The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-02-03

ing attention or hurting anybody
feelings. except. perhaps. those Of the
superfuous lover. who proceeds to gel
over it with the promptness character.
istic of his sex.'
''But the modus" / exclaimed. 81
don't comprehend how all this is &C.
complished.
'You must understand. in the
first place. that the Decoy is a man who
possesses veritable genius for making
love, and to this is added unlimited ex-
perience in affaires de occur. There
is no field. by the way. where expert
ence ought to account for less, and
does count for more. than in love.
making Not that women are alike.
but that they are 80 widely different.
and only long practice in this delight
full art prevents 4 man from making
mistakes. In general conversation.
the Decoy takes pains not to make him
self in any way prominent, though for
his profession he must be thoroughly
educated. Of strong intellect. and a
brilliant talker; but when alone with
the woman upon whom his operations
are directed. he works with lightning
rapidity and resistless force. Not at
first, however Oh, no! Then he is
quiet. reserved, almost difiident invit-
ing his victim to draw him out Wo-
men are always kind-hearted. and am
inclined to think that, in matters of in
tcllect they are more conceited than
men. As the campaign proceeds, and
the Becoy develops into something lit
tie short of q genius. the woman begins
to be profoundly interested in him.
This is the particular time when she
should hunt cover; Tut does she
ever do it? OF course, l need not
say that in every social accomplish
ment he is perfection itself Take
Wentworth. for example. he is like one
of Ouida's heroes; he does every thing,
and does it better than anybody else.
His music now is great card. though
he seldom uses it; and he writes de-
licious little love poems. which, after
they have done duty as skirmishers in
one campaign. assist the commissary
in the next by appearing at so much a
line in 1.-The Decade" In tennis.
dancing, riding, rowing, he is all that
could be asked, and in the most deli
cate matter of etiquette he is never
known to make a faux pas-unless it is
solely for the purpose of producing
some effect He possesses. moreover.
a quiet. cool nerve. which carries him
through scenes as intense rs any that
Sardou ever imagined. He neverlo loses
his head, though he often pretends that
he does. Re does nothing in hurry
Before he opens the siege he studies
the situation carefully from every point
of view, and gains a complete knowl-
edge of the Notifications. OF course
his system of polemics varies to suit
the occasion. Sometimes by bold.
brilliant dash, he storms tho barriers
and takes possessions; but more often.
after having carefully placed all his
forces, he makes the attack, apparently
against his will. He is easily routed.
with fearful slaughter. Then, rs the
enemy pauses, Mortified, perhaps, at the
carnage she has wrought, by an unex-
pected flank movement he captures the
neglected citadel, and looks smilingly
down upon her. 1t is one of his aphor-
isms. that with a woman you may look
for. failure out of success and success
out of failure"
'.But hold!' I said. ..What is the
rightful heir doing all this time? Does
not he appear in the affair at ALP"
...L'autre homme?" says the Colonel
Certainly he appears. 1t is usually
one of the stipulations which the Decoy
puts into the treaty with the parents,
that perfect freedom be allowed the
lovers on their agreeing to postpone
indefinitely the marriage ceremony.
But You must not imagine the Decoy to
be merely a ladies' man. He is very
popular among men, also. When he
makes a point OF becoming thoroughly
acquainted with man, he usually cap
t;vates him in much the same way that
he does woman. 1t is pretty much
the same TO him whether the Orlando
of the affair wakes jealous or remains
unconcerned; he will manage to turn
either to his advantage. The fact that
a man loves a woman does not insure
his understanding her. The secret of
the Decoy's success lies in his compre-
hending the girl better tan her lover
does. and in making the latter always
appear at a disadvantage. In most re-
spects few men can stand a comparison
with the Decoy, and in the matter of
love making he is without . rival If
his opponent happens to be . fortune
who possesses considerable skill
in the art, it is Greek against Greek"
'Then he does not always succeed?"
'.Does the lawyer always win his
case, or tho physician save his patient?
The Decoy occasionally fails. but it is
more often, imagine. through the
clumsiness of the parents than his own
/ never knew of {: case where
Wentworth failed. He undertakes no
forlorn hopes. you understand. Once
/ knew him to refuse a job on the
ground that the effort to break the en-
gagement was not just;fable Qor he
has a conscience. you know. just like
character in a story. and l understand
that marriage resulted in a very COM
Portable state of misery for both con-
cerned. The Decoy usually carries on
with the father alone, hav-
ing had too much experience to trust