Evening journal., 1899-08-29
HIS BID FOR A WIFE.

"Talk about anything you like, but for
goodness sake don't tell me you love me,
she said, holding up ner fan to stihe yawn.
But l can't help loving you" said the
young man, sadly.
Then don't show it,"
The young man was silent. From the ad-
joining ballroom came the strains of the
last thing in waltzes It struck him that
after all the Green hungarians were decid
edly overrated
Il didn't ask you &c sit like mummy"
she remarked, at length IF you have
nothing 10 talk about you had better take
me back to the ballroom"
Il beg your pardon, j am sure" he began,
'but you put me in trying position. My
mind is full of one subject, and one subject
only, and / am not allowed to talk about it."
"Then undoubtedly" gathered her
skirts together-"we had better 60 back to
the ballroom. To be depressed is almost
worse than to be bored"
"No; please don't 60" he said; "at least
not till have asked you one question"
What" she said yawning this time with
out any attempt at coneealment.
81 want % know" he said, IF there is
really nothing can do that will make you
alter your feelings toward me-"
81 am afraid not" she said, a smile curv-
ing her red lips. "You see you are-well,
you--nothing could make you any different,
nothing You are, l admit, good-looking,
well-dressed, sufficiently wealthy to be able
to keep me in the state to which / am ac-
oustomed, but then so are plenty Of other
men, all just as much in love with me as you
say you are. Why should choose you in
preference to the restY'
He was silent. The haclneyed retort that
he loved her better than these other men,
was, he well knew, out Of place on such an
occasion. 1t would have only excited her
ridicule.
"No," she continued, tapping her fan
against her skirts, you see my argument is
! unanswerable. Only il it is any satisfaction
to you it applies equally to the others as to
yourself. There is no reason why shouldn't
marry any one Of you. On the other hand,
there is equally no reason why should. I'm
der the circumstances prefer to remain as
am"
But you will marry some day"
"Perhaps-it depends II I do / shall
marry a man not in the least like any Of you.
Anyone can be well dressed and good.
looking and sufficiently rich. Those three
things are essential, but they are not all.
The man / marry must be all that and some
thing more. / want a man who is man;
not a mere tailor's dummy, or even a reason
ng machine We i've in avery artificial
age, when people pen up their emotions and
have no higher craving than to be always
considered good form. The man / would
like to marry should be cast in quite diff
ferent mold. He must have done something
to testify his manhood; shown me something
Of the strength that is in him. In an age
when heroism is fast becoming extinct
should like to marry hero; like that man
in India the papers are so full Of this morn.
ing, or that policeman who held two bur
glars at bay in some suburb or other for halt
an hour If prin-fghting had not degener
ated into a mere method of making the max
imum Of money with the minimum OF ezer
ton / believe 1 should have liked to marry :
prize-fghter, whose stakes bad been not Q
belt or purse or anything OF that sort, but
a real, living woman.
"And riszed society declining the acquaint
ance Of you susbandF
"Ah, that is the worst Of 1t. Nowadays il
seams a man cannot be virile without being
cad and bully at the same time. Brute
strength always seems to lead to brute force
Still there must be cases Of men who have tn
one without the other, who are strQng with
4. | out UcluB N4oltLp. nh A SAAJ NeeiN -A->
onel Why aren't men like that nowy"
. 1T is surely more a question Of opportun
!ty than anything else, said the young man
meditatively. Every man does not set th'
chance Of risling his life for the woman hl
j loves. Plenty OF Us would take such chanc'
! gladly If it occurred"
II don't know" she said, rising.
''But / am certain Of it." he replied, offer
; ing her his arm.
( "There is only one thing 10 dc, =" he thought
as he walked home two hours later IN
blaze Of early sunlight, "the opportunity
r must be found"
Before his home was reached he ha'
= thought Of the way. lie would force th
= opportunity that so many waited for, an'
j. which never came. The money that woull
d support a wife should win her as well.
D A week later people turning out Of tn
e park one swetering afternoon were horri
y fed to see hanson cab, the horse Of whie
had evidently bolted, dash furiously past tn
I corner and on up Piccadilly. Following
5 with their eyes up the hill they saw it, afte
escaping by some extraordinary chance N
2 Vulnerable collisions, at length came to
e sudden and violent stop, while down th
wind came roazd after round Of heart
= cheering.
q What actually happened, according 20 th
e evidence Of bystanders was this The cal
IT which contained young lady Of great pei
g sonal attractions, was heading straight 70
9 the big lamppost in the middle Of the roaC
collision with which would have meant httl
I. short of annihilation, when gentleman, in
/. maculately dressed from top to toe, spran
Ie from the path and threw himself bodily ont
(. the horses bride. For some yards he va
a dragged violently along, half on the groun'
Il half in the air, but still retaining his grip @
Ie the reins, despite a nasty bite in the arr
y from the infurated animal. A momer
+ more, and in the very nick Of time, succei
crowned his efforts The horse was brougt
l.. up painting within a foot or two Of the pos
y while cheer after cheer broke out from Il
4 gaping crown.
y Another hero had been added to the list
I, London; another man had grasped the Of
. portuniiy that comes to most men but ono
To a lifetime How often have men praye
for a runaway horse that they might displ'
% the bravery Of which they are capable an
how seldom does the opportunity come
Il them.