The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-03-10

shoes GU the instant. Here was an In
surmountabie obstacle Ia her path
and with MIR. Culver holding to such
an opinion, what good would a pro
posaE be from her even IL she should
muster up courage enough to make il.
The thought made her mute for a min
ute, and in that minute q Q thought
came.
ST think myself they are horried,n
she said with an effort to swallow
something that would not go down very
easily. but there is the leap-year
privilege. ALI women, new and old, |
can claim that, and you mustn't forget
that this is leap year,
81 had forgotten it," he said, moving
his chair over into the far corner OF
the fireplace, but still not SO far away
that he was out of the pleasant in
huence OF Susanna's He sat
taere for, q instant making himself
shlver with terror, and then he moved
back, possibly a little nearer than
before.
Forewarned is forearmed,n she
said, land now that / nave told you Of
the dangers ahead, l hope you will
profit by my advice"
"Oh, Pm not afraid" he asserted
in a good voice, "Im just waiting for
that sort OF thing. tbs custom, OF
tradition or whatever you may call It,
is an old-fashioned one, and only an
old-fashioned woman would think of
1T, aud that is the kind / want. So
none OF them had better try 1t, unless
she means business"
Surely no finer opening could be pre-
sented to q young woman in her mood
than this, and Susanna gave herself q
little shake and too another long
breath. The time had come, and she
was o the woman to lose go glorious
an opportunity.
voice and with great earnestness, 81
have for a long time been thinking
that you ought to marry, and have
even one so far as to select Just such
q woman as | think would suit you.
/ have had two or three consultations
with her, and she is willing that l
should present the matter to you, be-
cause l know you so we'll, and you will
: understand it better from me than If
l "Miss Susanna" he exclaimed,
, "don't say another word. Really, i
cannot listen to it,"
But must say it to you," she in
. sisted, because, as it seemed to her,
that was the proper way to conduct q
o successful courtship, and now that she
. had begun it, she most decidedly
L wished 1t to be successful.
l. 81 tell you l won't hear 1t. This is
t entirely unexpected, and l am sure
s nothing in my conduct has ever a
ranted you in broaching this subject tC
T. me-"
Mr.. Culver was very evidently in
earnest, and Susanna almost chuckle6
to herself, for this was the very way
young women acted under the circum
@ stances in which Mr.. Culver wa
,, placed. All it needed o was a little
o more coaxing, and Susanna nerved her
self for the final pop.
y "Perhaps, you have not thought So,
d she said in her softest voice, " but tt
me there has ever baen q desire to say
to you what | am now saying. MIR
Culver--John," and Susanna cam
very close to him, Notwithstanding she
o was so nervous she hardly knew wha
to do.
is "Hold on, Susanna, hold on" he
d exclaimed. Confound it [tha
n shocked her, for she knew NO girl ever
talked that way under such circum
st stances, however much she nigh
have thought it 81 don't want you tt
10 be- talking in any other woman's in
terest. There is only one woman IL
the world That l want, and-and-ant
n -" Mr.. Culver was getting nervous
himself now, and Susanna gasped
It "and-oh, Susanna" he said desperate
70 ly, "don't you know that woman il
d you? You, Susanna. Don't you know
it is you?"
10 Mr.. Culver caught Susanna's tive
II hands in his, and looked into her tive
IS eyes with such a pleading, pathetic
intense sincerity that all her plan
|" were consumed as straw in a fierce
is blaze, and she simply tumbled into hi
arms and let him finish the propose
she thought she had begun in such
mastery manner.
And Mr.. Culver finished it will
q glittering success, much to the relic
k Of Miss Susanna Morton, spinster.