The herald., 1912-06-20
.AREALISTIC
PROPOSAL
By HORACE BROWNE

SectS nummlnS. fTduceS duu "eic
strolling on the hillside. part wood. part
open. Below was the river, its banks
and fats turning from brown to
green. The question with me was.
Would 1t be suitable, prudent. wise
thing for me to ask Frances to be my
wife? What l mean is. Did she come
up to the standard | required in
wife?
First and foremost / wished to get
Frances standard for the man she
would marry. l was not sure l was
up to her standard. | would sound her
"Bixby has taken the valedictory at
college," / remarked.
$50 hear"
'Do you enthuse over valedicto-
rians?"
Not especially"
"What kind of men do you enthuse
over?"
"My idea Of a man ! could love Is
not extravagant He should be phys
ically and mentally and morally
strong. He should be leader, not
follower. Bravery is. of course, one
Of woman's requirements. l should
like him to be absolutely fearless"
/ caught my breath at this catalogue
of requirements. Since she had paus-
ed, / supposed 1t was finished. But
she continued:
physically l should wish him tall.
rather slender, square shoulders and
thin hips. His hair should be jet black
and fall over his head in a profusion
Of short curls. His eyes, like his hair,
should be black. Under his dark mus
tache at the parting Of his lips in a
smile his white teeth should appear in
contrast"
Refreshing surely this to me. l am
no fighter, rather short and pudgy, nay
hair and eyes are the hue of well pull
ed molasses candy, my teeth are not
very attractive unless one prefers gold
to ivory, but the gold harmoDizes with
my sandy mustache. At first blush
was quite crushed under this list of
beauties and virtues, but at Frances
bringing forth SO many manly charms
the very opposite Of my own make up
/ got mad
would you like to hear what kind of
q person my ideal woman ISL" asked.
mo. don't need to hear, since
know already"
was surprised, for I had not told
her. Indeed. being rather practical,
l had no ideal. l was glad she could
give 1t to me. Nevertheless, since !
had spoken in a nettled tone, was not
sure but she had retaliation in mind.
"She is tall and thin, has one of those
bony, skinny necks that require putting
or high collars. Her hair you would
call Titan, but it's red, nothing but
red. Her eyes are gray and the whole
contour of her face cold and cutting
Her voice is pitched in a high key and
rasping."
Your description is particular
enough to describe some individual"
"You wouldn't recognize her from
my description. You would say she
has the figure Of Juno, the head of a
Venus, that her voice was the music OF
the EITHER"
us she real person?"
"Certainly-Maud Baxter"
I remembered that had seen
something more of Maud lately than
Frances. plucked up a little cour-
age. If Frances was really bent on
marrying a god, why had | made her
angry by my attentions to Maudi
But, no. Surely Frances would not
descend from the steps Of the throne
on which her king sat to trouble her
self about pudgy man with molasses
candy hair. Nevertheless it was very
delightful this sudden sidelight that
was thrown in by means Of Maud. 1t
appeased me wonderfully.
you haven't heard what kind of a
girl would really prefer-not one you
describe for me. but one l have in
my own mind"
Since / accompanied this with a
plaintive-plaintive Is the only word
that occurs to me-look, she conde
scended not to exercise q Xantippe
for me, but let me give my own pic
ture.
"The girl could love-" I said. "is
about your height and build. She has
your eyes and beautiful chestnut hair
She has your amiable disposition.
Fortunately for me her ideal Of the
man she could love is not so high as
yours or / should be left out in the
cold"
did it strike you that my ideal was
very high?"
"Rather-a combination of Alexan-
der the Great. St Francis Of AsCizzi
and the Apollo Belvidere."
ooh, that's how it looks to you!
Really, didn't you know whom I had
in mind?"
We came to a rustic seat and sat
down. 1t was not more than a minute
before felt for her hand and held It
"Who did you have in mind when
you described that godlike creatureT
II don't care to make you conceited."
oh, heavens, could she by any pos
sible means so torture her description
to bring it down to me2 What mat
tered it? Did l not feel thrill pass
ing through her hand to mine and
running up to my heart?
Well, the rest of it was about like
what had preceded except that our