sanitarium,” replied the girl -with the dimple in her chin, “the doctor -thinks he will have to be taken into court -on a stretcher when the divorce proceedings -come up!”</p> - -<p>“And yet you told me the other day that -Annie had no originality; I’ve learned this -since then,” whispered the girl with the -dimple in her chin to the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“I only meant in the matter of gowns, -dear,” was the apologetic reply. “By the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -way, Frances seems not quite herself, to-day.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve noticed that. I fancied you might -have said something to her which—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, never; why, I consider Frances -one of my dearest friends—”</p> - -<p>“I know that, dear. But what is the -use of a friend, if you can’t be disagreeable -to her sometimes?”</p> - -<p>“True. I sometimes think it is one reason -that married women keep their friends -longer. They have husbands to—”</p> - -<p>“Act as lightning rods and carry off their -displeasure! Yes; it must really be quite -a convenience.”</p> - -<p>“Very likely. Don’t you feel, after all, -that Jack—”</p> - -<p>“Jack? Oh, I suppose you mean Mr. -Bittersweet! No, I don’t feel any such -thing, Emily Marshmallow, and you are no -friend of mine if you champion him after -the way he has behaved to me!”</p> - -<p>“I—I was only going to mention that he -had resigned from that new club. He told -me so himself.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, he has, has he? Well, isn’t that -just like a man? And after he had paid all -his dues for a year in advance, too, and -gotten nothing out of it!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he—he did it hoping to please -you, dear.”</p> - -<p>“His actions are perfectly indifferent to -me, I assure you. Besides, if I made up -with him to-morrow, Frances would always -think I was jealous. I jealous of her—the -idea! And, oh, Emily, the way he—he -flirts with that girl is enough to b—break -my heart!”</p> - -<p>“If you two girls have anything interesting -to say, I wish you would say it -aloud,” broke in the president. “Of course -I am not curious, but some of the others -may—”</p> - -<p>“Nothing at all interesting,” said the -blue-eyed girl, promptly; “I—I was just -telling Emily that this club seems the one -thing needed to fill my cup of happiness to -overflowing!”</p> - -<p>“And mine!” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “By the way, isn’t it too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -provoking that curls are coming in again, -just as veils are going out!”</p> - -<p>“And just at the windiest season of the -year, too,” wailed the brown-eyed blonde. -“Really, I often think that the fashions are -invented by men—they are so contrary!”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me,” said the president, “I did -not quite catch what you were saying, because -Emily and Marion were both talking -at the same time. It seems to me that -since I have been married, I can’t follow -even two conversations simultaneously, as -I used.”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of that,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses, “who do you tell your -secrets to now that you are married?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I’ve hit on a splendid plan,” -cried the president, “when I feel that I -must just tell a secret or die—and I often -feel that way—I wait until Tom is asleep -and repeat the whole story in his ear. It -relieves my mind and does no harm.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be too sure of that,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “My sister -Helen doesn’t agree with you at all. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -mentioned it to her the other day and she -thought it clever, and resolved to emulate -your wisdom, so she tried it on her husband, -and he wasn’t asleep, only pretending.”</p> - -<p>“But I always test my husband with a -question or two, first,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“So did Helen. She asked him if he -could fail to see how much she needed a -new bonnet and wanted to know how much -his share of the alumni banquet amounted -to. He only snored in reply, and of course -she thought she was safe and repeated the -secret.”</p> - -<p>“With the result?” queried the blue-eyed -girl, who was listening, breathless.</p> - -<p>“That it was all over his club the next -day,” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin. “It would not have made any difference,” -she added, soberly, “only the secret -was a rather clever trick I had played on -Dick a few days before—and he belongs to -the same club!”</p> - -<p>“And yet they say a man can keep a -secret!” said the girl with the Roman -nose.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Who says so?” queried the girl with -the eyeglasses. “Other men? Oh! I -didn’t know but that you had heard some -woman say so.”</p> - -<p>“Not unless a man was listening, dear, -and that man a person whom—”</p> - -<p>“She wished to flatter immensely!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Or who happened to know some -of her own secrets! Girls, I’ve been wondering -what on earth Annie sees in that -horrid Fred Van Stupid? Now, I can understand -the interest a girl takes in a brainless -man who has a great deal of money, -because then—”</p> - -<p>“He is exposed to so many temptations -and her influence is sure to do him good,” -finished the girl with the dimple in her -chin, “for my part, I always let Ned Goldie -come to see me oftener than usual during -Lent. I feel that I am really doing some -good and—”</p> - -<p>“Violets are an absolute necessity then -and they are so dear that very few men can -afford to present them in quantities.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, of course I let him bring me flowers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -if he wants to—it is so much better for -him to spend his money in that way than -to lose it at poker, that I feel quite a missionary.”</p> - -<p>“H’m; I don’t know about that, dear, -though it’s very lovely of you to feel so,” -sighed the president, “the fact is, that you -are actually encroaching on what is really -my violet money. Ned will play poker -with my husband at the club at other seasons -of the year, when he is not allowed to -see much of you. He always loses and I -make Tom divide his winnings with me, -so—”</p> - -<p>There was a look of high resolve upon the -face of the girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“After this, I shall make him bring me -twice as many, so I can divide with you,” -she said, sweetly. “Oh, no, don’t thank -me; I do so love to feel that I am doing -some good in the world and I do so disapprove -of games of chance!”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t made up your mind as to -whether you will accept him or not, have -you?” queried the brown-eyed blonde.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not yet, dear. His chances and Dick’s -are about even, at present. Of course he -doesn’t know that, though; I couldn’t -exert such a good influence over him, if he -was sure one way or the other.”</p> - -<p>“True,” sighed the president. “Oh, -girls, I don’t know why men are so much -more willing to be influenced for good before -they are married than after. You may -be sure of one thing though, Emily; he -will say horrid things about you, if you -finally do refuse him.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “but when one tries to do -good in this world, one can not begin to -count the cost.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Emily Marshmallow, what an angel -you are!” cried the blue-eyed girl, kissing -her. “You are always so busy doing good -to others, that you never seem to give yourself -a thought!”</p> - -<p>The brown-eyed blonde had by this time -quite recovered her equanimity and was -chatting, in low tones, with the girl who -wore the eyeglasses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Poor, dear Dorothy is looking rather ill, -isn’t she?” she remarked, after a while.</p> - -<p>“Why, I hadn’t noticed it before, but -now that you speak of it, she does. However, -she can’t expect to look young -always. By the way, I hear that she has -quarreled with Jack Bittersweet again.”</p> - -<p>“Has she seen him lately? I didn’t -know that she had,” returned the brown-eyed -blonde, smiling affectionately into the -mirror.</p> - -<p>“Your hair is looking lovely to-day,” returned -the girl with the eyeglasses. “Look -here, Frances, do, like a dear, tell me all -about the quarrel. You know all about it, -of course, and I’ll not tell a soul. You -know how well I can keep a secret and, besides, -you owe it to me, for you wouldn’t -have known a thing about Fred and Clarissa -but for me!”</p> - -<p>“But I hadn’t a thing to do about the -quarrel, oh, really now I hadn’t. Of -course, people think it was all on my account -but—why, I was in Omaha when I -heard of it.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> - -<p>“By the way you came back from Omaha -earlier than you expected, didn’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I—no; that is only a week earlier. -How well Jack looks, doesn’t he? And -what a flow of spirits he has.”</p> - -<p>“Is it possible? Now, Effie says that he -is as cross as a bear. But, then, Effie is -his sister, so—”</p> - -<p>“What she says is of no consequence. -Well, since you know so much already, I -may as well tell you the rest. I fear that -it is Dorothy’s insane jealousy of me which -made the trouble. Of course I have not a -spark of vanity, but I can’t help seeing—”</p> - -<p>“But I heard that the quarrel was over -Jack’s membership in a new club.”</p> - -<p>“That might have been, dear, but people -that are engaged don’t always quarrel over -the real bone of contention. Of course, I -only hope I really had nothing to do with -it; I have so many such things on my conscience -already that I don’t want any -more,” and she sighed softly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but tell me about the quarrel, do.”</p> - -<p>“Well—er—the fact is that Jack hasn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -said a word to me about it, which makes me -quite sure that I am the cause of it, unwilling -as I am to think it.”</p> - -<p>“Then, you really don’t know any of -the facts?” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Excuse me now, dear, I see Emily -beckoning me; she wants to ask me about a -new seamstress I’ve discovered. Frances -doesn’t know a bit more than we do,” she -whispered to the girl with the dimple in -her chin. “Jack hasn’t told her a thing, so -he evidently still cares for Dorothy, and -she—”</p> - -<p>“That’s just it,” wailed the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “I’d have succeeded in -making it up long ago, if they didn’t care -quite so much!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear,” said the president, “I am -afraid that I am awfully stupid to-day, but -the fact is that—”</p> - -<p>“By the way, I heard that you slept at a -hotel last night, Evelyn,” said the girl with -the Roman nose, “how on earth did that -happen?”</p> - -<p>“It was all Tom’s fault,” returned the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -president, in an aggrieved tone, “only he, -being a man, will not admit the fact. You -see, he didn’t want to go to the reception -at all, so he—”</p> - -<p>“But, Nell said she met him in the street -and gave him a verbal invitation, which he -accepted with effusion.”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, if Nell knew my husband as well -as I do, she’d be aware that the more -affably he accepts an invitation, the more -determined he is to escape by some plausible -excuse at the last moment. He says -that people always accept your regrets as -genuine under such circumstances.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you for telling me that,” said the -girl with the classic profile. “My great aunt -gives whist parties sometimes and, as she -has a lot of lovely old lace and china and -nobody in particular to leave it to, I don’t -like to hurt her feelings by refusing her invitations -outright. On the other hand, if I -accept and happen to be placed at the table -with her, I know I shall not receive so much -as a cracked saucer in her will!”</p> - -<p>“But you and Tom did go to the reception,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -I know, for I saw you there,” said the -girl with the Roman nose, “how did you -manage it?”</p> - -<p>“To make him go? Oh, that was easy -enough. I merely said that he wasn’t very -well and as I did not like to go out and -leave him alone, I would ask mamma to -come and stay with him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, then he agreed to go, did he?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear—said he had meant to go all -along. But after that everything went -wrong: his razor refused to do its work and -he actually pretended that it was all because -I had sharpened a lead pencil with it -the other day, as if that could have—”</p> - -<p>“But why did you tell him that you had -sharpened your pencil with it?” asked the -blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Because I cut my finger on the old -thing and thoughtfully warned him that it -was too sharp. Then, I—well my own -wardrobe was full and I had hung up a few -things in his, and the skirt of my new tailor-made -gown was hanging over his dress coat. -He pretended that it was all wrinkled and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -creased by that. Then, I had borrowed his -box of neckties and neglected to return -them, and he made such a fuss over my forgetfulness -that I determined to give him a -lesson. I saw him lay his latch key on the -chiffonier ready to put in his other pocket -and I didn’t say a word when he turned -out the gas and went off without it.”</p> - -<p>“But how did you expect to get into the -house when you returned?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I slipped back into the room in the -dark after he had gone down, and put it in -my own pocket.”</p> - -<p>“As an object lesson in remembering. -Good, I’m glad you did it,” said the girl -with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“M’hm. I told the maid not to sit up -for us, and I saw for myself that every door -and window was fastened tight—for once -Tom climbed in at the pantry window when -he had forgotten his key and didn’t want -me to know how late he stayed at the -club.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose he complained next day because -the window was open, too,” murmured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -the girl with the dimple in her chin, -“men are so illogical!”</p> - -<p>“Well, no, dear; but he would have -done so, only the clock happened to strike -three as he came upstairs, and I counted the -strokes aloud. Well Tom was cross at being -kept waiting, but my gown fits so well -that I felt at peace with all mankind.”</p> - -<p>“Even your own husband!” said the -brown-eyed blonde. “It must indeed fit well.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And I enjoyed the evening immensely, -for I knew I had such a good joke -on Tom when we got home.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and what happened then?” asked -the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it was great fun. He searched in -all his pockets twice, rang the bell until he -was tired, though the maids asleep in the -third story might as well have been in -Greenland for all the good that did. Then, -he tried to force each door and window before -he came back to the carriage to tell me -that we were locked out!”</p> - -<p>“And then you—”</p> - -<p>“I said: ‘Why didn’t you tell me before,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -dear? Luckily, there is one of us who -remembers things.’ If you could only have -seen his face as he took the key I gave -him!”</p> - -<p>“Then why on earth did you sleep at the -hotel?” queried the girl with the Roman -nose, in a bewildered tone.</p> - -<p>“I—well, the fact is that I—in the dark, -I had mistaken the key to his desk for the -latch-key! And, oh, girls, if you had seen -me driving home from the hotel at ten -o’clock in the morning, in the gown I had -worn at the reception!”</p> - -<p>“You poor, dear thing!” cried the blue-eyed -girl, “no wonder you chose ‘Woman -in Politics’ for to-day’s discussion! If men -are such tyrants as that, our only refuge -will be equality in suffrage and—”</p> - -<p>“Latchkeys,” said the girl with the eyeglasses, -“though to be sure, we’d need -pockets to keep them in, if we carried -them. Sometimes, I suspect that the -dressmakers are in league with the men to -keep us from gaining our rights,” she -added.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Perhaps they are,” said the blue-eyed -girl, with a startled air, “the men pay the -bills and so the dressmakers may be in -league with them!”</p> - -<p>“You forget one thing, dear,” said the -president, with a superior air. “It is the -women who make the bills. You never -heard of a man who ordered a dress for his -wife did you?”</p> - -<p>“I hope not,” replied the girl with the -Roman nose, “at least, if she was obliged -to wear it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, dears,” said the president, “we -really must adjourn, it is awfully late, but -of course such a serious discussion could -not be hurried. I think I must go and -have a cup of bouillon to refresh me after -making such serious demands upon the gray -matter of my brain.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter III<br /> - -<small>Man’s Real Attitude Toward the -Progress of Woman</small></h2> - - -<p>The Teacup club came to order with -more than its usual reluctance at its next -meeting and the president looked severe. -“I wish you girls would stop talking about -Helena and her affairs,” she said. “I detest -gossip, and, besides, I want to hear all -about her, too, and we can talk better after -the meeting is over. The topic for to-day’s -discussion will be, ‘Man’s Real Attitude -Toward the Progress of Woman.’”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad to hear it,” said the girl with -the Roman nose. “Men are such queer -creatures that by the time a girl gets to -understand them really she is too old to -attract their attention. Now, if we all put -our heads together—”</p> - -<p>“We may attain wisdom without its accompanying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -wrinkles,” broke in the girl -with the dimple in her chin; “that is a -good idea, for—”</p> - -<p>“It is no real gain to know how to make -them bring the proper kind of flowers and -confectionery, if you have to spend the -money thus saved on the beauty doctor; -yes, that is true,” sighed the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“Widowers, or men who have been engaged -several times, are often nice,” said -the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “I like to do my own -training, if it is troublesome. You can’t -persuade a widower that his late wife was -not a type of all womanhood, and that is -horrid, especially if she happens to have -had a taste for domestic magazines and -molasses candy! That is why a widower is so -much less attractive than a widow; she—”</p> - -<p>“Has learned that men, save for a few -leading traits, are all different,” said the -girl with the classic profile. “Yes, matrimony -always widens a woman’s views of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -opposite sex, while it narrows those of a -man.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear,” said the girl with the Roman -nose; “I do wish men would not do one -thing and say another. Now, they are -always praising domesticity in women, as -well as shrinking modesty, and yet—”</p> - -<p>“They always overlook the domestic -kind of a girl when she does venture among -people,” broke in the brown-eyed blonde. -“I know it, and as for shyness and modesty, -it is only the girl who is bold enough to call -attention to those qualities in herself who -receives a social reward for them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well,” said the president, “a man -with a couple of sisters learns a great deal -about the sex.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“I don’t know why it is, but the -more sisters a man has, the slower he is to -enter into matrimony.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve noticed that myself,” said the girl -with the classic profile; “while girls who -have plenty of brothers usually marry before -they are twenty.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Pshaw! That is because the friends of -their brothers get a chance to see them sew -on buttons and make caramels,” said the -girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“No, it isn’t,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “it is because such a girl has -more than one person to oppose the man -who wants to marry her. But talk about -masculine inconsistency! It sets me wild -to hear men talk about domesticity and -modesty and all that, and then hang about -Kate, a girl who doesn’t know a frying pan -from a—a camera, and who had as lief ask -for a thing she wants as to hint for it—so -unfeminine!”</p> - -<p>“I know it,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Why, she never has to buy a -flower, and as for candy, she has so much -that she actually shares it with the other -girls! I go to see her more frequently in -Lent, because my conscience will not allow -me to buy any then, and—”</p> - -<p>“And Kate has been engaged six times; -she told me so herself,” said the girl with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -the eyeglasses. “I declare, it is enough to -make a girl—”</p> - -<p>“H’m!” said the president. “Don’t -forget, my dears, that while she has been -engaged six times, she has not been married -once!”</p> - -<p>“Why—er—that is true,” cried the blue-eyed -girl. “You dear, delightful, clever -thing! I am so glad that I just made you -be our president.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, of course I like it dear; still, -as somebody once said, I’d rather be right -than president.”</p> - -<p>“Hear, hear!” cried the girl with the -Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Yes. But, oh, girls, Tom says that all -the men in our set are talking about this -club. He says that Jack Bittersweet asked -him confidentially the other day if being -intellectual made a woman less loveable. -Luckily, I had just agreed to let him have -a masculine dinner party and he assured -Jack that it did not.”</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl arose softly from her -seat and going over to where the brown-eyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -blonde was sitting, kissed her. “You -dear thing,” she said. “Come over any -day you like and you shall see the -new sleeve design I got from Paris yesterday.”</p> - -<p>The girl with the dimple in her chin exchanged -glances with the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“What time in the year do you prefer -for a wedding?” asked the latter, apropos -of nothing.</p> - -<p>“Oh, speaking of weddings, that reminds -me,” said the girl with the Roman nose. -“I’d have prepared a paper on to-day’s -topic, as you suggested, Evelyn, but Elizabeth -asked me to help select her wedding -dress and—well, you know, Elizabeth. -It has taken her two days already and I -don’t see any prospect yet of her making -up her mind.”</p> - -<p>“And yet she required only five minutes -in which to decide to accept Fred, when -he asked her to marry him,” said the president, -thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>“I know, dear, but then in this matter of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -selecting her dress, she had a choice,” said -the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“And I’m sure that Elizabeth’s father is -delighted to buy her a wedding dress,” said -the girl with the eyeglasses. “Oh, Emily, -pardon me—I quite forgot that Elizabeth is -your cousin!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, dear, though I rather like -her, in spite of the relationship. Oh, girls, -you have no idea of what an effect this club -is having upon me. Why, I’ve turned my -den into a library, cut all the leaves of my -Carlisle and coaxed papa to buy me a handsome -writing desk and do up the walls in -forest greens because pink and blue seemed -so frivolous. Now, I can sit in that room -and write papers for the club in real comfort.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t know how pleased I am to -hear it,” cried the president, warmly. “It -is quite worth all the labor of selecting -topics and leading the discussion, I assure -you. Why, Marion, how late you are! -Don’t you know that the really advanced -woman is even ahead of the clock?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, I do,” panted the girl with the -classic profile, “but, really, I’ve had the -most awful time getting here at all! You -know I’m always in trouble, but really this -is the worst that—I’ll never go anywhere -with Nell again, unless it’s to my own -funeral, and I can’t help myself, then.”</p> - -<p>“What on earth has Nell done now?” -queried the girl with the dimple in her -chin, “don’t you know that you must not -expect absolute sanity from an engaged -girl? You said you were going with her to -the south side to call upon some of the -relatives of her affianced. Did she take -you over there, and then discover that she -didn’t know their exact address? Or -did—”</p> - -<p>“The address was not forgotten. We -hadn’t meant to do any shopping to-day, -but we stopped in to buy some thread, and -really the new silks were so cheap that—”</p> - -<p>“You arrived an hour late, and penniless! -I know,” said the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“N—ot quite. I had ten cents left when -we started for home, and we had to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -two lines of cars. Nell and I couldn’t get -seats together—in fact, we were at opposite -ends of the car. However, I paid her fare -and signaled the fact to her, receiving a nod -in reply.”</p> - -<p>“Well?” said the president, “didn’t she -want to pay your fare on the other line?”</p> - -<p>“She—well, the fact is that she had misunderstood -the signal, and paid our fare -again with her own last dime. And there -we were three miles from home, without a -penny in our pockets—and the street car -company had a dime it hadn’t earned. -But then Nell never had a grain of sense—I -should think by this time she knew that -herself.”</p> - -<p>“If she doesn’t, I’m sure you are not to -blame, dear,” said the girl with the Roman -nose. “However, for my part, I shall not -blame you, even if you are as cross as a man -who is wearing a frayed collar, for the rest -of the afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“But, don’t let us interrupt the proceedings,” -said the girl with the classic profile, -“just tell me what to-day’s topic is, and I—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, it is a perfectly delightful one!” -said the blue-eyed girl. “Man’s real attitude -toward the Progress of Woman, -and—”</p> - -<p>“His real attitude is that of flight,” said -the girl with the Roman nose, “he—”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be flippant, dear, whatever you -are,” said the president, gravely, “we have -enough of that to endure from our masculine -acquaintances. It seems to me that a -man laughs at whatever he fails to understand, -and then feels that he has replied to -the argument.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps that is the reason that men -laugh at so many jokes in which I can see -nothing funny,” said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“No doubt of it,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, “but, girls, never attempt to imitate -them. I did once, and Annie—you -know how obtuse she is—kept asking loudly -what I was laughing at, and I couldn’t tell -her. When a man had just made the remark -that he was glad to find a girl with a -keen sense of the ridiculous, too!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Just like Annie,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “I sometimes wonder whether she is -really obtuse or only malicious. You know -how devoted Tommy Bonds is to music, -don’t you? Well, Annie and I once accompanied -him to a Thomas concert, and I -wanted to make myself agreeable—”</p> - -<p>“I hope you didn’t do it by conversing -while the orchestra was playing,” said the -president.</p> - -<p>“Of course not, goosie. But I remembered -that he always says a woman should -be two things—sincere and fond of music. -The soloist was a pianist, I can’t remember -his name, but his hair was not at all remarkable. -When he played an encore, Tommy -leaned over to me, and said: ‘Isn’t it -charming?’ and I replied, ‘Yes, I like it -better every time I hear it; in fact, I often -ask people to play it for me.’ I wish now -that I hadn’t said that.”</p> - -<p>“Why so?” asked the president, “it -seems to me just the right thing to say.”</p> - -<p>“But Annie leaned over asking, loudly, -‘What is the name of it?’ and, to my horror,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -Mr. Bonds said he didn’t know, and it -was all so sudden that, to save my life, I -couldn’t make up a name! In the silence -which followed, some one in front of us was -heard remarking that the encore was a composition -by the pianist himself, and now -played for the first time in public!”</p> - -<p>“And it was all Annie’s fault, too,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin. “By -the way, did I ever tell you how it happened -that Mr. Bonds gave up calling me a -delightful conversationalist? No? Well, -you see, he lived almost opposite to us, -and he practiced on the ’cello until papa, -who is very fond of De Quincey, said he no -longer dared to read “Murder considered as -one of the Fine Arts.” Suddenly he -stopped practicing, and—”</p> - -<p>“Mercy on us, had anything happened -to him?” gasped the president, turning -pale.</p> - -<p>“Nothing ever happens to people who -deserve it. As it happened, however, we -were no better off, for some one, a new -resident of the street, we supposed, began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -to practice on the violin seven hours a -day!”</p> - -<p>“It may not have been a newcomer,” -observed the girl with the eyeglasses. “It -is a fact that one vigorous soprano is enough -to demoralize a whole neighborhood, and I -suppose—”</p> - -<p>“The ’cello is quite as bad? Possibly so, -at any rate rents went down in the neighborhood -and placards went up. One day I -happened to meet Mr. Bonds, and as long -as my father was not within hearing distance, -I said: ‘Oh, I’m sorry that you -have given up your delightful ’cello.’ If -you could have seen the rapture on his -face.”</p> - -<p>“I’d rather have seen his face than that -of your guardian angel,” remarked the girl -with the classic profile; “but go on; don’t -stop.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I had stopped then, but I didn’t. -I said, ‘By the way, who is it that scrapes -the violin all day long? I never heard -anything so awful in my life!’ Oh, girls, -I—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But I don’t see anything wrong in -that,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“He did. You see, he had given up the -’cello and taken to the violin with the idea -of astonishing the world with his genius!”</p> - -<p>“And you live to tell it,” said the girl -with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“M—yes—you see, everything has its -compensation. When papa heard what I -had done, he gave me a hundred dollars and -his blessing.”</p> - -<p>“What luck some people have,” said the -brown-eyed blonde, “while others—oh, -girls, I know something perfectly lovely, -but I don’t know whether I ought to tell -it to you or not. My conscience—”</p> - -<p>“Why, Frances,” said the president, “I -shall be awfully hurt if you don’t tell us -now. When a girl speaks of her conscience -in that way, it simply means that she distrusts -her audience. You might know by -this time, that we never tell anything which -transpires at a meeting of this club.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “Why, Dick teased<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -me vainly a whole evening to find out the -line of argument advanced in favor of equal -suffrage when we discussed ‘Woman in -Politics’ the other day. The janitor must -have told him the topic under discussion,” -she added hastily.</p> - -<p>“Very likely,” said the president. -“What was that you wished to tell us, -Frances, dear?”</p> - -<p>“It was something that happened to -Nell,” said the brown-eyed blonde. “Her -fiancé had told her a great deal of his -friend, Mr. Thynker, of Boston, who is to -be his best man, and whom she had never -seen. He appeared suddenly at Mr. Dickenharry’s -office the other day, just as the latter -was starting for Milwaukee, and there was -barely time for him to make arrangements -with Mr. Thynker to call on Nell the following -afternoon. As it happened, he knew -the Vansmiths, and was asked to the -luncheon they gave that day, and seated -immediately opposite to Nell. Of course -he didn’t catch her name when they were -introduced, and there was no chance for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -explanations. Oh, girls, I wonder if I -really ought to finish this?”</p> - -<p>“If you don’t, I shall ask Nell why you -didn’t,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“Well, during a lull in the conversation, -he leaned forward and, in loud, clear tones, -asked Nell what kind of a girl his friend -Tom Dickenharry had got himself engaged -to <i>this</i> time!”</p> - -<p>“M’hm,” said the president, after the -laughter had subsided a little, “that settles -one matter in advance, anyhow. It is easy -to know upon whose side the victory will -rest when they have their first quarrel after -marriage.”</p> - -<p>“There is one question I would like to -ask the members of this club,” said the girl -with the eyeglasses, “and it is one which -nearly disrupted our little Shakespeare club: -If you really want to please a man—any -man—what is the best way to go about -it?”</p> - -<p>“That is really such a simple question -that there is only one answer possible,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And that is—”</p> - -<p>“Be born rich.”