Various

“ In bitterness and in jealousy we are apt to misjudge the girl-sentimentalist, thinking hard thoughts of her, saying harsh things of her, instead of being right happy to be of those to whom she makes her Shakespearian protestations. Shakespeare is very good in print, but he is very much better from young lips.
Some people are greatly alarmed by the spectacle of a girl who appears to be without sentiment. This girl's heart is wrapped in a cool outer shell, like the world, but, like the world, it has, be sure, a hot nucleus. ”

“ Life would go on certainly though we were all as rude and uncultivated as could be—sitting on the ground and tearing our food with our hands preparatory to gnawing the bones, and speaking the most terrible home truths to each other without any veil whatever—but it would not be so pleasant. ”

“ Alice, I want to tell you that I made my will after I saw you last. I left you Swallow's Nest, and everything else besides. Perhaps I had better die, for you will know what to do with the money. A man's life, after all, is a little thing, and I never was good enough for you. If I die——"
"Hush," she said again. "If you die, I will never marry anyone else as long as I live. But you mustn't die." ”

“ Strings of camels, laden with oranges, ambled by, their long necks bobbing from side to side, their "melting" eyes looking such unutterable things—we felt quite drawn to the creatures. Afterwards, when we knew the camel better, we liked him less, and ended by accepting Mr. Kipling's unflattering estimate of him, who—
"When all is said and done,
Is a devil, and an ostrich, and an orphan child in one."
Swift little donkeys, and gaily caparisoned Arab horses, ridden by resplendent-looking Arabs, pushed their way unceremoniously through the crowds. ”

“ The people of the hotel, no whit less dismayed, insisted on Roy's instant removal. The question was, where could he go?
Then it was that Denham Ivor came to the rescue. He had had small-pox; he had nursed a friend through it; he was, therefore, not only safe but also experienced. He would undertake the boy himself, allowing no other to enter the room. Neither Mrs. Baron nor Colonel Baron might again approach Roy, until all danger of infection was over. His steady manner and cheerful face brought comfort to everybody. ”

“ Cardigan, I think it is a good thing that I met you to-day. Now I must go back quickly and set some troubled hearts at rest."
"Do not go yet," he pleaded. "No one has ever given me such a straight talking to before. My money was making a selfish brute of me very fast. Hit me as hard as you can, Miss Harper. Every blow knocks some of the evil out." ”

“ In spite of good resolutions, I have cried without ceasing since I left —— Not even the evident amusement of a small boy, my vis-a-vie" (spelling is not a strong point with this writer) "could dry up those tears. Dignity doesn't help one to forget an aching heart. I must fly now to see to my luggage."
The heart in a girl like that is balanced by the head, and the same thing is true of the girl-writer of the next letter-extract:
"I look often at his picture upon my table, and wonder why it is there. I am so exquisitely happy, and yet so keenly aware of my own shortcomings. ”

“ The girl who describes a prayer-book as a book with "guilt" edges is almost guilty of profanation. Tell her this, and so far is this sort of girl from being a hardened sinner that the strong likelihood is that she will never again commit this error. An appeal to her heart is always better than an appeal to her head. This fact was realised by the Israelite who said to a young maiden of this type who had written "sinagog" for "synagogue," "You must not spell the name of our temple like that. It is not only incorrect, but very unkind spelling." ”

“ We cannot be a sort of Bradshaw's Guide through the network of lines of kinship, but the more we understand about it the better, and to know exactly whom one is speaking to is an undoubted help in that direction, enabling us to avoid mistakes in conversation which may plant a sting unremovable by any after-excuse or apology. ”

“ Children and children's children have filled the places that they left vacant, living just the same simple, God-fearing life. The old house is still sound and strong; there are no cracks anywhere; it keeps out the rough weather. But a rich man has decided that it is old-fashioned and ugly, therefore it must be pulled down."
Cardigan had grown pale. Her words had gone down right to the deeps of his heart, and moved him painfully.
"It shall not be pulled down!" he cried. "Miss Harper, I have been a stupid, selfish man. ”

