Show HP HE V BYJ7f Li4PP Y 72iY Copyright 1906 by Dally Story Pub Co > Mary was a great girl Her friends usually described her In this manner not referring especially to goodness or cleverness only to bulk She was tall Just over tho mark of sis feet and generously built with broad shoulders full bust and rounded hips Mary was not handsome only passably good lookIng look-Ing She wore eights In gloves seven and a half In shoes and realized every I Inch of her size The doctor pronounced pro-nounced her at birth a fine big girl and she continued to grow while her family rejoiced In her Mary never forgot tho first time her Inches assumed the proportions of a drawback It occurred while attending school with small companions of six or seven summers Even at that early ago she towered a full head above her compeers thus attracting tho notice ota I ot-a dlrectoress A great girl like you In tho Infant class she had exclaimed scathingly while poor Mary crimson to the roots of her hair felt forty pairs of eyes turned questioningly upon her as her classmates suddenly realized how large she was Tho teacher good na turedly came to her rescue But Mary Is only six and a good childDreadful Dreadful commented tho direct areas She was slightly deaf so as it entailed trouble rarely listened to what others said For shame she proceeded In a tone that set the entire class quivering the high stool with a dunces cap for less in my young days With that tho selfsatisfied official swept from the room her silk rustling and her eyes glaring at Mary to the very last Small as the incident was it became as the apple of knowledge to the child She was different to others her size must bo lived I up to It became life I under high pressure as she struggled to bo ever In advance of other children chil-dren of her ago Sho renounced her former chums playing assiduously with girls several years her senior Next she sacrificed dolls being too great a girl to bo such a baby Even her fears of tho dark caused ridicule sho was so big Fairy tales which she adored were devoured In secret only publicly her literature became advanced as In every way she endeavored endeav-ored to equalize the standard of her growth It was strenuous but hardly satisfying Yet with all these efforts Mary hardly I hard-ly hold her own measured by Inches sho grew so fast Anxiously she sighed for the day when her full stature sta-ture being attained tho worst would bo known She went Into long dresses and did her hair up on the top of her head while her elder sister still scorned such adornments She became be-came a Joke In the family Her brothers broth-ers teased her Incessantly not understanding under-standing tho sting of It all When Mary actually arrived at womanhood tho fact was hard to realIze real-Ize sho had pretended so long but still she found small comfort Sho might havo turned tho tables on her brothers by laughing at them for being beingl I 1 I 11 1 I Mary was a great girl under size only that In her eyes was their chief advantage Tho unwelcome gift of height was hors alone She was taller than any of her family taller oven than any man she Know Youll marry a fellow about five feet two and that will be the long and short of It derided brother Tom Tho Jest burned Itself Into Marys brain as a warning and sho cast about In her mind to discover how many men would be eligible for matrimony providing sho barred those shorter than herself Had the roll call been answered in person It would have proved lamentably lament-ably small consisting solely of Joe Murphy the blacksmith who stood six feet four in his stockings Brawny as Jove himself ho was uncouth and much feared because of his violent temper Yet Mary experienced a sort of ro lief In his presence She could really look up to him which wonderful fact likewise gave him a point of view possessed pos-sessed by no one else of Mary and to loved her after his rough fashion Joe c attentions rather frightened her hence s to resolved never to marry such happlfcnss was not for ono of her build Then sLo fell back on platonic friendship and got herself Into much trouble Attentions came thick and I I 1 g She could really look up to him fast Mary was a great girl a fine figure of a woman a regular Amazon Ama-zon Among other wooers came Bob Jennings Jen-nings but unfortunately for him ho was so short that Mary overlooked him altogether Bob clerked it in a dry goods store receiving only a few dollars a week but he becamo quite sentimental about Mary Ho would have proposed to make her conscious of his devotion savo for Toms ill timed joke Consider tho frightful expense of clothing Mary Its a contract nothing less Jennings winced His limitations forced him to the background aud his attentions diminished However Mary was too truly womanly wom-anly to pass through life without lying ly-ing so that she and Ned Bryant wore keeping company before she gave it a thought Bryant was handsome and doing well in business Ono evening they sat together on tho sofa seated Mary could forgot her proportions Tho room was dimly lighted Ned had been speaking of Ws future and Jn the short silence that followed it dawne on Mary what a lovable fellow Ned was that his visits wero the sweetest experience lu her life and meeting hU ganco she vaguely wondered what he thought ot her Will you marry mo Bryant questioned ques-tioned abruptly almost as though ho read her heart Mary felt her cheeks redden and her hands tremble like those of any small helpless woman Idont Imowher voice was almost I most a caress I love you pleaded Neil Imprisoning Imprison-ing her hands and drawing her to him Say yes dear Marys head drooped to his shoulder and there IB no knowing know-Ing what she might have promised had not Tom at that Juncture burst Into tho room Tom was a never falling fall-ing factor In his sisters life A little later Mary stood In the hall as Bryant was leaving Neds eyes wero bright his tone eager and full of confidence Well kill Tom when wo are marred mar-red ho promised cheerfully Ho grows a nuisance I had so much to say dearest but Ill come tomorrow Kiss mo sweetheart A simple request but It brought Mary back from heaven and dowh to earth A lover should take a kiss not ask for It and alas Mary was too big for that Whero was the romance ro-mance If she must stoop to Invite her lovers caress It would all be too premeditated whllo Mary In spite other ot-her greatness was only a woman craving the weakness and sentiment of her sex Disillusioned Mary instead of kissing kiss-ing her lover burst Into tears and fled up the stairs her castle tumbling about her ears In the end she married the blacksmith black-smith There was no long or short about It as she was careful to Inform Tom nnd when as sometimes happened hap-pened her husband blackened her r e = eyes bruised or illtreated her sho consoled herself with tho thought Mat at least ho was big enough to du It Thus Mary became a philosopher n unconsciously proving the senso of humor attem hu-mor Is sot Quito extinct la womankind I llame woman-kind btmsi |