</p> - -<p>“But, suppose you have neglected that -qualification,” persisted the girl with the -eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Learn to cook; but never let him taste -the result of your cookery,” said the blue-eyed -girl.</p> - -<p>“Yes—or wear his college colors,” said -the girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Let him do all the talking,” said the -brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Praise the shape of his head—no matter -what it may be,” said the president. “I -wouldn’t tell anybody that,” she added, -reflectively, “only that two fortune tellers -and a palmist have assured me that my husband -will outlive me.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Bonds has a very well-shaped -head,” observed the girl with the eyeglasses, -“a little long perhaps, but—”</p> - -<p>“The rotundity of his pocketbook over-balances -that,” broke in the girl with the -dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Clarissa says he is generous, too—a rare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -quality in a really wealthy man,” said the -blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“M—I don’t know about his generosity,” -said the president. “A marriage -license is about as inexpensive a thing as a -man can buy, and yet he has displayed no -desire to invest in one.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw, that makes no difference,” -said the girl with the Roman nose, “lots of -girls nowadays don’t intend to marry, anyhow, -so—”</p> - -<p>“I wonder why they never think to mention -the fact publicly until after they are -thirty,” mused the girl with the dimple in -her chin; “oh, girls, shouldn’t you like -really to do something wonderful?”</p> - -<p>“I once wore a pair of common-sense -shoes a whole month,” said the blue-eyed -girl, modestly.</p> - -<p>“H’m; who was the Englishman?” -asked the brown-eyed blonde, “the one -with whom you used to walk at that time, -I mean,” she added, pleasantly.</p> - -<p>“It was the spring that Mr. Penny-Lesse -was here, but I don’t see what that had to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -do with it,” said the blue-eyed girl, with -great dignity.</p> - -<p>“Nothing at all of course,” said the -brown-eyed blonde, “I only—”</p> - -<p>“You did not meet him, I believe; he -was very particular about the people to -whom he was introduced,” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin, sweetly. “I did -rather an unusual thing myself once—I had -five dollars in my pocketbook when my -allowance came due!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but you had left the pocketbook -at my house ten days before, and thought it -was lost,” said the girl with the classic profile, -“don’t you remember, I only brought -it over after the shops were closed the evening -before?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” said the president, “I’ve -recently met a woman who has traveled all -through Asia, and—”</p> - -<p>“I suppose she did it in bloomers and -one of those horrid, unbecoming, stiff caps, -too,” broke in the brown-eyed blonde. -“Well, all I’ve got to say is that a woman -who has the courage to make such a guy of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -herself, is brave enough to face all the -tigers and mountain lions, and—er—boa -constrictors in Asia.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe there are any boa constrictors -and mountain lions in Asia,” said -the girl with the Roman nose. “As for -tigers—”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, how literal you are!” pettishly -replied the brown-eyed blonde. “Well, -buffalos then; how will that suit you? -I’m equally afraid of all of them, myself.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” cried the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “Marion and I have just -had such fun. We have been telling each -other the most awful things that ever happened -to us in our lives.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps that is what made you late, -too,” remarked the president, in a severe -tone.</p> - -<p>“N-not exactly. You see, I knew there -was something wrong about my watch, and -I could not remember whether it was thirteen -minutes fast or thirteen minutes slow, -so—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But do tell us what was the most awful -thing that ever happened to you, Evelyn,” -cried the girl with the classic profile. “The -very worst thing that ever befell me was connected -with a timepiece. It was last summer, -and a man who—who had been very -nice to me was going away early the next -morning. Men were scarce at the seashore, -as you know, and when a lot of the -girls saw us sitting on the porch they came -over and spent the evening with us. We -just could not get a chance for a word -alone.”</p> - -<p>“I know—I know,” groaned the girl -with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Well, his train was to go at 5:16 -<small>A.M.</small>, and he asked me in the most meaning -tone if I cared sufficiently to hear something -he had to say to get up early enough to see -him off. I—I said I did.”</p> - -<p>“Well?” said the girl with the Roman -nose.</p> - -<p>“I set my watch by the hall clock in -order to be sure of getting up in time; then -I lay awake nearly all night so I would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -oversleep myself. When I reached the station -it was five minutes past six.”</p> - -<p>“Watch stopped?” asked the girl with -the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“No; Harry had run down to spend that -evening with Kate, and she had set the -clock back. The man was married in October -to one of the girls who had risen in time -to see him off.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the president. “Speaking -of awful things—you all know how afraid -I am of fire.”</p> - -<p>“We do,” said the girl with the Roman -nose. “I believe you could smell a burning -match a block away.”</p> - -<p>“Well, the other day our fire insurance -ran out, and Tom handed me the money -and asked me to go down and renew it, as -he was very busy. I forgot all about it -until night; then I lay awake sniffing smoke -until Tom thought I had influenza again. -Next morning I got ready to go and attend -to it at once. I wanted to look nice, too, -because one of the men in that office once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -told Tom that he had an awfully pretty -wife.”</p> - -<p>“How much money did he borrow from -Tom that time?” asked the girl with the -dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“I was curling my hair,” went on the -president, unheeding, “when I smelled fire. -I ran wildly all through the house, with a -curl still wrapped about the iron, trying to -locate it!”</p> - -<p>“And did you find any?” asked the -brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Yes; my own hair was burning,” said -the president, with a groan.</p> - -<p>“How awful!” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“That reminds me of what once -happened to me. It was when I was wearing -a single curl in the middle of my forehead. -One day Frank was there, and he—he -would twist it over his finger and quote -poetry about it until he took all the curl -out of it. Of course I discovered that I -had no handkerchief and went up to get -one.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I don’t see anything so awful in that,” -said the girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“No, dear; but while I was curling it I -dropped the hot iron down my back, and -dared not even scream lest he find out what -I was doing.”</p> - -<p>“The worst thing that ever happened to -me,” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin, “was in connection with Lewis. As -soon as it was settled, I went to tell Emmeline, -so she would give up trying to get -him. I said I was his first love, and she -couldn’t imagine how jealous he was. ‘Oh, -yes, dear, I can,’ said she; ‘he was always -so when he was engaged to me!’”</p> - -<p>“I wondered why you broke with him,” -said the president. “Well, we must adjourn -now, and I must say that I have -never heard a subject more logically discussed -than the one to-day!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter IV<br /> - -<small>Concerning the Heroine of To-day</small></h2> - - -<p>“Are you ready to go to the meeting of -the club?” asked the blue-eyed girl, as she -bounced into the room. “Why, Dorothy, -dear, what is the matter? has your father -gotten himself a new bicycle instead of one -for you, or—”</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl sat up on the couch. -“I don’t care if I never ride a bicycle again -as long as I live,” she replied, deliberately.</p> - -<p>The girl with the dimple in her chin -turned pale. “I knew it was something -awful when I saw you crying with the -blinds all rolled up; but I hardly thought it -was so bad as that. You—you haven’t -any fever or queer feelings in your head, -have you?”</p> - -<p>“If I had, it would not make any difference,” -she sobbed. “I—oh, I’ll get even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -with Effie Bittersweet if it ruins my complexion -and takes me all the rest of my natural -life to do it!”</p> - -<p>“Oho, it’s Effie, is it? Well, you’ll -have plenty of chances to get even with -her, once you are her sister-in-law!”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t marry Jack now, to—to -spite Effie, and I—I doubt if I shall have -the chance, anyhow. And as for Frances, -I—”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, dear; I know she has behaved -abominably, but she is punished -already. Her aunt has brought her a new -hat from Paris, and it is geranium pink—fancy -Frances in geranium, can you? She -promised it to Frances when she went -abroad last fall, and Frances has been talking -about it ever since. She will have to -wear it, too, because her aunt is to make -them a long visit, and she is too wealthy -to have her feelings hurt.”</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl shook her head, sadly. -“It is very kind of you to try to cheer me,” -she said, “but I am beyond rejoicing. I -only hope it is a very deep geranium pink,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -that’s all. Oh, Emily, what a desert waste -this life is! No, don’t put another cushion -back of me—I want to be just as uncomfortable -as possible. You know Effie was -here this morning, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so—I noticed that you have -two portraits of Edwin on the table.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Well, she asked me to go shopping -with her, and I must say I was -pleased, because she hasn’t been here since—since—”</p> - -<p>“Not since you quar—pardon me, I -mean since her brother quarreled with -you.”</p> - -<p>“She said she’d ask me to lunch with -her down-town, but she had spent almost -all her allowance.”</p> - -<p>“The idea of hinting to you in that bare-faced -way! Now, if you had been a man -it—”</p> - -<p>“Would have been all right, of course. -However, I know how confidential Effie -always grows over a cup of tea, so I -promptly invited her to lunch with me. -After she had accepted, I found that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -I had only fifty cents to my name. Papa -had gone down-town and, mamma had just -borrowed a quarter from me!”</p> - -<p>“My goodness, did you tell Effie that -your head ached so badly that you couldn’t -go?”</p> - -<p>“And have her say that I was fretting -myself ill over Jack? No, thank you. I -excused myself a moment and went downstairs, -for I had just remembered a habit -Papa has of leaving money lying about on -his desk. To my joy, I found a five-dollar -bill in one of the drawers, and I took -that, because I—”</p> - -<p>“But weren’t you afraid to take it?”</p> - -<p>“M—yes, but then one’s own people -have to make up with one sometime or -other. Well, we had a lovely time shopping, -and I took Effie off to luncheon before -she had had time to get cross matching -samples. It was a lovely luncheon, and -before we had finished Effie said she hoped -I would visit her at Delavan in August!”</p> - -<p>“H’m; I suppose she didn’t mention -the fact that Jack expects to be in Canada<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -from the last week in July to the first one -in September, did she?”</p> - -<p>“No; she didn’t. Oh, what a cat she -is—and I asked her to take another ice on -the strength of it! Well I paid the bill, -tipped the waiter, and was just going out -when the cashier came running after me, -and oh, Emily, what do you think?”</p> - -<p>“You had left your umbrella, of course.”</p> - -<p>“No, I hadn’t. I—I, that five-dollar -bill was a counterfeit which papa was keeping -as an object lesson to mamma, who had -gotten it in change!”</p> - -<p>“You might have known that no man -with a wife and grown daughter would leave -five good dollars in an unlocked drawer, -dear. Did Effie—”</p> - -<p>“Loan it to me? She hadn’t quite -enough, and I don’t know what I should -have done if Frances had not happened to -come in. Effie said that she did not mind -borrowing from Frances, because she—she -was quite like a sister to her! And now I -shall have to make Papa angry by coaxing -for money to pay for all those ices Effie ate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -on false pretenses, and w—worse yet, she -and Frances will have the pleasure of laughing -over it together!”</p> - -<p>“And telling Jack about it, too,” gasped -the girl with the dimple in her chin, helplessly.</p> - -<p>“Of course I know they will do that,” -sobbed the victim. “But I hardly thought -that even an intimate friend would be unpleasant -enough to remind me of it!” And -she buried her face in the cushions and -wept.</p> - -<p>“Then you are not going to the club -this afternoon? Shall I tell them that you -are busy with the dressmaker, or the -dentist? They know that you can make -everybody else wait.”</p> - -<p>“Tell them nothing. I shall go—and -complain of a cold in the head, which will -explain the pinkness of my nose and eyes.”</p> - -<p>“But will any of them believe you?”</p> - -<p>“All of them. You know those horrid -quinine tablets Evelyn is always wanting -people to try—well, I shall take one of -them publicly. You don’t suppose that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -any one will suspect me of doing it unnecessarily, -do you?”</p> - -<p>The girl with the dimple in her chin shuddered. -“Impossible,” she said.</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl suddenly stopped curling -her hair, and, facing her friend, remarked: -“I can tell you one thing though—Jack -Bittersweet shall pay dearly for this!”</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The president of the Teacup club rapped -for order with the handle of her umbrella. -“I am glad to see you all here to-day, in -spite of the weather,” she remarked. “We -have a very interesting topic for discussion. It -is, ‘Woman in Her Character of Heroine.’”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, it is interesting,” said the girl -with the Roman nose. “I only wish you -had thought to mention it to me and I -should have prepared a paper on it. No, -I couldn’t have done it, either, for my -aunt from New Jersey was in town, and I -had to take her sight-seeing. Oh, dear, -aren’t people who live in the country painfully -active? And what ideas they have! -They seem to think Lincoln Park is in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -back yard and the Statue of Columbus -across the street.”</p> - -<p>“I know a girl who has had a much worse -time than that,” said the brown-eyed -blonde. “She had to take her future -mother-in-law to see the sights. The old -lady had read up in preparation for her -visit, and knew more about the city than -Marie herself. Now, while the poor girl is -being massaged with arnica and things to -get over the effects of her exertion, the old -lady is busy telling her son that such an -ignorant girl can never make a good wife!”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of the bravery of women,” -said the girl with the classic profile, “I -know a girl who early one morning heard a -noise in a large closet next her room, in -which she kept her furs and cloth gowns. -She slipped out of bed and into the hall, and -turned the key, which was fortunately on -the outside, and there she had the burglar -safe in that stifling atmosphere. Then she -fainted.”</p> - -<p>“And no wonder,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses. “I should have fainted first.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It took them three-quarters of an hour -to restore her and find out what was the -matter, then they sent for the police, and -what do you think they found?”</p> - -<p>“That the burglar was dead,” breathed -the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“No. It wasn’t a burglar at all; it was -her own father, who had risen early and -gone into the closet to look for a file of papers -which had been kept in the attic for -twenty years. Oh, he said perfectly awful -things when he got breath enough to speak! -Unluckily, too, it happened just at the -time when she needed a lot of new things. -She said that nobody appreciated her -bravery except a man who was paying her -attention at the time, and he didn’t dare -say a word before her father for fear of losing -his good-will.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “it only goes to show that -women are really more courageous than -men.”</p> - -<p>“Of course they are,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses. “Why, only the other day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -I read of a girl who had a hole bored in one -of her front teeth and a diamond inserted. -Did you ever hear of a man who was brave -enough to go to the dentist unless he really -had to?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said the president. “Oh, girls, I -once had my pocketbook snatched from me -by a boy, and I just ran after him until he -dropped it. I don’t know that I should -have been so brave,” she added, “but for -the fact that, beside my card, it contained -several unpaid bills of which my husband -knew nothing. If the police had caught -the boy with it, they would have communicated -the fact to him, and I never should -have heard the last of those bills.</p> - -<p>“I hope he appreciated your bravery, -anyhow,” said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the president; “his -only comment was that it served me right -for carrying my pocketbook in my hand. -Oh, you can’t make a man understand that -a woman fears nothing. By the way, I wish -several of you would come home to dinner -with me. I broke Tom’s lovely bit of old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -Venetian glass to-day, and I had rather not -be alone with him when he finds it out.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go with pleasure,” said the girl -with the Roman nose, “is anybody else -coming?”</p> - -<p>“Nobody but Mr. Troolygood,” said the -president. “I always ask him in such an -emergency, because he prophesied that Tom -would break my heart within two years of -our marriage. Tom knows that, and—well, -I could dance on the graves of his ancestors -if Mr. Troolygood was present, and -Tom would encourage my efforts.”</p> - -<p>“Then, I don’t see why you ask us to-day,” -said the girl with the Roman nose, -“he ought to be—”</p> - -<p>“Sufficient? Yes, I suppose so; but—well, -the truth is that he is rather hard to -entertain, and Tom is so busy in his presence, -being nice to me, that he is no help -at all.”</p> - -<p>“I should be delighted to dine with you, -also,” said the blue-eyed girl, “but really -I have such a cold that I don’t dare to be -out at all after nightfall.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Have you a cold?” said the brown-eyed -blonde, “why, I didn’t notice it when I -met you in the restaurant this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you, dear? But then you are -not very observant. You had not even -noticed that there was a wrinkle in the waist -of your new gown, until I pointed it out to -you. Evelyn, dear, mightn’t I take another -of your quinine tablets now? I really -think that I am feeling better already.”</p> - -<p>“Do not take too much of it, dear, if -you value your peace of mind,” said the -girl with the eyeglasses. “I’ve had such an -awful cold this week. I don’t know how I -ever caught it, unless it was sitting in that -hot church on Sunday. Mamma would have -me go, and I—”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you caught it standing on your -front steps Monday evening,” suggested -the girl with the classic profile. “I saw you, -as I passed, and wondered how long—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it was only a moment. The parlor -was full of people, and I just stepped out -with Frank a moment to—to ask him how -he expects to vote at the coming election.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I thought you both looked as if you -were discussing politics. Of course, he had -to think well on the merits of the opposing -candidates before he gave an opinion -and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw, it is impossible to know -how one catches cold, and it does one no -good to know, anyhow,” said the girl with -the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Unless it is some one else’s fault,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin. “I -have a cold myself, and I don’t dare to -mention the fact to my family. They are -so unsympathetic that they—”</p> - -<p>“Would want you to wrap up and wear -overshoes if it was July,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“They would, they would,” wailed the -girl with the eyeglasses, “well, I just knew -that I had to be well in time to go to Mrs. -Brownsmith’s card party. The way that -Marie tries to attract Frank’s attention is too -dreadful, and I knew she would be there.”</p> - -<p>“If she had to unscrew her coffin lid to -get out,” said the blue-eyed girl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p>“M’hm. They wanted me to take all -sorts of horrid remedies at home. I -wouldn’t do it, though; the very idea -made me cross. Finally, on Wednesday, -Frank dropped in to see if I was better and -said I must take some quinine. Of course, -I couldn’t refuse and hurt his feelings, -especially as he remained all the afternoon -and watched me take it. By his advice, I -took a large dose of it that night, and when -I woke up in the morning my cold was -almost gone, but oh, I had the queerest -buzzing in my ears!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, nobody could see that,” said -the president, “so you—”</p> - -<p>“Kept on taking it all day, and was able -to go to the card party, after all; though -the quinine had made me as deaf as a -statue. It made little difference at first, -because Marie kept close at my elbow, and -Frank and I were not alone a moment. I -couldn’t get rid of her at all until, just as -mamma said she would not wait another second -Mrs. Brownsmith called Marie to her, -and Frank—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Improved the moment,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin. “What did -he say?”</p> - -<p>“I—I don’t know,” sobbed the girl with -the eyeglasses. “He whispered, and I -couldn’t hear. And before I could ask -him to repeat, Marie was at my side. As -he put me into the carriage, he said: ‘You -will let me have my answer by messenger -to-morrow, won’t you?’ And I—I don’t -know w-whether he ask-asked me to marry -him, or only to go to the m-matinee!”</p> - -<p>“You poor, dear martyr,” cried the -president. “Dorothy, dear, you had better -not take any more of those tablets, because—”</p> - -<p>“But dear, Dorothy is in no danger of -having to answer such an important question,” -said the brown-eyed blonde, sweetly.</p> - -<p>“Very true, dear; I have answered it -already—in the negative,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “Ah, you can never know, -Frances, how painful it is to be obliged to -tell a man who loves you that there is no -hope.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Dear, dear,” said the president, hurriedly, -“I’m afraid that, in spite of all my -efforts, we have not discussed to-day’s -topic as consistently as usual. It does -seem to me sometimes that you girls talk -as much as men. Of course you do not expect -to be listened to as they do, still—”</p> - -<p>“I should think not,” said the girl with -the Roman nose; “did I ever tell you of -the time I went to make a round of calls -with Ethel, and—”</p> - -<p>“Found she was leaving her sister’s cards -by mistake?” said the girl with the classic -profile. “Indeed you did. And wasn’t it -funny that she left one for Maria, to whom -her sister hadn’t spoken for a year? Just -like Ethel, too.”</p> - -<p>“This was another time,” said the girl -with the Roman nose. “You know how -much Ethel talks? Well, we called on one -woman I had never met before, and she -asked Ethel subsequently if I was not deaf -and dumb!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, she knew better when she -met you next time,” said the girl with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -eyeglasses; “but what is the topic for discussion -to-day?”</p> - -<p>“‘The Heroine of To-day,’” said the -president, “and I think—”</p> - -<p>“I suppose that is the bachelor girl,” -said the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Or the one who marries a foreigner,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“Talk about bravery! Why, I knew a girl -who became engaged to a Russian before -she could pronounce his name.”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of that,” said the girl with -the classic profile, “isn’t it horrid of Elizabeth -to send out her wedding cards so long -ahead. No chance this time to say that we -didn’t know it in time to select a present.”</p> - -<p>“I shall pretend that I never received my -invitation at all,” said the president; “one -must protect one’s self somehow.”</p> - -<p>“I do hate to go shopping with her nowadays,” -said the girl with the dimple in her -chin, “if I don’t buy a lot of things myself -I am miserable, and if I do her reproachful -gaze seems to say, ‘I know the cost of this -will come out of my present.’”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> - -<p>“As if you wouldn’t ask your father for -the money for that, anyhow!” said the girl -with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“I shall do nothing of the kind, dear; it -would make too much trouble. I don’t -know why a man will cheerfully give a wedding -present himself, but let—”</p> - -<p>“One of the women of the family ask for -money for the same purpose and he feels -that he is being robbed,” said the girl with -the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“I suppose it is on the same principle -that makes a man insist upon treating every -other man he meets and then grumble because -his wife wants oysters after the play,” -said the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Just as he feeds a girl on candy before -he marries her and then complains of dentists’ -bills afterward,” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin; “men are so illogical!”</p> - -<p>“Indeed they are,” said the girl with the -Roman nose; “one of them will keep on -telling a girl that she has a swan-like carriage, -and then think her vain if he catches<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -her watching her own movements in the -glass.”</p> - -<p>“Why does she let him catch her at it?” -queried the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“Oh, girls, you know that awful, dark green -necktie that Dick has been wearing! Well, -I endured it until I felt as if I should scream -if I saw him wear it again, so I begged it -from him; told him that I wanted it as a -souvenir to hang beside his college cap and -his football colors. As soon as he sent it -to me I threw it into the fire.”</p> - -<p>“And he came in before it was reduced -to ashes?” asked the president, in sympathetic -tones.</p> - -<p>“No. He appeared with another just -like it, the very next day—said he didn’t -like it himself, but since I had admired it -and he wanted to please me, he had matched -it before he sent it to me!”</p> - -<p>“And that was your only reward for trying -to save his feelings,” sighed the blue-eyed -girl. “Really, Emily, I often think -you are too good for this world.”</p> - -<p>“At any rate, I shall soon be out of it if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -so many sorrows are heaped upon my head. -By the way, girls, I’ve been learning to -ride my bicycle, and talking of heroism, I—”</p> - -<p>“How many times have you fallen?” exclaimed -the girl with the classic profile. “I -heard the other day of a girl who learned to -ride in a single lesson, without falling once, -and—”</p> - -<p>“Humph. I’ve often heard of that girl -myself—but I’ve never seen her. I’ve -fallen nineteen times; that is, not counting -the time mamma called after me to be careful, -and the time that Dick said I had ridden -almost a half block since he let go of -my belt—because you know, it was not my -fault that I fell upon either of those occasions!”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the president, -“but, girls, we really must not talk about -bicycling, because if we do we shall drift -away from our discussion, and I can’t bear -to depart, even momentarily, from the high -standard of the club. We were speaking -of Elizabeth a moment ago; has any one -seen her lately?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not I,” said the blue-eyed girl. “I -make a point of avoiding the girl who is -about to be married, the mother of the -cleverest baby in the world, and the woman -who is designing her own house. Really, -you know, I don’t mind letting someone -else do all the talking, but I <i>do</i> like a change -of topic once in a while.”</p> - -<p>“I know I was just as sensible as any one -could be while Tom and I were engaged,” -said the president, “and yet, people did act -so oddly. Why, they would go right away -if I began to talk of him at all; they didn’t -even stay long enough to see how sensible I -was.”</p> - -<p>“By the way, I believe that Jane and -Mr. Sooter are engaged,” said the girl with -the classic profile; “Jane denies it but—”</p> - -<p>“Then I think you are mistaken,” said -the girl with the eyeglasses. “I know -Jane, and she seldom understates a case. -Why do you think they are engaged?”</p> - -<p>“He has given up sending her flowers -and candy, and begun presenting bric-a-brac -instead.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Pshaw, that is nothing; he may once -have been engaged to a girl who was a -china maniac, and these may be the presents -she returned.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly. By the way, Kate has grown -so wary now that she only gives the man to -whom she happens to be engaged presents -which she can use after she breaks with -him; never pipes and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, by the way, I know how her last -engagement came to be broken in so many -pieces that it could never be mended,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Do tell us all about it; we are all so -intimate with Kate that we wouldn’t dare -to tell anybody, because it would seem that -we were betraying a confidence,” said the -girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Well, when she was engaged to Mr. -Yaleblue, she gave him a lovely meerchaum -pipe, which of course came back with her -other presents when the engagement was -broken. By the next Christmas she was -engaged to Dan, and it seemed such a waste -to let it lie in the case, and she gave it to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -him, telling him a pretty little story of how -she bought it when she was in Paris, and -kept it hanging in her den ready for Prince -Charming when he appeared. You wouldn’t -think a little thing like that would have -broken the engagement, would you?”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course not,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses, “how on earth did—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, he just asked how it came that it -was so strong of tobacco!”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, girls,” said the president, “I -am afraid that we really must adjourn, -though there is still a great deal more to -say on both sides of the discussion. But I -have just remembered that I have invited a -whole party of you to dinner, and neglected -to mention the fact to the cook!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter V<br /> - -<small>The Club Settles Some Currency -Problems</small></h2> - - -<p>“The topic for to-day’s discussion will -be ‘Currency Problems of the Present -Day,’” observed the president, after the -club had come to order, “and I hope you -are all prepared—”</p> - -<p>“There is only one currency problem in -the present day—to my knowledge, at -least,” broke in the girl with the classic -profile, “and that is: how to make two -dollars do the work of ten.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, there is something actually -masculine in your flippancy,” said the president, -with ferocious gentleness. “The question -before us is one of the deepest gravity, -and—”</p> - -<p>“Nobody knows that better than myself,” -said the girl with the classic profile, -“don’t I lie awake night after night, wondering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -how to get my new things out of the -money my father has allowed me for the -purpose, or, better yet, how to coax more -out of him without letting him realize the -fact.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t talk about money, please; it -makes me blue,” wailed the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “What with never -having enough for myself and constantly -seeing other people with more than I like -them to have, I—”</p> - -<p>“What I want to know is—and you -ought to be able to tell me, girls—why a -woman who looks all sweetness and gentleness -should suddenly develop into a raging -lioness, just because her own son wants to -marry some nice girl,” sighed the girl with -the eyeglasses, waking suddenly out of a -reverie.