Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-07


air. was looking briskly around at the
scenery, and was personifed definition of
a man temporarily. at least. happy. AS he
came nearer to the detected man he recog
rized him and smiled, and when he reached
his side he refined in his horse and lightly
touched the pedestrian on the shoulder with
his riding stick.
"Why, old fellow, how are you" he said.
Far from WELL" replied the detected man.
whats the natter"
Nothing, 1 suppose" and he neaved
sigh that would have melted a heart OF
granite
'Ah, 1 know what it is" said the man on
horseback. its the same old story. Poor
fellow" He patted him on the back, spoke
to his horse, and went up the road at
rapid trot After he had ridden quarter of
a mile or so, he met another equestrian 60
ing in the opposite direction. They saluted.
whats the news?' said the new man.
Great news" replied the other. Just
keep on down the road and in a few min
utes you will meet Charlie Gaybird walking
with his head down like foundered horse,
and signing like thousand furnaces"
why, L met him on this very road at this
very time of year in precisely the same con-
dition one year ago."
Yes" was the answer. that's Just it.
He gets rejected every spring and walks
in precisely the same place after each re-
lection"
Then He Receivers.
Here was a funny state of affairs. A
young man goes and falls in love every
year; proposes soon after Easter, gets re-
jected; walks out into the country to be
alone with his woe; wrestles with himself;
doubtless contemplates suicide-there is no
harm in contemplating it at a safe distance
comes home, and eats very little dinner.
He sleeps very little that night: is wretched
all the next day; goes to bed tired out and
sleeps soundly. The third day his appetite
returns; he laughs at jokes sadly, but he
drinks bottle of beer In the evening. The
fourth day he finds himself at work in a
tolerably normal state; is surprised that he
begins to take an interest in his fellow man,
and jokes little himself in a feeble way.
The fifth day. while a certain subdued sad
ness pervades him, he is quite like himself
ana the sixth day the sky is clear of all
clouds. The fact that less than a week be-
fore he passed through storm Of emotions
is hardly to be realized. 1t seems as though
he had proposed and been rejected several
ever. but he firmly declares that it is his
last-positively his last-love affair. He
honestly believes it,
;, Perhaps the girl who rejected him be-
neNeS IL TOO and bemoans the sad neces-
sity she was under of casting a shadow
upon his bright career. But it transpires
that in the course of year, when the
balmy days of spring are upon u.s. he 20 es
and does 1t all over again with some ether
girl. 1t is then, perhaps, that the girl who
rejected him the. year before begins to
, lose respect for him. and to wish that he
had maintained his grief a little longer,
but she ought really not to object When
girl rejects man there her connection
with his good or evil fortune should cease,
n Frnn !.
gether in the way most convenient 10 him.
and II he finds solace for one rejection
by putting himself In the way of getting
another it is certainly no ones business
but his own. She had a chance to take
the most vital concern in him. but she
declined it. 1t is unfair for her to main
tain any power in a corporation in which
she holds no stock.
There is One Right Way.
1t may be that the reason why the par
ticular man mentioned above fails in all
his matrimonial proposals is because he
does not know how to ask the question
yet, if practice makes perfect, he ought
by this time to be approaching a very con-
siderable degree Of proficiency. There are
thousand ways of proposing to a woman.
Thus, one old bachelor who had been a
merchant all his life and who had seen
very little society outside of his store,
wrote to the object of his devotion and
said:
Dear Madam: Wishing a consignment
always on hand of such goods you are,
would wish to be considered a permanent
and exclusive agent therefor Speedy re-
ply would much oblige yours, &C.
This epistle, it is reported, brought the
lady to terms at once, and they lived hap
PLY ever afterward.
Another unique proposal is reported to
have emanated from an artist. He was
desperately in love and she knew II. He
was sitting in her parlor. and this is how
1t went:
He-"I would like to paint your portrait"
He--"But please say 1 may"
She-"You may"
He-"I may take some time to do it,
She-"There is no hurry"
He'll want to take my whole life
time to do 1t in
She-"How often must sit?"
He-"Every day"
She-"How long every day."
He-"Tuenty-fonr hoursr'
The curtain had better be rung down at
this point, for her answer made the play n
comedy or tragedy All the same. notwith-
standing that there are probably in the En-
glish language at least a million printed
accounts of proposals, 1t is doubtful IL any
man or woman ever truly told the story of
that scene where no one was present and
the fatcful words were spoken. No man
ought TO .cll. Everyone must ill in the de-
tails of these matters to suit himself, or
rather to suit the lady in the case, If he
knows how to do it.
Owen Meredith wrote Lucille here in
Washington, and, If ever a book was full of
love making, 1t is this one, but does anyone
really believe that the proposals in it are
faithful chronicles of things Lord Lytton
did and said himself? Yet IL they were not,
then how on earth did he find out about
them? Why, he simply made them up out
of his ina cination and wrote them in beau
tiful verse. But there may be some useful
hints and general directions about propos-
ing that can be thrown out, always with
, the understanding that all the details must
be supplied by the person in interest.
A Matrimonial Baedeksr.
In passing, 1t must be remarked that it
is almost beyond comprehension that any
woman should care a penny how a man
proposes to her, or that her answer should
have any reference to the way in which
the question is asked. Does she not expect
him to propose? Why. she knows what is
in his mind almost before he knows it HIM
self. She can, If she is clever tell precise
ly what he is going to do. Then what diff
ference does it make how he does it? If
she has not got the answer ready to the
question that she knows is coming, she
ought to have it ready, and if she is taken
by surprise II is her own fault.
Miss" lover might very well say, after
a certain stage Of the proceedings has been
passed, 1.-The time has arrived when you
expect me to propose and when l am pre-
pared to do SO. What is your answer?
Would not this be far better than II is for
him to recite a form of proposal that he
has learned by heart, which she replies to
with broken sentences that must he rain