Alaska sentinel., 1907-06-27
His Proposa
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 his hanson with much the demeanor with which an indifferent sailor might climb into a seagoing ship. He had a bad half hour before him, and he was well aware of the fact. Having direct ed his coachman to an address on 9th avenue, and strengthened his immacu- late tie at the strip of looking glass beside him (this last purely mechan- ical proceeding), he leant forward, and with fixed, unseeing gaze, that seemed to scorn the traffic of the city, again surrendered himself to the problem that had been torturlng his brain for hours. What on earth should he say to her? How could he ever hope to ex- plain the position in which he found himself?
 New York was looking Its best that fine June morning. In the pale warm sunlight Central Park glowed gently 1; the merry chorus of birds blended har- moniously with the jingle of busses and the soft purring of electric auto mobiles. It was day to delight the senses of one who loved his New York but half as intensely as did MT. Sher- ingham on ordinary occasions. But to- day as had been hinted, he cared for none of these things-saw them not, indeed. For almost the first time in his forty years of blameless life Mir. Sheringham, on that drive to 9th ave tn1 fn nhanrrA nh the salutes of passing acquaintances. He was thinking, too, deeply to be con scious of anything but the one ques- tion that absorbed him, and which he did not know how to answer.
 Presently he drew from his pocket letter, and fixing his glasses, regarded the paper with a frowning concentra ton that seemed determined to gain some inspiration from its mere peru sal. The action was, however, an emp ty one, for he already knew the con tents of the letter by heart, had read and re-read 1t fifty times since It had ,urst like bombshell Into the midst of his placid bachelor breakfast. But for the fifty-first time he strove to grapple with the problem that 1t presented.
 My Dear Mfr. Sheringham-Your note only reached me this morning, but I am obeying your wish and re- plying to 1t with as little delay as possible. Perhaps It Is unnecessary for ne to say how much your proposal has touched me; 1t cannot be otherwise than fattering to woman of eight and-thlrty (my age!) to be asked to be his wife by man whom she both admires and esteems. But, dear friend, while fully sensible of the worth of what renounce, you must forgive me If say that l fear 1t can not be as you wish. Some day, per haps, may try to explain to you my reasons; till then, and always, please permit me to remain. as before, your sincere and attached friend.
 ANNETTE PILKINGTON."
 A sufficiently straightforward and charming letter, you will admit, for a woman to send in reply to the propo- sal of any man. Why, then, did Mir. sheringham, whose appearance was hardly that of the rejected sultor, feel apprehensive? The reason is simple He had not written the letter to which this was an answer. Mir. Sheringham, ip short, had never proposed to Mrs. Pilkington, and was now faced with what he conceived to be an unpleasant duty of telling her so.
 He had small doubt as to the mis- ereant who was almost certainly the cause of hls dilemma. Not for nothing had MT. Sheringham been a bachelor uncle for the past twenty years. He remembered with grim satisfaction how often he had reproved his sister Mary for her absurd leniency toward those unconscionable boys, how often he had predicted that some day Tom, now a cadet at West Point, with his dangerous capacity for initiating hand -rifip0 u,ovIA arhySva aNuA aorious