Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-08-19
How / Got Mixed
In q Love Affair.
[Original.1

| cially love affairs. Ever since brought
| Len Richmond down on visit and in
troduced him to my cousin, Myra
Ducher, l have regretted having done
| so. Len is an excellent fellow, rather
| inclined to look upon every incident or
| episode seriously and in matter of
| fact light. l would as soon think of
cracking a joke to an owl. Myra is a
| good girl, but nature did not endow
her with average beauty. Indeed, she
is homely.
l lost my parents early and was
brought up by my aunt, Eliza Ducher,
being beholden to her and her family
for everything had till came of age
home and saw what were at least to
me unmistakable signs that Myra had
fallen in love with him and that he
was not likely to return her devotion
| felt as if | had committed q crime
True, there was nothing against her
but her LONELINESS, for she was a fine
character and had winning way with
her. Len, too, was not handsome. He
was lean, red headed, freckled chap.
with long neck and sloping shoulders.
But nobody looks for beauty in a man.
He was conscientious as mule. One
day he came to me with long face
and said he wished to consult me about
very important matter. We were sit
ting on the porch, the doors and win
dows all open, and he spoke in low
tone. He told me that he had reason
to suspect, what l considered a fore
gone conclusion, that he had uninten-
tionally won Myra's heart and that he
could not possibly return that love for
the sole reason of her LONELINESS.
What was to do? The only course
for me was to convince him that his
reason was no reason at ALL Then If
his inclination moved him toward the
girl all would come out right.
Len" said, II have heard that the
best marriages follow from diversities
between the man and the woman. A
quick tempered woman should have a
long suffering husband, an impulsive
man woman of self control home
ly wife, l paused. Dare | utter the
thought l had in mind? Then blurt
ed, "A good looking husband"
Len said nothing for several minutes.
Nor did l. l was waiting to see if he
would swallow the dose
You mean," he said modestly, that
! SHOULD not marry beautiful wo-
man"
That's exactly what l mean"
Then he cut me to the quick 81 have
always felt perfect confidence" he
said, that anything coming from you
is absolute truth. No other being could
make me believe that l am anything
more as to looks than an average man."
/ WINGED, but the happiness of two
people was at stake.
Average" / said. Average by no
means expresses it," l took conscious
comfort in the fact that his appearance
was far below the average.
Len intimaled to me that my cousins
LONELINESS should not stand in his way
If he felt inclined to make her his
wife. He did not speak to her, how
ever, at the time, and fancied he was
waiting for the spirit to move him. He
came down again in month and made
his proposal. He came to me immedi-
ately after having done so and sur
prised me by telling me that he had
been refused.
"And what do you suppose" he add
ed, lis her reason"
81 can't conceive" / replied.
"She says that l have every require
ment to please her fancy save one.
begged her to tell me what that one
deficiency is, and she at last said that
she had always fancied homely men, /
wouldn't do"
you don't mean itv' l exclaimed,
aghast
Yes, and she added: Now, there's
my cousin. For looks he'd suit me ex-
actly'"
The hot blood rushed into my cheeks,
then suddenly rushed out again. Then
| wanted to laugh. 1t didn't take me
long to discover reason for this sim
gular apparent coincidence. While Leu
and | had been talking on the porch
the mink had been listening at an up
per window.
Richmond stood looking at me rue
fully, giving no evidence whatever that
he had even the faintest glimpse of the
truth
Len" / said, "if / were you I'd go
home and think no more about it, Aft
er all, it would be rather hard for you
to pass your life with homely wom-
an. Besides, everybody nowadays says
that marriage is failure. 1t doubles
our sorrows and halves our joys"
/ didn't succeed in getting any com
fort into him, but he went home all
the same, and / turned my attention to
Myra.
am one of the fellows who marched
up San Juan hill in Cuba, but 1t was
nothing to going to my cousin to try to
undo what had done. For every word
spoke she sent back an answer like
Mauser bullet. At last, losing my
temper, said:
you'd better take me. You say I'm
homely enough to suit you
What did she do but turn her head
b -