The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-06-06
CHAPTER / (Continued)
a Cynic's Challenue.

The mans eyes flashed with g
new light The plan he had sketched
seemed TO amuse and excite him.
IT'S all nonsense said Sprague
Test it," laughed Leicester.
He had apparently imbued the
others with his own spirit. For the
moment they were eager to see
what would happen.
Name you woman" said Leices
ter. What, are you afraid? Will
you not support your doctrine of the
nobility of women? | give it as my
opinion that women are uniformly
selfish, vain and sordid. ! maintain
that what they want is man who
will give them position, name, prom
inence Given that, and everything
goes by the board. And | stand by
it. | place a hundred pounds upon
All | ask you to do is to name
your woman
There was a wild CLEAN in his
eye. and he was evidently prepared
to stand by his words. AS for the
others. they yielded more and more
to his stronger personality,
NO said Sprague, presently, "it
isn't fair. If either of us had sis
ter we would not like to make her
the subject of such a proposition" 3"
But if you are right, my dear
good friends went on Leicester
no harm can he done. | propose to
the laiy, and | am refused. What
then? It is only another illustration
of the downfall of Radford Leicester
the atheist, the cynic, the drunkard
But | am willing to risk it, All | say
is. name the woman Let her be the
best you can think of. Let her be
the most exemplary, the most high
minded. the most orthodox, and
maintain that she will not care a
Zig about all my failing, if she
believes in the brilliance of my
career
IF you hadn't drunk so much
whisky you'd net propose such a
thing.
"Oh, you are backing out, are
you?" sneerel Leicester. 1t is always
the same. Fellows like you utter
pious platitudes :; you proclaim the
glory of women; you hold up your
hands with horrcr at a man who
dares tell the truth, and then you
back out like towards. ] say there
is no woman but who has her price.
You quote that lying gossip about
Miss Blackstone refusing me. be-
cause of my nemesis and my whis
key drinking. | tell you it is a lie
invented by Spragues mother, and
go further and say that there is no
woman who really cares fig for
these things, provided you can sat
isfy her ambition. And I'm prepared
to stand by it, All | can say is
name your woman"
Miss Olive Castlemaine"
The man who had taken no part
in the conversation spoke this time,
and as the name escaped his lips,
both Purvs and Sprague gave
start. Even Leicester was silent for
a moment. lie looked from one to
another suspiciously, then he burst
out laughing
You've made a bold bid Win
field" ne said. You make even
me tremIble Miss Olive Castlemaine
is. so | suppose, the most sought
after heiress in London. She fulfills
all my conditions, and more than
that she has refused both Sprague
and Puvis. ! suppose from what |
am told that she looked upon
Sprague as a bit of a hypocrite and
Purvis as-well, not likely to have
great future"
He evidently stung both these
men by his words 1t was perfectly
true that both of them had been re
fused by Miss Olive Castlemaine, it
was just as true that she had been
sought after by a number of other
eligible marriageable men. and had
refused them all.