Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1904-05-12
WHEN MAN
PROP OSES
s-'-. = = -, ~
BY HELEN ROWLAND u

mo LOOK perfectly calm?" In
quired Polly. climbing into tn
wrong side of the sleigh and trying Y
tuck the laprobe around the dashboard
because" she went on, beginning II
take of her gloves. and then, as sh'
recollected herself, nervously drawing
them on again, though you might no
suspect it, I'm-a little-excited.s w
A Just finished getting proposed to- w
& gave the check rein violent JERK
that must have insulted a horse like
Marc Antony. ~ a.
II wouldn't even ask who" began
ooh, you needn't" said Polly. 1T was
only Bobby Paddington.'
started. The check rein slipped
from my fingers, and l let the whip fall
with thud into the snow.
"Why, what's the matter?" asked
Polly. 1T isn't polite to be surprised
when girl gets proposed to. 1t looks as
II you had thought she couldn't"
"Oh, it isn't that" said l. ANYBODY
could get proposed to by Bobby Padding.
ton-and in leap year"
"Pooh!"a said Polly, as stepped into
the sleigh and tucked the robe around
her. Leap year has nothing to do with
it-nor Bobbie Paddington, either-if q
girl has really made up her mind Leap
year merely gives her privilege which
a woman can take whenever she likes,
It's like the kiss under the mistletoe, en-
tirely q joke. You wouldn't dare kiss
any girl under the mistletoe whom you
wouldn't dare kiss anywhere else. And
NO girl would think of asking a man to
marry her on leap year, or at any. other
time-that is, no girl with a particle OF
common sense or delicacy."
"Or womanliness," I declared.
"Orsknowledge of men," said Polly.
''Or breeding" ',' -- .~-~~'-'.,r~'
"Or experience"
II wonder" said I, ''if any woman
ever did use that leap-year privilege"
Never" said Polly, t'since she has
had the every year privilege of making
a man propose to her. It would have
been so very unnecessary. Any woman
who uses a little tact and sets out to
can get proposal The difference be-
tween proposing herself and making a
man propose to her IS the difference be-
tween using whip and spur. You dom
have to whip a horse-that is. horse
worth having-do you? But you do
often have to spur him when you come to
a Jump. A man is like horse; he hates
q whip. but he minds spur"
'"Oh. see," said l, chuckling to Marc
Antony until the sleigh sped over the
frozen road; "a proposal is like q
hedge. A fellow. wants to get over it,
but he is afraid of what is on the other
side. He may land IN q tangle-or he
nay get cold water dousing. IN y 7s .T I
''Or he fancies there might be a ditch
somewhere"
"Or = trap" suggested, gently.
Exactly" said Polly, land that is
why it needs little mental suggestion
from the girl to spur him on. If she at.
tempts to drive him with a whip he
balks. But mental suggestion"
"Thai isn't anything like-hypnotism
is it, Polly?"
"Well-a little" acknowledged Polly.
IS making somebody think some
thing that isn't So"
Making him think that there isn't
cold water on the other side?" I in
quired. .ss.sss.a. .-~..a. r.
Eyes, or tangle," said Polly "The
average man breads getting tangled up
worse than he does plunging into cold
water. But if you can hide all the cords
Of a binding engagement and all the
bonds Of matrimony, or can make them
look Ii Ike garlands, or cover them with
silk and can persuade him that pro:
posal isn't a hedge at all, but a bower of
roses that he can slipove without any
discomfort, and that the water on the
other side couldn't possibly be cold, but
just warm tears of affectionate SYM
pathy, and that there aren't any bitches
In which to- be entombed alive, or any
traps in which. to be caught, and then
can make him believe that you don't
care whether he takes leap or not
HE will 60 pell-mell on to his doom!"
I finished tragicalIy.
Like Bobb Paddington," Polly gig
gled. .....
"Oh, Bobby Paddington!" remarked
with disgust. He is just like some
fool horses that would take any hedge,
If it was brick wall-and always land
on their feet. There is a Divine Provi-
dence that protects Bobby
I'm very sure you're very uncompli-
mentary,' said Polly. "And, besides,
Bobby sPaddington landed right in the
tce-cold water this time. Irefused him
AS hard as could"
l looked down at the demure little
bundle of fur beside me, with one curl
and a nose sticking out of the big COL
lar. III Z. -
did you do it for my sake, Polly ?" /
asked softly.
NO." said Polly, ''for Boobies. He
needed the lesson. His conceit was
something atrocious Besides, I made
= sort of wager with Kitty Carter
Polly stopped
'Well?" I suggested. -. -
"Oh, well-that could-that he
should mean. Oh, don't you under
-. SL1