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Show Suitor? of MELISSA WOULD HOT LOOK WITH FAVOR UPON A FASHION-PLATE. FASHION-PLATE. " 'A thing of beauty Is & joy forever,' for-ever,' " quoted Mrs. Merriwid, as she opened a newly arrived box of candy and passed it to her maternal maiden aunt Jane. "Tell me if they're good, dearie. I'm getting a little particular about what I eat." "They certainly look pretty," remarked: re-marked: Aunt Jane. "I entertain some doubt of their lasting qualities, however." how-ever." She made a prim little grimace of distaste. "It's pistache," she said, "and I don't like pistache. May I try another, Melissa?" "Go as far as you like, loved one," said Mrs. Merriwid. "I wasn't referring refer-ring to the candy, though; I was thinking of the beauteous thing who sent it. Don't you think Mr. Spickan Is beautiful?" "He is decidedly personable," he-plied he-plied Aunt Jane, "and an exceedingly well dressed man." "I'm afrMd he is," sighed her niece. " 'Exceedingly' is the word, dear aunt. He dresses to excess and he hasn't the transparent waxy complexion complex-ion and set smirk to go with it, not to mention the fact that he wears real shoes, which is a discordant note in the general harmony of his appearance. appear-ance. There's always some drawback draw-back tii a man when you consider him carefully, isn't there?" "I suppose there is, although I am not an authority, and I don't know "Far be It from me to countenance by word or deed any combination or coalition of silk hat and sack coat," Mrs. Merriwid protested. "I don't think that tan shoes are compatible with evening dress, or that pajamas should be worn at breakfast, except on tha most informal occasions, but I would never spurn an honest heart because its owner had four buttons on his cutaway cut-away when three were indicated by the best authorities on snappy styles for smart sasslety. Mr. Spickan would die of shame if he were obliged to wear anything inappropriate, and a misfit would give him a fit. If he has a deep and abiding contempt for anybody any-body on earth, it's for the man who puts his pocket handkerchief in his pocket when it ought to be tucked inside in-side his shirt cuff. Now what woman in her senses would want a man like that?" "I should think a good many might," Aunt Jane ventured. "Then she would miss one of the chief joys of having a husband," said Mrs. Merriwid. "She wouldn't be able to fuss over the condition his clothes were in, or scold him when he got his clothes a mass of wrinkles lying down In it. She wouldn't get a chance to insist on his standing still while she-removed she-removed a grease spot with benzine, and he wouldn't even let her tie his scarf. Even if I didn't care for these perennial and precious privileges, Mr. Spickan would never do for me. I'm rather afraid I'm fond of dress, ny-self." "Mr. Splcknan Would Die of Shame If He Were Obliged to Wear Anything Appropriate." "I don't think there Is any room for doubt on that head," said Aunt Jane, emphatically. "Well, there wouldn't be closet room, so that settles that," said Mrs. Merriwid. (Copyright, 1313, by W. G. Chapman.) exactly what you mean," Aul Jane answered. "I mean that I have always, from happy twin-braided girlhood days, admired ad-mired tailors' dummies," said Mrs. Merriwid. "I remember one in particular partic-ular who was my ideal and I never approached ap-proached the shop window where he was displayed without a palpitation of my maiden heart. He had real hair eyelashes and mustache and I used to wonder how much money it would take to buy him. Even now I think I might do worse. There are several things to admire about tailors' dummies, dum-mies, apart from their being decidedly decided-ly personable and exceedingly well dressed. You always know where to find them and they haven't any bad habits." "I like to see a man careful In his attire," declared Aunt Jane. "I do, too," agreed Mrs. Merriwid. 'Heaven preserve me from sloppy persons of either sex, but I think that an hour or two of serious thought on the subject in one day is about as much as a man can afford to give if He has anything else to attend to, and I expect any husband of mine to pay a little attention to me. Poor dear Henry Merriwid belonged to a pressing club, in connection with a pantatorium, but be didn't let it divert di-vert his mind from the dry-salting and ship chandlery business to any appreciable appre-ciable extent, and he put a reasonable amount of his time at my disposal. Henry had a theory that a man couldn't achieve success without bag-Ring bag-Ring his trousers at the knees now and then, and occasionally ripping a seam and losing a suspender button. I'm not sure that he wasn't right "I know that there are nifty dress-srs dress-srs in history whose names are still rumbling and reverberating down the bowling alleys of time," pursue Mrs. Merriwid. "1 can't call to mind j-ist who they were at the present moment, mo-ment, but I've been told there are several, sev-eral, and there are quite a few in contemporary con-temporary fiction. Just the same, you can't make me believe that the real live wires sse any large number of whoops v-uether their history harmonized harmo-nized with their neckwear or not. I have a suspicion that Christopher Co-lumbm Co-lumbm wasn't as well tailored, by any means, as the pictures on the cigar bcaes make him out, and that George Washington's ruffles weren't always JvjBt so. i rro rnnitlin |