Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-01-08
The Daily
Short Story
A MIDwINTER PROPOSAL,
BY r. A. Mitchell.

It is said that balmy breezes, sof,
skies. mellow sunshine. or the hgbt
of the moon, constitute q fitting back.
ground for love making. was not
SHARED amid any such sufroundinsa
Helen captured me in midwinter.
Helen and I 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 a place where
the ice was thin and We would hear
that cracking beneath US that I have
always loSed. This sound and the
ozone Of frosty morning are far
more delicious to me than the song
of the birds and the fragrance Of roses
in June.
Helen's eyes were Is bright q the
sunlight on the ice; and her cheeks
had been painted vermillion by Jack
Frost. We were skating along with
| something OF roll. Helen's hands in
her fur muff, and the long hairs Of
her tippit caressing her cheeks. How
I envied her that tippit. She began
to talk about the various marriage
customs of different countries. When
girl discusses love and marriage the
fellow she is with had better be on
his guard. 1t indicates what she Is
thinking about.
They have some funny customs In
Russia concerning betrothals," she
said. "One is that II a girl loves q
man she goes to his house Ind re-
mains there till he asks her to marry
him. If he declines to do 80 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 un-
| 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
man wants a girl, without speaking
! to her he goes to her parents and
asks for her. II they consent they
inform her that she has had an offer.
Possibly she may not know her sutton,
may never have seen him. There is 4
feast at the end Of which . race take(
place between the sutton and the girl
he wants. Il she accepts him she per-
mits herself to be caught; il not. she
won't let him catch her."
THAT beats all the other plans,
doesn't it," saw nothing out BE-
fore 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 skates!
Il suppose So"
I cast 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 GOODNESS and elaboration; .
woman has the faculty Of taking that
out of a man if she chooses. Helen.
the frosty scene, the ozone in the air,
the cracking Ice stole away my
brains.
do you see that point up there and
the little landing for boats extending
into the ice?" I asked.
"Yes," replied Helen In a low voice.
She knew what was coming just IS
well as the spider knows what will
happen when he sees the fly put his
foot on the web.
Il think I can give you forty
strokes and beat you to that landing. .
II don't think you can," said Helen
under her breath.
Suppose we try. You skate on un-
til you have taken forty strokes, thea
stop. When you hear me say go
the race begins"
very WELL"
| She skated on leisurely while !
counted the forty strokes. When the
number was completed I called her
to stop.
4 She took ten more strokes. won
dered if she had it, because a woman
must take every advantage Of man
she can. Perhaps after all she m
tended to beat me IL she could. Tue
true answer was that she wanted me
to think that she was going to do her
best. But that solution did not think
Of then.
1 She looked back at me, then ahead
then turned again:
Its fully a mile to the goal, !
need more handicap"
Very well, make it hundred
strokes"
She took the hundred strokes ana
since I saw that she was going to take
as many more as she liked gave the
signal, and the race was on.
Helen did her best on the start.
had all I could do to make any les
SEEMING of the handicap for the hrst
lQuarter of mile. The second quarter
was not much better for me. Inc
third quarter Helen began to lag. Al
the beginning of the fourth she mace
squirt, but l did the same and IN the
middle of this quarter was not moro
than hundred feet behind her. When
we were within fifty feet OF The goa,
she seemed to be giving out / dashed
forward, she staggered and was apou'
to fall when ! caught her In my arms
She lay quiet except for the pant
ing induced by the exercise. toos
a dozen kisses-and-well, the rest OF
the story is simply the beginning o.
the Lapland custom, wherein tne
sutton goes to papa and has 1t out WIN
him in the usual conventional way.