Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-07-03


supper, brandy -and-soda of the past; and
lastly, when / get up my best energy
toward the putting together of words, my
designs escape respectfully enough, /
should judge, the effect of complete trivi-
atty. Altogether, provided l bring to
bear upon this proposed undertaking a
good deal of determined force, there are
more than even chances, perhaps, Of my
success in it.
So l reflect; and with such reflections,
after consuming cigarette or two among
the strawberries, l stroll indoors and go
to bed without again seeing Miss Martel
On the following morning, when we
meet at breakfast, l make an attempt to
discover what other nice things there are
about her besides her nice hair. Quite a
number, decider to-wit, genial gray eyes,
a nose that is self-assertant without being
self satisfied, mouth that you don't
specially care to have any smaller because
of the regular shapely teeth its frequent
smile shows, and figure that is full Of
easy curves, though trim and slender
She presents an exact physical reverse
of Mrs. Heath's lazy, lavish-molded Ju-
nonian type. She never lounges on otto
mans and other tufted temptations of the
flesh, and the weather of Java itself doesn't
seem to affect her disregard for fans. My
first attempt at being downright entertain
ing is made little after breakfast. Heath,
good, accommodating nondescript that he
is, has just permitted himself to be drag
ged out into some dolefully idyllic situa-
ton under tree by that inane little Bar
tholomew girl, who either can't or won't
see the ugly antagonism between
fresh green grass and virginal-colored
duck trousers. Mrs. Heath has posed
herself on one of the hall lounges,
while Louis Brunette, having his
curled yellow head probably less than an
inch from her cheek, treats what he reads
aloud from blue-and-go Lucille"
with enough elocutional cruelty to make
Mr.. Owen Meredith commit justifiable
homicide.
Under these circumstances we in the
sitting-room begin an exchange of re-
marks. l grow nervous very soon, and
lose lots of confidence. | am trying to do
what have never before tried to do
create good impression. | find it anna
zingly hard work. discover that through
out my mortal career, up to the present
moment, l have rigidly avoided the most
shadowy sort of effort to make anybody
like me. have systematically adopted a
COuISc VI COOlCSI lllulllClCuSC 40 ~ w hCtuti
Toms opinion of me surpassed Dicks in
friendly fervor, or whether Harry's was
more cordial than either. AS for women,
they generally have done three good
fourths of the talking, made every vestige
of anything like an "advance," and shown
dispositions to continue gracious as long
as | remained near by to render them So
1t is the old story Set a ''lily-handed
baronet'' to breaking stones, and you will
find what sad work is the result | Stun
BILE in my sentences; serve up an over
done piece of civility one moment and an
underdone piece the next; am the vile
antipodes of my customary suave self.
She appears, however, to be quite I'M
conscious of all this. feel infinitely COM
forted by the thought That loathed
Cleveland business wears already faint
haze of distance across its hideOus pros
pect A vague picture begins even now
to shape itself in my fancy. | repossess
all the old lost luxuries of living; / regain
that beatific state which prevents man
from having any special regard about
how the few odd thousands of his income
happen to take flight. All, what three
fold joy to have again after once having
had!
Yes, she undoubtedly talks to me as
though she liked ne. Perhaps she de-
tects a certain Turing felicity about my
moustache, or powerful fascination in
the size of my ear, or an intense attrac-
tiveness in the way my hair meets the
nape of my neck, or any other feature of
the nonsensical sort by which women are
very often charmed into nonsensical at
tachments.
moustache, O ear, o hair, 0 nape of
neck, 0 every personal beauty which !
may have the good luck to possess, plead
now in my behalf! Perhaps by to-mor-
row nv awkwardness will have worn off
trifle, and something of such pleading
may be done with my own lips. Mean.
while cannot despond. l have indeed
every reason to hope.