</p> - -<p>“Humph,” returned the blue-eyed girl, -“there are some things I don’t quite understand -myself—such as the banking system, -and the reason why your dressmaker tells -you calmly that she must have two yards -and a half more of your dress material,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -when you have plainly informed her that -you bought a remnant. But as for your -question, it is so simple that a man could -answer it. No woman ever did, or ever -will, like to play second fiddle to another -one, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, nonsense,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, “it is just a question of tact. -Let a man make his mother believe that she -has chosen his wife and she—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and wouldn’t it be pleasant to -have your mother-in-law tell you, every -time she wanted you to discharge the cook -or do without a new gown, that her son -would never have married you but for her!” -cried the girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Speaking of mothers-in-law,” said the -girl with the classic profile, “Nell is to have -a new woman in that capacity. I found -her crying the other day because she had -heard that Madame considered her too -domestic to make her son a good wife!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know,” said the blue-eyed girl, -“and did you hear of Alice’s woes? No? -Well, you know, she and Morton fell in love<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -at first sight, and became engaged two -weeks later. After the engagement was -announced, she was invited to visit his people -in Iowa, and went in fear and trembling, -for she did not know much about -them, and Morton could not be there at the -time.”</p> - -<p>“Hadn’t the courage, you mean,” murmured -the girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Very likely, dear. Well, his mother -was as bad as Alice had feared. Her ideas -were all in direct opposition to Morton’s, -and the poor girl almost fretted herself into -nervous prostration trying to please them -both. After all, when she got home, she -found—”</p> - -<p>“That she had been mistaken in her feelings -for Morton, and it didn’t make any -difference whether they were pleased or -not!” said the girl with the eyeglasses. “I -knew how it would end when you began.”</p> - -<p>“No. She discovered that Madame was -only his stepmother, after all! Imagine -trying to please a mother-in-law and a stepmother -combined!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I’d rather not fancy it,” said the president, -with a shudder. “Girls, I only hope -you will be as lucky when you are married -as I am, for—”</p> - -<p>“You aren’t going to tell us all of Tom’s -virtues again, are you?” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin, uneasily.</p> - -<p>“When my mother-in-law becomes unpleasant, -I just ask her to go with me to -spend the day with Tom’s grandmother,” -went on the president, affecting not to hear -the last remark, “she doesn’t dare to refuse, -because the old lady has some china -which we both want, and she’s afraid I -may succeed in wheedling it out of her! It -is great fun to hear my own mother-in-law -lectured by <i>her</i> mother-in-law on the sins -which the former thinks I have appropriated -entirely to my own use.”</p> - -<p>“But, ah—doesn’t Tom’s mother take it -out of you on the way back?” queried the -blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“No, dear. You see, I am careful not -to sit with her in the train, and Tom always -meets us at the station; besides, she’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -hardly in her usual form, and I could be a -match for her,” she added, modestly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” said the brown-eyed blonde, -“speaking of mothers-in-law makes me -think of wedding presents. Did you—oh, -did you hear about the plates I gave Elizabeth?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I did,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “and a girl who gives away -old Crown Derby like that is either an angel, -or not quite sane—I don’t know which!”</p> - -<p>“Say anything you like; I haven’t the -spirit to reply. And after you’ve heard -the story—well, it was this way: I ran -across the dozen of them in a little second-hand -shop, and the proprietor didn’t seem -to know their value and asked a very moderate -price.”</p> - -<p>“I beg your pardon, dear,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin, “I take back -all that I said before!”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t. I saw that I could beat -him down, so I didn’t take them then, but -went in a day or two later, taking Elizabeth -along to make sure they were genuine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -Really, she does know something about -china, though—”</p> - -<p>“She doesn’t know anything else,” finished -the president. “Well, they were genuine, -weren’t they?”</p> - -<p>“They were, Elizabeth became so affectionate -on the spot that I saw she knew -what I wanted them for. I didn’t take -them then, but went back the next day to -find that the man had raised his price; he -said another person wanted them—as if I’d -believe that. Well, it went on for a week, -until the price demanded was so outrageous -that I should never have paid it, but -for the fact that Elizabeth had told everybody -what lovely Crown Derby plates she -was to have, and I wasn’t going to have -her say that I couldn’t afford them!”</p> - -<p>“I should think not,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses; “besides, it is necessary to -give Elizabeth a handsome present, since -she is marrying a wealthy man.”</p> - -<p>“Of course; if he was poor, a very simple -thing would—ah, be in better taste, so -that the contrast would not be so great.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<p>“M’hm. Well, I bought the plates, and -took them to her myself, because I wanted to -see her face when she opened the package.”</p> - -<p>“But she wasn’t surprised, was she?” -asked the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Yes, she was. She—well, she was the -other person who wanted to buy them, and -whose inquiries had trebled the price I had -to pay for them!”</p> - -<p>“In the face of a tragedy like that, it -seems hopeless to offer consolation,” said -the girl with the classic profile. “Still, Elizabeth -will be obliged to give you a handsome -present when you are married.”</p> - -<p>“Let us hope that she will not have had -time to forget her obligations,” said the -blue-eyed girl, sweetly. “Of course, she -has a good memory, but—”</p> - -<p>“I only hope somebody will give her two -chafing-dishes,” broke in the president. “I -only have one, and if I was not the sweetest -tempered mortal in the world Tom and -I would quarrel seriously over it. Perhaps, -I ought not to speak of myself in that -way, but—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You surely ought to know your good -points better than anybody else does,” said -the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Very true, dear. You see, Tom thinks -he is a chafing-dish cook, and really he <i>can</i> -cook; but the last time he made a rarebit -my waitress gave warning, because of the -state in which she found the dining-room—which -was very mean of her, because we -had waited on ourselves to save trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Partly for that, and partly because you -wanted to talk about Coralie, and her sister -is her cook, I remember—I was there,” -said the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but she didn’t know that we -wanted to talk about Coralie, and I told her -that it was to save her trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Wasn’t that the time that the rarebit -made you ill, and the doctor couldn’t come -because he, too, had eaten some of it?” -asked the girl with the dimple in her -chin.</p> - -<p>“It was. I told Tom, then, that he -must leave out either the doctor or me -when he made rarebit again!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>“With the result?” queried the girl with -the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“That we didn’t speak for three days, -dear. It was during that time, that I went -to Annie’s chafing-dish party. She wanted -me to make a cheese omelette, and I sent -over for the dish. My messenger found -Tom in the dining-room with a whole party -of men—”</p> - -<p>“Cooking on your chafing-dish?”</p> - -<p>“No. Trying to entertain them while -the new waitress hunted for it.”</p> - -<p>“But, where was it? You hadn’t taken -it?”</p> - -<p>“No, dear. The cook had borrowed it -for a chafing-dish party of her own, and -neglected to mention the fact to either Tom -or me!”</p> - -<p>“Then, I suppose really that each family -should possess two chafing-dishes,” said the -brown-eyed blonde, thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>“Yes—or none at all,” said the president, -sighing.</p> - -<p>“Of course I am very much interested in -this discussion,” said the girl with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -Roman nose; “but I wonder if a thorough -knowledge of currency problems will do us -any practical good. None of us are earning -our own living, and when papa talks -about currency problems at home it is only -to point the moral that times are hard, so—”</p> - -<p>“There is where your knowledge will be -most useful,” broke in the girl with the -dimple in her chin; “you can bring it out -to prove that times are <i>not</i> hard, and run -off a lot of statistics to prove your point.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t know any statistics,” -wailed the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid you have not been paying -strict attention to-day,” said the president, -gravely. “However, if you are in danger -of losing in an argument, be sure to say, -with a smile of superiority, ‘I suppose you -know what the statistics are?’ Now, people -are not in the habit of carrying statistics -around, like cough-drops, and they will -simply give up the battle on the spot. If -they don’t, rattle off a lot of figures; they -can’t refute them immediately, and if they -attempt to do it afterward, you can just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -say, in a supercilious tone, ‘I thought we -settled that matter yesterday.’”</p> - -<p>“Well, I declare,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, “that is just my own father’s -line of argument, and yet it never occurred -to me that I could imitate it. I do hope -you will take very good care of your health, -Evelyn,” she added. “People who are -very intellectual are <i>so</i> apt to die young.”</p> - -<p>“I shall,” said the president. “I’ve no -notion of dying and having Tom a widower -while he is still young enough to be attractive. -It would not make so much difference -after that, for I shall take care that he does -not accumulate enough money to make him -fascinating at seventy-five!”</p> - -<p>“Dear, dear,” sighed the blue-eyed girl, -“I wonder why so few men have money -until their hair is only a memory!”</p> - -<p>“Case of the wind being tempered to the -shorn lamb,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin; “after all, a man must sacrifice -something on the altar of success.”</p> - -<p>“Humph; isn’t it usually his wife?” said -the girl with the classic profile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Not if she is clever,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses. “Girls, I once knew a -woman whose husband made a fortune in -two years, and he wouldn’t give her more -than the merest pittance for dress and entertaining. -In fact, the only bills he would -pay, without grumbling, were those of the -doctor. And what do you think she did? -She selected the doctor whose bills were the -most outrageous, and settled herself to be -a chronic invalid. She said she was determined -to get something out of her husband’s -fortune.”</p> - -<p>“Good,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin; “I do hope she really enjoyed -herself after that.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid not. You see, the doctor -seemed anxious to earn his money, and insisted -that she had some desperate disease. -I doubt if she really enjoyed his subsequent -visits.”</p> - -<p>“All her husband’s fault, too,” sighed -the brown-eyed blonde, “and yet, I doubt -if she reproached him for it. It seems to -be a woman’s province to suffer in silence.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, I’ve often heard my mother make -that very remark to my father,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “I had -rather not quote his reply. Girls, I heard -the funniest story yesterday; Annie -wouldn’t tell me who was the heroine of -it, really, sometimes she is as provoking as -a man. I’ll be even with her, however, -for I’ll never rest until I find out who it -was, then I shall tell everybody, and Annie -will never be able to convince her that she -didn’t tell the whole. It seems that this -girl had quarreled with the man to whom -she was engaged, and a week later she received -a letter addressed in his handwriting. -She did think of taking it to a mind reader, -but it was near the end of the month, and -she hadn’t the money, so—”</p> - -<p>“By the way, Emily, dear, when can you -come to lunch with me?” broke in the girl -with the eyeglasses. “I don’t see half as -much of you as I’d like to, and—”</p> - -<p>“Any day you like, dear. Where was I? -Oh! She hadn’t the money, and the tea -kettle happened to be handy, so she—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But, why not open it with a hair-pin, -like any other letter?” asked the blue-eyed -girl.</p> - -<p>“She wanted to return it unopened if she -didn’t like its contents. It proved to be -perfectly horrid; he not only didn’t acknowledge -that he was in the wrong, but he -actually brought forward facts to prove that -she was! Of course, no girl would endure -that, so—”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to say that Annie told -you that?” asked the girl with the eyeglasses. -“I didn’t think it possible that any -girl—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t see any harm in that; of -course every girl wants her own way. -Well, she sealed up the letter again, wrote -on it, ‘Returned unopened’ and sent it -back.”</p> - -<p>“H’m,” said the girl with the Roman -nose, “I was thinking that might have been -Clarissa, but she is too intellectual to do -anything so clever. Anyhow, I’m glad -she got the better of him.”</p> - -<p>“But she didn’t, dear. She discovered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -after the messenger had been gone an hour, -that she had sealed up the envelope without -replacing the letter in it! Can any of you -guess who it was that—”</p> - -<p>“Not I,” said the blue-eyed girl, “but if -I had done such a thing, I should never -have trusted Annie with it. Why, are you -going, dear?”</p> - -<p>“I’m going over to Annie’s this very -minute,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“I—I have something to say to her that -will touch even <i>her</i> hardened conscience!”</p> - -<p>“So it was Marion, after all,” mused the -girl with the dimple in her chin, after the -door had closed behind her friend; “well, at -any rate, after this Annie will tell me the -whole of a story when she begins it.”</p> - -<p>“I must say, though, that if I was in her -place it would be a long time before I began -one,” said the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“So you, too, have been confiding in -Annie?” said the blue-eyed girl, sweetly. -“By the way, I am to stay over night with -her, but I promise you that whatever she -may repeat will be safe with me.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<p>“While we are discussing currency problems, -I want to say what a nuisance the -check system is,” said the girl with the -classic profile. “I always did hate to get -my money in that way, and I had an experience -the other day which surely ought -to cure my father of giving them to me.”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, you weren’t suspected of being -a forger, were you?” asked the president, -turning pale.</p> - -<p>“N—no, I believe not, but—it happened -that my father gave me a check when I was -going shopping, and I found before I cashed -it that I must have five dollars more. Father -had gone to Indianapolis, and mother, -well—the fact is, that she will not loan me -money any more, because I sometimes forget -to return it. I didn’t know what to do -until I suddenly remembered that Ned -Goldie was the person who had to cash the -check for me at the bank; then I knew I -was safe. Pshaw, it just shows that you -can never depend on a man!”</p> - -<p>“He surely did not refuse to cash it?” -asked the president.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>“N—no, but he—girls, I’ll tell you just -what I did. I said, ‘By the way, Mr. -Goldie, just give me five dollars more, will -you? Father can make it right next time -he comes in.’ And, if you will credit the -fact, he actually said he couldn’t do it. A -man with whom I had danced the german -the evening before!”</p> - -<p>“I never believed Ned Goldie would be -so stingy,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin. “What excuse did he make?”</p> - -<p>“Said it was against the rules of the -bank, but he would be delighted to <i>lend</i> me -the extra five dollars. Did you ever hear -of such impertinence in your life? As soon -as my father comes home, I shall tell -him that he must transfer his account to -another bank, for after this I feel that Mr. -Goldie is not a person to be trusted with -money!”</p> - -<p>“Dear, dear,” said the president, -gravely, “that is very bad. Don’t mention -it outside of the club, girls; for if the -bank directors found that he was being rude -to the daughter of one of their customers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -he would lose his position at once. And -there may be some apology or explanation -he can make to your father, too, dear; -though I confess I don’t see what it can -be. Well, girls, I’m afraid we must adjourn, -and I must say frankly that I am -pleased with the work we have done to-day. -The only reason that I suggested -such a weighty topic for discussion was, -that Tom had declared that the club was -unable to grapple with it. After that, of -course the only thing possible was to show -him that he was wrong.”</p> - -<p>“Which you can now do conclusively,” -said the girl with the Roman nose, “and I -am quite sure he will be surprised at the -novelty of some of the arguments advanced -this afternoon!”</p> - -<p>“What is it, dear?” asked the girl with -the dimple in her chin, as she and the blue-eyed -girl turned the corner. “You have -been so bright and cheerful to-day, that I -am sure something is seriously wrong.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed there is. Jack has behaved -abominably! It was enough when he told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -Effie that Frances is the most amiable girl -he ever knew; but—”</p> - -<p>“That proves conclusively that he is not -engaged to her, dear. No man ever knows -anything about a girl’s temper until he <i>is</i> -engaged to her.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, if you want to defend him, I shall -say no more; but I did think—”</p> - -<p>“But, I don’t want to defend him. I -only—”</p> - -<p>“Then, all I’ve got to say, Emily Marshmallow, -is that you are prejudiced against -the poor fellow. I might have known that -from the start. I only wish I had not taken -your advice and broken my engagement.”</p> - -<p>“But, you didn’t do it on my advice,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin; -“it was all done before you said a word to -me about it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyhow, I knew you would advise -me to do it; and now you are not satisfied -with what I’ve done. But go on, -don’t spare me—I am too miserable to care -to defend myself! I—I don’t believe I -shall live very long, anyhow. I shall tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -them to give you my marquise ring, as a -token of forgiveness, when I’m gone. I -hope you will remember me when you look -at it—and be sure to notice if the stones -are quite secure in their setting.”</p> - -<p>“I w—will; I promise you,” sobbed the -girl with the dimple in her chin; “but don’t -you think a trip—well a trip to Old Point -Comfort might save your life. They tell -me it is very gay there now!”</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl shook her head. -“Nothing can save me now, dear; why I -can hook all my gowns now without holding -my breath, and yesterday I ate no -luncheon at all—took nothing between -breakfast and dinner but a couple of cream -sodas, a box of caramels, and a cup or two -of afternoon tea. You know nobody can -live long at that rate. Well, I am sorry for -Jack Bittersweet when I am gone; a lifetime -of remorse and—and Frances is not a -pleasant thing to look forward to!”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t told me yet about Jack, -dear, so—”</p> - -<p>“True; and some one should know the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -true story when I am no more. Here is -the place where they make such nice chocolate; -let us stop in and drink a cup while I -tell you. You take the chair facing the -mirror, dear,” she said, as they selected a -table, “my personal appearance is no longer -a matter of importance to me.”</p> - -<p>“You said that Jack—”</p> - -<p>“Has behaved abominably. It is a long -story, but I—I shall probably never tell -you another long story, so you can -afford to listen to this one. You know the -little beggar boy with the beautiful brown -eyes that I told you about a week or two -ago?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; but about Jack. I—”</p> - -<p>“This is about Jack. I told you how I -sympathized with that boy’s sad story, and -went with him to investigate it, didn’t I?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but you never told me whether his -home was—”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t get there. He led me through -the most awful slums, telling me all the -time how his father would beat him, when -he failed to bring money home, and how he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -knew I was the beautiful lady he had -dreamed of, as soon as he saw me.”</p> - -<p>“Well? Go on, dear.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, nothing; only the horrid little -wretch suddenly dived down an alley and -disappeared; and, oh, Emily, I—I believe -he made a face at me as he went! Worse -yet, when I felt for my pocketbook it was -gone, and I had to walk all the way home!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness, had he taken it?”</p> - -<p>“I surely had not given it to him. I had -almost forgotten the affair, when the cook -came up yesterday to tell me that he was -in the kitchen, and had brought my pocketbook -back, with a long story about having -seen another boy take it. Said he had followed -him, when he left me, and taken it -away from him, in turn.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I declare; and there was all your -money intact after you had doubted his -honesty!”</p> - -<p>“Not a cent of it, dear; and the cook -said he was wearing a nice new suit. I told -her she had better go back to the kitchen, -and count the spoons, and I called loudly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -after her, ‘Tell him I never want to see his -deceitful face again!’ The housemaid had -come to the door of my room, too, and was -trying to put in a word, but I wouldn’t -listen to her.”</p> - -<p>“Trying to excuse the little wretch; the -idea!”</p> - -<p>“That was what I thought. But, oh, -Emily, just then the front door closed with -a bang which shook the house to its foundations, -and then I noticed for the first time -that the housemaid was trying to give me a -card!”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious, Dorothy, you never -mean to say—”</p> - -<p>“That it was Jack’s! Indeed I do. He -had heard me scream over the bannister -‘Tell him to go away; I never want to see -his deceitful face again.’ And he—he must -have thought I meant it for him. Oh, -Emily, was there ever such a miserable girl -as I!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter VI<br /> - -<small>The Pioneer New Woman</small></h2> - - -<p>“I think the topic for to-day’s discussion -should be ‘The Pioneer New Woman,’” -observed the president of the Teacup Club. -“Have you all got that down in your note-books? -You don’t know how it pleases -me to see your methodical ways; it shows -the real intellectual advancement of our -club. Why, for my part, I have gained so -much that I am not afraid to discuss any -subject with any one.”</p> - -<p>“We have advanced,” said the brown-eyed -blonde. “I feel it, too. By the way, -has any one seen my note-book? I haven’t -had it for three weeks—are you sure that -none of you have gotten it by mistake? I -forgot to put my name in it, and—”</p> - -<p>“I know where it is,” said the girl with -the classic profile. “You loaned it to Kate—she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -told me so herself,—in order that she -might read up on some of the topics we -have already discussed, and so qualify for -admission to the club.”</p> - -<p>“I shall blackball her, for my part,” -spoke up the girl with the dimple in her -chin. “She is so frivolous that she would -drag down our high standard. Besides, she -once left me out when she gave a luncheon, -and told people that it was because she had -all the decorations in yellow, and feared -they would not shade with my complexion.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, Kate is color blind, any -way,” said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and she is a little deaf, too,” remarked -the president, “and really does not -know just how sharp her own speeches -sound.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps not,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin, “but I shall blackball -her just the same. By the way, Alice is -giving a birthday dinner party next week—twenty-six -covers, one for each year. Clever -idea, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“For whose birthday?” asked the girl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -with the classic profile. “Her own? Ah, -really, I knew she was forgetful, but this is -carrying it too far.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder why otherwise sensible people -will tell such stories about their ages,” said -the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know,” said the -brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Neither do I,” said the girl with the -classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Of course, it doesn’t matter who knows -my age, as yet,” said the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“Nor mine,” remarked the girl with the -classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Nor mine, either,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“No, indeed,” said the brown-eyed -blonde; “I got twenty-two birthday gifts -the other day on my twenty-second birthday.”</p> - -<p>“Are you twenty-two? Why, so am I!” -cried the girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Just my own age, too,” said the girl -with the eyeglasses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And mine; how odd!” cried the girl -with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“That is one of the advantages of the -new womanhood,” said the president; “its -beautiful candor. Now, I tell everybody -that I am twenty-two years old.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you would tell Mrs. Van Tompkins,” -said the girl with the classic profile. -“She wouldn’t take my word for it the -other day, though I told her that I couldn’t -be mistaken, as you had told me so at least -six times in the last eighteen months.”</p> - -<p>“Cora asked me the other day if there -was any age qualification for membership in -this club,” remarked the girl with the eyeglasses, -during the slight pause which followed -the last speech. “She says she has -not yet celebrated her twenty-first birthday.”</p> - -<p>“Born on the 29th of February, then, -wasn’t she?” asked the brown-eyed blonde. -“Yes, it is true that the new womanhood is -breaking down old traditions. We are not -at all jealous of each other now.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the girl with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -dimple in her chin; “we have learned to -value our own attractions properly. Why, -the other day I stopped Amy and Fred to -tell her there was a dab of powder on her -nose. Formerly another girl would have -been jealous of her dazzling complexion, -and let her go on as she was.”</p> - -<p>“How sweet of you,” murmured the girl -with the eyeglasses; “and yet, I doubt if -she was really grateful.”</p> - -<p>“That was not the question, dear; I—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear,” broke in the president, “if -my watch is right it is time to adjourn, and -yet. Why, here is Elise! What has made -you late to-day?”</p> - -<p>“A discussion with a stupid man,” cried -the girl with the Roman nose. “Only -think, he actually said that no woman was -mathematician enough to count up her own -birthdays correctly. I was so enraged—why, -he said that ‘I am twenty-two’ is the -same thing to a girl as ‘Polly wants a -cracker’ is to a parrot, or the Spanish fandango -to a guitar player—but what on earth -is wrong? You all look so queer.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It’s nothing at all, dear,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “We were just looking at your -new hat, that is all. I think your watch -must have stopped, Evelyn dear, for mine -is only—”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it has,” said the president. -“Tom talks so much, sometimes, that I -quite forget to wind it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, it needs a rest sometimes,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“I know that mine—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear!” said the president, “I know -I am a fright to-day, and nothing but a -sense of duty has brought me here. Why, -I actually have not had a chance to curl my -hair properly for six days, and—”</p> - -<p>“Been getting ready your new gown, -have you?” said the girl with the classic -profile. “I only wish I had mine off my -mind.”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t my new gown,” said the -president. “It was Tom. He has had a -heavy cold, and the house smells so strong -of camphor that there will not be a moth -within a block of it this year. I don’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -mind being bidden a tragic farewell at mid-day, -but I do mind being waked up at midnight -for that purpose.”</p> - -<p>“But it was nothing serious, was it?” -asked the brown-eyed blonde. “I thought -the other day, when he came to the top of -the stairs and called to you that he was -dying, that a man who was breathing his -last would manage to do it with less noise.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw!” said the president. “That -was nothing to the time he waked me up at -one o’clock in the morning to tell me that -he was dying, but if I let that mug-faced -young preacher who used to come to see me, -officiate at his funeral he would come back -and haunt me. It took a hot-water bottle, -a mustard plaster, two hot toddies, and the -camphor to quiet him that time.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin; “I wonder why a man always -thinks a cold or a boil fatal—when he has it?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he doesn’t himself,” said the -girl with the Roman nose; “but he always -wants the women of the family to act as if -they did.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Very true,” said the girl with the eyeglasses; -“but do you know what Dolly -does? As soon as her husband complains -of being ill she begins to weep and tear her -hair and lament that he will die, she knows -he will. That frightens him, and when she -insists upon putting him to bed, and giving -him a bowl of hot ginger tea (which he detests), -he pretends that he was only joking, -and flees to the office, when she calls him -up every half-hour to ask how he is. She -says he seldom complains of his health nowadays.”</p> - -<p>“You know my sister Amelia, don’t -you?” said the girl with the classic profile. -“Well, her husband had a heavy cold last -week. He waked her up at two o’clock to -tell her that he was dying, and that he knew -he had not been a good husband to her, and -could not go without her forgiveness. She -wept, and said that he had not been very nice -to her, and had never given her half enough -money. Upon this, the dying man sat up, -and began to argue the case. From argument -they passed to something warmer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -He went down to the office next day, and -hasn’t said a word about dying since.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t mind Tom thinking he was -dying once in awhile,” said the president, -“if he’d only allow me the same privilege -occasionally. He won’t, though; he comes -in and says, cheerfully, ‘Oh, you’ll soon -be all right. You should have seen how -much worse I was once when I had it, and -never missed a day at the office, either!’ -The last time he did that my throat was too -sore for me to reply properly, and I really -thought I should die of rage.”</p> - -<p>“And no wonder,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “As if a woman -couldn’t always stand more than a man, -anyhow! For instance, I wonder how -many of them could go out in thin shoes, -and without overshoes, as we do. And yet -you never hear a girl say that she has -caught cold in that way.”</p> - -<p>“Never,” said the blue-eyed girl; “we -have too much fortitude. My cousin -Edith’s husband used to be always complaining -of his health, until this last winter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -I wondered what had caused his miraculous -recovery, until she told me a few days ago. -She was away from home, and received a -telegram, saying that she must come at -once if she wanted to see him alive. The -message was delayed, being improperly addressed, -and when she reached home, expecting -to find him dead, he met her at the -door. It seems that he had called in a new -doctor, who was the cause of his miraculous -recovery. He said he would never have -another physician to prescribe for him as -long as he lived.”</p> - -<p>“Completely cured, eh?” said the president.