PLAYING WITH LOVE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3137, 2 October 1922, Page 2

PLAYING WITH LOVE.

(By Mary Boozman.J "May runs alter every man she meete." "She's a positive terror to mothers and sisters." The character given her implies that May is one of those girls who regard every eligible male they come across as a possible husband, or at least as a possible sweetheart. Such girls are swayed partly by vanity, partly by the desire of love and admiration which is innate in the lemale breast. A woman like May cares little or nothing what manner o;f human being her swain may be. All she wants is for him to be attentive to her—especially in public. She has no desire to be m love herself, she scarcely gives that potentiality a thought, so full is her head of the one object. Her highest ambition is to subjugate the male sex, and she pursues it with a constancy and smglemindedness worthy of a nobler cause. A young fellow was spending his holiday in his own home, and May, who had neglected his mother and sisters shamefully during his absence, was now never off their doorstep. She oanie at ail hours of day on the most transparent pretexts. He could not go the shortest distance abroad without meeting her, and was beset by invitations to tennis and other amusements. At first, much to the irritation of Ins relations, he was obviously flattered by these attentions, and found it pleasant to be haunted by a pretty girl who had eyes for no one else, and who listened to all the words he uttered as if they were pearls of wit, and responded to them with merry repartee. For it is a sad fact that blandishments, no matter how obvious their motive, are only tiresome to the onlookers. However, in time ho wearied of the situation. Possessing the proper spirit of a lover, he resented being robbed of his courtship because the lady was too willing. The over-ripe plum readyto drop into his mouth, did not suit his palate. To shoot tame pheasants is poor sport, and May's pathetic readiness to lie won defeated its own ends. And he learnt also that he was not the first to enjoy her attentions. He was informed that when Dr S. and Claude P. arrived in the town she waylaid them likewise at street corners and ignored the rest of society for their sakes. She had made herself too cheap for ono of fastidious taste. In fact, if such a girl does not manage to get engaged during the first few weeks of her effort* she will not get engaged at al). Even then, she will probably "catch" an unsuspecting stranger, as relatives are very enlightening, and she has a bad name in her own set. And what of her heart if she succeeds at lastP Is that battered veteran worth winning? She has played with love so long and with so many that she has vulgarised all tha genuine feelings she ever possessed, and is incapable of experiencing a true and worthy