g to do but meddle in affairs which do not concern
her. Is she a lady? One would imagine she is not. One would also imagine
that she lives in a solid well-repaired square brown stone house with a
cupola used as a conning tower and equipped with periscope and telescope
and wireless. Furthermore, her house is situated on a bleak hill so that
nothing impedes her view and that of her two pets, a magpie and a jackal.
And the business in life of all three of them is to track down and destroy
the good name of every woman who comes within range, especially if she is
young and pretty--and unchaperoned!

The pretty young woman living alone, must literally follow Cinderella's
habits. To be out of the house late at night or sitting up, except to
study, are imprudences she can not allow herself. If she is a widow her
conduct must be above criticism, but if she is young and pretty and
divorced, she must literally live the life of a Puritan spinster of Salem.
The magpie never leaves her window sill and the jackal sits on the
doormat, and the news of her every going out and coming in, of every one
whom she receives, when they come, how long they stay and at what hour
they go, is spread broadcast.

No unprotected woman can do the least thing that is unconventional without
having Mrs. Grundy shouting to everyone the worst possible things about
her.

=THE BACHELOR GIRL=

The bachelor girl is usually a worker; she is generally either earning her
living or studying to acquire the means of earning her living. Her days
are therefore sure to be occupied, and the fact that she has little time
for the gaiety of life, and that she is a worker, puts her in a somewhat
less assailable position. She can on occasion go out alone with a man (not
a married one), but the theater she goes to must be of conventional
character, and if she dines in a restaurant it is imperative that a
chaperon be in the party; and the same is true in going to supper at
night. No one could very well criticize her for going to the opera or a
concert with a man when neither her nor his behavior hints a lack of
reserve.

But a girl whose personal dignity is unassailable is not apt to bring
censure upon herself, even though the world judges by etiquette, which may
often be a false measure. The young woman who wants really to be free from
Mrs. Grundy's hold on her, must either live her own life, caring nothing
for the world's opinion or the position it offers, or else be ch