</p> - -<p>“Not that time. Next time he was ill, -and the new doctor appeared, he turned out -to be an old admirer of Edith’s. Her husband -is frightfully jealous, and Edith’s -potential second husband is a very real person -to him. Edith, as nurse, always went -out into the hall to talk with the doctor -after his call. She says she is sure that she -did not remain away so <i>very</i> long; but when -she came back, after the first visit, her husband<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -sulked; after the second, he raved; -and after the third, he got up, declaring -he’d live, if only to spite them both. And -now, the doctor points to him as an example -of his remarkable healing powers,” -she added.</p> - -<p>“Speaking of old sweethearts,” said the -president, “what do you think happened to -me the other day? I was calling on Mrs. -Vansmith and her guest, as she had requested. -Both of them happened to be -out, and, to my annoyance, I found I had -no cards with me. At last I found one of -Tom’s in my card-case, and I left that, -knowing that Mrs. Vansmith would understand.”</p> - -<p>“Well, and didn’t she?” asked the girl -with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. But the visitors didn’t. It -turned out that she used to be engaged to -Tom; while I was in the kindergarten, I -suppose. It seems that his card was handed -to her; and you should have seen the unbelieving -smile with which she listened to -my explanation of the matter!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You poor, dear,” said the blue-eyed -girl, “you must have been as angry as if -somebody had trodden on your gown. A -rather unpleasant thing happened to Florence -the other day, too; Molly was calling -on her, and a note was handed in. She -thought it was from Teddy Crœsus, and -pretending that she had ink on her fingers, -asked Molly to open it for her, which she did.”</p> - -<p>“How stupid of Molly; she might have -known that it was some trick of Florence’s,” -said the girl with the eyeglasses. “Was it -a proposal from Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t from Teddy at all; handwritings -are so much alike nowadays. It was a -bill from the hairdresser, of whom Florence -had bought those lovely little curls which -cluster around her brow—and Molly read it -aloud, as she had requested.”</p> - -<p>“But who told you about it?” said the -girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Molly. You didn’t suppose it was -Florence, did you? I declare, it made me -feel like trying to persuade both of them to -join our club. There isn’t a girl in it that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -would do such a mean thing, and the example -might—”</p> - -<p>“No, it wouldn’t; they are too frivolous,” -said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Oh, girls, I sometimes wish that the men -who dance with us could hear the serious -discussions which go on in this club,—so harmoniously, -too.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the president, “not one unkind -word has been spoken, even of the -absent, since we organized. I wonder if as -much can be said of any other club.”</p> - -<p>“I doubt it,” said the blue-eyed girl; -“and it isn’t as if we couldn’t think of -clever things to say about people, either.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” returned the girl with -the Roman nose; “why, I know some -things, even about the other members, -which—”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” said the girl with the classic -profile. “Why, I heard the other day that -you—”</p> - -<p>“Of course I wouldn’t mention, for the -world,” finished the girl with the Roman -nose, in some agitation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I thought not, dear; it would hardly be -wise,” said the girl with the eyeglasses, -“for you, especially.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure, I don’t see why I, es—”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you, dear? But, then, you -never were clever,” said the president. -“Yes, I am very proud of the amiability we -have all displayed since joining the club. I -must say that I didn’t expect—”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why not,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “As for me, I can get along with -anybody, so I was not at all afraid.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear,” said the brown-eyed blonde, -“your tongue would be a protection, even -if—”</p> - -<p>“Other people were even <i>more</i> envious of -me? That is hardly possible, dear; but -I thank you for your good opinion of -me.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t overwhelm me with gratitude, -dearest; I really do not deserve it.”</p> - -<p>“But, luckily for you, love, people seldom -get their deserts.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls, don’t quarrel,” said the -president, wringing her hands; “I’ve always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -wanted this to be different from a man’s -club, and now—”</p> - -<p>“Really, Evelyn, you seem to be the one -who is doing the quarreling,” said the -brown-eyed blonde, tartly. “As for me, I -am naturally amiable, and—”</p> - -<p>“It is not your fault if your temper <i>is</i> a -bit soured by repeated disappointments,” -broke in the blue-eyed girl; “of course not. -Everybody says it is no wonder.”</p> - -<p>“I—I resign from this club,” sobbed the -brown-eyed blonde. “I’ll not stay here another -minute to be insulted!”</p> - -<p>“Girls, girls,” said the president, “do be -reasonable. I—”</p> - -<p>“This is the first time <i>I</i> was ever accused -of being unreasonable,” said the girl with -the Roman nose; “and all I’ve got to say -is, that I pity Tom from the bottom of my -heart, and—”</p> - -<p>“I don’t doubt but that you’d be glad -to comfort him—if I was dead,” sobbed the -president. “If this is all I am to get for -keeping you at peace during the meetings, -I’ll just resign, and let you run the club to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -suit yourselves. And a p-pretty mess you-you’ll -make of it!” And she retired behind -her handkerchief.</p> - -<p>“I’ll resign, too, this very minute,” said -the girl with the Roman nose. “I knew -just how it would be when Dorothy asked -me to join the club, but—”</p> - -<p>“You were afraid to refuse, lest something -happen, and you didn’t know all -about it,” finished the blue-eyed girl. -“Well, I wish to tender <i>my</i> resignation -from the club, to take effect at once.”</p> - -<p>“And so do I,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“And I,” said the girl with the classic -profile.</p> - -<p>“I, too,” said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“W—why, then, there’s nobody left!” -exclaimed the blue-eyed girl, gazing about -the room in astonishment. “Oh, w—what -will all the men of our set say when they -hear of this!” she wailed.</p> - -<p>“I never thought of that!” said the girl -with the Roman nose. “I know well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -enough, though, without thinking,” she -added.</p> - -<p>“They will say that women never <i>can</i> -agree among themselves,” sobbed the girl -with the dimple in her chin, “and they will -keep on saying it, in spite of the fact that -it is a baseless libel!”</p> - -<p>“Of—of course, I am not an—angry, -only hurt,” sobbed the president.</p> - -<p>“I am not angry at all,” said the blue-eyed -girl, “only distressed that the -others—”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I—I haven’t a hard feeling -against any—anybody,” wailed the girl -with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” said the girl with the classic -profile.</p> - -<p>“Mercy, no,” said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“If anybody is sorry for having hurt my -feelings, I am quite ready to forgive it,” -said the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“And so am I,” said the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“Then, I don’t see that any of us need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -resign,” said the president. “Does anybody -remember the topic under discussion?”</p> - -<p>“‘The Pioneer New Woman,’” said the -blue-eyed girl, “and a very interesting topic -it is, I’m sure.”</p> - -<p>“Hear, hear,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, as she tucked her handkerchief -into her belt.</p> - -<p>“One thing is always a mystery to me,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin; -“why does no female creature ever acknowledge -that she is a new woman until -she is quite an old one?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, by that time her years will -entitle her to a seat in a street car, even if -she wears bloomers,” thoughtfully replied -the president.</p> - -<p>“Who really <i>was</i> the pioneer new -woman?” asked the girl with the classic -profile.</p> - -<p>“Eve; although, she did not call herself -by that name, I believe,” returned the -blue-eyed girl. “So far as I can see, the -new woman is just like all the rest of us—she -wants to get everything she can out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -the world, and give as little as possible in -return.”</p> - -<p>“And it is perfectly natural that she -should,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“The only way we can make the men give -us what we really want, is by asking for a -great deal more, so that they will think -themselves lucky if we compromise on what -we originally decided to have.”</p> - -<p>“Hear! hear!” said the girl with the -Roman nose, making an entry into her -note-book, “I’ve been acting on that -theory all my life, but I never thought to -formulate it.”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me for the suggestion,” said the -president, “but I hope you are not in the -habit of leaving that note-book around -where any man can see it.”</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t make any difference if I -did, dear. I went to such a fashionable -school that no one but myself can ever read -my chirography—I can’t myself, if it was -written long enough ago for me to have -quite forgotten what I said.”</p> - -<p>“Then, you needn’t be uneasy about any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -old love letters which have not been returned,” -said the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Not at all. Nobody could tell whether -I had written a promise of undying affection -or a recipe for hair tonic.”</p> - -<p>“I do wish my father had sent me to the -same school,” said the brown-eyed blonde, -sorrowfully.</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, old letters don’t tell half as -many tales as old photographs,” said the -girl with the eyeglasses, sighing. “I know a -girl who had been engaged to a man who -returned everything she had given him except -one photograph. She couldn’t refuse -to let him keep it when he begged so hard.”</p> - -<p>“He had probably lost it, and didn’t -know how to account for its absence,” said -the president.</p> - -<p>“No, he hadn’t. Well, six years later, -she became engaged to another man. I -fancy she must have told him some stories -about her age.”</p> - -<p>“It’s always better to understate rather -than overstate a case,” said the blue-eyed -girl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<p>“So my old nurse used to say. Well, -when she was about to be married, her old -lover sent her a beautiful present, and with -it an envelope addressed to her fiancé.”</p> - -<p>“Which she should have opened herself,” -said the president, promptly.</p> - -<p>“He happened to be present when the -box was opened, dear. The envelope contained -the photograph taken seven years -before—”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t she say that—”</p> - -<p>“It was a picture of her elder sister? -She did, dear. What really caused the -trouble was her own name, and the date on -the back of it, coupled with the statement -that it was taken on her twenty-second -birthday!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness, how sly men are?” -said the president. “And to think that -never, as long as she lived, could that girl -tell him what she really thought of him!”</p> - -<p>“I know. She used to say that she -sometimes regretted that she <i>hadn’t</i> married -him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, he is probably married to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -somebody else, by this time, anyhow,” said -the president, “though I doubt if his wife -would fully appreciate the enormity of his behavior, -since it was toward another woman.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, “people are sure to be punished in -some way or another. I wouldn’t get up -early on Sunday morning, and go to church -if I did not firmly believe that.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me,” said the president, “it -must be awfully late, girls, and I promised -Tom to adjourn early and meet him down -town. I do wonder if he has been waiting -for me all this time!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve seen Jack,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin, as the friends went -down the stairs; “met him on the street -this morning.”</p> - -<p>“And, I suppose you hurried right on, -and never said a civil word to him,” returned -the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Indeed I didn’t. I called after him to -wait for me, and—”</p> - -<p>“And I suppose he thought that I had -told you to talk to him, since you were so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -eager. You needn’t tell me a word that -you said—I don’t want to hear anything -about it. Did—did he look sort of hollow-eyed -and worn?”</p> - -<p>“‘M—I can’t say that he did. But he -said that he thought he must give up chafing-dish -suppers.”</p> - -<p>“I should think he must have bad -dreams,” said the blue-eyed girl, viciously.</p> - -<p>“He—he told me that he had called at -your house the other day, and—”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you let him go on thinking -that I meant that message for him. A -nice friend you are, Emily Marshmallow!”</p> - -<p>“Why, Dorothy, I—”</p> - -<p>“You don’t surely mean that you explained -it all, and actually let him think -that I wanted to apologize! Well, if anybody -had told me such a thing of you, I -never would have believed it.”</p> - -<p>“No, I didn’t,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin, “I didn’t say a word, -for just then Frances joined us; and if <i>you</i> -are clever enough to get a private word with -any man, after Frances sees him, I am not!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter VII<br /> - -<small>Woman in Legislation</small></h2> - - -<p>“Let us discuss ‘Woman in Legislation,’ -to-day,” said the president. “I had written -you a note, Marion, to prepare a paper -on it, but I found it in my desk this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Too bad,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“I should have been delighted to -do it.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Marion,” cried the girl with the -Roman nose, “have you forgotten? You -said you were too busy painting dinner -cards to touch it. That was when I told -you that Evelyn wanted you to do it, you -remember.”</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t,” snapped the girl with the -eyeglasses. “Of course I shan’t have a -minute to prepare a paper for next week; -but I should have been delighted to—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Girls,” said the president, “only think! -Tom says this club is actually making me -masculine.”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, you must have convinced him -that you had the better of him in an argument,” -cried the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“No—but I forgot to mail some letters -he intrusted to me the other day when he -was going out of town. By the way, it -seems to me that when legislation is in the -hands of women. What are you girls whispering -about over there in the corner?”</p> - -<p>“We are only comparing samples of bicycle -suitings,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “Dorothy has a larger selection -than I, and—”</p> - -<p>“Why, I have a lot of them, myself,” -said the president. “Has anybody seen my -hand-bag since I came in?”</p> - -<p>“Here it is,” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “I’ve just been comparing -your samples with mine, and I find—”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me, I’m late,” said the -brown-eyed blonde, as she bounced into -the room. “I just stopped on my way here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -to look at a new design for bicycle suits, -and—”</p> - -<p>“I’ve been trying for half a block to -catch you, Frances,” said the girl with the -classic profile, as she opened the door, in -turn; “I’ve been looking at the new bicycles, -and was detained longer than I expected.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, shall you get a new wheel this -year?” asked the president.</p> - -<p>“No, dear,” returned the girl with the -classic profile; “but, of course, I wanted to -see what they are like.”</p> - -<p>“Naturally,” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “My dears, you never heard -of such luck as mine. You know papa said -I shouldn’t have a new bicycle this year, if -I had to walk—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, if you call that luck,” said the -blue-eyed girl, “my father said the same -thing.”</p> - -<p>“So did mine,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Wait until you hear the rest,” said the -girl with the Roman nose, “I had my old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -machine set in order, and expected to have -to do with it all this season. The other -day, I went into the store-room to have a -look at it, and, to my surprise, found it all -splashed with mud, the enamel scratched, -and—”</p> - -<p>“The cook had been riding it, of -course,” broke in the president.</p> - -<p>“I knew that at once, and I went to tell -mamma she must discharge her on the spot. -However, mamma was lying down with a -headache, and as I had some shopping, a -luncheon, two teas and a dinner on hand -that day, I had no chance to speak to her. -Two days later, I remembered it, and went -in to look at it—I knew that mamma was -so prejudiced against bicycling that I must -make the case very bad to excite her sympathy. -It was bad enough, by this time, -too; one pedal was all bent, the handle-bar -was broken, and the enamel was a sight!”</p> - -<p>“I hope you made your mother discharge -that cook on the spot!” said the blue-eyed -girl.</p> - -<p>“I rushed right up to mamma’s room to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -do it. I opened the door, and a familiar -odor greeted me—a combination of arnica -and witch hazel, and—”</p> - -<p>“You forgot all about the cook. Had -your mother fallen downstairs?”</p> - -<p>“No; she hadn’t. The cook had been -trying to teach her to ride my bicycle; she -had a black eye, a sprained shoulder, and a -skinned face. The cook had gone home -with a dislocated collar-bone, and I had to -wait on mamma, and do all the cooking for -two days!”</p> - -<p>“And you call that luck!” groaned the -president.</p> - -<p>“Not that, dear. But mamma gave me -a beautiful new wheel for keeping the whole -thing from papa’s ears. And I sold the -old one for enough to buy me a lovely new -suit,” she added, triumphantly.</p> - -<p>“I am glad <i>somebody</i> has had a stroke -of luck,” said the brown-eyed blonde. -“As for me, I’ve just had an object-lesson -in the selfishness of this world, which is -enough to make a misanthrope of me for -life.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Mercy, has your grandmother decided -to buy a wheel for herself instead of for -you?” asked the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“No. But you see it scratches the -enamel to learn on a wheel—not to mention -the other accidents which may befall it. -Now, Nell’s bicycle is old, and I sent to -borrow it to ride while I was taking my lessons. -She actually refused it, unless I -would lend her my new one while I had -hers. Did you ever hear of such selfishness -in your life?”</p> - -<p>“Never,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “By the way, I suppose Jack -Bittersweet will teach you to ride?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes; but how did you guess it?” -There was a note of triumph in her voice.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that was easy enough. He is -always teaching somebody, you know. I -told him the other day that I was afraid -people would soon think him a professional.”</p> - -<p>“B—but he told me that he only teaches -people whom he—likes,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, faintly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, of course, dear. But, Jack -hasn’t a bit of discretion; he likes everything -that wears petticoats, I verily believe.”</p> - -<p>“Oh—I— By the way, Evelyn, dear, -what is to-day’s topic? You had started -the discussion when I came, and I didn’t -like to interrupt you to ask.”</p> - -<p>“It is ‘Woman in Legislation,’” said -the president, after a peep at her note-book, -“By the way, Frances, I know the cheapest -place in town for arnica, if you want—”</p> - -<p>“Mine doesn’t cost anything, dear. -Papa always has a bill at the drug store. I -know the clerk, and he has promised if I -use a very large quantity to put it down as -toilet soap and postage stamps. Papa has -never ridden you know, and he might not -understand.”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“What a comfort bicycling is, -anyhow. For instance, if you meet a -strange man, and the conversation lags—”</p> - -<p>“Get it on bicycles, and it runs smoothly -enough,” said the president.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I wish <i>I</i> could do the same,” wailed the -brown-eyed blonde. “Well it is lucky for -me that the dancing season is over, for my -arms are a perfect sight.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, if it is only your arms!” said the -girl with the Roman nose, cheerfully. “<i>I</i> -always fell on my face when I was learning. -The only comforting thing about that was, -that I soon became unrecognizable, and -could fall right up and down my own street -without a soul knowing who I was. It was -very convenient, too, for they hadn’t far -to take me when I had a really bad accident.”</p> - -<p>“How long did you have to wait to sit -for your photograph?” asked the blue-eyed -girl.</p> - -<p>“Six weeks, dear—and then it had to be -a profile.”</p> - -<p>“Elizabeth had rather a hard time of it, -too,” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin; “she would learn in her lovely new -suit, and by the time she could ride, she -hadn’t enough of it left to make a bathing -costume.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Tom tells a rather good bicycle story,” -observed the president. “He met a member -of his club, who is a noted scorcher, the -other day. He was wheeling along a very -disreputable specimen of a woman’s machine. -‘Hello,’ said Tom, ‘got yourself -into trouble?’ ‘Yes,’ was the reply, ‘I ran -into a woman up yonder, and I’m afraid -it will be cheaper to buy her a new wheel -than to have the old one repaired.’ -‘Humph,’ said Tom, who knows him pretty -well, ‘it’s a wonder you didn’t just ride -away and leave her, when you found what -you had done.’ ‘I did,’ said the scorcher, -‘but it didn’t do me any good.’ ‘Policeman -saw you, eh?’ ‘No. The woman -turned out to be my wife!’”</p> - -<p>“Good!” said the blue-eyed girl. “I -came very near not getting my bicycle last -year. Papa said I should have one if I -learned to make a good pie. I agreed to -do it, but I had reckoned without the cook. -She said flatly that she wouldn’t have me -messing up her kitchen. Finally, I compromised -by agreeing to trim her a hat, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -she would make the pie. It was really -quite the same you know.”</p> - -<p>“Quite,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin.</p> - -<p>“And did it turn out all right?” asked -the president.</p> - -<p>“The hat did; but the pie—well, the -cook had lived with us for three years, and -that was the first time she had turned out -an uneatable pie!”</p> - -<p>“But, why didn’t you ask your father -to let you try again?” asked the girl with -the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“I did, dear; but I took no chances that -time; I bought the pie from the Woman’s -Exchange. And I must say that I think I -quite deserved the bicycle after all I had -been through to earn it.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed you did,” said the girl with the -classic profile. “By the way, Emily, I hear -that you and Dick had an almost fatal quarrel -while you were both learning.”</p> - -<p>“We did,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “It happened this way: I was -able to ride at least two blocks without assistance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -so I got up very early, and went -to the park alone to practice. I was getting -along very well until I heard somebody -coming up behind me at a terrible pace. -That made me so nervous that I fell right -off. The cyclist who had frightened me -was Dick, and he actually kept right on -without offering to help me!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he didn’t know it was you,” -suggested the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Yes, he did; but he kept right on, and -a perfect stranger had to take me and my -bicycle home. Two hours later he appeared -with his arm in a sling, and explained. -He said it was first time he had -ridden outside of the riding school, and he -had gotten a terrific pace which he couldn’t -have stopped if a rich uncle had been in his -way. He said that if something in his machine -hadn’t broken, he verily believed -he’d have circled the globe without stopping!”</p> - -<p>“So you forgave him, didn’t you? You -always were amiable,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Ye—es. Especially as he offered to -have my bicycle repaired; papa having -declared the last time that he wouldn’t pay -another cent for repairs, if it stood in the -attic all summer!”</p> - -<p>“That was good of you. Some girls -would not have been so just,” said the -president.</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t praise me too much,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin, modestly. -“Nobody who knew me happened -to be in sight when it occurred—else I -might not have let him off so easily.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, how modest you are,” said -the blue-eyed girl. “I never knew a human -being with so little vanity in my life.”</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” said the girl with the classic -profile. “Did I tell you about Florence’s -latest trouble? No? Well, you know that -horrid Mr. Brownsmith, who rides beautifully, -begged to be allowed to teach her. -She accepted, and as soon as she had -learned to ride well, she wondered how to -get rid of him.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t she ask her father to—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Forbid him to the house? That’s just -what she did. I believe you have heard -this story before.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And her father?” queried the -girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Absolutely refused to do it. Said he -was the finest young man he knew, and only -wondered that he cared for her society.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I declare! And Florence?”</p> - -<p>“Would have had to treat him just like -anybody else, if he hadn’t heard all about -it, and stopped calling of his own accord. -Now, every time her father sees him, he -asks why he hasn’t been to the house for -so long!”</p> - -<p>“How unreasonable men are to be sure—Florence’s -father, in particular. Why, -he actually refuses to speak to Dickey Doolittle, -whose third cousin married a British -baronet, and who has all his garments made -in London!” said the president.</p> - -<p>“I know—he says it makes no difference -to him <i>where</i> Dickey gets his clothes; so -long as he pays for them promptly,” said -the blue-eyed girl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Which is the last thing Dickey would -even think of doing,” said the girl with the -Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, he may <i>think</i> of it,” said the -girl with the classic profile. “I suppose -that even Dickey thinks sometimes.”</p> - -<p>“You have been reading the comic papers -again,” said the president, severely. “Whenever -I hear old jokes I—”</p> - -<p>“No, dear,” said the girl with the classic -profile, sweetly, “but I had a long talk with -your husband only yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, rousing herself from a -reverie, “I’m afraid I’ve not been paying -attention to the discussion. I can’t even -remember whether we decided that women -should be legislators or not.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry to hear that,” said the president. -“I fear it is too late to go over the -discussion again for your benefit. I thought -you were taking notes of it as we went -along—I saw you jotting something down -in your note-book.”</p> - -<p>“That was only my calculations for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -bicycle suit. There must be something -wrong about them, too, for I make it -twenty-seven dollars, and I only have -twenty-one dollars and thirty-eight cents to -my name, even if somebody pays my car-fare -home.”</p> - -<p>“I only make it twenty-six dollars and -two cents,” said the blue-eyed girl, “and I -have allowed for everything just the same -as you have.”</p> - -<p>“But then you are so economical that -your sums in addition always come out less -than mine, dear. I think you had better -go over it again; or let Evelyn do it for -you.”</p> - -<p>“I make it twenty-eight dollars and sixty -cents,” said the president. “Try it Frances, -and see if I am right.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t,” said the blue-eyed girl, -“if anybody else adds it up, it may come -out thirty dollars, and then I can’t afford -it at all. Well, I do hope one thing,—that -when women are legislators they will arrange -that we all have more money to spend.”</p> - -<p>“Of course they will,” said the president,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -“else why should they bother to be legislators -at all?”</p> - -<p>“Hear! hear!” said the girl with the -Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“What a comfort you are with your -knowledge of parliamentary usage,” said -the president.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have gained that by joining this -club, if I have gained nothing else,” replied -the girl with the Roman nose. “I -observe, too, that papa and the boys are -less inclined to engage in argument with -me than they were before they knew the -kind of topics we discuss here. Not that -I give myself any airs over it, of course,” -she added.</p> - -<p>“Oh, none of us do that,” said the -brown-eyed blonde. “But there is another -benefit which I derive from the club. -Mamma allows me to spend a good deal -more money on my wardrobe, now that -she is afraid that I may begin to look intellectual -if I’m not well dressed.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, speaking of bicycle suits; did you -ever hear what happened to Molly’s old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -one?” asked the blue-eyed girl. “No? -Well, she was determined to have a new -one this year, so she put the old one away -without any moth-balls, and—”</p> - -<p>“It was completely ruined by the moths, -so that she had to get a new one?” asked -the president.</p> - -<p>“No, it was comparatively uninjured; -but the moths from it had got into all her -brother’s spring garments, which were -hanging up near it. Molly is thinking of -going away on a nice long visit about the -time that he discovers it.”</p> - -<p>“H’m; if I know anything about men, -she had better,” said the president. “Poor -Molly, I suppose she had meant to coax -him for another suit. How unlucky that -girl is, and she doesn’t in the least deserve -her ill-luck, either.”</p> - -<p>“No. She often says it would be easier -to bear if she did. Now, last year that -very same brother was always coaxing her -to ask Ida to pay her a visit. Finally, he -said he’d give her fifty dollars if she would -do it, and she thought she might as well be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -good-natured and oblige him. However, -she was busy, and put it off a week or two, -and when Ida’s letter of acceptance actually -came he had fallen in love with another -girl, and let Molly do all the entertaining!”</p> - -<p>“Just like a man. Did he give her the -money?” asked the president.</p> - -<p>“No. He compromised on half, because -Molly had put off asking her. And -Ida stayed two weeks longer than she had -been asked for, and made eyes all the time -at the man Molly really liked herself.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, poor Molly,” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin, “she says the next -time her brother offers to pay her for having -a girl to visit her, she will send the invitation -by telegraph!”</p> - -<p>“And demand payment in advance,” said -the brown-eyed blonde; “of course he would -be willing to pay for the telegram, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and take it to the office, too,” -said the president, with a sigh. “Tom used -to send off all my telegrams before we were -married—he always said it was too far to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -the office for me to go myself. Now, he -says that the exercise will do me good.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose he doesn’t want to pay for -the message,” said the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I never pay for my telegrams, I -always send them at receiver’s cost. People -are so curious to know what is in a telegram -that they pay without a murmur.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, I shall have to try that,” said -the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“But not on me,” cried the president. -“I’ll never forgive you if you do. Oh, -girls, did you hear the awful thing that -happened to Milly when she sold her bicycle? -No? Well, she only got ten dollars -for it, because the man said it was in -such an awful condition that he only took -it to oblige her, and it would be a dead loss -on his hands. He told her to come in in -about ten days, and he’d have some second -hand ones in such good condition that they -would be the best bargains in town.”