The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1910-04-21
ENTIRELY
IMPERSONAL

The young man with the maroon
necktie was absentmindedly thought
full amid the idle chatter. Suddenly
he spoke.
TITS queer how time changes a fel-
low" he said. I've noticed it in lots
Of my friends. They change their
ideas, you know. I've noticed that If
they don't get married ridiculously
early they generally wait till it is
ridiculously late"
What q great TRUTH" cried the
young man with the gray tie. IF it
isn't dark 1t is sure to be light! Even
sol" {
Let him alone!" ordered the
hostess. But why matrimony?" she
inquired Of the young man with the
maroon tie. 1--WE were talking of golf.
you know!"
Were WEI" asked the absentminded
one. Il don't believe a man really
falls in love after he is 80, say. Do
you? Lose his head and all that, you,
know-or be willing to fly to the end
of the earth, regardless Of his next
weeks business engagements. He
uses sense And you can't use sense
about falling in Lowell"
Few people d." observed the hos
tess. Look at the individuals they
pick out to fall in love with! You
aren't doing it, are you, Richard?"
"Of course not" said the young man
with the maroon tie, grufly. "How
absurd! I was just speaking general
ly. 1 observe things, you know. And
a fellow doesn't feel sure he's got the
right girl unless he does lose his head
a bit, does he?"
why, l can remember" went on
the young man with the maroon tie,
when I was 10 or 20 of two love af-
fairs, in both of which I was clean
crazy. I was so desperately mad over
those girls-at separate times, Of
course-that life absolutely was not
worth living contemplated apart from
them! I remember I wanted to die
and so avoid the dark and dreary fu-
ture stretching before me when Eve
Ign turned me down. And it was ac-
tual anguish, too! Now, If I can laugh
at anything Is real as that just be-
cause a few years have interviewed,
how the dickens could I ever be sure
any i%nfatuation I might tumble into
now wasn't just as ephemeral?"
Il thought" observed the young
man with the maroon tie, you said
you weren't personally interested in
the subject. 1t begins to look to
me-"
Rubbish" interrupted the young
man with the maroon tie. TITS far
thest from my thoughts. I don't know
anybody I are particularly about,
though I do know some mighty nice
girls! You Just change, that's all! 1t
becomes a matter of calm Judgment
and-and-er-all that. You stop to
think whether the girl is really suited
to you and consider her disposition
and tastes, and her mother, and wheth-
er you like her brother.
Nov, that destroys all the romance,
doesn't it? 1t makes the whole affair
humdrum and casual. There's abso-
lutely nothing spontaneous about it.
why, l remember when Evelyn was
the light Of the world to me l
wouldn't have cared If her mother had
smoked a pipe or made platform
speeches, and as for Evelyn's tastes
well, to this day I know not whether
she inclined to Wagner or ragtime, or
preferred Shakespeare to Laura Jean
Libbey. / didn't care-and that's the
point. l would care now. You
couldn't consider a wife without CON
sidering what your friends would think
of her. And you want to be sure, too,
that you really care!"
"This sounds suspicious" observed
the hostess.
Not at ALI" protested the young
man with the maroon tie. mot at
all! just got started on this subject,
that's all! No, I don't think 1 shall.
ever marry. In the first place. I'm,
not in love. and ] don't think I ever
shall be. !
Il really can't take such an absorb
ing interest in any girl nowadays that,
l miss my meals in my abstraction.
And, somehow, I wouldn't die for any;
of them. Yet I know two or three
fascinating girls. I don't think it
would be wise to run the chance Of
making yourself and the girl miser-
able when you weren't quite sure. Do
you think there is anything in this
theory Of learning to care more after
you are married? It doesn't seem ra-
tional to me. suppose the only real
ly happy man Is the one who marries
Evelyn when he is 20 years old and
too young to know better"
But consider what Evelyn might be
when you e 30!" suggested the
hostess. Probably not at all q con-
genial person or the one you would
then pick QUIT"
THAT makes 1t all the more compli-
Gated, doesn't it," said the Young man