The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1911-09-13

!. A Middle. Aged
Courtship
BY ANDREW c. EWING
~
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

was thirty -uNe years oIO oAU "
coming tired Of myself The summer
was coming on. and went to the sea-
shore. thinking that ! might shake on
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 way they mingled.
There was a young woman apparent
" 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 entered the house and fixed
her eyes upon me with peculiar ex-
pression. / 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.
J The next morning 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 chair beside
hers. | entered into conversation with
her. She had the faculty Of placing
man on unconventional terms with her
at once, q valuable gift in a woman
that is. whenever she cares to exercise
it-and | felt at once as free with her
as If l 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 1t. 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 were not In our rooms
Miss Brown treated me not as
stranger. but as one she had known a
long while. Every now and again she
been at some previous time something
between. US. but gave out nothing that
| could get hold Of-nothing that l
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
ings-call them what you like-that q
man will forget. but woman will re-
member SO long as she lives. 1t is the
large things that interest a man-his
career. the interests Of his country or
those questions which pertain to the
ORgoing Of the world. A woman will
treasure a note. a button, anything
connected with some scene or person
near 70 her heart. s&i@ $780,
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. ALI
that was needed was for me to propose
to, Miss Brown. .:... -...... ... ..
But here. was difficulty. When l
was a young man | could make love
for fun, as regarded 1t. by the hour.
knew a firt by instinct, or thought I
did, and there'were no boundaries with
such to my tOvemaking. But now In
middle age to do the same thing, and
do It seriously, seemed impossible. In
vain. attempted to say something
soft to her. The. words wouldn't
come out. And how could l propose
Tin cold biood?' There must be some
approach to a declaration Of love
coupled with an invitation to the wo-
man to be my wife.
By dlnt perseverance / 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 fellow are you to tell a middle
aged woman you love herT 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 Fknew she was aware Of what
was, enQeayOring to bring out and
was, getting tired of waiting for it-not
only tired mentally. but bodily. especi-
ally. In her legs. But l couldn't do it
/ marched her back to the hotel
made several more unsuccessful at
temptss 7but. finally while we were sit
tingsin ascorner of thezpiazza by our
selves. with no one about. ! made
final attempt and won. Then I listen
ed breathless for a reply.
1'You are not as glib at this sort Of
thing" she said. las you were four
teen years ago"
started What do you mean" I
asked. ..-'.' "...
Don't you remember sitting in the
at another hotel just before
returning to college for your last year
there proposing to girl?"
what Nance"
''MadRa Brown. y" - - w., ,,-
"The 6fri sjf the White mountains.
90 eaFled ?''@ 81 b~*s' ''s'> .-@' -- =. 5'-.'.
"Yesl'' g.. u ,a-> NJ g. 4
She 3unclasped "a locket she wore Oh
her neck and showed me some plated
gteRndS Of hair. r1~ .=.
Whose Is tt"' asked
yours" ---,.
g,4tsG Eauer 20 Go,
''MyagOod man. how did you happen
TO be thrown out OF work ?"
II got out replied Weary Wombat,
with dignity. II didn't halter be
thrown out. Washington Herald.
y. BORN.
Sofierville, Mass, Aug. 18th, daugh-
erko Otis E. and Z. Henrietta Carpen-