The Pulaskian., 1920-09-02
T hope it IS to ask me to r&se Jed

1 'I hope it IS to ask me to tate Jed in hand said
 'No' rt is to ask you to permit me to announce the engagement of my daughter Isohel to you. Don't be alarmed. It shall not make any diff | ference i'll yeur life. It is a desperate expedient l am using out of a diffi- culty"
 I felt as if I were in q spiritual fog.
 ''Is that the only way can help you out?" I asked.
 "The only one" she said. "I have thought of everything"
 Has it to do with Jed agai1?" I asked.
 With things I cannot possibly ex- plain Is there any one who would be distressed by such an announcen4ent?'
 Not a soul" said, "-except Miss Sidney"
 q would not cause pain" said Mrs Sidney. Are you sure there is no one?"
 Mrs Sidney" I said, 'you are the only lady who ever has given me thought since I knew my mother. I
  ney will think of me in such a role Will she understand why take 1t? am not hesitating. I hope I do not seem to be. but I know-I suspect that your decision is sudden"
 'Isobels affection for us is greater than her demand for independence, said Mrs. Sidney. If she knows that | I fO fo nouneement, she will think of you as a proved friend"
 I had suggested all the precautions that were reasonable. "You certainly may make any use of me you want to-" I said. She thanked me and said good night.
 IsobeFs view of our engagement was purely comic. She may have had a second of spiritual revolt, but comedy and consideration for her mother as- serted themselves. Mrs. Sidney, when she told Isobel of the engagement, had me present The mother was really embarrassed, almost f1ustered, but she was determined. Tsobel was greatly amused.
 It may be imagined that I was not heroic. I might better have been q wax figure taken from display win dow. felt like one, q thing with a wax smile and no animation.
 Tt is merely precautionary" said Mrs. Sidney uneasily. Tt is quite im- possible to explain. You will have to accept my judgment Isobel. Dr. John" an odd halfway house toward inti- macy she reached and stopped at "Dr. John has been kind enough to do as I asked him. I need and want the support of my children in what I am doing"
 I felt a touch of emotion at that. Uneonsciously, intent upon her main point, she had included me at the fire side and had spoken of her children"
 Anything you do or have done is all right, mother" said Isobel, =recov- ering from her sense of humor. Dr. John-will not be unhappy-I am sure will you, doctor? And I-mother- I'll get an advantage of you ia this see if I don't"
 You mustn't try to, IsobeI," said Mrs. Sidney anxiously. "I am doing the best I can"
 Later in the evening I saw Isobel finding her alone in the library, where she was reading. I went in to get book before going to bed. She was by lamp near the fireplace, and she looked very beautiful.
 "I want to talk to you" she said when she saw me. Do you know the explanation of this?"
 "No,'' said.
 You are not quite honest" she said "A man engaged to girl he never asked to marry him might suspect that something was out of the ordinary"
 ''Of course, something is extraordi- nary" I said. Do you know what if is?"
 "No don't' she said "Why don't you sit down:'
 With a soft witchery of feminiaity she pervaded and glorified the room, but she was peremptory. l was not sulen, but I felt defiant.
 Because don't want to sit down." I said
 Isobel smiled indulgently at me.
 "Oh sit down, Dr. John," she said. T want to talk to you. We are en- gagged, you know, and engaged people ought to have talk after the event, if not before"
 You understand how this hap pened," I suggested
 q do" she said. "My mother is frightened. Jed has been trying to marry me-"
 What can give him the privilege of such insolence!" I exclaimed. 'I imagine he is enamored." she said serenely. 'It may seem impossible to you"
 Has this man approached you di- rectly?" I asked.
 "He has been gallant. amorous, sug