The daily Alaskan., 1911-09-15
A Middle Aged Courtship By ANDREW C. EWING Copyright by American Press Asso-
 ciation. 1911.


 coming tired of myself. The summer was coming on, and I went to the sea. shore. thinking that might shake off ennui
 There were boys and girls at the hotel who excited my envy by the friendly way or the loverlike way or any kind of a way they mingled.
 There was a young woman apparent Iy a year or two past thirty who, on my arrival at the hotel, seemed to regard me with something more than an ordl- nary interest. She was sitting on the porch as I entered the house and fixed her eyes upon me with a peculiar ex- pression. l would have liked to be- lleve-as l would have believed ten or fifteen years before-that l had made an instantaneous conquest. but that day was past. l simply inferred that there was something about me that reminded her of some one she knew or had known. had no remembrance of ever having met her before.
 The next morning l joined a group of ladies commonly called the knitting brigade sitting on the porch. and Miss Brown, the lady have mentioned, be- ing among the number l was intro duced to her. Drawing Q chair beside hers. I entered into conversation with her. She had the faculty of placing a man on unconventional terms with her at once. a valuable gift in a woman- that is, whenever she cares to exercise it-and I felt at once as free with her as if had known her for years. The other ladies one by one withdrew and Iefr Miss Brown and me by ourselves. We chatted till luncheon was announc- ed and wondered what had become of the morning.
 That was the beginning of it. There was nothing between us that could be called a filtration. We had passed that age. We simply found companion ship in each other and spent much of our time together, or, rather, all our time that we were not in our rooms Miss Brown treated me not as stranger, but as one she had known long while. Every now and again she would indicate that there was or had been at some previous time something between us, but gave out nothing that could get hold of-nothing that I could even question her about So we drifted from day to day, I every now and again running up against this vague something she seemed to have on her mind.
 And here I will remark that there are circumstances, episodes, happen ings-cau them what you Hke-that man will forget, but woman will re- member so long as she lives. It is the large things that interest a man-his career, the interests of his country or those questions which pertain to the ongoinC of the world. A woman will treasure a note, a button, anything connected with some scene or person near to her heart
 Finding Miss Brown companionable, 1t occurred to me that here might be a chance for me to get away from my lonely bachelorhood, to exchange club life for home life, to settle myself for the rest of my days. Whether could do so was very easy to discover. All that was needed was for me to propose to Miss Brown.
 But here was 8 difficulty. When was a young man l could make love for fun. as 1 regarded 1t, by the hour. knew a firt by instinct, or thought did, and there were no boundaries with such to my lovemaking. But now in middle age to do the same thing, and do it seriously, seemed impossible. In vain I attempted to say something soft to her. The words wouldn't come out. And how could propose "in cold blood" There must be some approach to a declaration of love coupled with an invitation to the wo- man to be my wife.
 By dint perseverance I managed to bring forth several hints as to what was coming Then, having prepared the lady, the next thing was to make the proposition took her out for long walk on the beach, hoping to gain inspiration from what the waves were saying. The waves seemed to say, ''You old baldheaded coot, what sort of a fellow are you to tell a middle aged woman you love her| l kept her on her feet for two hours vainly trying to screw up my courage to the required point. The worst of 1t was that I knew she was aware of what I was endeavoring to bring out and was getting tired of waiting for it-not only tired mentally, but bodily, especi- ally in her legs. But I couldn't do 1t I marched her back to the hotel.
 l made several more unsuccessful at- tempts, but finally while we were sit ting in a corner of the piazza by our selves, with no one about l made a final attempt and won. Then I listen ed breathless for a reply.
 "You are not as glib at this sort of thing" she said, "as you were four teen years ago."
 I started. What do you mean" I asked