“ A lady of high accomplishments and keen relish of social intercourse asserts that while on the staff of a London High School she suffered for years from the invitations of young girls who, in imploring her to accept their family's hospitality, never failed to emphasise the fact that there would be "nobody else invited."
There is a very general idea that the girl-sentimentalist totally ignores the practical side of life. ”

“ From this schoolmistress I have it that the girl who can spell "parallel," "ridiculous," and "predilection," is rarely an incurable sentimentalist.
My own experience has been that it is the sentimental girl who writes—and says—"rearly" and "warfted," and the following curiosities in spelling are culled from the—unpublished—works of girl-novelists:
"He had suffered the yolk of tyranny." ”

“ The misspellings of the average girl-sentimentalist are legion; in fact, I have heard a schoolmistress say—the speech having been addressed by her to a younger schoolmistress—"Put down sentimentality; it leads to misspelling." ”

“ The average sentimental girl can write a long letter with ease, and can write ill. In a long letter by such a girl which has been placed at my disposal, she constitutes herself petitioner for a poor family, of which she writes, "They are getting into despair as to how to meet their rent, much less food. It is a fearful idea of people in one's own class wanting for food." The sentiment of that is rather narrow, and the wording of it is execrable.
Tact is not always but is sometimes denied to the young sentimental letter-writer. ”

“ Some dishes are easy enough to help oneself to, but there are others which demand cool determination to attack, and care lest a portion land upon the tablecloth instead of in the plate. We are not all gifted with the self-possession of Theodore Hook, who, when carving a tough goose one day let it by chance slip bodily into the lap of his neighbour, and, turning to the unlucky victim, said severely, "Madam, I will trouble you for that goose!" ”

“ A fault very common is not being sufficiently careful to pronounce clearly the names of individuals when introducing them, and it is a great oversight, as it prevents the landmarks—if I may so style them—being visible, which are so necessary in this land, where relationships run closely through every stratum of society, and it is almost impossible to go anywhere without finding people either nearly or distantly connected with each other. ”

“ Not the great banquets in big houses, which are part of the routine of life, and being perfect in every detail go like clockwork; but the modest entertainments in small abodes where the infrequency of "parties" causes some excitement and extra work in the household. ”

“ That is to say, do not let your mind worry and bother about it, for of all fatal obstacles to the success of a dinner-party, the irrelevant answers and wandering eye of the hostess, due to her thoughts being fixed upon the delay in handing the vegetables, or the non-appearance of a sauce, are the greatest, and moreover call attention to shortcomings which otherwise might pass unobserved. ”

“ The essays are to give a brief account of the plot and action of the story in the Competitor's own words; in fact, each paper should be a carefully-constructed Story in Miniature, telling the reader in a few bright words what The Girl's Own Story Supplement for the month is all about.
One page of foolscap only is to be written upon, and is to be signed by the writer, followed by her full address, and posted to The Editor, Girl's Own Paper, in an unsealed envelope, with the words "Stories in Miniature" written on the left-hand top corner. Writers are cautioned against too small handwriting. ”

“ We have seen so little of each other. You are under the spell of strong feeling; but feeling only changes a man for a little while. It alters the surface of his nature, but leaves the inmost self untouched. ”

“ UNDER A BAD SPELL
"Hullo, here's 'wobble' spelt not with an 'o' but with an 'a'—'wabble.' Now I wonder which is the right spelling."
This is perhaps the place in which to say that there is nothing more difficult than to determine what forms the line of demarcation between the sentimental and the non-sentimental girl. There are persons who assert that a girl who uses the interjection Hullo! may be safely termed non-sentimental, but that is so far from being true that among the girl-readers of this paper there will be one with whom Hullo! ”

“ She teased, puzzled, aggravated, and provoked them; therefore, if they had any claim to be logical, they should dislike her cordially, yet somehow or other they could not bring themselves to say that they disliked Mariquita. There were moments when they came perilously near loving the aggravating creature.{71} Already it gave them quite a shock to look back upon the time when there was no Peggy Saville to occupy their thoughts, and life without the interest of her presence would have seemed unspeakably flat and uninteresting. ”

