Page 7 - 1930 October - To Dragma

6 To DRAGMA

" I n Oberammergau I witnessed the superb acting in the Passion
Play and encountered men with beards of several years' growth, and
women with amazingly long and abundant tresses, all with a lovely
attitude towards Americans. I n every other place I found tradespeople
attempting to 'pull' us for all we were worth, but here they even
wanted to charge our purchases to us.

"From there I travelled to Brussels where my actual work was
to begin. I was met by an honest-to-goodness countess, the president
of the Belgian Y.W.C.A., who entertained me very hospitably in her
home. I accompanied her to the Belgian Y.W.C.A. Camp in northern
Belgium where I was to act as a counselor with three other young
women—one Prussian, one Dutch, and the other French. I n that part
of Belgium the inhabitants speak the Flemish language, so I had the
unusual experience of speaking through two interpreters, one Flemish
and the other French.

"Though these novel incidents were stimulating, the girls them-
selves furnished the great surprise. I was amazed at their knowledge
and the scope of their reading and, odd though it seems, almost all
of them speak English. I n fact, I had been there sometime before
they discovered my American identity. They lead very simple, un-
hurried lives; they suffer from no bridge club complexes and care little
for dancing; so I ' m sure many of our girls wonder if they have any
fun at all. These Belgian girls rather find their recreation in work
and extensive study. They were exceptionally considerate of my wel-
fare and very anxious lest I fail to enjoy myself.

" I feel that my training in Belgium will be invaluable to me in my
work as a Girl Reserve secretary. I t has already brought me the
realization of the practicability of our project of world peace and fellow-
ship with foreign Y.W.C.A. girls, so I expect to carry on some really
useful work with my girls this year."

One has only to talk with Helen to catch the spirit of her variedly
interesting and beautiful work and to become cognizant of the bene-
ficial results that reward devotion to, and working with, girls. She
loves her vocation whole-heartedly, and therein, we might say, lies
the secret of her success and happiness.

The 'Woman Jfater

By MARY GRANT CHARI.ES, Delta

My neighbor mystery Permeate the evening air
Misanthrope he And on the bank the Lady-slippers
And something of a hermit. Stepping daintily amid the rocks
His collie-guarded gate intimidates me; And Lady-smocks so silvery-white
Yet all about him here Do gently mock his strange aversion;
There somehow clings an atmosphere Often he leans, unseeing, on his spade
Of cloying femininity, As he ponders in his precious garden.
Of Love-in-a-Mist and Rue Of whom, I always wonder,
As though some ghostly Spirit Are his thoughts
Would not out and leave him; Amongst his pansies
Mingling subtly, Mignonette and Violet And Forget-me-nots?