The daily Alaskan., 1909-06-15
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By HELoIsE AMEs

 wishes her daughter to catch a certain man? Last evening when Mir. Fitch called she treated him abominably. Her motive was apparent to every one"
 Suppose l go awayE
 You might do that-that is, If you wish"
 "Oh. your mother doesn't trouble me. I would go to get you out of the mud dlc"
 But" she rejoined after a pause, every one would say the man was so pcrsecutcd be went to escape being positively forced to-
 Tt wouldn't dO Would 1t" There was no reply to this.
 Tt wouldn't do. would it?'
 "SuppoSc," he added meditatively- suppose l propose to you and you de- cline me. Wouldn't that let you outT Thank you. If q man proposes to me prefer to treat his proposal as see fit"
 But your mothcr?"
 "I shall neither decline nor accept any one to please my mother"
 well l don't see how l can help you"
 "I don't either"
 Its desperate case"
 "EXaSpCrating."
 q tell you what you do. Accept the attentions of another man. Fitch, for instance. He'll do for dummy, ana say
 MT. Fitch is a very nice young man."
 That's it-nicc. You can tell your mother you're doing it to egg me on"
 "Do you dare accuse me of having done that?"
 "I was giving you n plan to induce your mother to let us-I mean you alone"
 You should go into the diplomatic service"
 A pause.
 If there is no way out of it," he said presently, 'T suppose we'll have to submit"
 "Oh, it isn't as bad as that"
 Another pause. this time constrained. We might go out there on the pier and jump off."
 "Now you're talking silly"
 "I have it! I'll go and propose to Marcia Eldridge."
 i've always thought a girl with q face like a pan of milk would suit you"
 Il don't mean anything permanent I could break 1t off in the autumn" If you do you needn't come back to-
 She bit her lip.
 "Why don't you just tell your mother you don't want me, won't have me and she's 10 stop her interference at once" To this there was no reply.
 You don't seem to think much of that proposition"
 "It is about as senSeless as the oth- CTS"
 "One more and I've done. Take the null NOu want, SO NOSl OhA hhONhNA O1AN tell her you're engaged"
 This met the same reception as the laSt-SilcnCe.
 Il give 1t up"
 T would advise you to give 1t up if you cant think of anything less pre- posterous than that"
 "Why prepOsterouS"
 Do you suppose that all the men of my acquaintance have made me carte blanche offers good for all time"
 "I didn't think of that"
 A long pause. They strolled on to the pier. The sky was blue above them. and the waves were rolling in, q pale green. below them; gulls directly overhead, ships out on the horizon.
 There's q way out of 1t if we can only find It." he said presently.
 "Pm afraid we're not bright enough. Perhaps we don't want to find it."
 That's singular. thought we had been trying to find 1t all the while" You haven't contributed much to- ward that end"
 q? What have you contributed"
 Tt isn't my part to find way out of it. I took risk of being considered unmaidenly to mention 1t at all."
 Let us sit down on this bench, and I'll try once more"
 They seated themselves. He looked up at the sky and down at the waves, but saw neither. Then he said:
 Suppose I go to your mother and ask her for your hand"
 She did not reply to this at once, but her features expressed relief.
 Don't you want my heart?'
 q have it."
 "What made you think so. Certainly nothing that have said or done."
 That gull up there told me-"