Show the ON PROPOSING by richard H wilkinson I 1 corner J IDA know knew nil all the tricks you V VIDA see she rend a lot books on every conceivable subject unfortunately vidas facial acial beauty was next to ill nil 1 when at the age of 18 she came to a lull full minute realization of this and an understanding of its possible c 0 n s 0 quen ces she was at first unhappy but being a sensible person sensible enoah enough to look at tho the tw thing ing squarely she aha sought tor for other means to achieve her end tho the end was a man love romance the other means presented themselves inthe form of books learning how to put yourself across when you Nv everent erent particularly resorting to devices and technique teat hat good looking girls have to employ the io results were exceedingly even now at the ago of 22 tho the man of her dreams was practically hily within her grasp give her another month two at tho the most and he bo would speak the words that would make tier her happiness and triumph complete the mans name was glen lam chlor lie he was ono one of those fine good looking upstanding specimens of young manhood intelligent gracious and with a promising career ahead of him the type who appealed by exerting only a minimum of effort vida had aimed high when selecting him as the object of her acquired charms but the thought of failure had never once entered her head she had aroused his interest by heeding the dictates of her fiction heroines and glen had seen the light lie ho had come to realize that behind the plain features of this girl were quality intelligence breeding in a word vida had been successful in her enterprise up to a point unhappily it appeared now as it if that point might prove a stumbling block an obstacle coming into the living room one evening she found him waiting for her comfortably ensconced before the fireplace a volume of oscar wilde open in his lop lap the fact that her entrance did not distract his attention teri tion piqued her no end she hesitated a moment before making known her presence and in that moment the feeling of being piqued gave way to torment suddenly she realized that something had happened that she was losing her hold that glens interest was on the wane always before he had awaited her coming with eager anticipation glowing in hla his eyes the thought made vida unhappy WEEK LATER sitting before A the living room tire vida aban boned seeking an answer to her problem and for lack of something better to do picked up the copy of oscar wilde and opened it her eye chanced to fall on a paragraph which had been lightly checked with a pencil she read through it with a rapidly increasing pulse I 1 really dont see anything romantic in proposing it Is very romantic to be tic about a definite proposal the excitement Is all over the very essence of romance Is uncertainty vida stood up and there wa was it a wild look in her eyes glen had read that paragraph 11 he had checked it with his bis pencil lie ile had remembered that her faath in books in the printed word was profound she made her way to the book head in acquiescence case behind the fireplace her eyes scanned the volumes contained 1 therein she removed a copy 0 of f OB lens rions short stories leafed it through found the passage she sought and underscored it heavily glen called a an n hour later it if he was annoyed at the long interval in the living room before vidas appearance I 1 pe arance he did not betray that I 1 fact act instead he seemed deeply interested te in reading g a paragraph from a volume of obrien OB short stories which he found lying upon the table he read it through twice before vidas voice disturbed ht him lie he was glad she had come lie he welcomed her eagerly ho he had pom something ething to say any something that could not wait he said it incoherently but plain enough for vida to understand and nod her |