200 THE OPEN AIR. 



coarseness ; large but not big : in a word, nobly 

 proportioned. Now imagine a black dress adhering 

 to this form. From the shoulders to the ankles it 

 fitted " like a glove." There was not a wrinkle, a 

 fold, a crease, smooth as if cast in a mould, and yet 

 so managed that she moved without effort. Every 

 undulation of her figure as she stepped lightly forward 

 flowed to the surface. The slight sway x>f the hip as 

 the foot was lifted, the upward and inward movement 

 of the limb as the knee was raised, the straightening 

 as the instep felt her weight, each change as the limb 

 described the curves of walking was repeated in her 

 dress. At every change of position she was as grace- 

 fully draped as before. All was revealed, yet all 

 concealed. As she passed there was the sense of a 

 presence the presence of perfect form. She was 

 lifted as she moved above the ground by the curves 

 of beauty as rapid revolution in a curve suspends the 

 down-dragging of gravity. A force went by the force 

 of animated perfect form. 



Merely as an animal, how grand and beautiful is 

 a perfect woman ! Simply as a living, breathing 

 creature, can anything imaginable come near her ? 



There is such strength in shape such force in form. 

 "Without muscular development shape conveys the 

 impression of the greatest of all strength that is, 

 of completeness in itself. The ancient philosophy 

 regarded a globe as the most perfect of all bodies, 

 because it was the same that is, it was perfect and 

 complete in itself from whatever point it was con- 

 templated. Such is woman's form when nature's 

 intent is fulfilled in beauty, and that beauty gives the 

 idea of self-contained power. 



