Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-02-05

latter, doSplSc you, lOr Gun Bct eny '"'
ont of Irritation with woman; but IL you
are the former, I'll excuse your enormities II
you'll only make yourself amusing. what
YOU are time may discover; what am you
shnll now hear. In the first place-you men
always take that into first considernton--lm
n decided brunette and better looking than the
average woman, at least, so my friends ana
my glass tell me. l am in my nineteenth
wear; TO be- exact, wns eighteen last January,
and am not the least bit seatimentnl, but iull
of mischief as any poor cooped-up girl you
over saw. Now isn't il shameY-Pm not out
OF boarding school yet-and that's the reason
you get this letter; Tor I'm older than most oil
the other girls, and ieel like doing something
that ism I real bad, you know, but that's just n
little restless, and they'll think it's awiully
wicked whez they find out that I'm corre-
spending with n man don't know.
IL YOU are n woman--but don't think any
woman could have published such thing, 30
well pretend you are not a woman-if you are
a man. then, and put that piece in the paper
lust tor lark-isn't that an awful word Tor
me TO usel-why will promise to answer your
letters so long as they are pleasant and polite;
Tor you must not think am not lady be-
cause have written this letter. Oi course,
have no idea OF marrying anybody, and espe-
cinlly not you for nm rather fond oil some
body else and he likes me, at lcast he sends
me boxes OF candy and the sweetest flowers;
but I'm tired OF this poky lie and need some
SOFT OF IA tonic. If you wish you can write to
Yours, suspiciously,
JOSH MASON,
Box, Milwaukee, Wis.
P.S.-This isn't my real name, you see,
any more than yours is Edward Clarke; but 1t
ia the only name you must know mo by. And
il by any chance your advertisement should be
in earnest, | should be dreadiuy sorry to
have written To you in this way, but 1 III sure
that in that case you'll forgive harmless joke
from a young girl who has scarcely any amuse-
ments.
THAT girls little trump" said
Will, when he had finished reading the
letter, land I'm Just the boy TO help her
drive the blues away. You can have all
the rest of the letters, but this one drops
to my ink"
II struck me that there might be more
fun in this correspondence than in any
of the others that offered, so | mildly
suggested the impropriety and possible
risk of epistolary ventures on the part
of q married man. My friend detected
the motive, however, and laughingly
remarked that man engaged would
run more danger than man married !;
so he stuck to his prize, and then ard
there answered it in bright and spark.
and yet bore marks of prudence and of
respect for the young lady. In it he
acknowledged the falsity of that per-
sonal, and declared that his object WAS
gained in securing so jovial, and proba-
bly, so pretty a correspondent, vowed
that he would write to none of the other
damsels who had answered the matri-
monial card, and promi ed. on all the
honor an unknown man could possess,
that he would make no attempt to dis
cover the identity of Josie Mason"
He took precious good pains, the scamp,
not TO say anything about his iEcum-
brances, and cheerfully avoided touch
ing upon his personal affairs
4 voluminous correspondence ensued
between these two lunatics. to which |
was party, In so far that Will always
read me the letters from both sides.
After some months of this sort of thing
had passed, noticed, and remarked the
tact to him, that Josie's style had
greatly changed since her first letter;
she was less flippant, and evidently
strove to appear more womanly. 1t
could also be seen that she regretted her
mention OF the young man of flowers and
candy boxes, for several times she
hinteS that she invented that sweet
gifted youth as n convincing argument
to the unknown correspondent that she
was in search of amusement, not of n
husband. Her photograph sent about
this time showed very pretty and
rather intellectual face, and in return
Fowler enclosed the likeness Of n good
looking Eastern friend of his About
this time | again urged upon him the
propriety of stopping a correspondence
which afford him but little more pleas
ure, and which might lead to disagree
able results, limiting. at the same time
my belief that the girl was becoming too
much Interested in him. He treated
this advice cavalierly, and spoke in so
caustic a manner about the virtue OF
non-interference that neither asked to
see, nor did he offer to show me, any
more of the letters; and although we re-
mained rs good friends as ever, that
matrimonial card was. BY tacit consent,
dropped from our list of conversational
subjects. My correspondence with
three of the unknown fair had ceased
long since.
Some six weeks after our Josie Ma
son " tiff, Will suddenlj said to me:
IL was very considerate Of you, old
fellow, not to flare up when I got so
huffy the other day about your advice
in that correspondence matter. The
fact Is, I was beginning to feel uncom-
Portable about it myself, and didn't find
my temper improve Mt recalling of your
forbodings, which have been flying
around me like evil smens ever since I
began this affair. 1t is coming too close
home now, however, and / must ac-
knowledge the fear that you are right,
and that / have been wrong since the
first"
What's up now9" l asked.
"Well. nothing in particular, but
ust n sorL of feeling that I've been
making an ass of myself. like that
little girl first-rate. but, confound il all,
she's coming in q wee bit too strong.
Not that she has'written anything very
pointed, you know. but there's q sinner
ing air of spoons and danger about her
letters sf late. At all events I'm re-
solved 10 pull out OF 1t, 80 have written
this letter TO her on the subject"
III