22 



RECREATION. 



waters and live with Nature, would out- 

 do winter's fatigues in a summer rout of 

 ball and reception, 3 to 6 social engage- 

 ments in a day, and call it resting ! 



The awful day arrived, and 2 hours be- 

 fore the program was to begin, torture 

 commenced. First I was put in the hands 

 of a hair dresser, and I barely escaped with 

 my life. That sinful being parted off a 

 fringe of my hair clear around my head. 

 She gathered the rest of my tresses in one 

 mighty scalp lock and tied it on my crown 

 with a shoe lace. With every wrap she 

 gave it she raised me from my chair. She 

 heated an iron and crimped the fringe she 

 had parted off, incidentally sizzling my 

 ears also and making hieroglyphs on my 

 neck. She brought the fringe back from 

 all directions and wound it around the 

 shoe lace. She planted at least 25 invisible 

 hairpins where they would do the most 

 good. Then she got right down to serious 

 business. She divided the rest of the hair 

 into 4 equal parts, twisted each part and 

 tied it into 3 knots. Those she waxed 

 down to my skull with 4 pins to the knot. 

 I estimated there were 12 knots, 4 pins to 

 the knot, and 2 sharp points to each pin, 

 making 96 separate fiery points digging 

 into my scalp ; not to mention the invisi- 

 bles and a dozen or so extra that she scat- 

 tered abroad. 



Then I was turned over to a dressing 

 maid, and I found my feet so spread and 

 swollen with 2 months of tramping that 

 my party shoes set them burning like coals. 

 I must have taken on a few pounds extra, 

 for my frock wouldn't meet by an inch, 

 and there was nothing to do but reef my 

 sails until it would. It was a gay little 

 satin lined organdie thing, that I had put 

 up by a Frenchman in case I should be 

 caught in such a trap as this. With a 

 string of fiery opals that the Deacon had 

 selected in Mexico, and a pearl fan that 

 had been to the Court of Spain in the 

 hands of a countess, I looked very similar 



to the rest of the crowd. There are no 

 words to describe how I felt. Between 

 the burning of my feet, the fiery points dig- 

 ging into my scalp and the cable that cut 

 off my normal quantity of air, I was nearly 

 dead. If someone had given me my ticket 

 and told me I was free to start, I should 

 not have known where Indian river was. 



When my hostess came for me, I looked 

 so much nearer as she wanted me to than 

 she had fancied I would, that her relief 

 was comical to see. We went down. For 

 2 mortal hours I stood and was presented 

 to people I never saw before, and hope I 

 may never see again. I thought of the 

 "peace and quiet of the mighty wood," and 

 the pins stuck on, the cable cut deeper, the 

 train dragged heavier. The crowds rolled 

 by, and among all I saw 3 faces I wanted 

 to remember. A gay, young, laughing, 

 sweet-breathed girl, a handsome, bright, 

 sensibly dressed young matron and a 

 sweet, frail, little, old lady. 



I watched my chance and as soon as pos- 

 sible I made my escape. What a life ! 

 What a crowd ! The rich flaunting their 

 riches, the poorer consumed with envy ; 

 dissatisfaction, disease and unhappiness in 

 nearly every face. 



I found myself repeating, "I think I 

 could turn and live with the animals, they 

 are so placid and self contained. I stand 

 and look at them and long and long. 

 They do not sweat and whine about their 

 condition; they do not lie awake in the 

 dark and weep about their sins; they do 

 not make me sick discussing their duty to 

 a God; not one is dissatisfied, not one is 

 demented with the mania of owning 

 things; not one is respectable or un- 

 happy over the whole earth." 



I left Mackinac on the first boat in the 

 morning for a spot where I might have 

 peace and quiet, the glory of sunshine, the 

 whisper of the leaves, the murmur of wa- 

 ters, the calm of night. 



MY CHOICE. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BV GENE S PORTER. 



