Page:Side talks with girls (1895).djvu/56

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
44
Side Talks with Girls

out of the room with one in her mouth, don't follow her example. If the man next to you piles his fork with vegetables by means of his knife, as if he were loading a coal wagon, don't follow his example, and if somebody else near you tucks in her napkin like a bib, do not think that well-bred people do such things. If a dish that you have never eaten is put before you, chat pleasantly with your neighbor until you see how she eats it. If, very properly, you do not care for wine, and are at a table where wine is served, simply signify in some unobtrusive manner to the waiter that you do not wish any. Don't be afraid of yourself in conversation. That is to say, the chances are you can talk as well as any girl in the room, but if you begin to stammer and get nervous you will never be able to say anything, and you will be credited with knowing nothing.

ABOUT THE MEN SHE MEETS

Because a man lives in the city, which is his misfortune and not his fault, it must not be supposed that he is a black sheep roaming round seeking whom he may devour. Though, by the by, from what I have seen of sheep they devour in a very quiet and polite fashion. Men are better than they are credited with being, and one seldom says or does anything to an innocent girl that is