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    A String of Amber Beads
    A String of Amber Beads
    A String of Amber Beads
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    A String of Amber Beads

    By Martha Everts Holden

    ()

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    A String of Amber Beads

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      Book preview

      A String of Amber Beads - Martha Everts Holden

      The Project Gutenberg eBook, A String of Amber Beads, by Martha Everts Holden

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

      Title: A String of Amber Beads

      Author: Martha Everts Holden

      Release Date: November 6, 2005 [eBook #17019]

      Language: English

      ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STRING OF AMBER BEADS***

      E-text prepared by Al Haines

      A STRING OF AMBER BEADS

      by

      MARTHA EVERTS HOLDEN

      AMBER

      Siegel, Cooper Co.,

      New York. ————— Chicago.

      Copyright 1893 by

      Charles H. Kerr & Company

      DEDICATED

      TO THE LATE

      ANDREW SHUMAN

      MY LITERARY ADVISER

      AND

      TRUEST FRIEND

      CONTENTS.

      I. I DIDN'T THINK. II. STAY WHERE YOU ARE. III. A COWARDLY MATE. IV. THEY CARRY NO BANNER. V. SHUT IN. VI. THE CIRCLING YEAR—A CLOCK. VII. SOMETHING BETTER THAN SURFACE MANNERS. VIII. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. IX. THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME MOST WEARY. X. NOTHING SO GRAND AS FORCE. XI. A RAINY RHAPSODY. XII. CAUSE FOR WONDER. XIII. THE FIRST KATYDID. XIV. A PLEA FOR MEN. XV. WHAT I'M TIRED OF. XVI. NOTHING LIKE A GOOD LAUGH. XVII. HOLD! ENOUGH!! XVIII. RIPE OPPORTUNITIES. XIX. A SUNSET CLOUD. XX. ONE SECRET OF SUCCESS. XXI. A NEW BEATITUDE. XXII. BLESSED BE BASHFULNESS. XXIII. A BEWITCHED VIOLIN. XXIV. A HAT PIN PROBLEM. XXV. POLITENESS VS. SINCERITY. XXVI. THE MOST DANGEROUS WOMAN. XXVII. SERMONS FROM FLIES. XXVIII. THE MAN WHO KNOWS IT ALL. XXIX. BALD HEADS AND UNEQUAL CHANCES. XXX. HUMAN STRAWS. XXXI. A SALLOW FACED GIRL FOR YOUR PITY. XXXII. AND YET HE CLINGS TO LIFE. XXXIII. OH! TO RID THE WORLD OF SHAMS. XXXIV. DRESS PARADE OF THE GREAT ALIKE. XXXV. IF GOD MADE YOU A WILLOW DON'T TRY TO BE A PINE. XXXVI. TWO TYPES. XXXVII. A DREAM GARDEN. XXXVIII. ANYTHING WORSE THAN A BLUE-JAY? HARDLY! XXXIX. GOOD HEALTH A BLESSING. XL. WHY, BLESS MY SOUL! IT REALLY SEEMS TO THINK. XLI. TAKE TO DRINK, OF COURSE! XLII. A WARNING TO GIRLS. XLIII. A FROG MAY DO WHAT A MAN MAY NOT. XLIV. THANKING GOD FOR A GOOD HUSBAND. XLV. JUST A LITTLE TIRED! XLVI. PAINTING THE OLD HOMESTEAD. XLVII. THE OLD SITTING-ROOM STOVE. XLVIII. A TALK ABOUT DIVORCE. XLIX. GONE BACK TO FLIPPITY-FLOPPITY SKIRTS. L. I SHALL MEET HIM SOME DAY. LI. A MANNISH WOMAN. LII. THE ONLY WAY TO CONQUER A HARD DESTINY. LIII. THE SMART PERSON. LIV. A PRETTY STREET INCIDENT. LV. POLICY A DAMASCUS BLADE, NOT A CLUB. LVI. THE CONSTANT YEARS BRING AGE TO ALL. LVII. DID YOU EVER READ THE LITTLE PILGRIM. LVIII. EATING MILK TOAST WITH A SPOON! LIX. BOYS, YOU KNOW I LIKE YOU. LX. WHAT TO DO WITH GROWLERS. LXI. GOD BLESS 'EM! LXII. UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE. LXIII. TAKING INVENTORY. LXIV. DON'T MARRY HIM TO SAVE HIM.

      A STRING OF BEADS

      I.

      I DIDN'T THINK.

      I didn't think! A woman flings the whiteness of her reputation in the dust, and, waking to the realization of her loss when the cruel glare of the world's disapproval reveals it, she seeks to plead her thoughtlessness as an entreaty of the world's pardon. But the flint-hearted world is slow to grant it, if she be a woman. You have thrown your rose in the dust, go live there with it, the world cries, and there is no appeal, although the dust become the grave of all that is bright and lovely and sweet in a thoughtless woman's really innocent life. A young girl flirts with a stranger on the street. The result is something disagreeable, and straight-way comes the excuse: Why, I didn't think! I meant no harm; I just wanted to have a little fun. Now, look me straight in the eye, young gossamer-head, while I tell you what I know. The girl who will flirt with strange men in public places, however harmless and innocent it may appear, places herself in that man's estimation upon a level with the most abandoned of her sex and courts the same regard. Strong language, perhaps you think, but I tell you it is gospel truth, and I feel like going into orders and preaching from a pulpit whenever I see a thoughtless, gay and giddy girl tiptoeing her way upon the road that leads direct to destruction. The boat that dances like a feather on the current a mile above Niagara's plunge is just as much lost as when it enters the swirling, swinging wrath of waters, unless some strong hand head it up stream and out of danger. A flirtation to-day is a ripple merely, but to-morrow it will be a breaker, and then a whirlpool, and after that comes hopeless loss of character. Girls, I have seen you gather up your roses from their vases at night and fold them away in damp paper to protect their loveliness for another day. I have seen you pluck the jewels like sun sparkles from your fingers and your ears, and lay them in velvet caskets which you locked with a silver key for safe beeping. You do all this for flowers which a thousand suns shall duplicate in beauty, and for jewels for which a handful of dollars can reimburse your loss; but you are infinitely careless with the delicate rose of maidenliness, which, once faded, no summer shining can ever woo back to freshness, and with the unsullied jewel of personal reputation which all the wealth of kings can never buy back again, once lost. See to it that you preserve that modesty and womanliness without which the prettiest girl in the world is no better than a bit of scentless lawn in a milliner's window, as compared to the white rose in the garden, around which the honey bees gather. See to it that you lock up the unsullied splendor of the jewel of your reputation as carefully as you do your diamonds, and carry the key within your heart of hearts.

      II.

      STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

      I received a letter the other day in which the writer said: Amber, I want to come to the city and earn my living. What chance have I? And I felt like posting back an immediate answer and saying: Stay where you are. I didn't do it, though, for I knew it would be useless. The child is bound to come, and come she will. And she will drift into a third-rate Chicago boarding-house, than which if there is anything meaner—let

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