</p> - -<p>“That was very nice of him, since he -made nothing on the transaction,” said the -brown-eyed blonde.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>“So Milly thought. At the end of that -time she went back, and found one that -she liked very much, it being the same -make as her old one. He wanted sixty -dollars for it, but she beat him down to -fifty, and took it home with her at once for -fear he would change his mind. What do -you think she found when she got home? -That she had bought her own old machine -back again!”</p> - -<p>“But how did she know that?” asked -the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“By the number on the plate, goosie. -He had put on new pedals, raised the seat a -bit and given it a new coat of enamel—making -forty dollars on the transaction! -And when Milly wanted her husband to -punish him for his rascality, he only laughed -until she actually thought seriously of applying -for a divorce!”</p> - -<p>“And no wonder,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “One man will do a mean thing and -another will uphold him. You don’t find -women doing such things for each other!”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed,” said the girl with the dimple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -in her chin; “our own standard of -feminine behavior is so high, that we hardly -even give each other credit for the good -things we do!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve often noticed that,” said the girl -with the eyeglasses, “and I regret to see -that men are unable to appreciate our lofty -motives, and often set it down to envy.”</p> - -<p>“My goodness,” cried the president, -with a guilty start, “it must be long past -time to adjourn, and I don’t want the -janitor to look at me as he did last time we -were late. Why, he couldn’t have been -more unpleasant if I had been his own wife! -And the look which always reduces Tom to -instant submission hadn’t the least effect -upon him!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve been dying for an opportunity to -speak to you all afternoon,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin, to the blue-eyed -girl, as they turned the corner, “I met -Effie Bittersweet to-day, and she spoke so -nicely of you that I am sure she thinks you -and her brother are about to become reconciled.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It isn’t Jack this time, dear,” was the -calm reply. “The fact is, that Clarence -Lighthed has been paying me a good deal -of attention lately, and she was afraid you -would think her jealous.”</p> - -<p>“Clarence! Well, I never—how on earth -did you manage it, Dorothy?”</p> - -<p>“Strange as it may appear, I didn’t -manage it at all; he did it entirely of his -own accord. But though that is the honest -truth, there isn’t another girl of my acquaintance -who would even <i>pretend</i> to believe -it if I told her.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose not, dear; and yet men must -sometimes admire girls of their own free -will. Well, Effie must be feeling very -badly, then, for she said that of course she -knew I would laugh at her for saying it, -but for her part, she considered Dorothy -Darling the prettiest girl in our set.”</p> - -<p>“Humph, I’ll remember that when -Clarence calls to-morrow afternoon. You -couldn’t persuade Effie to drop in with -you for a cup of tea, could you?”</p> - -<p>“Ye—es, I suppose I could, if you will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -promise to put enough rum in my cup to -fortify me for the walk home. And I have -always wanted to own a hand mirror like -that silver one of yours. Do you suppose -anybody will ever give me one?”</p> - -<p>“You may have mine, if you will promise -to bring Effie in at precisely half-past -four; Clarence will be reading poetry aloud -by that time.”</p> - -<p>“I promise; and I might just as well -stop in and get the hand mirror now. You -won’t want me to leave you a moment to-morrow.</p> - -<p>“Indeed, I shall not. By the way, of -course I told you that I cracked the mirror -breaking taffy the other afternoon! No? -Why, I wonder how I could have overlooked -the fact.”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, dear, Ned Crœsus will -have it mended for me—and thank me for -letting him do it, instead of Dick. By the -way, how can you endure so much of Clarence’s -society? You always said he was so -stupid.”</p> - -<p>“That was when he used to talk of nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -but Effie. Any man would be stupid, -if his only theme was another girl. You—you -couldn’t let Jack know about Clarence, -could you? If it was any one else -Effie would tell him the first time she was -provoked with him. Frances will be careful -not to let him know, and men have such -silly ideas about interfering with other peoples’ -affairs, that I doubt if any of them -say a word to him about the matter.”</p> - -<p>“I might. Yes, I know I could, if only -I was sure that you would not blame me -if it turned out badly.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Emily Marshmallow, to think of -refusing to do a little thing like that for me—when -I’ve just given you that lovely -hand mirror, which I like better than -anything I own. I just believe you -want Jack Bittersweet yourself, and I’m -sure you are welcome to him, for aught I -care!”</p> - -<p>“Look here, Dorothy, I think you forget -that Jack is two whole inches shorter than -I; and if you think I am capable of caring -enough for <i>any</i> man to make myself look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -like a—a bean pole for the rest of my natural -life, you are very much mistaken!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, if you are sorry to have hurt -my feelings, of course I shall overlook it. -I only hope, however, that you will not -rely too much on my natural amiability and -push me too far. If you should see Jack -in the near future you might, as you suggested,—”</p> - -<p>“But, I didn’t suggest at all. You must -just tell me what you want me to say to -Jack and, if I get a chance, I—”</p> - -<p>“You are entirely mistaken. I don’t -want you to say anything to Jack; after the -way he has treated me, I have too much -pride to raise a finger to bring him back. -I only thought that, as you are a friend of -his, you might like to warn him that there -are others who appreciate me, if he does -not.”</p> - -<p>“B—but I rather fancy that he will expect—er -some kind of an explanation of -the—the occurrence at your house last -week. Suppose I just say—”</p> - -<p>“Well, then, all I’ve got to say is, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -if Jack Bittersweet is too stupid to understand -a simple accident, I don’t care if he -never speaks to me again. Clarence Lighthed -is one of the very nicest fellows I ever -knew, and I am one of the hap—happiest -girls in the world. Don’t look at me as if -you thought I was crying! I am not—and -if I was, it would be out of p—pure joy!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter VIII<br /> - -<small>An Executive Meeting</small></h2> - - -<p>“Why, Frances, is that you? And on -your way to the Club, too,” cried the blue-eyed -girl, as she caught up with the brown-eyed -blonde, “how lucky I am; I shall -have a nice long talk with you as we go -along! How well you are looking to-day, -quite fresh, I declare! Dear me, I should -have put on my gloves before I left home, -but I was in such haste that—”</p> - -<p>“By the way, Dorothy, it seems to me -that you are not wearing as many rings as -usual this winter. Surely, I miss the diamond -you used to wear!”</p> - -<p>“Why, no I’m not; so much jewelry is -always vulgar, and rings are <i>so</i> hard on one’s -gloves. Mercy, we have walked a whole -block, and you haven’t told me a bit of -news!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Haven’t I? By the way, I heard Ja—a -man I know, say something about you -yesterday which was quite a surprise. I -don’t really know whether I ought to repeat -it, or not.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, he wouldn’t have said it before -you unless he expected you to repeat it, -dear. You must tell me what it is, or I -shall fancy it was not really unpleasant, -and, really I’ve had so many compliments -of late that it will be quite a change. I am -actually afraid that Cla—a friend who thinks -too well of me—will make me vain, and -that—”</p> - -<p>“Impossible, dear. By the way, I hear -that Clarence Lighthed comes to see you -occasionally now, and—”</p> - -<p>“Not oftener than once in twenty-four -hours, dear.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And really he has been so devoted -to so many girls that—”</p> - -<p>“It is a wonder that he has never thought -of <i>you!</i> Why so it is, now that I think of -it. But never mind, there may be a chance -for you yet. Pardon me, you were about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -to repeat something you had heard about -me, and I’m afraid I interrupted you.”</p> - -<p>“Was I? Dear me, I have quite forgotten -what it was; nothing very important, -I’m sure.”</p> - -<p>“Very true. By the way, I heard something -about <i>you</i> the other day, too. It was -extremely complimentary—so much so indeed, -that you will think I am trying to -flatter you, if I repeat it.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed? Oh, I remember now what I -was about to tell you. It was—so you -really heard something nice about poor little -me?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I really did. I’ll tell you after -you have finished your story. I really -must not interrupt you again.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Ja—I mean the man I know—said -the other day that he thought you—now -you mustn’t mind this, at all, Dorothy; I -told him at once that nobody else had ever -said such a thing of you.”</p> - -<p>“How kind of you to champion me, dear; -I really did not expect it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes; I often do it. He said—I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -wouldn’t repeat it to you, but the absurdity -of the charge takes all the sting out of -it. He said, ‘I consider Dorothy Darling -the most heartless flirt I ever knew!’ Isn’t -it too funny!” and she burst into a peal of -laughter.</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl paused to pat a little -dog before she replied: “How well you do -tell a story, Frances, dear. Look at that -poor, old blind man over yonder; let us -cross over and give him some pennies,” -and she was almost dancing as she crossed -the street.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he is an impostor, after all,” -said the brown-eyed blonde. “By the way, -you said somebody paid me a nice compliment -the other day. Do tell me what it -was, and if I ever get the chance—be it -twenty years from now—I’ll do the same -for you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, indeed. Old Miss Lucy -Brownsmith said to me, only the other day, -‘Really, Frances is quite a nice-looking -girl now that she has given up lacing so -tightly.’ I knew you would be so pleased.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -Well, here we are at the Club; I am afraid -that I must have walked too fast for you, -dear; you look quite flushed.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Emily, dear,” she whispered, as -she embraced her friend in the cloak room, -“Jack is wild with jealousy! He told -Frances the other day that I was the most -heartless flirt he ever knew!”</p> - -<p>“Then, he is ready to go half-way toward -making up! Oh, I am so glad that -I—”</p> - -<p>“Half-way? Do you suppose, Emily -Marshmallow, that after allowing Clarence -Lighthed to bore me almost to death for -two weeks, I shall be willing to go half-way -to make up with Jack?”</p> - -<p>“But you said the other day that unless -you <i>did</i> make up with him, you would -learn to be a trained nurse and devote -your life to others, and I thought—”</p> - -<p>“Never mind what I said the other day—that -was before I knew how jealous Jack -was. And all I’ve got to say, is this: if -you expect me to make a fright of myself -in a gray cloak and bonnet and cotton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -gown just to please <i>you</i>, you are very -much mistaken!”</p> - -<p>The girl with the eyeglasses put her head -in at the door, “Come into the club-room -right away, girls,” she said. “Evelyn is -here, and she has something of the greatest -importance to tell us.”</p> - -<p>The president was evidently excited as -she called the meeting to order. “I am -just as angry as I can be,” she said. -“What do you think I found in my mail -to-day? A letter from a man who is old -enough to know better, suggesting a topic -for discussion by this club. That topic -was, ‘The Best Method of Keeping the Hat -on Straight.’”</p> - -<p>“You don’t say so!” said the girl with -the Roman nose. “Well, it only shows -that our mental advancement has made him -uneasy.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the president. “Then, -as if that was not enough, he suggests a -small mirror fastened to the inside of an -umbrella or parasol as—”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw!” said the brown-eyed blonde,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -“a highly polished silver handle answers the -same purpose and attracts less attention.”</p> - -<p>“Talk about hats,” said the girl with the -classic profile, “men are just as fussy about -their own. Did you ever see anybody put -on a man’s hat to suit him?”</p> - -<p>“Never,” said the president. “I had an -awful time when Tom’s arm was broken. -I would put on his hat as carefully as I -could—he always would tip it too far back -himself—and yet, each time he would remove -it, look suspiciously into the crown, -and put it on again himself.”</p> - -<p>“As if it makes any difference how a -man looks, anyhow,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses. “So long as they are nice and -generous, no girl cares—”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” broke in the girl with the -dimple in her chin, “and it is frequently -the pocket of a last year’s overcoat which -harbors the largest box of candy.”</p> - -<p>“I should like to know how a man manages -to keep his hat on without veil or -pins,” said the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t always do it in a high<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -wind,” said the girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“And yet he always wonders why a -woman holds her hat on when she is driving,” -remarked the girl with the dimple in -her chin.</p> - -<p>“You know what a fuss men always make -about big theater hats,” said the president. -“Well, thinking to please Tom, I got a tiny -bonnet, which was so becoming that it attracted -as much attention as a regular -mountain of feathers and velvet.”</p> - -<p>“And wasn’t he pleased?” asked the -girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Not when the bill came in, and he -found that it cost rather more than a large -hat. I said that he ought to be content to -pay for the principle of a thing. He replied -that it looked as if the interest was all about -all he could afford. I suppose he thought -that was sarcastic.”</p> - -<p>“Men have such queer ideas of humor, -anyhow,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin; “why, I know a man who once -laughed heartily at a joke on himself.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Perhaps he owed money to the man -who made it, or wanted his vote for something,” -said the girl with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’d like to know who first invented -hat-pins,” said the brown-eyed -blonde. “I am sure it was not a woman, -because—”</p> - -<p>“It was a man, and he was either an old -bachelor or a bigamist,” said the girl with -the Roman nose. “I had two pins running -straight into my scalp all during service on -Sunday. Dick was with me, too, and it -was so hard to look saintly when—”</p> - -<p>“Men always ask why we don’t tie our -hats on, when we complain of pins,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“Wouldn’t we look nice with our jaws tied -up like those of a small boy with the toothache?”</p> - -<p>“To say nothing of having our hearing so -impaired that we couldn’t be sure whether -compliments whispered into our ears were -intended for us or were merely remarks -made about other girls,” said the brown-eyed -blonde.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well, girls,” said the president, “I see -you all resent it, as I do; and I’m just going -to write that horrid man a letter telling -him that the Teacup Club has too many -serious topics to discuss to waste time upon -anything relating to millinery.”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of millinery,” said the blue-eyed -girl, “did you ever see anything as -sweet as the new hats! I went with Elizabeth -to select the ones for her trousseau the -other day, and it did seem hard to me that -a girl only has a chance <i>once</i> in her life -to buy as many hats as she really wants, -and—”</p> - -<p>“Not to mention the fact that it is just -at the time when she is so much interested -in her future husband that she can’t give -her whole mind to the subject,” broke in -the girl with the eyeglasses. “Now, if she -could only choose her trousseau a year after -her marriage, instead of before.”</p> - -<p>“Yes; or even six months,” said the -president. “Well, my new hat must cost -five dollars less than I had hoped. I borrowed -that amount from Tom last month;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -and—will you believe it?—he took it out of -my allowance for this month, in spite of -the fact that I told him I had spent it for -his birthday present.”</p> - -<p>“But why didn’t you take it out of your -housekeeping allowance? You usually do,” -said the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Because I had already taken enough for -a half-dozen pairs of gloves out of that. It -happened that he had not given a single -stag dinner during the month, so I could -not filch too much without discovery. -When he gives a dinner, I can always pay -myself well for the trouble of it. If he -complains of the bills, I just say, ‘Yes, -dear, I see that we cannot afford any more -stag dinners,’ and that settles it at once,” -she added.</p> - -<p>“I should think it would,” said the blue-eyed -girl, thoughtfully. “Did you tell Tom -how mean you thought it of him to expect -you to pay back money that you had borrowed?”</p> - -<p>“I did. I said, ‘I wouldn’t be as selfish -as you are for anything!’”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And did that make him feel badly? I -should think so.”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit. You don’t know Tom; he -just laughed as if it was funny. Luckily, -I had given him a silk umbrella for his -birthday, and as he has two already, and -this one is—er rather small, I shall get a -good deal of use out of it myself.”</p> - -<p>“And you hadn’t one at all, had you?” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin. “I -remember the day you lost yours.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Wasn’t it nice of me to buy one -for him when I really needed it for myself? -But one can’t expect a man to appreciate -generosity.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “what do you think I heard -to-day?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what <i>you</i> heard,” said -the girl with the Roman nose, “but I heard -that Clarence Lighthed has just inherited a -fortune from an uncle whom he had never -seen! You know he is my cousin, and—”</p> - -<p>“Have you just heard that,” said the -blue-eyed girl, “He told <i>me</i> about it a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -week ago—the day you said he was -stupid, Emily. I knew at the time that -you would feel badly when you discovered -that it was only—er—grief for the death of -his uncle, which made him so quiet and -thoughtful. Poor fellow, it must have been -<i>such</i> a shock to him!”</p> - -<p>“How kind of you to comfort him in his -sorrow,” said the brown-eyed blonde, in -sarcastic tones.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear—especially as he could have -his choice of comforters. I think you said -that you, too, have a piece of news, -Emily.”</p> - -<p>“Why—er—yes, I heard that Effie Bittersweet -is on the verge of nervous prostration.”</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl said never a word; -she looked out of the window opposite her, -and there was a soft, sweet smile on her -face. Perhaps she failed to see the glances -that were exchanged by the others.</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls, have you heard the awful -thing that happened to me yesterday?” -asked the girl with the eyeglasses. “No?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -Then, I had better tell you all about it myself. -I had an engagement with Harry; -we were to call on his aunt who lives in -Rogers Park—nothing very exciting, you -know. Well, Mr. Doolittle came in early -to ask me if I wouldn’t go to the matinée -with him. Now, I knew Harry would take -me to see his aunt any day, and Mr. Doolittle -might never ask me to go to the -matinée again, so I accepted his invitation -at once.”</p> - -<p>“You would have been very stupid if -you hadn’t,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“So I thought. Then, I told him that -I must stop in at the drug store and send -off a telephone message. You see, I -didn’t want to give Harry all the trouble -of coming up in vain.”</p> - -<p>“You are always so thoughtful,” said the -blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“I try to be. I called Harry up, but he -was not in, and I told the office-boy to tell -him that I was ill, and could not go with -him to Rogers Park, but hoped to be out -in a day or two. The boy was as stupid as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -he could be; I had to repeat the message -twice, and even spell my name. Oh, it was -awful!”</p> - -<p>“What? his stupidity?” asked the girl -with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“No; my own. As I was going out, the -clerk stopped me, and said, ‘You needn’t -have taken all that trouble, Miss Marion; -you were telephoning to Mr. Vansmith, -weren’t you? Well, that was he that just -went out; he was standing about three feet -away from you all the time you were trying -to make the person at the other end of the -line understand!’”</p> - -<p>“Well, I hope your father is satisfied -<i>now</i>,” said the president. “You have been -trying to get him to put in a telephone all -winter.”</p> - -<p>“Humph; you don’t know my father -very well, dear. When I told him about -it, he only said that he was more fully satisfied -than ever that women were not to be -trusted with telephones!”</p> - -<p>“Then there was that horrid drug clerk,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -“why didn’t he stop you when Harry came -in, instead of letting you—”</p> - -<p>“The fact is, that I knew he was trying -to attract my attention all the time, but I -thought that it was only somebody else who -wanted to use the telephone in a hurry, and -I took my own good time.”</p> - -<p>“He might have known you would have -done that,” said the girl with the classic -profile. “Girls, I often wonder why drug -clerks are such gloomy, misanthropic creatures?”</p> - -<p>“Dear knows,” said the president; “I’ve -often noticed it, though. And how cross a -clerk in a shoe store always is! Strange, -too, when they have such light, easy work. -I tried on seventeen pairs of boots only -yesterday, and I never was so tired in all -my life; yet I was as amiable as possible, -and the clerk, who had nothing to do but -wait on me, was so rude that I thought seriously -of having the proprietor in to hear -of it. However, I compromised by going -out without buying anything.”</p> - -<p>“It was very good of you, I’m sure,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -said the blue-eyed girl. “You know Marie -sends to Paris for all her shoes. I never -saw such beauties in all my life as she -wears.”</p> - -<p>“H’m. I know she <i>says</i> so,” returned -the girl with the Roman nose, “but—look -here, if I tell you something, will you promise -never to tell it as long as you live? -Well, then, I spent the day with Marie last -week. She had a lovely new pair of shoes, -and I tried my best, without asking -directly, you know, to find the name of -the Parisian boot-maker, and how much -she paid for them.”</p> - -<p>“Of course you didn’t find out,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin. “Marie -can be as impervious to a hint as a man.”</p> - -<p>“M’hm. Well, she got ready to go out -with me, and just as we were ready to start -she was called out of the room. Her boots -were all in the closet, and I—well, somehow -I just happened to be near the door, it -was ajar, and I stooped down to look at the -maker’s name on them, when—oh, girls, -the door behind me suddenly flew open!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness, it was Marie herself! -What did—”</p> - -<p>“No, it was the maid. She said: ‘Will -you please tell Miss Marie, when she comes -in, that Cashly has sent up for the pair of -boots she didn’t take. The boy is waiting -in the hall.’”</p> - -<p>“Well, I never,” said the blue-eyed girl. -“But I’ve always said that if I sent to Paris -for my boots I’d have better looking ones -than <i>she</i> gets!”</p> - -<p>“But then Marie gets a great deal for her -money, dear, even if the boots themselves -are not of a superior quality,” said the -girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Very true. By the way, who went to -Marie’s tea yesterday?” said the girl with -the dimple in her chin; “I did not. Since -the founding of this club I have cared less -and less for gossip and society, and—”</p> - -<p>“Then you didn’t mind not receiving an -invitation to Marie’s after all!” said the -brown-eyed blonde. “I must tell her that. -She said yesterday that she didn’t expect -you to speak to her for a month.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>“By the way,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, hastily, “Dick made rather a -good suggestion yesterday. He said why not -have a phonograph, or even a stenographer, -in the room while we are discussing a topic; -then we could have copies made, and—”</p> - -<p>“That reminds me,” said the president, -and she rapped loudly for order. “Girls, -do be quiet. We have a very important -question to decide to-day. A number of -men have expressed a desire to become -members of this club, and—”</p> - -<p>“I vote against it,” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “We can all express our -real opinions now, knowing they will go no -further, whereas—”</p> - -<p>“No club man can ever keep a secret,” -broke in the girl with the dimple in her -chin. “As for us, we would die rather than -divulge—”</p> - -<p>“They are so curious, too,” broke in the -girl with the classic profile. “We have all -talked so much about our meetings that -they want to know how they are conducted, -that is all.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, that is just it,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, “and once in they would spoil -all the originality of it by having rules and -all that. Then they’d go away and say -that we couldn’t get along without them.”</p> - -<p>“The idea!” said the president, “when -that’s the very reason I set our time of -meeting in the afternoon!”</p> - -<p>“Look here,” said the girl with the eyeglasses, -“of course we don’t want to offend -them. Why not have a ‘man’s day’ once -in a while?”</p> - -<p>“So we might,” said the president; “but -we had better wait until we get all our new -things. Well, I suppose, since we are all -agreed, that we had better not waste time -in voting on it. I’m awfully glad to see -you here, Elise; I was afraid you would -not be able to come.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I was determined not to miss it,” -said the girl with the Roman nose. “I left -word for them to tell the doctor I was -asleep if he called in my absence. I have -been troubled with insomnia, you know, -and he would tell them not to disturb me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -Of course, he gave me strict orders not to -go out, but he—”</p> - -<p>“Will never know that,” said the brown-eyed -blonde. “Oh, such a time as I had -last fall when I was ill! You see, papa -was going to make me go to Philadelphia -to stay with old Aunt Borely. I—I was -not very well, anyhow, so I took to my -bed.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and you had that nice young doctor, -too,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Oh, why am I so brutally healthy!”</p> - -<p>“I did, and he cured me of my particular -ailment,” went on the brown-eyed blonde. -“I had a most becoming light in the room -the first time he called, and what do you -think he did? Pulled every window-shade -up to the top, until I looked a perfect fright—and -he young enough to know better!”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw!” said the girl with the classic -profile. “All doctors are horrid. Why, I -once had such a handsome one that he sent -my pulse away up every time he felt it. I -did look so horrid that one day I—I put on -a little rouge just before he came. In consequence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -he said I had a high fever, and -put me on a milk-and-water diet for three -days, besides giving me—”</p> - -<p>“Like the mean thing I had last year,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin. -“I had a cough, and wanted a trip to -Florida; instead, I got a pair of overshoes, -a lot of flannels, and a mackintosh.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “Well, I don’t believe my -doctor is a good one; he—”</p> - -<p>“Is too ugly to be a really good one, -anyhow,” broke in the blue-eyed girl. -“Fancy being delirious, and seeing that -creature enter the room!”</p> - -<p>“By the way,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin, “I wonder why ugly -men are always having their photographs -taken and expecting one to keep them -hanging up where one can see them constantly!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” said the brown-eyed blonde, -“they hope it may be a case of</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“But seen too oft, familiar with its face,</div> -<div class="verse"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">We first endure, then pity, then”——</span><br /></div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="unindent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>No, I don’t mean that,” she broke off, -blushing.</p> - -<p>“I should hope not,” said the blue-eyed -girl, in shocked tones. “I should be sorry -to think that any member of this club—”</p> - -<p>“The very queen of clubs,” broke in the -president; “that is what Tom calls it—when -he is in a particularly good humor, I -mean. I think we had better adjourn -now,” she added; “Elise really ought not -to be out late, and I am wild to tell Tom -that men will not be admitted to membership. -Doesn’t the doctor do that pain in -your chest any good, Elise?”</p> - -<p>“You don’t suppose that I told him anything -about that, do you?” cried the girl -with the Roman nose. “I hope I am not -so silly as that—with Elizabeth’s wedding -coming off in a week, and my lovely low-cut -gown all ready to wear to it!”</p> - -<p>“Just wait one moment,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin. “I haven’t -got to-day’s topic down in my note-book. -What did you say it was, Evelyn?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness!” cried the president,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -turning pale, “here we have had a -meeting, and I have forgotten to suggest -any topic—and not one of you thought to -remind me of it! Oh, I am afraid that all -my efforts to advance you intellectually are -wasted, after all!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses, “this has been an executive -meeting, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“Why, so it has,” said the president, -kissing her; “what a comfort you are, -Marion dear. Tom’s handsome cousin is -coming home from Montana next week -with a lot of money, and you shall be the -very first girl to have an introduction to him!”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen Jack Bittersweet lately?” -asked the girl with the eyeglasses, as she -linked her arm in that of the girl with the -dimple in her chin, after the meeting had -dissolved.</p> - -<p>“Yes, he came to see me yesterday. I -was in agony all the time he was there, lest -Dorothy come in. I knew she would never -believe that it was the first time he had -done it since they quarreled!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Of course she wouldn’t. Did he ask -your advice?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. So does she—but neither of them -take it.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t expect that, I hope. Well, -did you find out if he still cares for her?”</p> - -<p>“He does. I sat on the sofa, in my -prettiest house-gown, and he took a chair -six feet away. He didn’t even tell me -that fewer men would go to the dogs if -there were more women like me in the -world!”</p> - -<p>“Well, I only hope that they will soon -come to their senses, that’s all. Dorothy -looks like a ghost, and as for Jack—”</p> - -<p>“If they don’t,” cried the girl with the -dimple in her chin, savagely, “I shall just -have to spend a month or two in a sanatarium. -And I’m not sure that that will -save my life,” she added.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter IX<br /> - -<small>On the Use and Abuse of Political -Power</small></h2> - - -<p>“The absurdity of some people!” said -the president, pausing as she was about to -call the meeting to order. “What excuse -do you suppose Elizabeth gave for not asking -me to look at her pretty things? She -said she fancied I had grown too intellectual -to care for gowns and hats!”</p> - -<p>“How ridiculous! She had probably -heard that you do not intend to send her a -wedding present,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t told a soul but the members -of this club that I shouldn’t give her -one,” said the president.</p> - -<p>“Then she couldn’t possibly know it,” -said the blue-eyed girl, hastily.