66 THE OPEN AIR. 



extract their arsenic from the air. The way they 

 step and the carriage of the form show how full 

 they are of life and spirits. Sarah Bernhardt will 

 not come to Brighton if she can help it, lest she 

 should lose that high art angularity and slipperiness 

 of shape which suits her role. Dresses seem always 

 to fit well, because people somehow expand to them. 

 It is pleasant to see the girls walk, because the limbs 

 do not drag, the feet are lifted gaily and with ease. 

 Horse-exercise adds a deeper glow to the face ; they 

 ride up on the Downs first, out of pure cunning, for 

 the air there is certain to impart a freshness to the 

 features like dew on a flower, and then return and 

 walk their horses to and fro the King's Eoad, certain 

 of admiration. However often these tricks are 

 played, they are always successful. Those philan- 

 thropic folk who want to reform women's dress, and 

 call upon the world to observe how the present style 

 contracts the chest, and forces the organs of the body 

 out of place (what a queer expression it seems, 

 " organs " !) have not a chance in Brighton. Girls 

 lace tight and " go in " for the tip of the fashion, yet 

 they bloom and flourish as green bay trees, and do 

 not find their skirts any obstacle in walking or tennis. 

 The horse-riding that goes on is a thing to be 

 chronicled ; they are always on horseback, and you 

 may depend upon it that it is better for them than all 

 the gymnastic exercises ever invented. The liability 

 to strain, and even serious internal injury, which is 

 incurred in gymnastic exercises, ought to induce 

 sensible people to be extremely careful how they 

 permit their daughters to sacrifice themselves on this 



