Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1886 — A Romance of Pretty Feet. [ARTICLE]

A Romance of Pretty Feet.

There may be, dear Dorothy, magic in a soft, sweet voice; there may be a wondrous fascination in a sparkling eye (why do people always write it that way, as if one eye sparkled while the other did notV), but ce tainly a pair of small feet, properly gotten up, will, as far as men are concerned, prove most active weapons in the war called coquetry. Don't you remember the wife of a well-known statesman (I think he was a statesman, but certainly he was a lawer ), fascinating as possible, pretty, bright, coquettish to the last fine degree? Y r et now when men speak of her they say: “I think she had the prettiest feet I ever saw.” The smaller the feet are the greater seems their power for annihilating the average man; the more slender the ankles, the more certainly do they appear to be able to stand the strain of admiration and the less respect have their possessors for more unfortunate women. If you wish to ruin the shape of your feet, put them in those horrid low, broad shoes that will be too large for them, and in which they will wriggle around and be rubbed out of all beauty. Beautiful feet are held as au evidence of good blood all through the South, and many are the stories told where a lovely foot has betrayed the standing of its mistress.

You remember the Mortons? Well, they had a romance during the war. Young Morton was in love with his cousin, but there M'as some sort of Montague and Capulet business, and so they could seldom see each other. But when they did it was long enough for them to fftll in love, and then one day the army chaplain married them. The gallant Borneo had no place to take liis bride, so she had to go home, and, as the camp was within riding distance of her father’s plantation, the Juliet used to visit her husband. Her mammy would be with her, and, indeed, was the confidante, for an old darky dearly loves such an affair and will gladly help it along. So ilistress J uliet and her nurse would start off, presumably to visit another plantation, but at dusk Romeo would be looking out for them, and they would never get further than the camp. Here there was a fine old dwelling house which had been deserted by its owners, so that it was easy for the loving visitor to be hid away. One night, however, orders Mere given for every man to stay in his place, and search M'as to be made for a spy supposted to be in hiding. At the door of Morton’s room stood Romeo, with drawn sxvord, insisting that no one should go in there. It seemed as if trouble were about to ensue, when Morton said that if they would let him go into the room for five minutes he would take a solemn oath that no one should leave the room; indeed, they could not. The soldiers were gentlemen and bel ; eved him. He went in, and in a very few minutes the door was opened and the men filed in one by one; there on the bed, completely covered by a sheet, so that only the outlines of a form were visible, was somebody. The impulse of the first soldier was to draw back the sheet and look at the face—but 31orton’s hand stopped him and he said: “Gentlemen, I will prove to you conclusively that this is not a spy or a man, but you shall not see the lace.” Then, going to the foot of the bed, he roiled up the sheet until there was displayed, to just above the ankles, the most beautiful feet you can imagine. There Mas utter stillness, and then the soldiers marched out one by one, each raising his cap as he passed the bed. Now, wasn’t it hard for her to keep still all that time? And wasn’t it clever in Morton? Some time after their marriage was told, and the feud was healed, but. Mr. Merton says that none of the babies have as pretty feet as their mother, nor will they ever find them of as much use in an emergency. — Bab, in New York Star.