“ It is hardly necessary, perhaps, to say that under no circumstances whatever, whether when eating vegetables, cheese, or any other thing, must a knife approach the mouth. Such an unbecoming as well as dangerous habit would at once mark the person indulging in it as standing in need of some little teaching. ”

“ And as civilisation has progressed, so by degrees a sort of code of rules—unwritten in some particulars, but none the less binding—has been evolved very much to the advantage of us all in the way of preventing roughness in manner and making the great machine called Society—which is but another name for an assemblage of human beings—run easily and without friction. ”

“ These plaids are more used as skirts than as entire dresses; in fact, the newest departure in coats and skirts is to have the skirt of plaid and the coat of a plain cloth which suits it in colour. For this purpose a sacque coat is always used, and this is a fortunate thing, for they suit all figures, thin and stout, equally well; but they, more than any other description of jacket, require a good cut, as they are so easily made to hitch up or to droop at the back by an inexperienced cutter. ”

“ Dinner is announced and you take your seats. With regard to the mode of eating, it may be roughly laid down that a knife is not to be used when spoon and fork will do, and a spoon should not be employed if a fork alone is sufficient. In the case of fish, silver knives are usually provided, and when they are not it is advisable to use two forks if one will not quite answer the purpose. Curry, properly cooked, requires no knife, only spoon and fork. Quails and cutlets, of course, must have a knife, but many entrées can be perfectly well managed with a fork alone. ”

“ This is the girl who said dolefully the other day, "Oh, yes, one meets heaps of men, but they don't propose!" Concerning which speech one can only say that it might with advantage have been left unmade. ”

“ These gentlemen proved to be equally civil, evidently seeing nothing suspicious either in us or our modest luggage. Our formal introduction to Egypt being thus agreeably made, we walked to the hotel, and were soon seated under the cool verandah, discussing delicious tea and bread and butter. We ascertained that the steamer going to Jaffa did not leave before Tuesday evening, so that we had ample time to become acquainted with Port Said. What an un-Sabbath-like appearance our novel surroundings presented! ”

“ So far as I can see, white satin seems to be the popular lining for all fur jackets and capes, though I have seen one or two lined with gold colour and pale blue. The capes of fur follow the fashion of those in cloth and are flounced just as they were last year, many of them; but this year the flounces are wider and more visible to the eye. The collars of all fur garments are very high. And, lastly, I must mention that long fur boas are expected to take the place of the feather ones to which we have been so faithful. ”

“ In every phase of life we see that all cannot be successful at the same time; but such competitions as these bring eventual success to the strong ones, who have faith and courage to try again. I feel sure that "miniature" handwriting was not a feature of the competition! and hope that in other efforts no young eyes will be so cruelly taxed as some have been in this.
My warmest wishes for the future success of those not successful to-day; and congratulations to the winners.
Your cordial friend,
Minnie Douglas.
THE BACK OF BEYOND. First Prize (£2 2s.) . ”

“ The writer who is informed that his work has suggested the collecting together of feeble attempts and publishing them is made the recipient of a dubious compliment.
Very often the inducement to do a thing as set forth by the girl-sentimentalist is of a kind not calculated to weigh strongly with persons less sentimental. ”

“ Dresses are, I am sorry to say, being made very much longer in the skirt. They touch the ground at the front and sides, and lie on it completely at the back, while for evening use the long train is universally adopted. I think the Princess-gown will be the favourite one for evening use, and here sleeves seem to be banished entirely, a velvet ribbon or a flower being considered a sufficient substitute for them. ”

“ Then tokens of improvement began; and Colonel Baron sent a letter home which cheered Molly's sore heart; and, just when all promised well for a quick recovery, violent inflammation of one ear set in. For days and nights the boy suffered tortures, and sleep was impossible for him, therefore for his nurse. Roy, in his weakened state, sometimes broke down and cried bitterly with the pain, imploring Ivor never to let Molly know that he had cried. ”