Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1905-10-25
Miriam eslie 5.
P ? ropo sal &.
By HARRY l. HORTON

By HARRY L HORTON
DON'T care If it's unmaidenly.
I'm going to do it. l know the
man loves me, and what is leap year
Tor IT 1t isn't to give the girls an op-
portun!ty to help out those of the
other sex who don't know how to hep
themselves? So here goes! He can't
dc more than refuse, and he won't do
that; but, whatever the verdict. know
that he is too honorable ever to
breathe a word Of the aatfair."
When Miriam Leslie had concluded
the delivery of this speech, which hal
only Miriam Leslie for an attentive All
0lence, she sat down at her desk It
once and began to write the letter
which she had planned the night be-.
fore, after Frank Webster had left the
house. She had parted from him with
smile on her lips. but the smile had
lasted only long enough for the door
TO close upon him, and as Miriam had
entered her room she looked far from
happy.
She had enjoyed Franks call, but it
had ended as unsatisfactory as had
all the others, in that words which she
believed had been almost upon his
lips many times had again remained
unspcken. If the man she Lowell
wouldn't take hint, he must be given
something broader than q hint; Az!
when Miriam went to sleep, it was
with the determination to write a let
ter on the morrow that even q stupid
man might understand.
Strangely enough, as she admitted
to herself, the morning found her mind
unchanged, with determination fixed
to take advantage of her leap-yeac
prerogatives.
The writer of the letter had gons
over in her mind it's prospective con-
tents number Of times, and, as re-
suit, her editorial revision had
boiled down" until it was brief and
to the point. It ran as follows:
Dear Frank: You have been coming to
see me for several years, and the happy
evenings we have enjoyed have made me
think how pleasant it would, be II We could
go on spending them together the rest Of
you? MIRIAM.
The girl heard her brother pass her
door, preparatory to starting for bust
ness, and she no longer waited for the
ink to dry, but grabbed a piece of blot
ting-paper, and the letter was soon IN
his hands. He was told that it was
important. and that it must be posted
by him when on the way to his Office
Her brothers departure was time
ly, as Miriam had begun to weaken
IN her determination, and as she gave
him the letter she said to rerself:
Nov haven't chance to change my
mind"
She did, however, have many changes
of mind through the day, which seemed
to her one of unusual length. Soon after
her brother had left she was tempted
TO telephone to him to try to get the
letter back from the post Office, but
she didn't know If that would be pos
slble, and, besides, the request would
cause him to ask q good many Ques-
lions which it would be awkward for
her to answer, and so the request was
not made.
BY the afternoon post Miriam re-
ceived a letter addressed in the we'll
known handwriting of the young man
to whom she had proposed. 10 1t
possible that he had answered so
quick1y?" she asked herself, as she
held the envelope in her hand, fearing
to open it.
She had had little experience as
writer, and knew that quick returnss
usually meant no sales, and her first
Thought was that Frank had declined
the honor of being her husband. That
was notifying thought in itself, and
the continuation of the train of
thought suggested by the comaprison
of her offer with the manuscript was
not a comforting one.
She had offered herself, even as she
had been wont to submit a story or
poem to an editor. The only conso-
lation she could get out of the COM
parison was found in the thought that
she wasn't exactly placing herself on
the market, as IL one editor, Frank
Webster by name, declined, she
wouldn't offer herself to another.
When Miriam thought to look at the
postmark, she was convinced that the
letetr had been posted before Frank
could have received her letter. With
trembling fingers, this maid, who had
had 80 much courage few hours be-
h0
as follows:
MY Dear Miriam: see you 50 often
that it seems cowardly to write what I
might speak: but, although many times
when in your presence have tried to say
certain words, courage has always failed
me- Resolutions made when alone have
not been kept when found myself by your
side
I think you know what has been in my
heart for a long time, and have occa-
sionally felt that you cared for me: but
If you have, you have never made the least
attempt to help me out. should have
forgiven you II you had made it easier
for me. and should have blessed you for
having done so, and yet, after all, dear.
love you all the more for your Womanly
reserve. and have always contrasted /, with
the actions of some of your sex, who seem
ever ready to say: '"This Is so sudden!'
I hope, dear, that you do care enough for
me- or feel that you can care enough some
day to make. me the happiest man on
earth. know they all say that; but for
give my lack Of originality, and remember
that there Is something original about my
statement, as really mean on the day
you say you will be my wife shall be hap
pier than anybody in this or any other
neighborhood. ...5
En- Don't answer this letter in hurry, up
z@ ut9 n m .