</p> - -<p>“What enrages <i>me</i>, is the insinuation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -that I have ceased to care for pretty things, -just because I study politics, and—er—other -things. I don’t see why intellectuality -has anything to do with doing up -one’s hair with three hairpins, or—”</p> - -<p>“Wearing gowns which are frayed around -the bottom,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin; “neither do I. And, yet they -seem to be somehow connected in people’s -minds.”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” said the president. “Girls, -the editor of a literary journal has asked for -some of the papers which have been read -before this club. He says—”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, what answer shall you make?” -cried the girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“I told him that I could not think of such -a thing. I always disliked notoriety. It -was very kind of him, though, and he even -offered to let the authors of the papers have -copies of their effusions at reduced rates, -provided they took over a hundred.”</p> - -<p>“Which, of course, they would,” said -the blue-eyed girl. “Well, you were quite -right to refuse, Evelyn. I, for one, have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -such a horror of publicity, and, besides, it -would be quite expensive sending copies to -all one’s acquaintances.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the president; “we are all -in accord, as usual. Let us discuss, ‘The -Use and Abuse of Political Power,’ to-day. -It is a subject which is of the greatest importance -to all of us, and—”</p> - -<p>“How do you spell ‘political?’ With -one <i>t</i> or two?” asked the girl with the eyeglasses, -as she opened her note-book.</p> - -<p>“With one—no, two. Pshaw, I can’t -remember. Just write it indistinctly.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Dorothy,” whispered the girl with -the dimple in her chin, “I saw Dick this -morning, and he says Jack told him yesterday -that he didn’t really know what your -quarrel was about, but he meant to go and -see you to-day, and ask you to forgive -him!”</p> - -<p>“I shall,” said the blue-eyed girl; “and -I don’t mind confessing to you, Emily, -that I, too, may have been just the merest -possible bit in the wrong. I’ve felt it right -along, but I couldn’t admit it, until he— What<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -shall I wear when he comes to see -me?”</p> - -<p>“You might wear the blue gown he -always admires so much.”</p> - -<p>“So I might. You know I wore a blue -gown the day he asked me to marry him, -and he said I must keep it always. Of -course, this isn’t the same one, but I am -careful to have each succeeding one the -same color, and he doesn’t know the -difference. Perhaps I have told you this -before.”</p> - -<p>“I think you have, dear—once or twice,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin, -demurely.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I don’t mind letting you know, -Emily, that I have missed him a good deal. -Why, I had his photograph—the one I pretended -to have lost, so I needn’t send it -back—out when you knocked at my door -to-day. You couldn’t have helped seeing -me thrust it under Clover’s cushion, if you -hadn’t thought something was wrong with -your boot heel, and stooped down to -see.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> - -<p>“You don’t say so. Well, all I’ve got -to say is, I wish I might see Frances’ face -at the wedding!”</p> - -<p>“You shall, dear. I’ll ask her to be -bridesmaid, and you, as maid of honor, can -have a good chance to watch her. You -have been such a faithful friend to both -Jack and myself that you deserve at least -that much satisfaction.”</p> - -<p>“Look here, Emily and Dorothy, I am -afraid you are not attending strictly to the -discussion,” said the president. “The -topic is— Frances, what on earth has made -you so late?”</p> - -<p>“It was all an accident,” said the brown-eyed -blonde; “I stopped for you, Dorothy, -on my way to the club. The maid said -you had gone already, and I was just coming -away when I noticed that your little -dog—what is his name? Rover? Ah, -Clover! I knew it was something like -that—was chewing something at the back -of the hall! I went to see what it was, -and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness gracious! Not my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -new sixteen-button gloves,” wailed the -blue-eyed girl. “I’ll give that dog away to-morrow!”</p> - -<p>“No, dear, not your gloves. It was a -photograph. Just as I was trying to get -the pieces away from him, Ja—I mean Mr. -Bittersweet—came up the steps with a huge -bunch of violets. He must have seen me -standing in the hall; you know the door -was open.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “that checked gown of -yours speaks for itself!”</p> - -<p>“I—ah, where was I? Oh—he succeeded -in getting the fragments away and—really, -it was too funny! It turned out to be a -photograph of himself! I told him that -I was almost sure that you didn’t give -it to the dog purposely, Dorothy; but I -am afraid I didn’t quite convince him.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed; and where are the violets?” -asked the girl with the dimple in her chin; -“you don’t seem to be wearing them!”</p> - -<p>“Why, er—no. Ja—I mean Mr. Bittersweet—threw -them at the dog. You will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -find them right by the stairway, Dorothy, -dear; but I’m afraid they are not in very -good condition. What is to-day’s topic, -Evelyn?”</p> - -<p>“‘The Use and Abuse of Political -Power,’” said the president, in a faint -voice. “Will somebody open the window, -please; I need air!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Evelyn,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, after the president had announced -that she felt better, “I do hope -you are not sitting up at night studying, -and that sort of thing.”</p> - -<p>“Why, er—no, I believe not. The fact -is I’ve been going to a good many dances -of late on Tom’s account.”</p> - -<p>“But Tom doesn’t go, does he?”</p> - -<p>“No. B—but everybody knows how -fond of dancing I am; and if I didn’t go -they would say he kept me at home. I -don’t want Tom to pose as a tyrant, you -know!”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. You—”</p> - -<p>“Yes. The only thing which makes me -feel uncomfortable is the angelic way in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -which he bears my absence. It isn’t like -Tom, and—”</p> - -<p>“Clarence—my cousin you know—was -saying only the other day, that he thought -you an angel to allow Tom and his friends -to smoke in the drawing-room, just because -you happened to be out,” said the girl with -the Roman nose. “I wonder if that—”</p> - -<p>“To smoke in the drawing-room!” -shrieked the president, turning pale. “I’ll -go home this minute, and tell him what I -think of such a proceeding. No, I won’t, -either; he is at the office, and it would not -do any good! I never suspected such a -thing and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, then the smoke couldn’t -have done the rugs and curtains much harm, -after all, if you never noticed the odor.”</p> - -<p>“It’s the principle of the thing, my -dear. What hurts me, is the fact that my -husband respects my wishes so little, when -I only go to dances to keep people from -thinking ill of him, too! Well, one thing -sure, I’ll have all new curtains and carpets—since -mine are ruined with smoke—if he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -keeps on talking about hard times until he -is black in the face!”</p> - -<p>“I wonder why men are always talking -about hard times,” said the girl with the -classic profile; “women never say anything -about them.”</p> - -<p>“Unless they are driven to it,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “My sister’s -husband wanted to have his mother -come for a nice, long visit, but she told him -that she hardly thought they could afford it -in such hard times. You see he had just -made that excuse for not doing up the -house.”</p> - -<p>“With the result?” queried the girl with -the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“That he decided to have the house done -up at once! And, after all, the old lady -only stayed about a week. Helen says she -can’t imagine why she went, unless, she -was offended at her suggestion that she -might like to take a course at the cooking-school -while she was here.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t blame Helen, at all,” -said the blue-eyed girl. “No man has a right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -to be dyspeptic before he is married, and -her husband was. Everybody ought to -have a fair chance, and Helen’s cooking -might not have given it to him for years.”</p> - -<p>“At any rate, he can’t blame <i>her</i> for his -dyspepsia—and that is something,” said -the president. “Girls, does any one know -why Josephine has given up her lessons at -the cooking school?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose she has made one really good -loaf of bread, and doesn’t want to tempt -fate again,” said the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“That is not the reason,” said the girl -with the eyeglasses, “she is engaged to a -man who knows how to cook, so there is -no use for her to waste any more time -over it. She is studying political economy -now.”</p> - -<p>“And a very good thing, too,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin, “for the -way money is wasted on elections, is really -shocking!”</p> - -<p>“Hear! hear!” cried the girl with the -Roman nose. “Of course I don’t want to -have men as members of this club, but I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -can’t help wishing sometimes that a few of -them might hear Emily and Evelyn when -they are attacking political abuses and -monopolies.”</p> - -<p>“For my part, I don’t see why they -haven’t thrust the privilege of suffrage -upon us long ago,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses. “Then they would have somebody -to blame, when civic and national -affairs go wrong!”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw,” said the president, “that isn’t -necessary at all. They can come home and -scold because dinner is late, or the hall gas -is unlit, and so relieve their feelings just -the same.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t want to vote,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin. “It -is ever so much nicer to do as the men do -with our housekeeping—just criticise that -which we can never display our ignorance -by attempting to do ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“That is only your sweet modesty, dear,” -said the girl with the classic profile. -“What do you think Mr. Bonds said the -other day! Ah, I was so indignant! He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -said it was a mistake to say that women -could not throw stones.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why you were indignant at -that,” said the brown-eyed blonde. “It -seems to me—”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t that. It was what came -afterward. He said he knew it was a libel -for they could—at each other! And every -man in the room laughed as if he had said -something clever!”</p> - -<p>“I declare,” said the brown-eyed blonde, -“it is enough to make a man-hater of me. -If only people would not say that it was because -of some particular man who failed to -admire me—”</p> - -<p>“There is no danger of it being laid to -the door of any <i>one</i> man in your case, -dear,” said the blue-eyed girl. “Is that -your new gown that you are wearing to-day, -Frances, dear?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes. Quite a novelty, isn’t it. -How do you like it?”</p> - -<p>“Very much indeed, dear. I stopped -and looked at it hanging in the cleaner’s -window the other day, and thought how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -well it looked. You remember, don’t -you, Dorothy, my calling your attention to -it?” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin.</p> - -<p>“Quite well. I thought at the time that -it was well she had not attempted to clean -it herself. By the way, Helen’s little boy -said such a clever thing the other day. We -were speaking of favorite perfumes, and -how nice it was to always use the same one, -and he said: ‘I know what is Miss Frances’ -favorite perfume. Her gloves always smell -of it.’ ‘And what is it?’ Helen asked. -‘Gasoline,’ said the dear little fellow. Did -you ever hear anything so clever in your -life?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” said the president, hastily, -“speaking of gloves: I had a letter from -Pauline the other day, and such a heart-rending -thing had occurred to her. A nice -man was buttoning her gloves one day, and -he said she had the hand of a fairy—Pauline -seemed to think that an original remark.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it was the first time she had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -ever had it said to her,” replied the blue-eyed -girl.</p> - -<p>“Um—perhaps it was. She said carelessly, -‘Do you think so? Why, I consider -it quite large. I wear a number six.’ She -was sorry for that afterward.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose he looked in the other glove, -and—saw that she had made a mistake,” -said the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“No, dear. But, shortly after that, they -made a bet of a dozen pairs of gloves, and -Pauline won. Oddly enough, she didn’t -know it until the gloves arrived. They -were number six, and—”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, she could exchange them for a -larger size; he would never know the difference,” -said the girl with the eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Not in this case, dear. He had had -her monogram embroidered on the top of -each pair. And now he is offended that -she does not wear them!”</p> - -<p>“How exactly like a man,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin. “Now, I -have too high a regard for truth to—”</p> - -<p>“Waste it on such a little thing as that?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -I know,” said the brown-eyed blonde. -“Well, I hope Pauline’s mishap will be a -warning to you.”</p> - -<p>“She might say that she could not accept -such a gift from a masculine friend,” -thoughtfully suggested the girl with the -classic profile.</p> - -<p>“But she had thanked him very prettily, -and said they were just her size, and how -did he know it? before she discovered that -she could not exchange them! Oh, I just -don’t see any way out of it. I told Tom -about it, and he said, ‘Pshaw, let her tell -him the truth, and be done with it.’ And -yet Tom is very clever—for a man.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed he is,” said the blue-eyed girl, -warmly, “he is one of the few people who -always understands a joke when I tell it. -Just because I leave out a little bit of it, -some people—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” cried the girl with the -classic profile, “I’ve been waiting for a -good chance to tell you that Eunice is -married!”</p> - -<p>“Is it possible?” said the girl with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -eyeglasses. “I remember that she always -said people ought to know each other very -well before they <i>were</i> married. That was -why she went for a long visit to that Kansas -girl whose brother was so much in love -with her. She married <i>him</i>, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“Why—er—no. You see, he asked her, -and she said she could not give him an answer -until she concluded her visit. They -would know each other much better then.”</p> - -<p>“And she refused him, after all?” said -the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Well, no. For some reason he failed -to renew his offer, after her visit was over. -She had known the man she married exactly -three weeks when they became engaged.”</p> - -<p>“And the engagement lasted?”</p> - -<p>“Just a month, dear. And she was so -busy all the time with the trousseau that -she hardly had time for a word with him.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it was just as well,” said the -brown-eyed blonde. “Has the man she -married any money?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so. He was thirty-four, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -a bachelor. A very poor man would have -married long before he was as old as that. -By the way, speaking of the abuse of political -power, Mr. Dickenharry tells Nell that -if he is really elected to the office he hopes -for, she will have to ask all sorts of people -to her receptions, in order that—”</p> - -<p>“And what did Nell reply to that?” -asked the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Oh, she just smiled and let it go. It -will be much easier to manage all that after -they are married. She says he is so busy -now that she doesn’t like to thwart him -unnecessarily. Nell is always so thoughtful -of the feelings of others.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed she is,” said the president. -“Anyhow if she is obliged to ask all those -awful people to her receptions, she can snub -them thoroughly if they accept. Oh, she -is just the ideal wife for a politician; how -she will help him!”</p> - -<p>“That is just what she says herself,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin, “and -she also says that she wants to join this -club as soon as her trousseau is off her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -mind. She thinks our debates on political -subjects will be of great benefit to her. In -the meantime, she wants me to make -notes of the discussions, and let her have -them.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and let Mr. Dickenharry make use -of all our original ideas in his speeches!” -cried the president, hotly. “I am surprised -at you, Emily, for—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t say I meant to do it, dear; -I only said she wanted me to. It is so -much easier to promise a thing, and then -forget it, you know. Girls, I went to see -dear old Mrs. Pepperly yesterday, and—”</p> - -<p>“What, that cross, disagreeable woman!” -cried the brown-eyed blonde. “What on -earth made you do such a thing?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I always liked her, dear. When I -got there, I was <i>so</i> surprised. Her son is -home from Mexico on a visit, and—”</p> - -<p>“Why, don’t you remember, Emily, I -told you that on Sunday?” said the president. -“I mentioned that he had made a -lot of money there, and—”</p> - -<p>“How strange of me to forget it; I believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -I do remember it now. We used to -be quite friends before he went away, too; -which makes it all the stranger. Do you -know, I’m afraid I shall have to accept one -of those lovely Mexican opals he brought -with him, or hurt his feelings! I’d hate -to do that, too, when I haven’t seen him -for so long.”</p> - -<p>“By the way, what is Mrs. Pepperly’s -number?” asked the brown-eyed blonde. -“I—I have been meaning to call on her for -ever so long. What a clever, original -woman she is!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, do go. She said she expected you -would come to see her now. I’m afraid -you will not have an opportunity to see the -opals though. Her son has given all the rest -of them to her, and they are at the jeweler’s -being set. And, by the way, he insisted -so that I had to let him have mine set -for me. I don’t know what Dick will say, -but really I could not hurt the feelings of -such an old friend by refusing—and of -course he knows nothing of Dick!”</p> - -<p>“For my part, I consider opals unlucky,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -said the brown-eyed blonde. “I wouldn’t -wear one for anything!”</p> - -<p>“I’ve heard others say the same thing, -dear,” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin; “but luckily they were people who -were not likely to have the chance! So -far as I am concerned, the good luck of -receiving such a handsome present will -quite overbalance anything unpleasant -which might follow!”</p> - -<p>“Nobody ever had such ill luck as I -have, and I never owned an opal in my -life,” wailed the girl with the classic profile. -“You know how unpleasant my Aunt -Clara is, don’t you? Well, the poor old -soul seemed so lonely in that great big -house that I asked her to make me a nice -long visit, knowing that she intended to go -abroad soon, and—”</p> - -<p>“She might take you along. Good!” -said the girl with the Roman nose. “Did -she accept?”</p> - -<p>“She did. Said she would stay three -whole months. At the end of that time, -she expects to marry a delicate clergyman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -with three grown daughters, and take the -whole party to Europe.”</p> - -<p>“And that is all the compensation you -receive for thinking of others!” cried the -girl with the Roman nose. “Shall you let -her come?”</p> - -<p>“I shall not. I shall tell her that unless -she hears from me within two weeks, she -may know that I am down with a threatened -attack of scarlet fever. She has a horror -of illness, and wild horses couldn’t drag -her here after that. But I shall have an -exciting time with my sire, if he ever finds -it out!”</p> - -<p>“Humph, your father may never find it -out,” said the girl with the eyeglasses; -“and if he did, you could simply say that -you really thought you were getting scarlet -fever, and only concealed the fact from him -to save him anxiety.”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me, but you forget that I am a -younger daughter. Papa has already had -so much experience with my sisters that I -have to be very careful in my explanations. -This thing of being the third daughter is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -as bad as marrying a widower—worse, for -that is voluntary.”</p> - -<p>“Not always—on the part of the widower,” -said the blue-eyed girl. “Dear, -dear, how queer some things are! I know -a pair of twins, and one of them is called an -old maid, the other a young widow. If -anybody can explain—”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, I know a brother and sister who -have hair of the same identical shade. He -is called red-headed while she is a Titian -blonde,” said the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“And I went to school with a girl who -was always called snub-nosed by everybody -but the man she married,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin; “he said her -nose was ‘tip-tilted, like the petal of a -flower.’ Can you explain that?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the president, shortly, “she -has money. Oh, girls, I went to the photographer’s -last week, and I haven’t had -the courage even to snub my sister-in-law -since I got the proofs. Indeed, sometimes -I almost feel grateful to Tom for marrying -me—though of course I don’t let him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -know that. You have no idea how I felt -when—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I have,” said the blue-eyed -girl, with a shudder. “I once knew an -awfully nice man, who turned out to be an -amateur photographer. He took two hundred -and seventy-five pictures of me one -summer, and I used to know just who my -enemies were. They would pretend that -they recognized me in them all!”</p> - -<p>“That’s nothing,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “I once appeared as -Cinderella at a charity entertainment, and -an amateur photographer took a picture of -me in costume. My foot was thrust forward, -and oh, girls, it looked the size of a -pumpkin. And the photographer actually -took credit to himself because the face was -an excellent likeness!”</p> - -<p>“I was once photographed by an amateur,” -said the brown-eyed blonde; “he -said my picture was his masterpiece. I -always keep it on my dressing table during -Lent,” she added.</p> - -<p>“I once knew an amateur photographer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -quite well,” said the girl with classic profile, -“but for each photograph he took of -me I made one of him!”</p> - -<p>“With the result—” said the president.</p> - -<p>“That he gladly bartered his collection -for mine. Somehow, we haven’t been -very good friends since. I often think -things might have turned out very differently -if he hadn’t bought that camera;” -and she sighed, softly.</p> - -<p>“Well, girls,” said the president, “I am -afraid that we must adjourn, though I had -hoped we might find time for a social session -after the day’s work was concluded. -However, I promised both Tom and the -dressmaker that I’d meet them at five -o’clock. She won’t wait, and he will; so -I—”</p> - -<p>“But why not make him go to the dressmaker’s -with you,” said the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“Because I want to tell him just what I -think of his behavior—smoking in the drawing-room, -just because I happened to be -out. If he once heard Madame contradict<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -me in the way she does, I could never hope -to produce any impression on him again.”</p> - -<p>Emily and Dorothy walked home in -silence, and the former noticed, with alarm, -that Dorothy did not attempt to protect -her skirts from the mud. When they -reached her door, she turned and said:</p> - -<p>“If I am not here when you come to-morrow, -you may know that I have gone to -take up social settlement work, and devote -my time to the poor. If you never see me -again, you may know that I forgive all my -enemies. It may make Frances feel better, -though I must say that she does not -deserve it.”</p> - -<p>“And Jack, dear; what shall I say to -him?”</p> - -<p>“If it is any comfort to him, you might -say that I do not regret my fruitless efforts -to make peace with him. I hope you will -think of me sometimes at work among the -poor and the afflicted. And now, good-bye—perhaps -forever!”</p> - -<p>Emily had walked perhaps a block, when -she heard her name called once more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, what is it,” she said.</p> - -<p>“If you know any one who wants a nice -little dog, send him to me. I—”</p> - -<p>“What! You surely don’t mean -Clover?”</p> - -<p>“I just do. After what has happened -to-day, I never want to see the little beast -again! And, Emily—!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear.”</p> - -<p>“If you were in my place, would you -wear the blue or the geranium pink gown -at the dance to-night?”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter X<br /> - -<small>Woman as a Parliamentarian</small></h2> - - -<p>“Oh, dear me,” said the president, “I -don’t see why men can never understand -things.”</p> - -<p>“H’m,” said the brown-eyed blonde. -“Are we to understand that you have just -discovered that fact?”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the president, -“but I’ve just had an argument with my -husband—that’s why I am late to-day, -girls. He will insist that this club ought to -have a constitution and by-laws, and a lot -of other unnecessary things, in spite of the -fact that we get along nicely just as well -without them.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose he would like to draft them -for us,” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin. “That is always the way with men. -When they see women doing anything well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -they always want to come in, and take the -credit of it.”</p> - -<p>“So they do,” said the girl with the -classic profile. “I suppose he would want -us to have parliamentary rules, too—as if -anybody would obey them! Anyhow, it is -only a man who can do but one thing at a -time. I suppose it is necessary in a club of -men that only one person have the floor at -a time, and all that sort of thing.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose it is,” said the president, “no -man that ever lived could tell what anybody -else was saying while he was talking himself. -Well, I only wish they could see how -orderly our meetings are, and how well we -keep to the subject in hand, without any -rules or regulations. By the way, let us -discuss ‘Woman as a Parliamentarian’ to-day. -What do you say?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, “you said the subject was to -be ‘Woman as a Factor in the Business -World,’ and I was to speak on it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, you can use the same line of -argument, anyhow; I forgot to tell you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -that I had changed my mind. Girls, do be -quiet while she reads her paper on—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but I am not prepared, anyhow,” -said the girl with the Roman nose. “I was -obliged to stop in the midst of it to write -the invitations for my five o’clock tea. A -nice job it was, too, for I just couldn’t get -all I wanted to say on a card!”</p> - -<p>“Why, I heard a man saying only the -other day, that you write the most charming -notes he ever read,” said the girl with -the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Thank you for telling me, dear. I shall -use the telephone exclusively after this—the -idea of living to know that everybody -says when you are spoken of, ‘Yes, what -charming notes she does write.’ Think of -knowing that you are expected to be brilliant -when you write to say you can’t come -to dinner because your face is swollen, or -to ask how to take coffee stains out of your -new evening gown.”</p> - -<p>“I know all about that,” groaned the -brown-eyed blonde; “once in an evil hour -somebody called me ‘vivacious,’ and I’ve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -cultivated three wrinkles in trying to live -up to it. Think of having to be vivacious -at a church sociable, or when the man to -whom you have just been revealing your -views on the subject of friendship turns out -to be engaged!”</p> - -<p>“Awful!” shuddered the girl with the eyeglasses, -“but pity me, all of you. People -who like me always say that I am a delightful -conversationalist; those who do not, -simply remark that I talk all the time. -Sometimes, when I am low-spirited, it seems -to me that there is not much difference between -the two.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but think of me!” moaned the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “Somebody -once discovered that I had a ‘little -head running over with curls,’ I calculate -that I have spent a fortune in patent curlers -and alcohol lamps since then!”</p> - -<p>“I suppose that is why you wouldn’t go -to the seashore with me last summer,” remarked -the president. “Well, for my part, -I only wish I knew who it was that first -called me a ‘nice little woman’—it’s as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -bad as being named Smith or living in a -row!”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, I wouldn’t mind that a bit,” -said the girl with the Roman nose, “there’s -nothing like a reputation for amiability—you -can be as ill-natured as you please, -once it is gained.”</p> - -<p>“Humph, you seem to forget that I have -a husband to remind me of things,” said -the president. “Well, there is one person -I don’t envy, and that is Barbara.”</p> - -<p>“Humph, I don’t think she is so beautiful,” -said the girl with the Roman nose; -“for my part, I think her nose might be -called a snub.”</p> - -<p>“Neither do I,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin; “the lower part of her -face is actually coarse.”</p> - -<p>“Say what you please,” said the president, -“she has the reputation of being a -beauty, and if she doesn’t look as well as -usual she just has to stay at home. She -has a cold now, and her complexion is -awful.”</p> - -<p>“Is it?” said the girl with the Roman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -nose, “I must certainly stop in to see her -to-day. I never saw her when she had a -really bad cold.”</p> - -<p>“And so shall I,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, “she really ought not to be -neglected when she is ill.”</p> - -<p>“I shall go, too,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin. “And by the way, Dick -has been teasing for an introduction to her -for ever so long. This will be the very -time to take him to call on her—when she -is certain to be at home, I mean.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” said the president; “it -is very thoughtful of you to want to cheer -up the poor thing. Girls, shouldn’t you -love to see her face when she finds that -Emily has brought a strange man to call -when her complexion is in such a condition.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t suppose that she will mind -Dick,” said the brown-eyed blonde; “nobody -else does, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, sweetly. “Of course he -has eyes for nobody else when I am in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -room; but I did not expect you, Frances, -to acknowledge as much.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Dorothy,” cried the president, -“here you are, at last! It isn’t like you -to keep anybody waiting—that is, of course, -except a man; they are accustomed to it, -and—”</p> - -<p>“Why, does Dorothy ever keep a man -waiting?” said the brown-eyed blonde, -elevating her eyebrows. “I had understood -that she usually met them in the -front hall when—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear, but then I am always dressed -to see masculine callers. I have so many, -you know. Why, Evelyn, I would not -have been late for the world, but my new -gown—”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t blame you for it, -dear. I couldn’t have helped making a -dramatic entry in such a poem myself.”</p> - -<p>“But it wasn’t that which made me late, -dear. I fancied there was a tiny wrinkle in -the back of the waist. After examining it -in every mirror in the house, I discovered -that it was only the way I twisted my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -shoulders to look at it, which made the -wrinkle.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I am glad that your mind is at -rest about it, anyhow,” said the girl with -the eyeglasses, “one’s back is so defenseless. -Annie once sat behind me at the theater, -and I endured agonies lest the bow at -the back of my collar was crooked. When -we came away, I found that she had actually -been so absorbed in the people on the -stage that she didn’t know I was there. I -had been wanting to see that play for -months, and, to save my life, I couldn’t -have told you a thing in it after I saw it.”