jl
~ WW3UD-N
TK there Is anything In the
I world more aggravating to ft
I young woman than a young
L man who will not, or cannot,
see that she favors him
above all the rest. It has not
yet been listed.
Prudence Milton as much as a year
ago discovered that Alfred Ruthven
possessed all the qualities that goto
make a man noble and splendid and
brave —no, not brave! A brave man
■would have proposed to Prudence long
*lnce. But Alfred, Prudence knew,
"was handsome and intelligent, and
prosperous. Just one thing he lacked
—self-confidence. Alfred was bashful
on the love subject.
A great many men are so. They
can discuss politics, the musical
glasses, the drama, literature, art,
science and the classics fluently with
a young woman, but they shy away
from the real heart interest like an
aeroplane dodging a church steeple.
Why, Prudence had inveigled Alfred
(nto long walks with her in the sil
very moonlight of spring and the gol
den moonlight of summer—all to no
avail. Once, in August, she was boat
ing with him, and she had pretended
to be afraid the boat would capsize.
"What would you do if it did?" she
asked him.
Naturally she expected him to reply
that he would plunge in after her
and save her or perish In the attempt.
Such a heroic remark as that would of
course lead into a more passionate
avowal of his reasons for being will
ing to lay down his young life for her
—and then, of course, he could easily
hop-skip right along to a request that,
elnce he was willing to die for her,
she might consider favorably a propo
sition to share his life with him, or
words to that effect.
But when she asked him, with a
tremulous shake in her lovely voice,
and with a world of faith and trust
in her lustrous eyes:
"What would you do if the boat
capsized?"
He never even stopped rowing. He
just said:
"It wouldn't matter much. The wa
ter isn't over three feet deep here."
Prudence almost capsized the boat
from sheer vexation then. When a
woman becomes vexed with a man be
cause he does not realize that he loves
'L : 1
"In the Kitchen With an Apr-jn On,
Helping Her Mother Put Up Jellies
and Preserves and Things."
her, you may (jo out and stake all
your worldly possessions that sooner
or later she will bring that uian to
his knees, or her >Mt, us you like to
put It.
Let UH pans lightly over the glorious
days of fall, when Prudeuce ullowed
Alfred to rail several times and find
her In the kitchen with an apron on
helping her mothor put up Jellies and
preserves and things Let us even
pass lightly over the evening when
she showed him the blister upon her
fat:- white hand made by a sputter
ing drop of apple butter. Yea. pass
lightly over It Any sane man. any
ninn In possession of ordinary facul
ties, when a beautiful young creature
held nut a little white hand and show
e<! him n blister thereon not a big
bll-ter, Jts t n sort of a beauty spot of
a blister would have taken that hand
In his and all hut wept over It. He
would t asked her to glv- that
hiind to him and to come along with
It herself, and would have xwqrn by
high heaven and the manhtn* stars
and the fun and moon and t *ty that
never again should that wonderful
hmid know tin wearylna stress <if
toll' What did Alfred do"
lie iixilii-d at th< blister appraising
ly without tnklng those taper (Infers
In hi ami he said
'Hilek a IM'IHIIII under It from one
aide and let ihtt water out, then put a
little | • ronlde on It tomorrow "
Slude* of Hoineo' Mtsiorlna of
iNinte and Iteatrtee' Was It any
wonder that Prufteaee brtxigbt h.>r
pretty Hps together In a stralgh' line
and regtwtex | a menial vow that Al
fred should rue thla apeei-h »om« day''
Let us now paaa llgbtly »n again
Come we now to Christmas eve. Pru
dence had, by ways and means familiar
to the feminine mind, conveyed to the
bashful Alfred the intelligence that
she had made for him a Christmas re
membrance. Never mind how she did
this. You, If you are a man grown,
will be able to hark back into your
own past and bring up some instances
of woman's diplomacy wherein she
was able to tell you something with
out saying anything in particular. Just
gave your Intuition a chance.
Knowing this, Alfred knew that It
was his bounden duty to reciprocate—
t <i ■=:
■ y> i
"That Is, She Allowed Him to Put the
Kiss Back Where He Got It."
and to reciprocate in advance. Al
ways. always, a man must reciprocate
In advance to a lady.
So Alfred might have been seen
stepping hesitatingly up the 6teps of
the Milton home on Christmas eve.
He carried a small package In one
hand. It was his Intention to deliver
this to whoever came to the door, with
a message that it was for Prudence.
In answer to his ring no less a per
son than Prudence herself opened the
door. Her eyes were sparkling, her
cheeks were rosy, and In one hand she
held a bunch of green stuff."
"Why, Alfred!" she exclaimed.
"Come right in. I'm putting up the
Christmas greens."
So Alfred came right In, shyly and
slyly depositing the little package on
a small table in the hall as he entered.
Prudence led the way to the living
1
CrKlFiiir 13 *
1
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1910.
room, which wm empty of other pe»
pie, fortunately, at that moment.
"Won't you help me?" she aHkod.
"I think It la such fun to decorate the
house with the holly and stuff for the
holidays. Now I've Just been trying
to tie this bunch to the chandelier."
