Middletown transcript., 1908-01-18


man loves me, and what Is leap
year for If it isn't to give girls
an opportunity TO help out those
of the other sex who don't know
how to help them selves: So
here goes! He can't more than
refuse, and he won't do that; but
whatever the verdict, ! know
that he is too honorable ever to
breath a word Of the affair.
When Miriam Leslie had con-
cluded the delivery Of this sp ecn,
which had only Miriam for an
attentive audience, she sat down
at her desk at once and began
to write the letter which she lad
planned the night before, after
Frank Webster had left the
house. She had parted from
him with a 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 had looked far
from happy.
She had enjoyed Franks call;
but it had ended as unsatisfac0r.
ily as had all the others, in that
words which would have made
her happy, and which she.
believed had been almost
upon his lips many times, had
again remained nnspoken. Ii
the man she loved wouldn't take
a hint, he must be given some.
thing brs ader than q hint, and
when Miriam went to sleep it
was with the determination TO
write a letter on the morrowthat
even a stuIii man might under
stand. Strangely enough as
she admitted to herself, the
morning found mind unchanged
with determination fixed to take
advantage of her leap-year pre-
negatives.
The writer of the letter had
gone over in her mind its pro-
spec.ive contents q number OF
times, and as a result her edits-
rial revision had boil it down nn-
til it was brief and to the point.
It ran as follows:
Dear Frank -Yon hare been
coming to see me for several
years, and the evenings spent to.
gether have made me think how
pleasant it would be ii we could
go on spending them together
the rest of our lives Has the
idea ever occurred TO yous
MIRIAM.
Miss Leslie heard her brother
pass her door, preparatory to
starting for business, and she no
longer waited for the ink TO dry
but grabbed 3 piece Of blutting
paper, and the letter was soon in
the hands of her brother, who
was told that it must be mailed
by him when on the way to lis
Office. The brother's departure
was timely, as Miriam had begun
to weaken in her determination.
and as she gave him the letter
she said herself: Here's
where I don't get chance to
change my mind. She did, how
ever have many changes of
mind through the Gay, which
seemed to her one of unusual
length. Soon after her brother
had left she was tempted to tele-
phone to him to try to get the
letter back from the post. Office.
but she didn't know if that would
be possible, and besides the re.
quest would cause her brother
to ask 8 good many questions
which it VI EoLld be awkward for
her to answer, and SO the request
was not made.
BY the afternoon mail Miriam
received a letter addressed in
the we'll known handwriting uf
the young man TO whom she had
proposed. Is it possible that he
has answered so quickly . she
asked herself, as she held tie en.
velop in her hand, fearing to
open it. She had had a little ex-
perience as a writer. and knew
that quick returns usually meant
no sales, and her first thought
vas that Frank had declined the
honor Of being her husband.
That was mortifying thought
in itself, and the continuation o.
the train of thought suggested
by the comparison Of her offer
with the manuscript was not
comforting one.
She had offered herself, even
as she had been wont to submit
q story Or poem TO an editor.
The only consolation she could
get out Of tie comparison was
found in the thought that she
wasn't exactly placing herself on