Elinor Glyn

“ It is a wise man who knows when he is happy and can appreciate the divine bliss of the tangible now. Most of us retrospect or anticipate and so lose the present.
Seize Love at whatever age he comes to you—if you can avoid being ridiculous.
[Pg 17]
ore questions?" exclaimed the Sage, as the Damsel tapped gently upon the door of his cave.
"Women are never satisfied; they are as restless as the sea, and when they have received all the best advice they invariably follow their own inclinations." ”

“ And he went back into his cave and barred the door.
The Damsel sat down upon a stone outside.
"It seems to me that men are fools," she said, and she clapped her hands to her two ears. "When I am angry and offended with one of you, I will cut the ear from off the head of some one else." ”

“ It is possible for a woman to retain the amorous affection of a man for many years—if he only sees her for the two best hours out of each twenty-four.
[Pg 27]
lease open the door, Sage," entreated the Damsel, "and I will tell you a story."
The Sage pushed it ajar with his foot, but he did not come out.
"There was once upon a time a man," she said, "who unexpectedly and for no apparent reason became the possessor of a Tiger. It had been coveted by numbers of people and was of a certain value and beauty. It had an infinite variety of tricks. It was learned in caresses. ”

“ Among them was a glorious Humming Bird of wonderful brilliancy and plumage, a creature full of beauty and grace and charm and elegance. The man became passionately attached to it; he was ready to perpetrate any folly for the sake of obtaining possession of it, and indeed he did commit numbers of regrettable actions, and at last stole the bird from the Showman and carried it away. Then, in a foreign palace, for a short while he revelled in its beauty and the joy of owning it. The Humming Bird did its best to be continually charming, but it felt its false position. ”

“ It is a good hostess who never inclines her guests unconsciously to look at the clock.
Some things cause pride, some pleasure. There is only one thing which causes infinite bliss and oblivion of time, and this one thing, unless bound with chains, is called immoral. ”

“ A man will often fling away a woman who has wronged him although in doing so he is deeply hurting himself. A woman will forgive a man who has wronged her because her own personal pleasure in him is greater than her outraged pride. Hence women are more unconscious philosophers than men.
[Pg 7]
The Damsel returned again to the cave of the Sage. There were other questions she wished to ask about life. ”

“ It was the bad taste of the man in giving the Cuckoo the cage and perches of the Ring Dove, which he had consecrated to her. That cured her, and enabled her to fly away." [Pg 74]
And the Damsel curtsied to the Sage and sauntered off, laughing and looking back over her shoulder.
[Pg 75]
An action committed in bad taste is more curing and disillusionizing to Love than the cruelest blows of rage and hate.
[Pg 77]
man would often be the lover of his wife—if he were married to some one else. ”

“ Upon which the Sage, with his usual lack of manners, retired into his cave and slammed his door.
The Damsel sat down upon the rock and came again to her own conclusions. The stone that apparently was a Topaz was in reality a yellow Diamond of great rarity and worth, and that was why the [Pg 11] woman valued it so highly. Her instincts were stronger than her reason. But if she had not made herself so cheap by adoring the stone, it would not have become restless and she would not have lost it. Even stones cannot stand too much honey. ”

“ It saw the hook under the fly, but the attraction of the Angler growing stronger and stronger, at last it deliberately decided to come up and bite. 'I know all the emotions of swimming on the surface and letting my scales shine in the sun,' it mused, 'but I know nothing about the bank and the basket, and perhaps the tales that are drilled into the heads of us Fish from infancy about suffocation and exhaustion are not true.' And it mused again: 'He is a perfectly beautiful Fisherman and looks kind, and I want to be closer to him and let him touch my glittering [Pg 44] scales. ”

“ He takes the right view of the story-writer's function and the wholesale view of what the art of fiction can rightfully attempt.—Independent, N. Y.
"HELL FER SARTAIN," and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.00.
Mr. Fox has made a great success of his pictures of the rude life and primitive passions of the people of the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky. His sketches are short but graphic; he paints his scenes and his hill people in terse and simple phrases and makes them genuinely picturesque, giving us glimpses of life that are distinctively American.—Detroit Free Press. ”

“ The above work will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt [Pg 85] of the price.
HENRY SETON MERRIMAN
THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
A new novel by Henry Seton Merriman is always eagerly welcomed by every reader of fiction. This is a story of intrigue, conspiracy, and exciting adventure among the political factions of the great European nations. One of the scenes is in Russia at the time of the assassination of the Czar. The attachés of the various Foreign Offices play an important part. ”