Marion Marlowe in Columbus, or, Accused of a Crime — page 32: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

a a i «ay am a little girl of fifteen and my parents are always getting after me for talking loud and using slang. I have tried to break myself of both habits, but Ieannot. Cannot you who are so in- telligent, tell me of some way in which I can rid myself of these dreadfully vu gar habits? If you i Will, I will owe you a debt which I can never ST ——— Ser My dear little girl—I am glad you are anxious to overcome your bad habits, and so suggest the following as a form of self-punishment. Every time you are corrected for using a slang phrase, go and get your toothbrush and some soap and - serub your mouth out thoroughly. Never mind if you do make it a little sore—it will help you to remember. i atl] have meta gentleman that I love. I go to meet a lady friend of mine just because I do not want to come right out and tell him that it is him I want to see and not her. He told my friend to fix it for him with me, and when I ~ galled on my friend he was all right, that is he acted all right, and he is nice and I am stuck on him. I want you to tell me how to get him to tell my friend that he is stuck on me and that he - would like to seeme. He has a saloon. I gothere once in a while with my lady friend and we buy a few drinks and he does the same. Now, I do really love him, but I don’t want to come forward with myself. I want him to tell me that he wants me for his sweetheart. Don’t you think I am _ right? Tell me how and what I should do to get his love for me. : fee Me a ‘Your letter has distressed the editor of ‘‘My - Queen”’ more than words can say! Have you no - parents or friends to point out to you the folly . ‘at id danger in your present doings? Who is this _“Jady friend”? who has connived to introduce you to this man. Please give us her address in your next letter. My dear little girl,what is to become of you. If you wish to be respected and to ever win the true love of an honest man you must give this saloonkeeper up at once and forever! Did you read in the newspapers the terrible fate of a _ young girl who visited saloons in Paterson, New _ Jersey? Beware, my dear girl, lest you share her fate! Let liquor alone and pray keep away from _ saloons! You are playing with a two-edged sword which willsome day stab you to the heart. When you write us again tell something of your 4 parents, and, if possible, tell us that you have _ -—s- conquered your passion for this fellow. . “YT have read every issue of ‘My Queen,’ and _ am very much interested. I have no mother or _ sisters, but would very much like to have a sister like Marion. I am not quite seventeen and am _ known among most of my friends to be ‘not like _ other girls.’ While I was away last summer I met & young man who is well known to my relatives, _ but was a total stranger to me. We were thrown _ very much together, being the only young peo- _ ple there, and we became very intimate. He is _ the very soul of honor and a perfect gentleman. _ Ilooked upon him more as an elder brother than _ «anything else, and he showed. a decided prefer- _ ence for my society, which I did not discourage. _Lallowed him to hold my hand quite frequently _ in a brotherly way. We live in the city and he " - as MY QUEEN. 29 came to see me once, and we exchanged a few letters, but I have waited long for an answer to my last letter, and it has not come. A short time ago I wrote and invited him to come and see me, asking him to let me know if he could come. He did not answer either by letter or in person, as I think he should have done. I think a good bit of him, in a way, of course not serious, and I feel as if I should never be happy until I see him and he explains his strange behavior. ‘“‘T frequently go near his place of business,and do I do wrong to sometimes walk in that direc- tion in the hope of seeing him? I might phone to him if I chose. Do you think he would mind and would it look wellfor me to do so? He is pretty well-to-do and goes with girls much better off than myself. Do you think he is tired of me now that he isin the city? Ordo you think that perhaps he did not get my letter? Sometimes I think I would be perfectly happy if it was not for this—it is the last thing I think of at night, and the first thing in the morning. I must see him, for I cannot put my mind on my studies or any- thing else. One thing more, Miss Shirley, I can- not talk a lot of nonsense like other girls, and [I should like to know what subjects are best to talk on to a young man. When a young man comes to call on you do you think it proper for me to walk as far as the cars with him? ; cH MM. D.* We are afraid you are far more deeply in love with this young man than you think, and we are also inclined to think that you are wasting your affection. If the young man did not receive your letter and really cares for you he will look you up before long. If he did get it and has not an- swered it, is because he has lost interest in you. We advise you to think no more about him, but endeavor to spend your thought upon worthier matters. You can always talk over the current news of the papers, avoiding the indecent items, and the articles in the monthly magazines will always furnish food for conversation. Encourage young men to talk of their ambitions in life and learn all that they know on every subject that in- terests them, like art, music, agriculture or mechanics. We see no harm in your walking to the cars with your friends, if you have known them for some time, although, according to the ordinary rules of propriety, you should bid. your friends good-night at the door of your home, “T am eighteen years old and am a working girlin the city. I have a young gentleman friend who says that he loves me and I am in love with him, but when we are out in public he pays more attention to other young ladies than to me. Shall I Reep on loving him or shall I give my love to some one else? Please give me advice. . “Laura M, D.” We do not quite understand why your lover neglects you in public. If he has honored you with his love he has no reason to be ashamed of you. We do not advise you to marry a man of this nature, as he will be apt to be less attentive even after marriage than before. You had better talk to him kindly on this subject. It may be only thoughtlessness, and perhaps he will recover from the habit. EOMIIGIOOKS CON