</p> - -<p>“I know just how you felt,” said the -president, “I once went to a matinée with -Eustace just before Tom and I were married, -and I expected to have great fun, because -there was so much danger of being -found out. Toward the end of the first -act, I heard that horrid Miss Blanque in the -seat back of me, saying, ‘Oh, Tom, what -would she say if she knew!’ I can tell you -that my blood boiled when I thought of -such duplicity, and I was tempted to turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -and wither them on the spot with a single -glance!”</p> - -<p>“And did you?” eagerly asked the girl -with the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“Why—er, no. I thought Tom might -ask why I had come with Eustace, though -that was very different.”</p> - -<p>“Very different, indeed,” said the blue-eyed -girl. “And did you—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t enjoy that play a bit. I -told Eustace I had a headache at the end -of the second act, and—”</p> - -<p>“No doubt by that time it was true -enough. Such duplicity in one whom you -trusted was—”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And he had always said he did -not admire Miss Blanque at all. Well, I -went home and wrote him a scorching note. -I said that but for Eustace, I should never -have discovered that he was flirting with -another girl while pretending to think of -nobody but me!”</p> - -<p>“That was quite right. I hope he was -ashamed of himself!”</p> - -<p>“Well, no; he wasn’t. He had been at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -a stockholder’s meeting all that afternoon. -My own father was there, and he called -him as a witness! And I actually had to -explain why I had gone to the matinée with -Eustace!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness, how awful!” cried -the girl with the Roman nose. “But you -said you heard Miss Blanque call him -Tom!”</p> - -<p>“So I did. It was Tom Dashaway who -was engaged to Elaine. And wasn’t it a -joke? She never found him out at all!”</p> - -<p>“It is awfully hard to get ahead of a -man,” sighed the girl with the classic profile; -“and it is the irony of fate that when -one <i>does</i> succeed in doing it, the victory is -usually of such a character that, in order to -retain it, one must say nothing at all about -it!”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Oh, I am so enraged with Harold -that I feel ready to die! I had an engagement -with him on Saturday afternoon, -and I forgot all about it and went out with -Marie. I never thought of him at all until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -I saw him coming up the street, and then I -dragged Marie into a shop. I was so excited -that she thought a mad dog was coming, -and almost created a scene!”</p> - -<p>“And did he recognize you?” asked the -blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid so. He didn’t come, as -usual, on Sunday; and I took the dilemma -by the horns, and wrote him a note, saying -that I remained at home all Saturday afternoon -expecting him; and why didn’t he -come, as he had promised?”</p> - -<p>“Good idea!” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin; “then, he would think he -had mistaken some one else for you. You -could pretend to be very much offended at -that, and so snatch victory from the very -jaws of defeat.”</p> - -<p>“So I thought. But his reply—oh, I -knew I should die of rage! It said: ‘My -dear Miss Marion: Pray pardon me for -quite overlooking my engagement with you -on Saturday afternoon. Yes, I know you -were at home—for I saw you at the window -as I passed!’ And as long as I live, I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -never be able to tell that man what I really -think of him!”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, you can tell everybody else—and -that is almost as satisfying,” said the -president; “more so, perhaps; for then you -need not hear what he has to say in -reply.”</p> - -<p>“I am so glad to see you looking so well -to-day, Dorothy, dear,” whispered the girl -with the dimple in her chin; “it pleases me -to see that you still take an interest in -dress, and—”</p> - -<p>“Pray, why shouldn’t I take an interest -in dress? Really, Emily Marshmallow, you -are the queerest girl I ever did see! Here, -you see me trying to conceal my poor -broken heart with smiles, and then you begrudge -me the slight pleasure I take in appearing -decently clad. And when I mean -to go and teach in a free kindergarten—well, -next week, and wear a black gown -with white collar and cuffs for the rest of -my natural life!”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t mean to begrudge -you anything, dear. And Jack says that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -he is sure that if you would just see him, -he could explain the whole thing—”</p> - -<p>“Of course, you have been on his side all -along. That is the way of the world; -everybody sympathizes with the one who -is in fault, and—”</p> - -<p>“He said that he was hurrying to catch -up with you on the street yesterday, and -that Frances—this is what he says, dear—not -knowing what he was doing, called him -to rescue her hat, which had blown away. -By the time he had done it, you were out -of sight. You see, Dorothy, he seems to -fancy that you are—well, rather nice to -Clarence, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I thought Clarence was coming. -So I am rather nice to the one human being -who really understands me, am I? Well, -you may just tell Jack Bittersweet that I -shall keep on being nice to him as long as I -choose—and he might know me well enough -by this time to be sure that I shall keep my -word!”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, Dorothy, you surely are not -crying, are you?” cried the brown-eyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -blonde. “Do tell me what is wrong; perhaps -I can help you.”</p> - -<p>“I am afraid not, dear. I was just telling -Emily that there is so much trouble in -the world that I sometimes feel actually -guilty when I think of my own absolutely -cloudless existence! By the way, have you -heard that Clarence Lighthed has just -bought that pretty place in Astor Street, -which was for sale? He must think that -my knowledge of architecture is valuable, -for he told his agent to make an offer for it -just because I admired it so much!”</p> - -<p>“Poor Effie Bittersweet,” said the president. -“I—ah, I don’t know what has made -me think of <i>her</i> just at this time, but Madame -told me yesterday that she had been -obliged to alter all her gowns for her. They -are a full half-inch too loose, she says!”</p> - -<p>“Really? Is Effie ill?” cried the blue-eyed -girl, in surprise. “How odd that you -never thought to mention it, Frances! I -should have gone to see her immediately, -had I known it. Pray, tell her so when -you see her next.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> - -<p>“If you are so anxious to see her, why -not go with me, and tell her so, yourself,” -said the brown-eyed blonde, dryly.</p> - -<p>“In this gown? and when all of hers are -at the dressmaker’s! I couldn’t think of -doing such a mean thing. I only thought -that as you are always at her house, you -could take a message for me; that is all.”</p> - -<p>“Tom says Clarence asked him the other -day, if he didn’t consider that the best -thing a fellow could do was to marry some -nice girl, and settle down,” said the president, -suddenly.</p> - -<p>“Yes? And what did Tom say?” asked -the girl with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“He must have said ‘yes,’ dear; otherwise -he wouldn’t have dared to mention -the occurrence to me at all.”</p> - -<p>“What <i>I</i> am wondering,” said the blue-eyed -girl, innocently, “is: what on earth -made Clarence ask him such a question?”</p> - -<p>“Sheer curiosity, dear,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, sweetly; “what other reason -could he possibly have had? By the way, -girls, have you noticed that Marie is showing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -great strength of character lately? She -has broken with Mr. Mushley, and actually -refused to send back any of his presents. -She says the sight of them could not fail to -remind him of his loss, and she would rather -have people speak unkindly of her than -cause him unnecessary pain!”</p> - -<p>“How sweet of her,” said the girl with -the Roman nose. “I only hope he will -appreciate her consideration. Girls, what -do you think Elizabeth told me the other -day? Why, that all the photographs of -girls my brother saw when he called on -Fred belonged to a man with whom he -used to room, and he was only keeping them -until he happened to run across him again.”</p> - -<p>“And she believed him?” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin, scornfully. -“How silly some girls are, to be sure! -They believe anything a man tells them. -To be sure, Dick was telling me the truth -when he said that he only wrote all those -sonnets to Clara as a joke; but that was -very different.”</p> - -<p>“Very different,” said the girl with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -classic profile. “Girls, I heard to-day that -Jack Bittersweet is thinking of throwing up -his partnership, and emigrating to Australia. -I beg your pardon, Dorothy, did -you speak?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear, I was about to say that I -think ‘Woman as a Parliamentarian’ is the -most interesting topic we have ever discussed. -By the way, I wonder if the climate -of Australia is as unhealthy as some -people think! I—I am so fond of Effie -that I should hate to have anything happen -to her brother.”</p> - -<p>“I think Effie could bear it, dear,” said -the president, “even in her present state of -health. She says Jack is so cross that a -hyena would be amiable by comparison.”</p> - -<p>“Jack Bittersweet cross!” cried the -brown-eyed blonde. “Why, he is one of -the nicest fellows I ever knew, and—”</p> - -<p>“But after all, you are hardly a judge of -masculine dispositions, dear,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin. “Your acquaintance -with the sex has been so limited, -you know. Oh, Evelyn, I’ve been intending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -to ask you if we can’t take up theosophy, -and discuss it thoroughly at one of our -meetings in the near future. I am so anxious -for a thorough knowledge of it.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed we can,” cried the president, -heartily. “You don’t know how pleased I -am to hear you say that, Emily,—well, if -there is one thing this club can safely pride -itself upon it is its thoroughness; and I -am sure that is more than most organizations -can do—!”</p> - -<p>“I know it,” said the blue-eyed girl; -“why, my father belongs to a club which -has taken six months to study the financial -problems of Europe and the United States. -They are not yet through discussing the -subject—and yet they have the temerity to -call themselves students!”</p> - -<p>“I hope you have pointed out to them -the superiority of our system over—”</p> - -<p>“Well, no, dear; somehow it does not -seem wise to discuss such a subject with -one’s father. Dear, dear, do you suppose -that girls were so very different in the days -when our fathers were young?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Humph, no,” said the girl with the -Roman nose, “but they were much more -afraid of remaining single. Besides, our -fathers were young, too, in those days, and -ever so much easier to please. Still,” she -added, thoughtfully, “I don’t know that -it is altogether that. No one is so easily -subjugated as an elderly man who has become -a widower. It is so long since girls -have really tried to make themselves agreeable -to him, that all their little ways are -new to him.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, yes—unless he has grown daughters -of his own,” said the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see what difference that makes. -They don’t try their little ways of—of being -nice on <i>him;</i> and seeing them tried on -some one else is very different.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it?” said the girl with the classic -profile. “Now, for instance, it is very interesting -to have a man pay one compliments; -but how it does bore one to hear -him say the very same things about another -girl!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Doesn’t it? and yet, such is the selfishness -of man, that he expects one to be as -much interested,” said the girl with the -eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” cried the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “you know that old Mrs. -Myllons is always making presents to Barbara -and me! Well, one day in the beginning -of the season she called for me to go -shopping with her. Of course, I went. -Now, it was not long after Barbara had encouraged -her to give me that awful picture -of Burns, and I was as eager for her to -select a present for Barbara as for me. I -knew I could direct her choice in either -case. To my joy, she stopped to look at -silks, and her choice fell upon a hideous -piece of green which would demolish Barbara’s -complexion completely—and I really -think that girl would sooner part with her -life than her complexion. I managed to -convey to Mrs. Myllons my personal preference -for a lovely pink which cost a dollar less -a yard, while encouraging her to buy the -green. You see she was planning her reception,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> -and Barbara and I were to assist -her on that occasion.”</p> - -<p>“So she took it, did she?” said the president. -“I only hope I may see Barbara in -the green!”</p> - -<p>“You never will,” wailed the girl with -the dimple in her chin—“it was for me! -Mrs. Myllons sent it with a lovely note -complimenting me on my unselfishness in -wishing Barbara to have the handsomer -piece. I dare not refuse to wear it at the -reception; and my own father actually says -it serves me right for trying to play a joke -on Barbara!”</p> - -<p>“You must not expect sympathy from -your father, dear,” said the girl with the -Roman nose; “he will expect you to wear -that gown all season, to save buying another. -And nothing will ever happen to it, -either,” she added. “It is only the gown -that is dearer to you than life itself which -has a fatal attraction for cups of coffee or -fowls carved by inexperienced hosts!”</p> - -<p>“Did I ever tell you of the awful thing -which happened to me last winter?” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -the girl with the classic profile. “I believe -not, though; we hadn’t started our club -then. Well, I just had to have a new -gown, and I was so afraid that my father -wouldn’t give it to me that I got it without -saying a word to him. I knew that -even if there was a cyclone over the bill -I’d have the gown anyhow. That being -the case, I got a much handsomer one than -I would have chosen under other circumstances.”</p> - -<p>“Quite right,” said the president; “if -there must be an unpleasant scene, better -have it over something which will fully -repay one.”</p> - -<p>“So I thought. Well, the gown only -came home the evening of my sister’s -dance; and I really wanted to enjoy that, -so I decided not to give papa the bill until -the next day, though the dressmaker was in -a great hurry for her money.”</p> - -<p>“They always are,” sighed the president.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I was having a lovely time until -supper was served, and then Mr. Rocksby -emptied a plate of lobster salad over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -whole front of my new gown! Florence -was near; she never got farther away from -him than—than she could help; and—well, -you all know how he admires amiability! -He apologized profusely, and I, smilingly, -said, ‘Oh, it doesn’t make the least difference. -The gown is of no value at all, and -I should probably never have worn it again, -anyhow.’”</p> - -<p>“How lovely of you!” said the blue-eyed -girl. “It must have made a deep impression -upon him.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, I don’t know about that; but it -did upon me. I happened to turn my head -just then, and papa was at my elbow! I’d -rather not tell you the things he said when -I gave him the bill for that gown the next -morning!”</p> - -<p>“We can all guess,” said the blue-eyed -girl, with a shudder. “But wasn’t Mr. -Rocksby awfully nice to you after that?”</p> - -<p>“No, he wasn’t. He said that the girl -who cared nothing for the destruction of -such a handsome gown was too extravagant -to make a good wife for a poor man!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -And the hardest part of it all was the fact -that he must have lots of money, else he -never on earth would speak of himself as -‘a poor man!’”</p> - -<p>“Let us hope your father never found -that out,” said the president, in devout -tones.</p> - -<p>“But he did. He overheard Mr. Rocksby -saying it to Florence; and that was one -of the things he mentioned when I gave -him the bill.”</p> - -<p>“You poor dear!” said the president. “I -declare it really depresses me to hear of -such persistent ill-luck. Well, girls, since -we have thoroughly exhausted our subject, -I think we may just as well adjourn.”</p> - -<p>The blue-eyed girl went home with the -girl with the dimple in her chin, and after -they had begun to sip their tea, she said:</p> - -<p>“Is it true that Jack intends to go to -Australia unless our quarrel is made up?”</p> - -<p>“He—he <i>says</i> he will,” was the cautious -reply.</p> - -<p>“Then, I want to know what you intend -to do in the matter?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What I—intend to do in the matter?” -she gasped.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Of course it is thoroughly in your -hands. I have not made a single move -without consulting you, and being guided -by your advice. And if the quarrel is -never made up, and I die of a broken heart, -it will be entirely your fault!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter XII<br /> - -<small>The Club Investigates Theosophy</small></h2> - - -<p>“We will discuss to-day: ‘What Theosophy -Really Teaches,’” said the president, as -soon as she could make herself heard. -“You expressed an earnest wish to study -it,’ Emily, and—”</p> - -<p>“Did I?” asked the girl with the dimple -in her chin, looking surprised. “I had quite -forgotten it. However, I have been so -busy with my new hats and the chairmanship -of a committee appointed to instruct -tenement house mothers as to the best -method of bringing up children, that I have -had no time for anything else.”</p> - -<p>“And no wonder,” said the girl with the -classic profile. “How grateful those poor -ignorant people must be for your instruction!”</p> - -<p>“M—I don’t know about that. At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> -times, I am very much discouraged. One -woman said she would gladly allow her children -to wear two fresh aprons a day, if I -would pay for the washing of them. Another -said that she had already raised six -children without my assistance, and she believed -she could worry on without it a bit -longer. Still another was so stupid that -she couldn’t be made to understand how -I, who had never had any children, was -able to offer her such valuable suggestions.”</p> - -<p>“As if it depended on experience,” said -the president. “The theory is ever so much -more important.”</p> - -<p>“That was what I said to the woman -who— You knew that I had resigned -from that same committee, didn’t you?” -said the girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Why, no; this is the first I have heard -of it. And you were so enthusiastic, too! -What on earth has made you change your -mind?”</p> - -<p>“A woman. She—”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I thought, perhaps, it was a -man,” said the brown-eyed blonde.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No. I am not as easily influenced as -you are, dear. This woman lived up six -flights of the dirtiest stairs I ever saw. I -wondered at the time why she didn’t ask -the landlord to have an elevator put in; -probably she hadn’t thought of it. She -lived in two rooms, and you never saw such -awful poverty in your life. I thought, as -she was so awfully poor, she couldn’t have -much feeling, so I told her plainly that she -could never expect her children to love and -honor her if she did not at once give them -each a hot bath, and put up fresh curtains -and a pot or two of flowers in the windows. -Everybody knows how cheap curtains are -nowadays—not the real lace ones, of course, -but—”</p> - -<p>“Tamboured muslin and all that,” said -the president. “Was she grateful for your -interest in her?”</p> - -<p>“I fear not. She looked at me, earnestly, -and said: ‘You’ve been to one of -them, haven’t you? I’ve always wanted -to see somebody that had!’”</p> - -<p>“Was the woman mad?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I was afraid so, and I began to back -out of the door, when she called, ‘Mary -Ellen! oh, Mary Ellen! come right in here -this minute! Here is a lady who has been -to one of them there beauty doctors we was -talking about yesterday! She must be awful -old, for she’s brought up a lot of children; -and come here to teach me how to raise -mine; and if that beauty doctor ain’t fixed -her up so she looks real young!’”</p> - -<p>“And did Mary Ellen come?” asked the -girl with the dimple in her chin, sympathetically.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I didn’t wait; but I -am almost sure I heard several people -laughing as I came down-stairs. After this, -I shall devote my energies to foreign missions -or something like that. If the heathens -are not grateful for my efforts in their -behalf, they at least express themselves in -a tongue I don’t understand; and they are -too far away for me to hear them, even if I -<i>could</i> understand!”</p> - -<p>“Their ingratitude is awful,” wailed the -president. “Well, I’m glad you have told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> -me all this. Otherwise, I never could have -had courage to tell you my last experience -with visiting the dwellers in the slums as a -member of the ‘Society for Procuring Better -Ventilation in Other People’s Bedrooms!’ -I called on one woman, who really -seemed impressed by my arguments; she -was quite polite, and never took her eyes -off my bonnet all the time I was talking to -her. I was so pleased with her that I gave -her my address, and told her I would let -her have a lot of pamphlets on the subject, -if she would send for them. I knew I -could not get one of my maids to carry -them into that district, and besides her -husband could easily come for them. He -was a street paver, and no doubt would be -glad to get the exercise.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the blue-eyed girl. -“Did he come?”</p> - -<p>“No. But she herself walked in on my -reception day a few weeks later. She wore -a bonnet which was a perfect caricature of -mine. She said she hoped I would forgive -her for delaying the returning of my call so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> -long; and didn’t I think my reception-room -was too warm to be quite healthy?”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever hear of such impertinence! -and in your own house, too!” -said the girl with the eyeglasses. “What did -the other members of the society say?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I resigned, by telephone, -as soon as Tom and the doctor succeeded -in bringing me out of my fainting -fit.”</p> - -<p>“And no wonder,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin, sympathetically. “And -yet, people complain that we take so little -interest in the poor! Only a real philanthropist -can appreciate the rebuffs we receive. -The only thing which helps us to -bear them, is the knowledge that we are -doing such incalculable good.”</p> - -<p>“It is very sweet and good of you to feel -so,” sighed the girl with the eyeglasses. -“I don’t know that I am quite so magnanimous, -myself. Oh, Catharine, dear; you -were speaking of Mr. Rocksby the other -day. Did you ever hear the end of his affair -with Florence?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, no,” said the girl with the classic -profile. “I only knew that it <i>had</i> an end. -How on earth did you find out about it?”</p> - -<p>“I heard that she and Effie had fallen -out, and I asked Effie all about it. Of -course she was glad enough to tell. It -seems that there was a dance at the club in -Arcadia, and Florence went out to stay -with the Brownstones and attend it. Mr. -Rocksby happened to meet her at the station, -and went out with her, intending to -return by the next train. It turned out -that there was no train back until midnight, -so the Brownstones invited him to dine and -go to the dance with them. They even -brought out a dress coat of Mr. Brownstone’s -for him to wear, and Florence told -Effie that he looked as if he weighed twenty -pounds less when he put it on.”</p> - -<p>“It’s really wonderful the way people -always help Florence along,” sighed the -girl with the classic profile. “Nobody ever -does such things for <i>me</i>.”</p> - -<p>“I fancy Florence wishes they hadn’t -for <i>her</i>, dear. Well, he was lovely to her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> -at the dance, and after a while he coaxed -her out on the balcony for a quiet talk. -Before she fairly knew what he was about, -he had fallen heavily on his knees and said, -‘Florence, I—’ when she heard the queerest -sound, and he sprang to his feet, with his -hand on his back!”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious, I hope the poor old -soul hadn’t hurt himself?”</p> - -<p>“No; I believe not. But he had split -Mr. Brownstone’s dress coat from top to -bottom. And though Florence tried her -very best, she never could coax him to finish -the sentence he had just begun!”</p> - -<p>“Poor Florence! No wonder she says now -she thinks a man looks better in cycling -garb than anything else. The sight of a -dress coat must be enough to make her ill.”</p> - -<p>“I should think so,” said the president. -“By the way, speaking of theosophy, I -wonder why its stout and elderly devotees -wear such flowing white robes? The -younger ones seem content with short -hair and general dowdiness.”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious, you will be wondering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -next why politicians always wear diamonds -or why dressmakers invariably appear in -old-fashioned gowns,” said the girl with the -Roman nose; “and I must say, frankly, that -I can’t answer either of those questions. -By the way, Evelyn, I suppose I am to -congratulate you. I hear that Tom has -just inherited ten thousand dollars.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether you may congratulate -me, or not,” said the president. -“Sometimes, I—”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Then, there is no truth in the -report?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is true enough, but I don’t -know whether I am to be congratulated or -not. You see, I was getting along very -well as we were, and now I see that I need -a lot of things I never thought of before—more -than the extra income could possibly -cover—and I shall be absolutely wretched -unless I can have them.”</p> - -<p>“But you will have some of them, anyhow, -won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure. Tom talks now of putting -all the money into his business. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -that case he will be obliged to work harder, -because he will have more at stake; he -says, also, that I shall have to be more -economical than ever because every cent -will be needed to extend his operations. -On the whole,” she added, thoughtfully, -“I am rather sorry his aunt is -dead. It was ever so much nicer when -she was living, and I could spend the -expected legacy royally, in imagination, at -least.”</p> - -<p>“You poor dear; to think of having cause -to regret the death of a wealthy relative,” -said the blue-eyed girl, “but—er—couldn’t -Tom put you on the pay-roll as a clerk, or -something?”</p> - -<p>“I did suggest that; but he said he’d -rather pay me a salary to stay out of -the office. I haven’t spoken to him -since.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know, I always think it a mistake -to stop speaking to any one,” said the -blue-eyed girl; “it seems unkind, and then -one loses the opportunity to say unpleasant -things to them, too.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I believe you are right,” said the president. -“No married man seems to appreciate -speechless indignation, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“I must see you alone a moment, Emily, -dear,” whispered the blue-eyed girl. “Can’t -you come with me down to the other end -of the room, and let me pretend to straighten -your hair?”</p> - -<p>“With pleasure, dear,” replied Emily, -but there was no alacrity in her voice; -“only we must not stay too long lest -Frances suspect something.”</p> - -<p>“What if she does? She would only think -we are talking about her—and I doubt if -that would make her particularly comfortable. -It is about Jack. Perhaps, you can -pardon his behavior, but for me the last -link which bound us is broken, and I feel -now that I can start for India as a missionary -without a pang!”</p> - -<p>“My goodness, what has he done now? -I’ve been afraid all along, Dorothy, that -you would put off the reconciliation too -long. While he confines his attentions to -Frances, it is all right; but some time he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -will find out that there are a number of nice -girls in the world, and—”</p> - -<p>“Frances has nothing to do with it,” she -replied, with great dignity. “It happened -this way: I was coming home about dusk -yesterday—you remember how it rained, -don’t you? Well, I was so miserable that I -didn’t even attempt to hold up my skirts—it -was a kind of a comfort to let them get -thoroughly draggled. A gust of wind blew -my umbrella to one side, and I saw Jack -and Mr. Bonds just ahead of me. By the -way, did you ever notice that—er—there is -a certain likeness between those two?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve always said they looked enough -alike to be brothers. Don’t you remember, -dear, when you were first engaged to Jack, -you wouldn’t speak to me for two weeks -because I mentioned the fact?”</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t remember. Well, all of a -sudden, I felt that I could forgive Jack all -if I could just lay my head on his shoulder, -and hear him say that he was sorry.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Dorothy, dear, I am so glad! He -told me this morning that he—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> - -<p>“If you will kindly allow me to proceed, -without interruption, I will explain how -that is now impossible. I was wondering -how Mr. Bonds could be gotten rid of, so -that Jack could go home with me and apologize -comfortably before dinner; when he -suddenly left him and ran up the Vansmith’s -steps. Jack was walking slowly, -and I just shut my eyes, and made a dash -to catch up with him. My own voice -sounded like a fog whistle, as I said: ‘W—wait -a moment; I—I wish to speak to you.’ -And, oh, Emily—”</p> - -<p>“You surely never mean to say that Jack -wouldn’t stop when you called?”</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t Jack. It was Mr. Bonds; -Jack had gone into the Vansmith house! -But, oh, Emily, if he really loved me, he -would have known that I was right behind -him, ready to forgive and forget. I shall -sail for India some time next week, and if I -never return, you—”</p> - -<p>“But, Dorothy, Jack is only too anxious -to make up. He says that a lover’s quarrel -is worse than a Welsh rarebit for keeping a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -fellow awake at night. And he told me to -tell you—”</p> - -<p>“Well, Emily Marshmallow, if this is all -the interest you take in our discussion of -theosophy, we might as well adjourn, and -go to a millinery shop or an afternoon tea,” -said the president, with some asperity; -“and, after all the trouble I’ve taken in -reading everything the dictionary and the -encyclopædia have to say on the subject, I -think you might at least pay attention to -my remarks!”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, Evelyn, I really beg your -pardon. I shall borrow Elise’s note-book, -and study it all out before I sleep. There -is nothing so productive of a good night’s -rest as half an hour’s solid reading after -one is in bed. Why, the other night, I -took a book on philosophy to bed with me, -and before I had read six sentences I was -asleep. I never woke till nine o’clock in -the morning, and the gas was blazing all -that time. I doubt if I’d have waked then -if somebody hadn’t knocked at my door.”</p> - -<p>“It was the sweet consciousness of duty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> -well performed,” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “Now, if your book had been -a really interesting novel, you would have -been awake half the night.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the girl with the classic -profile, “and been as yellow as a primrose -in the morning. I often say that a few -pages of really good literature just before -retiring is the best thing in the world for -the complexion. One girl I know says -she always reads her Bible then; but I -don’t approve of that—if one falls asleep -suddenly, allowing it to drop heavily upon -the floor, it is sure to awaken the other -members of the family. If I do that, my -father—”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, plaintively. “Mamma says -that if I take any more solid reading to -bed I may confront papa with this month’s -gas bill, when it comes in, for she absolutely -refuses to do it!”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw, men are all alike; though I -didn’t use to think so,” said the president. -“Now, I always forget all about the topic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -for discussion until half an hour before it is -time to start for the club. A man would -say that he hadn’t time to prepare for it, -but a woman’s courage never deserts her. -I am all ready at the appointed time, even -if I have to tell the cook to have anything -she chooses for dinner. Now, Tom thinks -I ought to be ready by the day before, even -if I have to give up a tea or a luncheon to -do it.”</p> - -<p>“The idea!” