Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-01-04
Triple Proposal
fcopyrIght. lsl7. western Newspaper union.)
By ETHEL VANDEVEER

Jimmie Twinlng awoke at half-past
three in the afternoon of New Years
day, yawned, turned over, slept a few
minutes more, then woke up for good.
He had gone to bed at two o'clock in
the morning, after seeing the old year
eut and the new year in. Jimmie had
a special weakness for making love.
The butler opened the door cautious
ly and seeing that Jimmie was awake,
entered the room and advanced to the
bed with a note in his hand. Jimmie
opened it and read:
dearest Jimmie:
81 cannot wait a moment longer
without saying to you that last night,
or this morning, you made me the hap
piest girl in the world. l am dying
to see you again; not in the whirl of
last night, but in our cozy library at
home, and tell you in q more formal
way that I return your love and shall
gladly be your wife.
"Your own loving,
CLARA"
Jimmie was disturbed. He remem-
bered sitting In a window seat with
Clara Robbins, talking "maudlin' to
her, as he expressed 1t, when others
entered the room and interrupted the
t~ete-a-tete. But he had no remem-
brance of q proposal. While he was
vainly trying to recall what he had
said to her the butler came In with
another note.
II thought there was no mail deliv-
Hry today, Ben,' said Jimmie.
"There isn't, sah," replied Ben.
these notes was brought to the house
by messengers"
Jimmie opened the second note and
read:
"Dear Mr.. Twining:
81 send this little note to say that
! feel highly honored at your flatter-
Ing words last evening, and regret that
In such gay company l was prevented
from making a suitable reply. I will
say now however, that If a week hence
you are of the same mind, I will give
you a favorable reply.
Sincerely yours,
Kathryn Ruggles."
SWELL" said Jimmie lugubriously,
III there are no more of them 1 at
least have an opportunity to settle
with one before the week of probation
ends. I'll get up, refresh myself with
a bath, then proceed to think out a
plan by which to extricate myself from
this muddle."
Jimmie did a lot of thinking over
the matter, but no plan occurred to
him would cancel his proposals
with scredit to himself. He took
no action till the next morning, when
he resolved to go see Miss Clara
Robbins, and trust to luck for an
outcome. After breakfast he tele-
phoned Clara Robbins, asking her
when it would be convenient for her
that he should call upon her. She
named eight O'Clock the same evening.
During the afternoon he received a
note by mail from Miss Amy Brown,
Indicating that he had made a third
proposal of marriage on the same oc-
casion as the others.
If a man owes a hundred dollars he
can't pay, 1t worries him. If he owes
q hundred thousand with no funds TO
meet his debt. he accepts the situation
as inevitable. 1t was so with Twin
ing. So long as he supposed he had
engaged himself to lone girl he was
very much troubled, when he discov-
cred that he had engaged himself to
three he considered himself a matri-
monial bankrupt and his peace of mind
was in a measure restored to him.
He set out after dinner to tackle
Clara Robbins with a rose in his but
ton hole, and a cigarette between his
lips. What he would say to her he did
not know. He must be guided by cir
c~umstances, and he was conscious of
possessing an adroitness suitable to
the occasion.
But circumstances were u~nfavorable
to a happy issue. He found Miss Rob-
bins alone in the drawing room and in
the beginning refrained from mention
ing the subject between them. Just
as he was about to do SO there was
a ring at the door-bell, and who should
be ushered in but Miss Brown, who,
ny LIZ way was q Nh0At u LIS "
bins. Miss Brown looked very con-
scious at seeing Mr.. Twining, and
there was constraint over all.
Though Jimmie was somewhat
taken aback by Miss Browns coming
he was relieved for the moment since
the subject matter of his call could
not be discussed with a third person
present. General conversation ensued
for a short time, when another guest
arrived in the person of Kathryn Rug
giles.
Miss Ruggles was the spark that
caused an explosion. She regarded
him contemporary:
"Mr. Twining," she said. II have
concluded to end a certain matter be-
tween us now and here. 1t is not nee