Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-09-17
ADesperate
Remedy
. Il Was Applied to Two Pa
!. tents and Was Successful
By +. A. mitchell

matter in a mans or a woman's life
Some day, when you are an old man.
tired of the social life, tired of your
club. forced In the evening to go out
N seek the companionship of persons
whom you care little about, and many
Of whom care less for you; when you
return to your lonely bachelor quar-
TORS. with no one to welcome you, to
mass a night alone, you will regret
having wasted years Of opportunity
to provide yourself with a home"
"What a horrible p~ictureI'
"The picture Is not half as horrible
as the reality
Marriage Is an awful risk"
IA risk, yes; the other is a GER
tainty."
"But 1 can't compel myself to love
anv woman nor any woman to love
me-"
"That Is where we In America err on
the side of romance. Abroad the prin-
c,naI feature In wedlock is the dowry;
here It is what we call love. A dowry
is tangible; love is intangible. Far be
It from me to decry a pure affection,
hut h a emotional condition, which In
men and women is one minute ecstatic
and the next may turn to hate, or later
to Indifference, is no basis on which
n make a life contract binding two
persons together"
"WouId you have me go into a room
blindfolded where there are a number
of unmarried women, take one of them
# - o-1 Io0d har IN fhn oIfa 9p
"You might as well do that as take
a partner while blinded by love. You
don't need to do either. One thing you
can do that Is reasonable in choosing
A wife. If you take any n into your
employ you require references, don't
your"
Certainly"
every well. Why should you moi all
the more require references In taking a
wifeT"
"And the wife, l presume, should re-
quire references of meT
Certainly"
at seems to me-" 1 replied after
some hesitation, that your idea would
only serve to keep me and the woman
I might marry still farther apart"
mot If it is properly carried out"
What was Edith driving att l con-
Ass 1 could not make out. That she
was a M of great originality l
knew. That she was ray devoted
friend I did not doubt. She had eau
toned me before this against waiting
till | was an old man before marry
ing, and suspected that she now had
some plan for me. / wondered If b
vas not bent on making a match be-
tween me and some young woman
who, like myself, was growing out of
her youth and should be mated.
Come, Edith,'' I said; "out with it.
You're bent on marrying me off. What
is your plan?"
She paused a few moments before
replying; then she put down some fap-
cy work she was doing and, looking
me straight in the Eye, said:
Desperate cases require desperats
remedies"
Granted"
ut would do no good for me to in.
troduce you to a woman who l believed
would make you a good wife,"
Il should probably spurn her,"
Nor would it avail to introduce such
q woman to you, assuring her that she
would be happy with you"
she would wonder If you thought
her bereft of any taste whatever"
Il have a woman in mind and have
mad just such a conversation with her
hs l have had with you"
THE dickens you have!"
Yes, and she admits that any man
introduced to her for the purpose of
making a match would repel her."
Il see; you are going to throw us to-
gether without our knowing of your
design."
Nonsense. That threadbare theme
pr novelists might do for very young
persons. You and the woman l have
u mind are too old. The only way by
which you can be united is for both
70 place the matter in the hands of a
third party"
A In Turkey, where the parents
orange matches for their children and
me groom never sees the brides face
lh he lifts her veil after they are
married"
You have stated the case exactly"
Very well, to cease generalizing and
come down to a definite planT"
The lady whom / have assured that
you will make her a good husband has
fonsented to leave the whole matter to
ne. My plan requires that you do the
anne. Do you e%onsent?"
How can l consent to what l don't
know?"
You are both being assured by me
nat neither will make a ~mistake-to
Urn the key of wedlock on yourselves
Without having seen each other"
Great ~heavensw
rs 1t not done every day In TurkeyT'
go m"
You are to be married without any