TIME'S CONSOLATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 650, 29 October 1909, Page 4

TIME'S CONSOLATIONS.

•A; rather'original article, is. contributed 'to; "The Queon" by Mrs. Evan Nopcan. It is on the subject of the consolation that Time brings to some women in the' way of enhanced . or altered attractiveness. . .;

, It seems to mo (she .writes) a dreadful thing, to, dread getting old for a certain "reason., We all dread getting old, of course, pll we normal women who rejoice in our youth, as tho young man in tho Bible was. bidden -to do. If you can't enjoy your: youth,'you'are not normal, and .' being abnormal is not . being wholesome .nine times-out. of ,ten! ".But' the' woman who dreads getting Old because old age will bring ; her .' nothing' is Van offence, to me. What' has she done with her; life/ then, if she has not got ready to meet.old "age,• and- evening-time to sit ■.down jand think "and be quiet after bearing the burden of tho day? "Got old? It means I 'shall get ugly,".said"a woman to me.' To whidi I - ropliod - (and :m'y,' friends' still. hope. old age may mend my manners, though they doubt it). 'I'Bosh! It won't-mean that unless you -let it. And if'.it docs, 'do you inean' to :say;youriooks: arb.eveirthing?' :It: you; lost: them; would you' . have nothing loft?" '•' -. ' ; : ' 7 F had an interesting , talk, not long - ago with . several'. friends. They happened to bo pretty -people,- alii'save. bne. ! -. Wo wero discussing the' gifts our forbears had bequeathed to us, to one a complexion, to a second a figure, to the third charming hands", arid: feet, to a fourth, an incomparable line of ■ n'eok: and shoulder.' Tho fifth girl had: no appreciable gifts, and wondered what she had to thank her;ancostors for. At the end of tho recital she laughed and told us she was luckier , than anv of us, and vefy grateful to her family. "We're all at our best at fifty!" she - said, and I, remeaibenng tho women of . her race,- agreed with her at once. They are not-pretty when they are young, but 'they <aro .people."who>:look.'.- ; dharmins! .as they, grow old! They havo sthat typo of .figure that "smartens"-with;the years, plentiful uninteresting ":hair,'.that.,'turns-.a.. glorious white, rather, early, teeth that -last,'..chins that do not "drop" or get double, skins that' do not turn either to parchment-or purple dahlias! f • Of.these.strangors: often : .remark:'"How band-. Bomo'she;must hnve been when sho was a^giri;" - An'd yet as. .they:were, almost plain! :,Yes, it is somotiiing .to _look, forward. to—the knowledge that improving in looks' :till.,you..ato an.,esta|)lished grandmotner. . ■ '-I'Mow"afiOTne#.''prl' who amuses me...: She belongs to a .family/who' are slim to meagreness: ii. youth, and whoso shoulders are , not their sti'bng-'point.-untn.-'they ;are middle-aged, when, as a-rule,' tfie :'mbriibers',of . her-'house, got. fat-: ItS&nd ifljevening dress. I i ot^:-khow''soifiedfls.-j i with'f'that most ...virulent ishiido. of. : red :hair, .."scarlet .with' a dash' of : pink ■.in;it,".as:shb hersolf.says, who .is looking fbr:wardr.te.;iha.iprtibs, .When..the villainy will have :fadcd to'a reddish brown,' as has happened, to - older - relations,,. "Then I shall able' to wear^,rose i cblbur,|.V'she: says,-,]with'. a .contented jT-.-Lookv at j the.:earlier .'photographs, of -yourself iwhen;you: ; w'6 --iit your 'pink: and -whitojteens. • Yes',, youi .wore -.very, - prptfr ' then—so 'is a' 'doll! much,.behind'-'thosb';'.'.wild-rose .-chceks.;nnd':spbedwell,.byes'l; .I,'.lai"ow your hair was lovely, but' you ! .were:;stupid: enough to do -it badly, and now; that" yon have half lis much, you'do.it twice as well. Ahl think.' Were"you :lovciV then- for'-your -)6oks? ■' Areiy.ou' not -loved for" something "potter; now?; Aiid; if/not, 'is it. because yonr are -'not ~ lovable ?-1 do not think :any- ; love is worth .having unless one' is worth Jovingk-yWhyt'' cibould \,we,. ; be"loved if 'werare, wprthless?. -• 'And need tie, worthless, it is -not:U' compulsory,;,conaitio'n.*of,things!.'