A Final Triumph; or, A Lady Bachelor — page 121: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

STINGS. 119 an old maid until she feels and acts like one. You are merely a lady bachelor, my child.’’ ‘* What is the difference, auntie, between an old maid and a lady bachelor?’ ‘* There is a great difference, my dear.’’ Eloise laughed, and said: ‘* Explain it to me, auntie. ’’ ‘** Well, some girls are born old maids; they act and think like old maids when they are little girls; they are locoed from the start.’’ ‘** * Locoed,’ auntie?’ ‘ Yes. ”’ ‘* What do you mean by that?” ‘* Well, out West there is a flower called the loco; if animals eat of it, they begin to act queer; and so the peo- ple out there, when one shows signs of queerness, say they are ‘locoed.” There are but a few real old maids in the world—born old maids—and you can not mistake them when you see them. There are two in this house, the Misses ——. They feel themselves better than any one else in the world; in fact, in their own estimation they are about the only persons of any consequence in the world; the rest of the people are mere incidental beings. All heaven attends on this self-uplifted pair; they bring no sunshine in their faces, no music in their voices, no looks of kindness in their eyes. ‘They are cold, severe, con- demnatory, exclusive, and conclusive in their judgments of others. Ah! it makes even me shudder when they brush by me. All they do is gossip, gossip, and say theiz prayers, and explain how people should live, and act, and comilebooks (E(0) €y