The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-02-05
4 Mdwinter
Proposal
By F. A. mitchell.
Copyright. 1917, Western Newspaper Union

Copyright. 1917. Western Newspaper Union.)
Ii is said that balmy breezes, soft
skies, mellow sunshine, or the light of
the moon, constitute Il fitting back
ground for love making. | was not
snared amid any such surroundings.
Helen captured me in midwinter.
Helen and / were skating. A broad
stretch of ice, smooth as glass lay be-
fore US. The morning was bright; the
sun glistened on the frosty scene; the
air was full of ozone. Occasionally
we would skate over place where the
ice was thin and we would hear that
cracking beneath US that ] have al Il
ways loved This sound and the ozone
of a frosty morning are far more de-
liciCuS to me than the song of the
birds and the fragrance of roses in |
June.
Helen's eyes We're as bright as the /
sunlight on the ice; and her cheeks /
had been painted vermillion by Jack |
Frost. We were skating along with /
something of q roll Helen'S hands in
her fur muff, and the long hairs of her
tippit caressing her cheeks. How !
cnvied her that tippit. She began to
talk about the various marriage Gus
toms of different countries. When y
girl discusses love and marriage the
fellow she is with had better be on his
guard. It indicates what she is think
ing about.
"They have some funny customs il
Russia concerning betrothalS" she
said. "One is that if a girl loves d
man she goes to his house and re
him. If he declines to do 50 her re-
lations consider themselves insulted
and punish him accordingly"
That's very queer. isn't it?'
In another part Of Russia where
there are several unmarried and I'M
provided for girls, they make a sort
Of rattle and dispose of them by lot"
/ That's better
''In. Lapland' Helen continued. 'they
have a different way still. When a
man wants girl, without speaking To
her he goes to her parents and asks
for her. If they consent they inform
her that she has had an offer Pos
sibly she may not know her sutton,
may never have seen him. There is Il
feast at the end of which race takes
place between the sutton and the girl
he wants. If she accepts him she per-
mits herself to be caught; if not, she
won't let him catch her"
"That beats all the other plans,
doesn't it?" l saw nothing out before
me over the stretch Of ice on which
there was not the slightest flaw: Its
. mighty cold in Lapland; don't they do
: it on skatts?" --15~ ~ .#.5. s-.~.-
81 suppose So"
/ cast a glance aside at Helen. She
. said not a word further but | saw
. challenge in her eye. We skated on
in silence. Presently we passed over
!. thin ice; the cracking stimulated me
!. made me reckless; / have always
prided myself on going into matters
with coolness and elaboration; a
< woman has the faculty of taking that
, out of n man if she chooses. Helen
, the frosty scene, the ozone in the air
e the cracking ice stole away my
brains.
>. DO you see that point up there and
the little landing for boats extending
into the ice?' l asked.
Yes" replied Helen in a low voice
She knew what was coming just a:
!. we'll as the spider knows what vii
happen when he sees the fly put hi:
foot on the web.
" Il think | can give you fort.
strokes and beat you to that landing.
!. i don't think you can," said Heller
:, under her breath.
Suppose we try. You skate on III
til you have taken forty strokes, the
-, stop. When you hear me say "go
- the race begins"
- very WELL"
" She skated on leisurely while
counted the forty strokes. When til
" number was completed I called her t
10 stop.
~ She took ten more strokes. I wor
1t dered if she had it, because a woma
must take every advantage of ma
~ she can. Perhaps after all she il
iu tended to beat me if she could. TT
81 true answer was that she wanted n
u to think that she was going to do hO
- best. But that solution | did not thin
of then.
- She looked back at me, then ahea
re- then turned again:
- ITS fully mile to the goal, l nee
~ more handicap" 7A
~ Very well make it a hundrt
strokes" 4
She took the hundred strokes al
J.. since | saw that she was going to tai
!, as many more as she liked l gave Il
M signal, and the race was on.
Helen did her best on the start.
had all could do tc- make any Jesse
ing of the handicap for the first qua
n ter of mile. The second quarter "
y. not much better for me. The thi
quarter Helen began to lag At t
haoinnirn IF no CT, II,