Hast thou heard the tale of the wise and foolish virgins, oh, my
Daughter? Then hearken! For this parable pointeth a great moral.
Now, the foolish virgin cried unto her sisters, early in the season,
“Lo! the spirit of the love-chase is upon me! I must be up and doing.
For the summer resort shall be my happy hunting ground, where the game
is easy and plentiful.”
And she went her ways rejoicing, armed with three trunks and a pink
parasol and girded about with lingerie frocks and a silk bathing suit.
Yet, when she had arrived upon the scene, behold there was naught
within sight! Lo, each morning she wandered upon the beach with one
callow college-youth and each evening danced gladly with a flirtatious
octogenarian. All the damsels of the hotel, they waltzed in pairs and
_pretended_ to like it!
But the wise virgin sighed, “Alas! I cannot _afford_ to go upon a
vacation trip. Nay I must stay in town! For I shall be _busy_.”
And she _was_ busy!
For, when all the other women had departed, the men of the town, being
much bored and having naught else to do, flocked unto her door and made
themselves comfortable upon her piazza.
Yea, in twos and threes came they, the simple youth with his mandolin
and the wise youth with his Rubáiyát, the married man in his
loneliness, and the bachelor whose sweetheart was abroad.
And she fed them iced drinks and flattery, and they absorbed all of it
gladly--and were consoled!
And lo, before the summer had waned she wore six engagement rings; for
the harvest was plentiful.
Verily, verily, a summer resort is a place wherein a woman will resort
to anything, from a babe unto a grandfather, for amusement; but a
womanless town is a ripe field.