Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-08-31
A Middle Aged
Courtship
By ANDREW c. EWING
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911.

w
shore. thinking that l 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 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 | entered the house and fixed
her eyes upon me with peculiar ex-
preston. ! would have liked to be-
lieve-as | 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 l have mentioned. be-
ing among the number was intro
duced to her. Drawing a chair beside
hers, I entered into conversation with
her, She had the faculty of placing
man on unconventional terms with her
at once. valuable gift in woman
that is. whenever she cares to exercise
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 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 were not in our rooms
Miss Brown treated me not as
j stranger. but as one she had known a
long while. Every now and again she
! would indicate that there was or had
UCCu dl SOIIlC pICN IlhlC
between us, but gave out nothing that
l could get hold of-nothing that |
could even question her about. So we
! drfted 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
| ings-call them what you like-that
man will forget. but woman will re-
member so long as she lives. 1T is the
large things that interest a 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 |
was a young man | could make love
for fun, as | regarded it. by the hour.
| knew q flirt by instinct. or thought |
did, and there were no boundaries with
! such to my lOvemaking But now in
10 do tI. "a
/ do it seriously. seemed impossible In
vain | attempted to say something
soft to her. The words wouldn't
come out. And how could | propose
'in cold bl0Od?" There must be some
approach to declaration Of love
coupled with an invitation to the wo-
man to be my wife.
By dint perseverance | managed to
! bring forth several hints as to what
was coming. Then, having prepared
I the lady. the next thing was to make
the proposition | took her out for Il
7 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 u tell middle
aged woman you love her," | 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
! | 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. made a
| final attempt and won Then I listen
| ed breathless for reply.
you are not as glib at this sort of
thing" she said. las you were four
teen years ago.
started. What do you mean." |
ASKED.
Don't you remember sitting in the
moonlight at another hotel just before
returning to college for your last year
there urOpOcino to a oirIS''