who does not hold
within her little hands some man's achievement, some man's future, and
his belief in woman and God.

She may fire him with high ambition, exalt him with noble striving, or
make him a coward and a thief. She may show him the way to the gold of
the world, or blind him with tinsel which he may not keep. It is she who
leads him to the door of glory and so thrills him with majestic purpose,
that nothing this side Heaven seems beyond his eager reach.

[Sidenote: The Potter's Hand]

Upon his heart she may write ecstasy or black despair. Through the long
night she may ever beckon, whispering courage, and by her magic making
victory of defeat. It is for her to say whether his face shall be
world-scarred and weary, hiding tragedy behind its piteous lines;
whether there shall be light or darkness in his soul. He cannot escape
those soft, compelling fingers; she is the arbiter of his destiny--for
like clay in the potter's hands, she moulds him as she will.

Concerning Women

[Illustration]

Concerning Women

In order to be happy, a woman needs only a good digestion, a
satisfactory complexion, and a lover. The first requirement being met,
the second is not difficult to obtain, and the third follows as a matter
of course.

[Sidenote: Nagging]

He was a wise philosopher who first considered crime as disease, for
women are naturally sweet-tempered and charming. The shrew and the scold
are to be reformed only by a physician, and as for nagging, is it not
allopathic scolding in homeopathic doses?

A well woman is usually a happy one, and incidentally, those around her
share her content. The irritation produced by fifteen minutes of nagging
speaks volumes for the personal influence which might be directed the
other way, and the desired result more easily obtained.

[Sidenote: Diversions]

The sun around which woman revolves is Love. Her whole life is spent in
search of it, consciously or unconsciously. Incidental diversions in
the way of "career" and "independence" are usually caused by domestic
unhappiness, or, in the case of spinsters, the fear of it.

If all men were lovers, there would be no "new woman" movement, no
sociological studies of "Woman in Business," no ponderous analyses of
"The Industrial Condition of Women" in weighty journals. Still more than
a man, a woman needs a home, though it be but the tiniest room.

Even the self-reliant woman of affairs who battles bravely by day