The Old Folks' Party.

what we shall be at seventy , we should entirely fail to recognize ourselves , and should fall to disputing which Avas which . " " Yes , and Ave shall doubtless have changed as much in disposition as in appearance , " added Henry . " NOAV , for

one , I ' ve no idea what sort of a felloAV my old man will turn out . I don ' t believe people can generally tell much better Avhat sort of old people will groAv out of them than Avhat characters their children will have . A little better perhaps , but not

much . Just think IIOAV different sets of faculties and tastes develop and decay , come into prominence and retire into the background , as the years pass . A trait scarcely noticeable in youth tinges the old man in age . " " What striking dramatic effects are lost

because the drama of life is spun out so long instead of having the ends brought together , " obseiwed George . " The spectators lose the force of the contrasts because they forget the first part of every role before the latter part is reached . One fails in consequence to get a realizing sense of the

sublime inconsistencies of every life-time . " " That difficulty is what Ave prcrpose , in a small Avay , to remedy next Wednesday night , " replied Henry . Mary professed some scruples . It Avas queer , she thought it must be Avrong . It

was like tempting Providence to take for granted issues in His hands , and masquerade with uncreated things like their own yet unborn selves . But Frank reminded her that the same objection Avould apply to any arrangement as to what they should do next Aveek .

" Well , but , " offered Jessie , " is it quite respectful to make sport of old folks , even if they are ourselves ?" " My conscience is clear on that point , " said Frank . " It ' s the only way Ave can get even Avith them for the deprecating , contemptuous Avay in Avhich they will allude

to us 0 A er their snuff and tea , as callow and flighty youth , if indeed they deign to remember us at all , Avhich isn ' t likely . " " I ' m all tangled up in my mind , " said Nellie Avith an air of perplexity , " betAveen these old people you are talking about and

ourselves . Which is Avhich ? It seems odd to talk of them in the third person , and of ourseh'es in the first . Aren ' t they ourselves too ?"

" If they are , then certainly we are not , " replied Henry . " You may take your choice . " " The fact is , " he added , as she luoked still more puzzled , " there are half a dozen of each one of us , or a dozen if you please ,

one in fact for each epoch of life , and each slightly or almost wholly different from the others . Each one of these epochs is foreign and inconceivable to the others , as ourseh'es at seventy now are to us . It ' s as hard to suppose ourselves old as to imagine

swapping identities one Avith another . And AA'hen Ave get old it will be just as hard to realize that we Avere ever young . So that the different periods of life are to all intents aud purposes different persons , and the first person of grammar ought to be used only Avith the present tense . What Ave Avere , or shall be , or do , belongs strictly

to the third person . " " You Avould make sad Avork of grammar Avith that notion , " said Jessie , smiling . " Grammar needs mending just there , " replied Henry . " The three persons of grammar are really not enough . A fourth is needed to distinguish the ego of the past

and future from the present ego , whicn is the only true one . " " Oh , you ' re getting altogether too deep for me , " said Jessie . " Come , girls , Avhat in the Avorld are Ave going to get to Avear next Wednesday ?"

" Sure enough ! " cried they with one accord , Avhile the musing look in their eyes gave place to a viA'acious and merry expression . " My mother isn ' t near as old as Ave ' re going to be . Her things won ' t do , " said Nellie .

" Nor mine , echoed Jessie ; " but perhaps Mary ' s grandmother Avill let us have some of her things . " " In that ease , " suggested Frank , "it will be only civil to invite her to the party . " " To be sure , why not ? " agreed Jessie . " It is to be an ' old folks' partyand her

, presence will give a reality to the thing . " " I don ' t believe she'll come , " said George . " You see being old is dead earnest to her , and she Avon ' t see the joke . " But Mary said she would ask her any-Avay , and so that was settled .

" My father is much too large in the Avaist for his clothes to be of any service to me , " said George lugubriously .