Show HE WAS A COWARD Couldnt Even Face a Little Woman and Say What lie Meant 10 Say He was a brave mnn That was the rockestablished fact concerning him No person could boast of having seen him cringe or grov a shade paler or hold Ms breath while the blood beat in his temples and that was baying a great deal for he was not unused to dancer in its most savage form He commanded instant in-stant respect and admiration And he arl w i yet was an a He was not aware of It in the least and if he had known it ue woulu t o have wrathfully indignantly punished himself by going straight to her and forcing forc-ing himself to say his mind but the trouble was he was blissfully sweetly unconscious un-conscious of it Even she did not know he was afrld of her If she had been like most women she would have seen it dimpled and laughed over it laughed at him but she was not like other women That was why she frightened him so I He had seen women in his day any number of them and they had never alarrried him in fact he had never thought much about them They Were II dainty butterflies to be kept in the pun I shine and out of the wind and who rather depended upon and looked up to him They were well enough but they tired him and he wondered how the older men I could endure the same routine all their lives But she had a poise of her own and seemed selfsufficient He had never analyzed ana-lyzed it out and in a puzzled way concluded con-cluded it must be the way she dressed her hall or wore her gowns or the scent of violets which wavered about her There I was always a tormenting Idea in his mind that his presence alone did not call up I the tempting half smile on her lips and that her clear eyes would still have the look of quiet happiness in their depths if he was not there She looked just that way when she talked to the doting old I pensioner of eighty or the ragged news iheoo rS boy on the corner It showed a very nice I spirit in her and yet he was Selfish enough to wish that sometimes when he went away the gentle light in her face would fade It never had yet because he r always looked back to see l He was quite well aware that he was in I love with her but still he had never told i her simply because he had never wanted I to enough to warrant thinking about it It contented him perfectly to sit opposite II her In the green and gold room and watch the play of her face and the flashing mo tion of her white fingers in the embroidery embroid-ery she loved to do She looked so thoroughly I thor-oughly sweet and comfortable and home I like and when she laughed as she did I once in a while it tingled the whole room with rose color and he would sit smiling I silently while the coal snapped In the I S grate There came a time when Ihr thought mr n to hs mind tht this iremy inv I could not last eternally and it quite loused mm to coiiauicr what ue Himiij o I if some other man were to foreyor Itbar him from his seat in the green and gold room where he watched her dtbir him by means of an insignificant bit of gold and a half dozen sanctified words So he resolved to ask her to marry him i The l dd3 ie 1l1rro d3 mrrntnJ resolve did not throw him into a nervous nerv-ous fever nor break his calm security It was a very simple matter when one looked at it In the right lighta few words rightly said a look from the eyes and the thing was done It did not occur to him that he should be afraid That was because he did not know he was a coward So he dropped into his old place that night and watched her a little while He half opened his lips to begin when she glanced at him brightly as she made some passing remark He did not speak for he was bewildered at the tremendous hill i which suddenly made itself manifest allover all-over him In a most extraordinary manner I He had never before known her eyes to I div ill thoughts from Ms mind and tarn gle his tongue inextricably He could not I comprehend why he continued to make re y I s I marks on the weather and invent sallies about the last opera He was certain that I he could say what he wanted to if she would only keep her eyes on her work but he was not sure that she would not look at him again and he did not want to experience another cold chill because it took so long to get over the shock of the first III his surprise and dismay at himself he kept on making bon mots concerning the weather Then he heard the clod strike 12 and meekly went home He slunk by the policeman and dodged pedestrians because at last he knew he was a coward He did not make a light In his room because he knew if life saw the cowards face in the mirror he could not refrain from Injuring it with his strong right arm and he was naturally a peaceable man opposed to scrimmages In the morning he took a pen mil paper and wrote out wljat he had tried to say to her the night before When the lid of the mall box clicked he started He thought some sneering laughing vole had said coward But he had the reputation of being a brave man His lifelong friends always spoke of him as such Chicago Record |