Putnam patriot., 1912-07-05
% sE M k K
 AFreckIedCupid
By Wilbur D. Nesbit

, Christmas day. Thanksgiving day, 1 New Years day, or any other day will 7 do. but the Fourth is not romantic: l 1t is patriotic. On that day man is
 supposed to love his native land He
 is to listen to speeches, or make them.
 about the indiYisibility of our country. i He is to watch the freworks-where i they are permitted-and not do any 1 sparkling on his own account. Every day is Fourth of July to some
 men. They have made up their minds 1 that they hope 10 marry a certain girl.
 but when it comes to stating their de-
 cision the tongue eleaves to the roof l of the mouth and the right arm seems l to have lost it's cunning.
 Jim Hicks was such a man. When
 love making was concerned, all days
 were the Fourth for him. Otherwise his name would have been Armand i Deeourcey. As it was, he was just what you would expect of a man of l that name.
 Jim had been keeping company" off and on with Lucia Miller for 8 matter of three years. This guaran- i teed him a certain standing as her
 beau" but what woman wants to go
 on forever that way? On Luella's mind was the one im- l portant thought which rests upon the l mind of every woman when she has
 found the right man. That was to 1 make Jim propose. The romantic mo- ton that a woman in love is a coy, blushing thing, timorous, trembling. afraid of the great masculine creature, | may be justified in some cases. But I with the Luellas and Jims of this world it does not obtain. Lucia had l exhibited to Jim her deftness as a 1 cook. she had acquainted him with 1 her cleverness as a needleworker. she l had demonstrated over and over that l she would make an ideal wife.
 Put Jim hadn't proposed Consequently, on the Fourth, when
 Lucia saw Henry Nelson. the bad boy of the village. with a huge cannon
 cracker he had kept seereted since 1 last year, and which he proposed to explode somewhere during the day or 1 evening. she made war plans.
 Henry" she said, don't you know it's against the law to have such 1 fireeraeker?"
 AM Henry muttered. T don't know
 Well, it is And if the marshal
 finds it out he will put you in the l lookup as an example
 "Aw! Somebody's always makin'
 example 0 me. I s'pose you're goin' l to go an blab on me now
 q won't, if you'll do something for me-and it will be whole lot of
 fun for you. Henry. "Wot?"
 Don't you want to play good joke
 on Jim Hicks?' "Aw! He's your feller" Well, anyhow, Henry, I'll tell you | how to play a good joke on him, and 1 I'll help you to do it. You come up by our house this evening, and Jim will be there. I'll get him to stand l at the gate and talk to me, and you l slip up and set off your big frecrackeI t, right behind him. Thatn scare him ] half to death, and will be just lots oi 1 fun for you"
 "Aw! Wot dye want to scare him
 fer"
 Well, you know how big and strong
 he is, and how brave he acts Let's ] see if We can't get good one on him, i Henry"
 "Aw, I was goin' to shoot this off i behind the school teacher" But at last Luella managed to con. vince Henry that he could have more i finn with tbe coppOp nlxoy. hv 1 ploding it behind Jim than if he set I it off anywhere else. Jim never has understood why Lu. i ella was waiting at the gate for him l that evening, nor why she kept him l standing there, talking of the weather 1 and the crowd down town and this, | that, and everything It had always
 been her custom to greet him at the l front door. and to express surprise at | seeing him. This is one of the enjoy. able fictions of courtship. | T think it is so lovely when the stars come out as they are coming out tonight, don't you?" Lucia was asking | Jim.
 Bangl!
 Lucia shrieked and tainted dead l away, apparently. but she tainted
 toward Jim in such manner that the | gate swung open and she reposed ! Imply against his manly bosom Under the circumstances, there was
 but one thing Jim could do, and that was to keep her from falling to the ground This is best accomplished in the case of fainting lady by placing 1 your arms about her and allowing her head to rest on your shoulder. This | comes natural to most men. What else Jim did, and what he said to Luella to calm her fears and 10 re-
 vive her to consciousness may only be conjectured.
 Henry Nelson. however, kept up, derisive series of yells and howls of
 laughter and Lucia at last opened
 her eyes and asked dreamily:
 Where am F"
 Henry shouted: "Aw He was a.
 huggin you, an he kissed youl"
 Then Henry turned and fed. Jim shaking a fist after him
 'Luella." Jim said, I'm ashamed
 but Henry told the truth When you
 tainted in my arms just couldn't
 help kissin you"
 Why, Jim!"
 An now he'll tell it all over town, l an don't want to have people talkin'
 about you without good reason. SO so-hadn't we better have em say we're engaged?"
 And then it looked as though Lu' | ella had tainted all over again.