The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1905-01-27

quite a new one and I had hardly:
soiled il, for somehow or other l hadn't
danced much. You looked dreadfully
glum as you picked itAup. think it
must have been my carelessness in let
ting it drop in the dirt. l am extrava-
CANT, fear; and as you told me last
night that you were poor man, am
afraid must have shocked your sensl-
bilitles!
"Why on earth did you say any
thing about money? What had it 10
do with the question? I know have
heaps of. it; and it's not a bad thing
either, as it sometimes helps man to
marry the girl he loves. Remember
[dear Jack]-I needn't mention the
brackets again-when you ask another
girl to marry you. if she happens to
have money (which I hope she will
for your sake] don't refer to it. If she
cares bit for you, as you deserve,
she'll be only ashamed to feel that SHE
has so little to give you.
1--WE heaps of other reasons for say
ing NO. but under any circumstances
could never marry man who didn't
take his answer from his lady-love's
own lips. The girl who consents to
such a thing deserves to be married in
her bonnet and in shoes two sizes too
big for her.
Nov, I'll give you piece of good
advice before I stop. When you pro-
pose to the other GIRL don't mention, as
have said, her money, if she has any;
don't Say you are unworthy of her
THAT won't be true] and not fit to tie
her shoelace, though I recollect you
once tied mine very nicely in spite Of
your fingers trembling. Don't, above
all, say that you are not anxious to
hurry her, but would like her to con-
slider the matter we'll. I can't imagine
a lover of mine saying that, when, per-
haps my heart was like the warning
of clock upon the point of midday
striking, and breaking into perpetual
high noon chime of love and JOY. After
that, it could only go on 'gurr-gurr-
rrrrrr,' straining it's poor works and
chords, and allowing the true sun time
of life to leave it behind. It could never
speak clear and true to one who want
ed to set it back
Nov, to finish my good and impair
tial advice: when you are addressing
the other girl you should lay your
hands gently upon her shoulders, and
look closely into her eyes II believe
you have learned this already. 1t is
cruel to retreat at this moment, espe-
cially if, as I have said, the heart
clock is on the point of striking. At
the same time it is most difficult to go
back, for, like particles CT matter, the
forces of attraction grow incredibly
strong at infnitesimal distances II
have found it sol. Then, having got
so far, you should say: Claude Tor
whatever the name of the other girl
may bel, love you. Will you be my
wife?'
you'll possibly hear then sound
like the warning of the clock, a sort
of sob of all the strings of it's heart.
You should have lost all hesitation by
this time, and you should take the face
of, say, the clock, quite close, and kiss
it gently first on the figure XII that's
the brow], then most warmly On fig
ures TX and III these are the cheeks],
and then rapturously on figure vi, just
where the comic artists put the mouth
when they make the clock-face human.
You shouldn't neglect the hands, which
are often fascinatingly pretty and de-
| lightful to kss-at least, so they say
in clock-hand! I hope your little
clock, when you try all this, will give
the true cuckoo cry, which is the fit
song of the ever new season when the
young maids fancy turns-but not
lightly-to thoughts of love.
II sha'n't trust this letter to the
hands of the penny postman, but shall
send it by my little groom. Isn't it
funny that we used to call him Cupid
because of his rosy face and bow legs?
Now he shall speed, not indeed with
his shafts, but behind them, in my own
polo-cart.
"L inclose the glove, in case you may
have liked to have something to re-
mind you of an old friend, who is very
sorry to have to send you such a. de-
cisive NO
II shall be in the conservatory at
nine tonight, and if you care to go
through a rehearsal of the scene with
the other GIRL shall put on my pref
test frock-the pale green one that
you like-and do my best to make you
perfect II think you are that already].
But don't forget that you must al
ways be kind to your little clock; firm,
too, so as not to let the works run
down for want Of judicious winding.
There is only one universal key, and
you have it. Ever yours],
Claude"
Black and White.