her enemies during
the like period. She explained the basic principles of dress to her
daughter, showing that in this art, as in all else, order cannot be
dispensed with. There were things a tall person might wear, but which
a short person might not, and the draperies which adorned a portly
lady were but pitiable weeds when trailed by her attenuated sister.
The effect of long thin lines in a fabric will make a short woman
appear tall, while round, thick lines can reduce the altitude of
people whose height is a trouble to be combated. She illustrated the
usage of large and small checks and plaids and all the mazy
interweaving of other cloths, and she elucidated the mystery of color,
tone, half-tone, light and shade so interestingly that Mary could
scarcely hear enough of her lore. She was acquainted with the colors
which a dark person may wear and those which are suitable to a fair
person, and the shades proper to be used by the wide class ranging
between these extremes she knew also, with a special provision for
red-haired and sandy folk and those who have no complexion at all.
Certain laws which she formulated were cherished by her daughter as
oracular utterances--that one should match one's eyes in the house
and one's hair in the street, was one; that one's hat and gloves and
shoes were of vastly more importance than all the rest of one's
clothing, was another; that one's hair and stockings should tone as
nearly as possible, was a third. Following these rules, she assured
her daughter, a woman could never be other than well dressed, and all
of these things Mary learned by heart and asked her mother to tell her
more, which her mother was quite able and willing to do.

XXVIII

When the sexual instinct is aroused men and dogs and frogs and
beetles, and such other creatures as are inside or outside of this
catalogue, are very tenacious in the pursuit of their ambition. We can
seldom get away from that which attracts or repels us. Love and hate
are equally magnetic and compelling, and each, being supernormal,
drags us willingly or woefully in their wake, until at last our blind
persistency is either routed or appeased and we advance our lauds or
gnash our teeth as the occasion bids us. There is no tragedy more
woeful than the victory of hate, nor any attainment so hopelessly
barren as the sterility of that achievement; for hate is finality, and
finality is the greatest evil which can happen in a world of movement