Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-06-16
How She
Proposed
! A Story For Leap Year
BY ELINOR MARSH
By ELINOR MARSH

COlleSe was leCLuIluS u LIS CidSo, LIS
subject being customs in India. He
had excited considerable attention
while dwelling upon the suffice, the
girls showing great indignation at the
immolation of a widow on her hus-
bands funeral pyre. A hundred pens
taking down the lecture scratched
fercely on as many notebooks. From
the suffice he passed to the products of
the country, and the pen scratching fell
off so perceptibly that the professor
was admonished that he was losing
his hold on the interest of his class.
He kept a number of slips, on each of
which was written some bit of infor-
nation calculated to attract the atten-
ton Of young women, and, taking up
one, he interpolated it into his lecture.
Among the singular marriage Gus
toms of different people there is one
in India which is very delicate"
Every pen of the hundred young
ladies began to send forth a sympa-
thetic sound.
"a father will hold his daughter for
a price to be paid by the sutton before
marriage. A parent having a very
beautiful daughter or being able to
settle on her a large dowry will some
times put so high a price on her that
afford to pay it. This makes a market
for manageable women. Widows may
he had at a very low price"
A hum of expressions of amusement.
appreciation or dissatisfaction inter
rupted the lecturer.
"When a father finds that he has
been holding his daughter too high and
wishes, sc to speak, to put her on the
bargain counter [laughter1 he does not
tack a card to her on which is written
Special as would be done in America
If we had any such marriage custom.
He adopts a much more poetic method.
He marries her to a bouquet of flowers
and throws her husband into a well.
Since he must be drowned the bride
becomes a widow. This is a notifica-
ton to the young men that she may
be had cheap"
Professor Poland, who was q young
man of twenty-seven, paused and show
ed a white set of teeth under his dark
mustache in a smile which was meant
to be a partial ~unbending from his pro-
fessional dignity. A ripple of amuse-
nent passed over his auditors, and he
Mbout to return to a finish of the
projects of India when Belle Halliday,
n OF those girls who go to college to
let Off 4 surplus stock of mischief.
arose to ask a question. Professor Po-
land paused and looked at her inquir-
ingly.
"This being leap year." she said, ait
occurs to me that this wedding to the
flowers might be used by a girl as a
delicate way of proposing to the man
of her choice. 1t would be equivalent
to saying, 4 may be had for a song;
buy me-"
The class Uttered. The professor
looked at the ceiling, then made the
following reply:
"Your method, Miss Halliday, would
involve a knowledge on the part of the
man proposed to of the Indian custom
In question, which he would not be
likely to possess.
ooh, / didn't think of thati' And
Miss Halliday sat down in pretended
confusion. But If there was any con-
fusion in the matter 1t was with the
professor, who was at the disadvan-
tage of being n man among many
women. He made an attempt to smile,
then went on with his lecture, but did
not again strike anything as interest
ing to his class as the matter of a girl
being welded to a bunch of flowers and
her husband being thrown into q well.
Professor Poland's lecture was deliv-
cred in February, and Miss Belle Hal
liday was graduated In the following
June at the foot of her class. AS has
been said, she did not go to college to
study, but TO have a good time. She
was philosophic about it. "Why should
] make a grind of myself when all the
rest Of the class are grinds? If 1 spent
my time studying, who would do the
deviltry? If 1 were destined to make
my living as a teacher 1 would need to
apply myself. But I'm not to teach;
I'm to be married."
"Got him picked out. BELIEF" asked a
chum.
"Yes."
"Has he proposed"
"No, and l don't expect him to pro-
pose. This is leap year, and I intend
to do the proposing myself"
"Going to be married to a bunch of
flowers and throw your husband in a
well?"
maybe"
The chief reason underlying Miss
Halliday's ~indisposition to make a
grind of herself she did not mention.
Her father was a rich man, and she
was an only child. Besides what prop
erty she might expect from him, she
possessed a fortune in her own right,
inherited from a grandmother. Indeed,
1t would be difficult to find a reason
why she should, like the busy bee, i'm
prove each shining hour over dead Ian
p11apos mathematics or philosophy for