The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1911-09-28
A Middle Aged
Courtship
By ANDREW c. EWING
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.

coming C1r0u OIL uySSll Lie SuAAAuSA
was coming on, and l went to the sea-
shore, thinking that 1 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
" year or two past thirty who, on my
arrival at the hotel, seemed to regard
me with something more than an ordi-
nary interest. She was sitting on the
porch as I entered the house and fixed
her eyes upon me with a peculiar ex-
preston. I would have liked to be-
lieve-as 1 would have believed ten or
fifteen years before--that had made
an instantaneous conquest. but that
day was past. 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 group
of ladies commonly called the knitting
brigade sitting on the porch, and Miss
Brown, the lady have mentioned, be-
ing among the number | was intro
duced to her. Drawing a chair beside
hers, | entered into conversation with
her. She had the faculty of placing a
man on unconventional terms with her
at once, a valuable gift in woman
%ho+ &c xvho ch % n
it-and | felt at once as free with her
as if / had known her for years. The
other ladies one by one withdrew and
left 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 Irritation. 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 we're 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, | every now
and again running up against this
vague something she seemed to have
on her mind.
And here l will remark that there
are circumstances, episodes. happen
ing|call them what you like-that a
man will forget, but woman will re-
member so long as she lives. 1t is the
large things that interest man-his
career, the interests of his country or
those questions which pertain to the
Ongoing of the world. A woman will
treasure note, a button, anything
connected with some scene or person
near to her heart
Finding Miss Brown companionable,
it 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 difficulty. When I
was young man | could make love
for fun, as l regarded it, by the hour.
l knew fiirt 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 l attempted to say something
soft to her. The words wouldn't
come out. And how could l propose
sin cold bloodw 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 a
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 fellow are you to tell a middle
aged woman you love herr" | kept
her on her feet for two hours vainly
trying to screw up my courage to the
required point. The worst of it was
that knew she was aware of what |
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 / couldn't do it.
marched her back to the hotel.
l made several more unsuccessful at
tempts, but finally while we were sit
ting in corner Of the piazza by our
selves, with no one about, I 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."