The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1907-10-03
The
PROPOSAL

| dor, once 1t was aroused was no less
natural, | assure you, for the Biddles,
mother says, have always been a eau
tious race, but steadfsst and devoted
when once they have espoused a
cause. And it is but hereditary,
suppose, that never to this day have
seen anything remarkable in the fact
that it took me ten years to make up
my mind to propose to Sally. 1t did
not take me ten years to know that
she was pretty, and good, and charm
ing but it did take me ten years to
be sure that l wanted to marry her
that, l admit. But what is there
amusing il that? Heavens! has not a
man a right to pause and consider so
| important a matter as getting mar
ried? And what right have people to
link ones name with another's prema-
turely? Isn't it dreadful?
| Well, as / was saying, / had made
up my mind, and l went to see Sally.
l was full of the subject Never had
| felt so much a man before. | was,
don't you know, lifted up. | was ner-
vous, of course. All men are at such
times, | suppose, and l don't know
| how l managed to get into the house
| | think | did remember to ring. On
| I'm sure | rang! OF course | did!
| But what mean u.s. that | was in such
a state, don't you know, that | was
quite unstrung.
Well, Sally came down, as pretty
and darling as ever, and with rose
| in her hair. She wore her gray crepe
! de chine-you know, the one she had
| for Mrs. Gales reception. with the
| Venetian lace | had never seen her
| look better-never. And that very
| fact disconnected me. Still, when
| make up my MIND to anything, you
| know, nothing daunts me-nothing.
1t is not my way to let anything inter
fere So, after the usual salutations,
| said to her:
sally, have something very i'm
portaht to say to you"
And | said this to her, mind, in such
a way that l supposed she might
guess the nature of my intended con
tidence, not SO much by the words
themselves, as by the-by the mel
| lowness with which don't you
know. But, would you believe it?-
she did not dream of what | meant.
She only laughed. and said:
ooh! | know: you've come to tell
me about Minis puppies. Elaine told
me yesterday. Aren't you going to
give me one of them? | think you
might"
"Oh, no, 1t wasn't that l came to
have one if you like. 1t was to tell
YOU"
And right then bright idka came
to me--to turn defeat into victory!
1T was to tell you, Sally" said, that
you might have all of them-all seven
and Mimi, Soo."
ooh! | should like one" she said
but what would | do with all seven,
and Mmt?"
And she went on laughing at the no
ton till l was Quite-oh! quite dis
comtited, you know.
Sally" said, you persist in mis-
constituting my-my intentions"
Why" she replied, 81 thought you
offered me all seven, and Mimi"
$50 did, Sally, in a way" l said.
'Oh!" she said, then it was an
Indian gift, was it?"
"An Indian gift?" I repeated, per-
picked.
Yes; a gift with a string to it.
And what is the string, Freddie? Do
tell me! | want to know"
Well-would you believe it?-right
then an idea struck me! Another
idea! l suppose it was love that put
so many new ideas into my head.
Oh! it must have been love. So
said:
Eyes, there is a string to my gift,
Sally: | am the string!"
The string?" said Sally.
"The string" said |. And then pas
sionately: ooh, Sally. don't you COM
prehend me? Don't you? Have you
never heard the old, old saying, Love
| me, love my dog?'"
She was pink all over, and l would
have taken her in my arms-I really
would had she not said to me:
well, l have already told you,
Freddie, that | might take one Of
the puppies, but not all of you!"
She did. She used those very words
to me, and | was-oh! | was crushed,
don't you know. But | rose to the oc-
caAon. | would not let her see my
despair. | was determined, at all haz-
ards, to assert my manhood and so,
with an air that-if | do say twas
quite, quite in the old-time manner,
don't you know, l said:
my dear Sally, you have told me
that you will accept one of the pup
pies, it is true; but you have not told
me which one"
| think | smiled. Oh! | am sure
| smiled as | said those words, and |
know | bowed slightly. But | shall
| never, never smile again for she
said:
ooh, 1t doesn't matter in the least
which one you give me, Freddie,
they're all such dear little wobbly
| things. But since you are so kind"
And then she blushed.
Il would like one that | could call
Sissy"
Now, there is the point: Was it an
| acceptance, as Tom Larkin swears it
was-a yelled acceptance, don't you
| know-a kind of poetic license. Tom
says; or was 1t the refusal took IL to