The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-04-10

l AhA.ttA AV NNAAANA AN'N '"NhNNN NhNNNN
fellow to hold IL, and she did not dra,
II back. as OF course she would hay
done had II been another fellow.
On Saturday when he asked to TAX
her driving she aSSented with pro-
er show Of reluctance, "She knows!
he thought When he called for her
the twilight her mother explained thu
she. was not quite ready yet ana sal
that a girl friend had come to tow
quite Unexpectedly and that she an
Kate had forgotten time In their cha,
terlng,
OF course the least he could do wa
to offer to exchange the stanhope 10
a surrey and ask the guest and Rose +
so too,
The guest stayed two weeks, an,
during that time, though he tried mum
berless times, Phil did not get TO Sc
Kate alone, He waited as patlentl!
as he could-there seemed TO be moth
ing else for him 10 do-and hoped sh,
would see the self sacrificing depth o
his affection.
He had always known all the Hamp
tons and had been a frequent caller a
the home, The Judge liked him ant
bis politics. which he talked 10 III,
poor fellow at all seasons. The moth
er admitted him 10 the family sitting
room aud darned the family stockings
In his presence. The small brother
Jimmy, admitted that Phil was hls
equal, Advantageous as was this fam
ily friendship in some ways, II was as
dIsadvantageous In others. II by any
accident he called and found Kate ap
parently alone something always hap
pened. The telephone rang and some
one wanted to come over for few
minutes. or some presumptuous fool
stopped In to see Rose and stayed tc
talk to Kate.
Phil grew sick at heart, and Kate
began TO seem little cool and dlgnl.
fed. He felt that he must speak soon
or forfeit the girls love. She was toe
proud TO help him bit. One evening
he rang her up aud asked II he might
see her alone He had something very
particular to tell her, he explained
Having gone SO far, he swore BY all
that was holy that lie would not leave
the girl that night until he had pro
posed and had had an answer. IF the
whole family comes In and stands
around In a circle they can't stop ME
this time" he said. III propose to
Kate, and II they don't Ike 1t they
can move. | won't"
Kate met him at the door and ush'
cred him into the big library. where a
great fire was burning on the hearth,
1t was warm and pleasant after the
walk in the frosty air, and he settled
himself In the judges big armchair
with a sigh OF relief. Kate explained
nervously that her father was out OF
town and then seemed to walt for
something. Phil cleared his throat.
Kate" he began and wondered just
what he should say next. Why was 1t
so hard when fellow had thought OF
nothing else for weeks?
"Yes?" said Kate encouragingly, and
then the front door slammed and In a
moment more the Judge entered the IL
brary. He greeted the young man cor
daily, sat down on the opposite side
of the hearth and began to talk poll
tics. And then Mrs. Hampton came In
to see what was the matter. She had
heard the front door slam and had
thought the Judge out Of town for the
night. In half an hour Rose ran in
from making a call in the neighbor-
hood and sat down to toast her toes at
the Are.
They all talked comfortably, and no
one seemed to notice that Philips
laugh was strained or that the flush
on Kate's cheek was more than the
usual healthy glow. Then the door
was pushed open cautiously, and little
Jim appeared in his pajamas.
what are you all having such a
good time about" he whined as be
climbed into his fathers lap. "You
always leave me out"
Phirs endurance reached its limit
right there. He rose, with his square
jaw set.
1--WE won't leave you out this time,
Jimmy" he said. I'VE won't leave
anybody out. Call in the kitten,
pleasew And then he turned to Kate,
who seemed paralyzed as she realized
what he was going to do.
"Kate," he said "for weeks and
weeks I've been trying every day to
get you where l could tell you that
love you and ask you to be my wife.
haven't succeeded for various reasons,
50 I'll have to do it right here, with
applause from the gallery. win you,
Kate?" He was standing over her
now, aud they held the tableau. The
tears were running down her face, but
she could not take her eyes from his.
When he dropped on one knee beside
the chair the family walked from It's
dream and departed on tiptoe, the
Judge dragging the reluctant Jimmy
by the ear.
"Will you, KateW begged Philip.
And then they both burst into peals Of
laughter, which were heard in the
dining room by the discounted fam
Ily.
But there is good reason to believe
that sha did for the iu1pe has been