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Really, women have so many -things to do nowadays that is a wonder -they find time for them all; and yet, -men seem to expect them to be just as good -housekeepers as they were when they had -nothing else to do. I regret to see that -the sexes have not progressed equally.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed they have not,” said the brown-eyed -blonde. “Who ever heard of the -new man? And if there <i>was</i> such a creature -he would no doubt be so effeminate -that nobody would care anything for -him.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the girl with the classic profile,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -“sometimes, I fear that Helen’s husband -will develop such proclivities. Of -course it is only a harmless eccentricity -which makes him sew on his own buttons—I -can overlook that. But the other day he -was getting ready to go down town while -she was out on her bicycle. Just because -she was wearing one of his shirts and a collar -and tie of his, he dressed up in that -lovely lace collarette of hers, and was -actually going out with it on! What would -people have said of a man who appeared in -such feminine attire!”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me, I hope he is not losing -his mind,” said the president. “However, -if he is, Helen is always ready to supply -him with a piece of hers. By the way, -girls, what queer questions men do ask! -Several of Tom’s friends dined with us last -evening, and they actually wanted to know -why a stout woman always selects a tiny -dog for a pet, while a wisp of a woman will -be tugging at the chain of an enormous -mastiff. I simply told them that they -must not be so curious, for, though I would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -not confess it to <i>them</i>, I really could not -answer the question.”</p> - -<p>“And you were quite right,” said the -blue-eyed girl, indignantly; “by and by, -they will actually expect us to give a reason -for everything we do! Which is palpably -absurd, since we so often do things -without any reason at all!”</p> - -<p>“Well, luckily, we are not responsible -for anybody,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Oh! I just wouldn’t be a man -for anything in the world.”</p> - -<p>“Would anybody, if he could help it?” -queried the brown-eyed blonde. “Of -course, they all pretend to like it, but one -can easily see the hollowness of the pretense. -Why, they would not be half so -anxious to criticise our actions if they -didn’t feel that we have the best of things. -Of course, I would not be a man for anything—”</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” said the president, “and have -to give up my comfortable seat in a street -car every time a woman entered.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But of course it is only right for them -to give up their seats to us,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“Certainly, it’s right. Only I shouldn’t -like to have to do it myself.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. Or to have to pay for -pretty things for somebody else to wear. -Or to have to drop a nice book, and go out -in the rain to escort home a girl who had -been calling on some one else,” said the -girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Or to have to buy candy for -somebody else to eat,” said the girl with -the classic profile.</p> - -<p>“M’hm. Or to have the nearest woman -manage one, without one being aware of -the fact,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. -“I know! Or to have to fall in love with a -girl, and marry her, just because she had -made up her mind that one should,” said -the blue-eyed girl.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Well, really the poor things have -a great deal to endure, though many of -their sufferings are mercifully hidden from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -them,” said the girl with the dimple in her -chin. “But, after all, we are very nice to -them, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Of course we are,” said the president; -“we wouldn’t get nearly so many things -out of them, if we were not. Girls, I hear -that Annie has finally decided to marry -Nelson.”</p> - -<p>“I thought she had done that long ago,” -said the brown-eyed blonde. “Talk of a -woman not knowing her own mind. That -man never—”</p> - -<p>“He knew his own mind well enough, -dear. It was only about Annie’s that he -was doubtful,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “Annie told me herself -how it came to be settled. She said that -she couldn’t decide whether to accept him -or not—”</p> - -<p>“Which means that she had done all she -could, and was doubtful whether he would -do the rest,” said the brown-eyed blonde.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps so. At any rate it was still -uncertain until last Tuesday. He had been -out of town for several days, and returned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> -unexpectedly. Annie had gone out to -mail a letter, and just as she raised the lid -of the letter-box she saw him coming up -the street toward her. As they walked away -together, she glanced down and saw that -she still held her letter in her hand, but her -pocket-book was gone!”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, you don’t mean to say that -she—”</p> - -<p>“I do. She said she knew at once that -she must care a good deal for a man whose -sudden appearance was enough to make her -post her pocketbook instead of a letter—so -she said ‘Yes.’”</p> - -<p>“As soon as he asked her,” said the -brown-eyed blonde. “Well, what he can see -in <i>her</i>, I’m sure <i>I</i> don’t know!”</p> - -<p>“What <i>she</i> can see in <i>him</i> puzzles me,” -said the blue-eyed girl, thoughtfully. “I -don’t see how any girl can really love and -honor a man who wears red neckties; do -you?”</p> - -<p>“For <i>my</i> part, I can’t see what they see -in each other,” said the president, thoughtfully. -“Well, I really think Annie ought to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -give me a handsome present, for it was I -who brought it all about.”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, did you speak ill of her to Nelson?”</p> - -<p>“No; but I told Tom the other day that -I didn’t believe that girl would ever get -married. And when I make a remark like -that about any girl, she may as well set -about selecting her trousseau, for somebody -is sure to propose to her at once.”</p> - -<p>“And yet, I doubt if Annie would be -grateful to you, if you told her,” said the -blue-eyed girl, thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>“One must not expect gratitude in this -world, dear. The consciousness of having -done one’s duty is reward enough for a -right-minded person. By the way, Emily -dear, I hear that Dick says he will positively -wait no longer. You must give him a decisive -answer one way or the other, or -he—”</p> - -<p>“Yes; but he hasn’t yet screwed up the -courage to tell <i>me</i> so, dear. When he -<i>does</i>, it will be time for me to make up my -mind. I do wonder,” she added, thoughtfully,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> -“why a girl who has one lover -already, is sure to win the affections of another -man?”</p> - -<p>“Cause and effect,” said the president, -gloomily. “I never thought of buying that -new hat until I heard Helen tell the milliner -it was too expensive for her. After I -got it home, I found it didn’t match a -thing I possessed. I just believe Helen said -that before me for meanness, knowing I -would be compelled to buy it, then. And -now the milliner absolutely refuses to take -it off my hands. I threatened to withdraw -my trade if she didn’t; but it had no -effect. She knows I have more hats -already than I need for this season, and by -the time they are all worn out—and paid -for—I shall have forgotten all about it.”</p> - -<p>“But why not pay your bill at once, and -open another with somebody else? That—”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care to let Tom see the old bill -just now, dear. It wouldn’t matter ordinarily, -but since he inherited that money -from his aunt he is feeling unusually poor, -and it might cause a family unpleasantness.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How thoughtful you always are, Evelyn! -Really, the study of theosophy -seems to have developed your character -wonderfully. I do hope you will explain -it all thoroughly to me,” said the girl with -the Roman nose; “I am really so stupid -that even after to-day’s discussion, I feel -that I do not fully understand it.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps at some future time,” said the -president, hastily. “I am sorry to say -that we really must adjourn now. My -mother-in-law is coming to dine with us, -and I don’t want her poking about the -house in my absence.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>Chapter XII<br /> - -<small>A Discussion and a Surprise</small></h2> - - -<p>“‘Civic Organizations Among the Ancient -Greeks,’ will be our topic for to-day,” -said the president. “And, oh, girls, I am -so angry with Tom that I would go right -home to mamma, but for the fact that she -always agrees with him. Papa invariably -thinks <i>I</i> am in the right; but he would say -unpleasant things about Tom, and I -shouldn’t like that, either. The consequence -is that I must just endure my -martyrdom in silence.”</p> - -<p>“But, what is wrong? Is it about that -legacy from Tom’s aunt?” queried the girl -with the Roman nose. “Dear me, I often -think it’s so hard that really poor men are -usually nicer than those that have money.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why you always think of -money in connection with me,” said the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> -president. “Heaven knows, I am not mercenary, -and I only want to live well and -dress properly, in order that people may -see Tom is not stingy. No, this is quite -another matter. It all came from the topic -I selected for to-day. I was talking, rather -learnedly, about ‘Civic Organizations -Among the Ancient Greeks,’ when Tom -asked me suddenly what ward I live in! Of -course, I didn’t know—”</p> - -<p>“Why, neither do I,” said the brown-eyed -blonde, “but it must be the same one, -for we both live on the north side!”</p> - -<p>“I really don’t know, either,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “I don’t -see what difference it makes though, for I -could ask the clerk at the corner drug store -if I needed particularly to know.”</p> - -<p>“Of course you could,” said the president, -“and so could I. But, Tom was -awfully unpleasant—he couldn’t have been -more so if we had been married twenty -years instead of two. He said he didn’t -see any use in my poking about among -the civic organizations of ancient Greece,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> -when I did not know what ward I lived -in.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! I suppose next thing he will -be saying that he doesn’t see any use in -the Teacup Club,” said the girl with the -classic profile, in sarcastic tones. “A man -will say anything when he is angry.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! I fancy he will hardly say -anything like that, dear. He knows it has -its use, if it is only to make me look more -leniently on his own club. When we first -organized it he complained a good deal -about the demands it made on my time and -attention, and I just said: ‘Oh, very well, -dear, let us both give up our clubs, and -spend all our spare time at home together.’ -After that, he held his peace on the subject.”</p> - -<p>“But you wouldn’t have given it up, -would you?” asked the brown-eyed blonde, -anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Of course not—but Tom didn’t know -that. By the way, Emily, what is making -Dorothy so late to-day?”</p> - -<p>“I fancy she is engaged,” replied the girl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -with the dimple in her chin, demurely; “at -least Jack Bittersweet was on his way to -call on her a couple of hours ago, and I -suppose—Pardon me, Frances, did you -speak?”</p> - -<p>“I—I was about to say, ‘how nice’—for -Dorothy, I mean. By the way, girls, I—I -am thinking of going to Omaha for a nice, -long visit as soon as I can get ready.”</p> - -<p>“But I thought you had already refused -Lola’s invitation,” said the girl with the -dimple in her chin.</p> - -<p>“I—I had. But, really I have bought -so many pretty things of late that I can get -ready for my visit without the slightest -trouble, and as my last visit was cut short, -I—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I remember that quite well, dear. -I remember that you came home a few days -after Dorothy broke with poor Jack. But -I don’t understand why you have been -embroidering so much table linen lately. -You surely will not need that for a visit to -Omaha.”</p> - -<p>“Why, er—no. I—I shall take it as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> -present to Lola’s mother, I think. You -have no idea of how fond she is of me.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed, I have, dear,” said the girl -with the dimple in her chin, warmly. -“I’ve often noticed that married women -who have no grown sons <i>are</i> fond of you. -It is rather a pity, as things turned out, -that you cut your last visit short; I am -really afraid, if you go now, that you will -miss Dorothy’s wedding.”</p> - -<p>“At any rate, dear, she will not miss it -herself. Really, I think the poor girl -would have lost her mind if she had lost -Jack. These disappointments are so hard -to bear that—”</p> - -<p>“I shall tell her that you said so, dear. -I am sure she and Jack will both—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” said the president, hastily, -“do you suppose that Greek women used -actually to wear those dowdy gowns on the -street? Of course they would do very well -for tea gowns, but—”</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose anything of the kind,” -said the girl with the Roman nose. “It -was chiefly the men who made the antique<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -statues, wasn’t it? Very well, then, the -poor creatures had no idea of style, and -just reproduced the gowns they happened -to admire themselves.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the girl with the classic -profile; “men always detest the ruling fashion -of the hour. And yet, they seem to -think we dress to please them,” she added, -derisively.</p> - -<p>“I know it. And the women of ancient -Greece were just like anybody else, I suppose,” -replied the girl with the eyeglasses. -“However, if they really wore white as frequently -as they seem to, they must have -had more money than I have to pay the -laundress.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, or the principal street of Athens—I -forget the name of it, must have been a -good deal cleaner than State street,” said -the girl with the dimple in her chin. “I -don’t suppose, however, that the carving -of statues could have made much dirt, and -really the ancient Greeks seem to have done -little else.”</p> - -<p>“At any rate their system of civic organization<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> -was—dear me, what was it? I had -it all written down on the back of an invitation -to dinner, and I must have lost it as -I came along,” wailed the president. “Oh, -dear, what shall I do?”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, you can tell us what you -remember,” said the girl with the Roman -nose, soothingly. “None of us know -enough about it to detect the fact if you -<i>are</i> wrong.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t that; I’ve got it all at home in -the old school book I copied it from. But, -as I say, it was on the back of an invitation -to dinner, and I can’t remember whether -it was for next Tuesday or Thursday!”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me, that is really serious,” -said the girl with the dimple in her chin; -“but perhaps Tom will remember.”</p> - -<p>“Tom remember the date of an invitation -to dinner! How little you know about -men. Why, he would tell me the wrong -day, if he did remember, just to escape -putting on his dress coat and going with -me.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! from what Helen says, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> -may be thankful that he goes at all. Her -husband does not. She says—”</p> - -<p>“Helen didn’t manage him properly at -first, that’s all. When Tom first began to -declare he wouldn’t go to dinners, I would -just say, ‘Very well, dear, we’ll both remain -at home, and tell our would-be hostess -the true reason why we didn’t come. And -now, I often reap the benefit of that Spartan -policy. Of course, he is sometimes detained -at the office by important business, -or even called off by a telegram just as we -are about to start. However, I always remember -that he is only human after all, -and seldom revenge myself in any other -way than by telling him that Mr. Troolygood -sat next me at table. Life will be a -much more complicated affair for me if that -dear fellow ever takes it into his head to -marry.”</p> - -<p>“I think you are perfectly safe for some -time to come, dear,” said the girl with the -classic profile, “his married sister, with -whom he lives, is anxious for him to marry. -She has the habit of inviting any girl he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> -seems to admire, so constantly to the house -that she soon loses all her charm for him.”</p> - -<p>“No man likes courtship made easy,” -said the girl with the Roman nose. “Mr. -Troolygood will surely die a bachelor unless -he succeeds some day in unearthing a -girl whom his sister dislikes. That is -hardly probable, either, since he invariably -admires a girl with money—a habit, by the -way, which I have also noticed in other -young clergymen.”</p> - -<p>“It is not confined to young clergymen, -dear,” remarked the girl with the eyeglasses. -“Talk about women being mercenary, -I have often noticed that men think -much more of money than we do. We -know that they must provide for us somehow, -and the doing of it is their affair.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, girls,” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin, “what excellent mental training -we do receive at this club! Dorothy -was wondering the other day how we ever -got along without it; and, indeed, so was I. -A reputation for being intellectual is the -nicest thing in the world; once you have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> -it, you can be as silly as you choose, and -people will feel actually grateful to you for -unbending. It has its drawbacks, though. -I find one must be more careful than ever -to have cuffs and gloves immaculate.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the girl with the classic -profile. “Girls, a college professor asked -me the other day why we always wear veils -on the street!”</p> - -<p>“And what did you reply?” queried the -girl with the Roman nose.</p> - -<p>“To keep our faces clean! What did -you suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I thought you told him the -truth. However, the more intellectual a -man is the less he understands women. -One of his students would—”</p> - -<p>“Know better than to expect the truth -in reply to such a question? Of course he -would,” said the president; “but oh, girls, -if an octogenarian knew as much about us as -a sophomore <i>thinks</i> he does, what a queer -world this would be!”</p> - -<p>“Unpleasant rather than queer,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “Of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> -course we understand men thoroughly; but -that is a very different matter.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, very different,” said the girl with -the Roman nose. “But aren’t they queer? -Why, I once knew a man who called a girl -a ‘most adorable little flirt,’ and then felt -very much aggrieved when she kept on -flirting after they became engaged!”</p> - -<p>“Lots of girls never have an opportunity -to flirt until they <i>are</i> engaged,” remarked -the girl with the dimple in her chin. “To -some men, an engagement ring on a girl’s -hand has the same effect that a ‘Keep off -the grass’ sign has on children.”</p> - -<p>“True,” said the girl with the Roman -nose. “Oh, Marion, shall you also visit -Lola this year?”</p> - -<p>“Not this century,” replied the girl with -the eyeglasses. “Didn’t you hear what -happened the last time she was here?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no; except that she was to dine -with you. What happened? Did she discuss -art in a monologue from soup to coffee? -or, did—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, she did that; but it wouldn’t have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> -really mattered, except for—you see it was -this way: when she was here last summer, -she gave me one of her, well, <i>she</i> calls them -paintings. I accepted it with profuse thanks; -and hung it in the darkest corner of the attic -as soon as her train was well out of Chicago. -When I heard that she was coming -back, I fished the picture out of its corner, -and gave it a prominent place in the parlor, -telling her it had been there all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m sure she ought to be satisfied -with that,” said the president; “not -many people care enough for Lola to hang -her pictures even temporarily on the parlor -walls. The one she gave me is in the -cook’s bedroom—the poor woman has been -complaining of insomnia lately.”</p> - -<p>“No wonder. Unluckily I forgot to -coach my family, and when we came in -from the dinner table, my brother Frank -joined us. You know Lola <i>is</i> pretty when -she remembers to comb her hair and remove -her painting apron.”</p> - -<p>“Mercy on us! did he criticise her painting -while she was present?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No. He only said, ‘Hello, where did -you get this new picture? I never saw it -before. Looks like the one that has been -vegetating in the attic!’”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t tell us the rest, dear; we -all know Lola. It was too bad, when you -had only done it to spare her feelings, too!”</p> - -<p>“Dear! dear!” said the girl with the dimple -in her chin. “I wonder why the most -hopeless artists are ever the most generous -with their productions? They seem to -wish to give them away, whereas—”</p> - -<p>“Self-preservation, dear. When one has -done something dreadful, one dislikes to be -constantly reminded of the fact!” said the -girl with the classic profile. “You know -my eldest sister, don’t you? Well, her -husband has an awful temper, but he seldom -gives Sophie any trouble. Whenever -he begins to be unpleasant, she says: ‘Isn’t -it fortunate, dear; if you should die, or we -should ever separate, I could have a good -income, anyhow—I could just publish in -book form the poems you wrote to me before -we were married!’”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p> - -<p>“And what then?” asked the president, -breathlessly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he kicks the dog or snubs his typewriter; -but he never says another word to -Sophie.”</p> - -<p>“And yet, Sophie used to be considered -dull at school,” said the president, thoughtfully. -“Well, that’s only another proof that -even genius needs a special opportunity.”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of opportunities,” said the -girl with the eyeglasses, “have you heard -of Marie’s last mishap? No? I thought -not. You know that delightful young physician -who cares nothing for society, and -declines all non-professional invitations, and -never calls on a woman under seventy. -Well, Marie has developed neuralgia, grip, -and nervous prostration in swift succession, -and he has been called in to attend her. -You see, it is this way: it gives her an opportunity -to see him in bewitching tea-gowns, -and she studies new poses on the -sofa when she is not taking powders.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! And when are they to be married?” -asked the president.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Never, dear. He says he had long loved -her silently, and was trying to summon up -enough courage to tell her so. Now, however, -he sees that she is too delicate to -make a good wife for a hardworking professional -man!”</p> - -<p>“Humph! No wonder Marie’s little -brother told mine he wants to go away to -boarding-school,” said the girl with the -Roman nose. “Well, I always did hate -deceit. I never—”</p> - -<p>“By the way,” said the president, “I -thought you had such a bad headache that -you could not go out to-day.”</p> - -<p>“That was when mamma wanted me to -accompany her to a meeting at the orphan -asylum, dear. I felt ever so much better -after she was gone.”</p> - -<p>“I am so glad you care so much for the -club,” said the president. “I gave up a -luncheon at my mother-in-law’s, in order -to come, myself. I wanted awfully to go—all -the other guests were lovely old ladies—perfect -walking encyclopædias on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> -subject of servants, and the proper time to -hunt moths or cut first teeth.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I forgot to tell you, dear,” said the -girl with the dimple in her chin. “Tom’s -mother sent you a message by me that she -had put the luncheon off until Friday because -you were so disappointed at your inability -to be present.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if she expects me to waste a -whole morning on those old frumps, she is -very much mistaken, that is all. And you -are no true friend of mine, or you would -have told her I had an engagement for that -day, too!”</p> - -<p>“Humph! You seem to forget that I -am afraid of her, too. She was my old -Sunday-school teacher, and she would as -lief be disagreeable to me as to you. Besides, -it is not as if Tom had no unmarried brothers. -One has to consider her feelings, you -know, and—”</p> - -<p>“Very true, dear. You always were -charitable, Emily—I can just as well go to -bed with a cold on Friday. Well, I fear we -must adjourn now. What a profitable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> -meeting we have had! I only wish Dorothy -could have heard some of the arguments -that—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, Dorothy needs all of the -good sense she can possibly obtain in -any form,” murmured the brown-eyed -blonde.</p> - -<p>“Not now that she is about to be married, -dear,” said the girl with the dimple in -her chin. “However, I am sure that nothing -save death or a boil on her chin will -ever keep her away from another meeting. -She says she considers the founding of this -club her life work.”</p> - -<p>“And a noble one, too,” said the president, -warmly. “Well, if ever a girl entered -upon matrimony with bright prospects, <i>she</i> -is that one. I verily believe she could -make Jack Bittersweet do anything she -wanted, whether he liked or not!”</p> - -<p>“At any rate, she has begun well,” said -the brown-eyed blonde, sweetly.</p> - -<p>When the girl with the dimple in her chin -reached the blue-eyed girl’s home, she ran -up the stairs to her friend’s room, two steps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> -at a time, and burst open the door. That -young person was discovered, radiant with -smiles in spite of the traces of recent tears; -she was seated at her desk, and the waste -basket was overflowing with crumpled -sheets of her best note paper.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you dear, Dorothy,” said the visitor, -“tell me all about it, do! I was dying -to come earlier, but I wanted to see what -Frances would do when she heard that Jack -was coming here, so I had to stay all -through the meeting. Evelyn says that -no girl ever had brighter prospects in marrying -than you, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh! then, they all know I am to be -married, do they? Did Jack tell? I -thought he would hold his peace, because—”</p> - -<p>“Well, not exactly; but he told me that -he was on his way here to ask you to forgive -him for everything he ever did! And -he said he just wouldn’t come away until -you set your wedding-day, and so—”</p> - -<p>“Oh! he told you that, did he? Well, -it is set, and—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Dear old Jack, he must be the happiest -fellow in the world, for he—”</p> - -<p>“M—I can’t say that he looked it when -he went away; however, some people have -such a way of concealing their emotions. I -never had myself; I am as open as the day—anybody -could know just what I intended -to do all the time.”</p> - -<p>“Of course; I told Jack how it would be -from the start. But I don’t see why he -looked so melancholy when he came away. -Didn’t you set the wedding day early -enough to please him?”</p> - -<p>“He said he didn’t want to know the -day, and—”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t want to know the day of his -own wedding! Why, the poor boy must -be crazy; he—”</p> - -<p>“The date of his <i>own</i> wedding! Emily -Marshmallow, are you out of your mind? -I said the date of <i>my</i> wedding, and—”</p> - -<p>“Would you mind feeling my pulse, -dear, or examining my eye to see if there is -a look of insanity in it! For really, I don’t -see how you and Jack can be married to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> -each other on different days, unless you are -thinking of matrimony on the instalment -plan; and that—”</p> - -<p>“Married to each other? Jack Bittersweet -and I? Why, Emily Marshmallow, -you haven’t listened to a word I have been -saying, when I have been telling you for -the last half hour I am to marry Clarence -Lighthed, the only man I ever loved, next -month, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Dorothy, don’t! If Jack did not -ask you to marry him to-day, it was only -that he hadn’t the courage, and—”</p> - -<p>“He did, dear—twice. But you see, I -had accepted Clarence an hour before he -came. Well, it is a great comfort to know -that I never encouraged poor Jack! You -will bear me out in that, I know. And oh, -Emily, Clarence is the dearest person in -the world! You can’t imagine how happy -first love makes one! I—I wouldn’t say a -word to Frances now if I saw her with -one eyebrow a full half inch higher than -the other. But, what is the matter? -You—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I—I feel a little faint, dear; that is all. -Did you—er, try to soften the blow to -Jack?”</p> - -<p>“I did. I advised him to marry Frances; -said that I knew she would make him happier -than I could ever have done, and their -marriage was the one thing needed to complete -my own happiness.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he wouldn’t marry her now if—not -if she was a wealthy young widow. -Did—did Jack say anything about me?”</p> - -<p>“Why, er—yes; he seemed sort of -offended with you for something. I don’t -know what it was. The only reference I -made to you in our whole conversation, was -to tell him that you had seen all along that -I intended to marry Clarence. Of course -if you had not been able to make him understand -that fact, it was his own stupidity, -and not your fault. Oh, I tell you, I -always defend my friends—even before they -are attacked! But what is the matter? -You look sort of queer?”</p> - -<p>“I—I was only wondering what they -would say at the club! They—they seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> -to have an idea that you would marry Jack, -and—”</p> - -<p>“Marry Jack Bittersweet! What on -earth could have put such an idea into their -heads? I only hope, Emily, that you—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, dear; nothing of the kind. -I—I merely told them that he was on his -way to ask you to marry him, and—”</p> - -<p>“Very thoughtful it was of you, dear. I -only wish I could ask you to be bridesmaid -for your pains; but Clarence has somehow -gotten an idea that you are not a friend of -his. There was no one else to oppose the -match, and I—I doubt if he’d have asked -me quite as soon if you hadn’t; so I shall -try to forgive you, in time, for the things -you have said about him.”</p> - -<p>The girl with the dimple in her chin -gasped, but her only reply, was: “I really -don’t know what the other members of the -club will say. They—”</p> - -<p>“The club. I am so glad you mentioned -it. There was a meeting to-day, was there -not? I was just writing Evelyn a letter -when you came in, saying—”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p> - -<p>“That you want us to meet twice a week -after this! How nice; that is just—”</p> - -<p>“No, dear; it was a letter of resignation -I was writing. Dear Clarence has such a -horror of intellectual women, that I—”</p> - -<p>“But, Dorothy, you know when you -founded the club, you said the membership -would be for life, and—”</p> - -<p>“Emily Marshmallow, I never said anything -of the kind! And, if I <i>did</i>, only a -person of your colossal selfishness would -expect me to waste my time on a mere -club when I want to devote eighteen -hours a day to the selection of my trousseau, -and the other six to Clarence! And, -if you want to know my real opinion of the -club, I consider it the greatest bore among -my social duties!”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a><br /><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="copyright"><br /><br /> -<b>PRINTED BY R. R. DONNELLEY<br /> -& SONS CO. AT THE LAKESIDE<br /> -PRESS, FOR WAY & WILLIAMS,<br /> -CHICAGO, U.S.A. MDCCCXCVII<br /></b> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> -<div class="tnote"><div class="center"> -<b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></div> - -<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired. This text uses both single -quotation marks and double quotation marks within dialogue. This was -retained as printed.</p> - -<p>Page 82, “nowaday” changed to “nowadays” (nowadays don’t intend)</p> - -<p>Page 216, “absense” changed to “absence” (bears my absence)</p> - -<p>Page 245, removed repeated word “heard” (you heard Miss Blanque)</p> - -<p>Page 296, “he” changed to “her” (criticise her painting)</p></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Teacup Club, by Eliza Armstrong - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TEACUP CLUB *** - -***** This file should be named 50751-h.htm or 50751-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/7/5/50751/ - -Produced by Emmy, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> |