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[Illustration:  RECKONING WITHOUT THEIR HOST.

FIRST ANARCHIST.  “ENFIN, MON AMI!—­VE SHALL NOT BE INTERRUPT IN ZIS
FREE ENGLAND!”

BULL A1 (sotto voce).  “DON’T BE TOO SURE, MOSSOO!  YOU’LL FIND NO EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES HERE!!”]

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THE YOUNG GIRL’S COMPANION.

BY MRS. PAYLEY.

III.—­THE CHOICE OF A POSE.

[Illustration:  {Young girl, posing.}]

All young girls should have definite ideas of the impression which they wish to create.  The natural girl is always either impolite or impolitic.  I am quite willing to allow that a girl who appears artificial is equally detestable.  To be unnatural, and to appear natural, is the end at which the young girl should aim.  Much, then, will depend on the choice of a pose.  It should be suitable; there should be something in your appearance and abilities to support the illusion.  I once knew a fat girl, with red hair (the wrong red), & good appetite, and chilblains on her fingers; she adopted the romantic pose, and made herself ridiculous; of course, she was quite unable to look the part.  If she had done the Capital Housekeeper, or the Cheerfully Philanthropic, she might have married a middle-aged Rector.  She threw away her chances by choosing an unsuitable pose.  At the same time the reasons for your choice should never be obvious.  There was another case, which amused me slightly—­a dark girl, with fine eyes.  She was originally intended to be a beauty, but she had some accident in her childhood that had crippled her.  She had to walk with a stick, and her back was bent.  She posed as a man-hater.  The part suited her well enough, for she had rather a pretty wit.  “But,” I said to her, “it is too plainly a case of the fox and the grapes; you hate men because you are a cripple, and can never get a man to love you.”  She did not take this friendly hint at all nicely; in fact, since then she has never spoken to me again; but what I said to her was quite true.  She was right in deciding that she had nothing to do with love; if you ever have to buy yourself a wooden leg, you may as well get a wooden heart at the same time.  But her pose was too obvious—­ridiculously obvious.  She would have done better with something in the way of a religious enthusiasm—­something very mystical.  It would have been impressive.

In the matter of dress a girl can do very much towards supporting her pose; but she must have the intuitions and perceptions of an artist.

The child-like type requires great care, for the young girl in London is not naturally child-like.  There should be a suggestion of untidiness about the hair; the dress should be simple, loose and sashed; nurse a kitten with a blue ribbon round its neck; say that you like chocolate-creams; open your eyes very wide, and suck the tip of one finger occasionally.  Let your manner generally vary between the pensive and the mischievous; always ask for explanations, especially of things which cannot possibly be explained in public.  Do not attempt this pose unless your figure is mignon and your complexion pink.  Do not be too realistic; never be sticky or dirty—­men do not care for it.