Show n II I WHENSUTTON FORGED 1 rL TO THE FRONT I Stilton has never com ulc notes 01 I I ho subject with tho men of his acquaintance 1 J ac-quaintance but he ortpn wonders H J l I I any i of thorn proposed marriage on 1m I I pulse as It Ilil If to he would like Ifl I to know Ihe circumstances He Is I not L thus curious through a desire for sympathy i i sym-pathy Mrs Suttoii Is a woman of such I i I infinite tact that she makes him thlnl 1 f I i I he Is very happy Still when he fall i 1 l o I Into j mood at once retrospective and m Uf I i r Introspective as he Is I wont to do when I left hJone he puzzles over I the t complex 1 j existence of himself and neighbors I 1 tIII Slit ton Is I not an Impulsive man b l > lJ I I nature therefore his actions between tI a and 1 1 p in 6ntnc 2ml of June 1SI7 I t were all the more Inexplicable At S f i oclock on thrl eventful day he was f1 1 writing u letter to his friend Hardy In p IjOStOll QI 105lol I 11 M j q i I was Ifi t years old yesterday he S tIC t wrote I celebrated my natal day by 4q t II I I renewing my oath never to marry Old hI l fI I l1 bachelorhood may entail a certain degree I de-gree of loneliness but that is Infinitely I I I bettor than lie domestic squabbles In which I married friends constantly i tec my fiends f Ii stantly embroiled Women are well u enough at a distance but when I H comes to taking one of them for a w wICc jm Sutton stopped to study out the mOEt convincing way to wind up his sentence II J sen-tence As he pondered a woman came in and he pushed the letter under the I blotter 4 Hello Ruth he said How are l you Im glad to see you Wont you t i sit down Only for a fey minutes I am on f my way td Brooklyn l ana I thought 1 r would stop in and see you on I passed I But I dont want to bother you I Kee I you are busy Oh no I am not said Sutton i Business Is i dull 1 am just writing a letter to my friend Hardy in Boston I was telling him what I think of the P Indies t it Yes and what do you think t 1 That they are all angels I wish I t could marry them all g You might find that Inconvenient I Bui If you really have such Mormon lil Inllc tendencies you dont seem to be J doing much to gratify them You dont I I even make a start by marrying one Ii i Sutton grinned You neednt say t anything he said Youre the last i person in the world to find fault with Ii a person on account of celibacy When a a charming woman like Ruth Decker ls skims through life to the age of 31 Forty corrected Miss Decker I I wns 10 j my last birthday Well then 10 Ir you mUll have It I 5o and refunes to bind lierself with l conjugal ties she has no right to rebuke 1 re-buke an old sinner like me for plodding plod-ding along In single harness Miss Decker leaned her elbow on the 1 IL desk and rested her chin in her shapely qI hondo But I cant help myself she tp said I Neither can I said Sutton Yes you can help It You can ask somebody to marry you And you can marry somebody who ask you Miss Decker brought her other palm I to the support of her chin Nobody I asks me she said That Is because you give the fellows such scant encouragement You shouldnt do It Ruthj upon my word you shouldnt A nicelooking girl like you ought to have married long ago I All nice girls ought to marry Perhaps they would remarked j Miss Decker If they had a chance JOh thats all nonsense returned t Sutton They get the chance all right I dont believe the woman ever lived no matter how ugly and uninteresting I who did not get at least one otTer of I marriage At any lute I never saw one oneYes Yes you have seen one was the reply You see one now Nobody ever i asked moto marry him Sutton dropped his halfbantering air 1 Hp looked at his caller curiously Oh come now Ruth he Paid you cant expect me to believe that Why you 14 are an unusually popular woman I dont want to give you any taffy but Iq facts are facts and I hope you wont 1111 i take offense when I tell you that you I are the very nicest girl I ever knew rl I You are pretty you are bright you I I are entertaining Do you mean to tell I me that a woman of your type never JJi had a chance to get married Why I I never saw you when you hadnt a pack f I of men at your heels jt Miss Decker nlghed softly But they I I didnt mean anything she said They I liked me well enough up to n certain point but they never wanted to marry me It Is n sober fact that nobody ever wanted to do that SutlonK guardian angel gave him a I tremendous push and he fell forward tl precipitately You are wrong there he said Somebody has wanted to I I marry you I He never told me BO I What would you say If he should tell you W the I man dont know I would densml on I l J I What would you ny if I told you 1 Miss Decker screamed In subdued I tones You she said S Sutton nodded Yesv he said Im iTie fellow < I MlK3 Decker I jumped to the halfway l point between laughter and tears and ii here l she halted 1 seems so strange J I zhie said I can hardly believe you mean It We have known each other i so long We have boon together so l j much VP have tale c of iO many things but we never talked this way before You never did anything to i make me think t tthiit you S Sutton took another unpremeditated S leap That Hold he wns because I 5 am such a slowgoer such an Idiot I wanted to ask you all right but I wns too confoundedly backward Miss Decker spread her ls3 srmt palrmi out on the blotter nnd left bur chin to tak S care of itself Button came to Itfi assistance as-sistance Now that I have forged to the front like a man ho snld whnt I are you going to say to me That I am glad you forged to the front At 4 oclock Min Deckor resumed her Journey to Brooklyn Sutton escorted her ae far as the elevator When ho I camo back he paused before his desk moodily i S Well Eir he said if I this isnt thee the-e darnedesl mess I ever got mixed UpI in up-I Then he took Hardys letter from beneath be-neath the blotter ii 4 I celebrated my natal day by renewing re-newing my oath never to marry he read And I wrote that just one hour ago I cant send It now Ill have to write another letter Then he wrote My dear Dnrnley I have news for you I am going to get married 1 have got sick rnd tired oiling oi-ling alone Thats a lie1 he commented comment-ed but Ill have to let it go and have decided lo seek companionship In matrimony mat-rimony I have been in love with my Intended wife for many years I honestly honest-ly believe that Is so but have foolishly fool-ishly delayed my happiness until now Ye are going to be married next month I hOle you will come on to the wed dlnIll like to know said Sutton as he reread the letter If I really have wanted to marry Ruth all this time or If I felt sorry for the poor girl on an count of her frank confession that sho was Ihe exception that proved my rule Anyway I hope It will turn out all right t And it has turned out all right but i even so Sutton sometimes wonders If other men do the trick as suddenly as ho did Philadelphia Ledger |