arolles,
All emphasising the refrain:
Too young for babes, too old for dolls._

_And, truth to tell, the world's a thing
Of wonder for a life that's new,
And trembling her passions sing
Their praise within her father's pew._

_Magnificats or credos sung,
Thus oft acquire a deeper note,
When they're intoned by voices young,
Or issue from a virgin's throat._

_For all the world's a wondrous thing,
And magic to the life that's new,
And heartily her voice-chords ring
Beside her father's in his pew._

_Who sees her clad in muslin white,
With eyes downcast and manner prim,
May well be minded by the sight,
Of angels pure or cherubim._

_Yet, oh, the secret lusts of life!
The thrills and throbs but half divined;
The future and the great word "Wife,"
Which ofttimes occupy her mind!_

_The wicked thoughts that come and go,
The dreams that leave her soul aghast,
And make her long to hold and know
The entertaining truth at last!_

_But still the elfs upon the plain,
And in the arbour where she lolls,
With merry gesture cry again:
Too young for babes, too old for dolls._

[Footnote 1: _First published in THE NEW AGE, December 4th, 1919._]

Too Old for Dolls

CHAPTER I

On a vast Chesterfield, every unoccupied square inch of which seemed to
bulge with indignant pride, Mrs. Delarayne reclined in picturesque
repose. Her small feet, looking if possible more dainty than usual in
their spruce patent leather shoes, were resting on a rich silk cushion
whose glistening gold tassels lay heavily amid all the crushed splendour
of the couch. Other cushions, equally purse-proud and brazen, supported
the more important portions of the lady's frame, and a deep floorward
curve in the line of the Chesterfield conveyed the impression that,
however tenderly Mrs. Delarayne might wish to be embraced by her
furniture and its wedges of down, she was at all events a creature of
substantial proportions and construction.

The picture presented was one of careless and secure opulence.

The contents of the room in which Mrs. Delarayne rested had obviously
been designed and produced by human effort of the most conscientious
and loving kind. All the objects about her were treasures either of art
or antiquity, or both, and stood there as evidence of the power which
their present owne