She mounted a chair and affixed the
bunch of green sprays to the chande
lled. Alfred stood in dumb admira
tion. He looked at Prudence, and ha
looked at the green herblage which
she fastened to the fixture. Bhe look
ed down at him, smiling, then put out
her hand.
"Help me down," she said.
Alfred caught her hand to assist her
to come from the chair.
Heroes are made in a moment. No
man knows in what Instant his sou!
may flame within him so that he will
do and dare as he never dreamed of
doing or daring. The philosophers
call such times psychological mo
ments. This was one. Alfred helped
Prudence down, and It was quite nat
ural and easy for her to find herse4f
In his arms when she reached the
floor. And then before she knew what
he was about—at least, so she said
—he had kissed her. \
"Mis-ter Ruthven!" she exclaimed.
"How dare you?"
"I —I —you know—the—the mistle
toe!" he stammered, disengaging one
arm and pointing to the decoration
above her head.
"I forgot that," she said, demurely.
And then Alfred found tongue at
last and told her what she had wanted
him to tell her all the year. And ho
asked her to be his Christmas gift,
and she consented In what is so often
called the time-honored way. That is,
she allowed him to put the kiss back
where he got it.
Later that evening Alfred said to
her:
"Do you know, I don't believe I ever
would have had the courage to pro
pose to you If it hadn't been for that
mistletoe."
"That mistletoe!" she laughed. "Al
fred, that mistletoe Is smilax. I don't
believe It would have worked at all If
It had been real mistletoe."
(Copyright, 1910, W. 1). Nesbtt.)
JUST SO.
Ah." we say to our friend, whom
we observe counting a large roll of
bills before starting out, "going to
buy something to fill some one's stock
ing?"
He looks at us with a merry, holi
day twinkle in his eyes and replies:
"Yes. I'm going around to buy a
wooden leg for my brother."
/p. <•
ODAY when me an' Willie Smith
An' Alfred Potts an' Spot McKay
"> An' some more hoys we's playin' with
Got talkin'some 'bout Christmas day
An' how we must buhhave real well,
Cause all our pas an' mas they said
IM* Santa Claus can always tell
\Y hat boy has mischuff in his head.
Why, Alfred I'otts he say to us:
"It's nothin' but a lot o' fuss!
Don't you buhlieve your pas and mas-
There never was no Santa Claus 1"
An' nen we tell him 'tisn't so.
'At we heard Santa come last year
An* see his sleigh tracks in th' snow—■
An' he has sleigh bells, 'cause we hear.
\n' where th' chitnhley is we see
Th' soot all scraped off in lb' back
\n' at shows where o* Santa, he
Corned «l«>wn th' chimblev with bit pack.
Hut Mfred I'«»tts. he snilT, like this,
An' "\ mi don't know what you miss
Hv not a bein' bad. buhcause
Then never was no Santa Claus!"
Nen me an' Willie Smith an' all
Th* oilier boy . an' Spot McKay,
l''tend we hear somebody call
t's to come home, an' slip awav
W we won't play with Mfred I'otts
|tuh< mse w«* know 'at he is bad
\\ In ti we think of tli' lots an' lots
<»f Christmas* 'ai he have had.
I tell my pa what Alfred said
\n' he at li idue an shake his head
\n" sa»* '.it Mfred . chain e is slim,
'i aitse S'tila W"ii't buhlieve in hunt
'f 'MXlahl, IMS. W l) Nrsblt »
IlPu-Wton
the G''? t
if W By tmttw
tree wis all a-twinkle with iti candle* here and there
\ \ \ \ Wl *"h a merry tinkle swayed the gift# it had to hear*
\ Vi\\\\y \ And all wai now completed for the morrow that should he
with loyous welcome greeted by the children round the tree,
\!ii i• \ p wk «— l may have dreamed it so,
at \\W \\\w''' \\\ ® ut * race °* a *°
*7 / .\\ \\ WvVu v\A \ A Came through the hush of midnight and hided there with me.
|\\ll I _ , \
fj 1 I \m \ \ 111 as a sleeper when dreams hold the heart of him;
. I VI. 4 - U U jj\ | Mil £ The sjiadows grew the deeper till the tree was hlurred and dim—
•/111 1| iM I I 11 J)| ' /7 /Then/marvelouslj) glowing as of all the stars and suna
j I 1 V / \jfl/ \ - j I lt '/ a beauty P ait krowing. with the majesty that stuns,
y I lTp J JlhW 111 j a cro# * °f jewel-flame
i j ' "y-Lt ill j / Wllick From the shadows came
ill \ n'Mw // / An il softly came a chantmgX "To these, the little one*!"*
j I Ml /I
/// // / • MI" /// / St range glory held the trifles that hung upon the treei
'I I X. Il ml ' h & The marveling that stifles', all speech laid hold on mei
'//|a. O r / j u^'e oldea that led ttif storied'^ kings
11 * '!i Jf jfjJ. j 'To epmc treasures golden and precious offerings
/// I \ ln tta \ f V * ray Christmas dawn \
111 J cp- ; : ~ j I the 4 agone. N. \ \
n W l earth \hrohhed with musio of wings.
Ij [j N \. that dreaming—hut
VX II I atire wereV<{leaming xield of ffpace and timet
Then <t-enth^alling vision slowly vVpisked quiteVway,
-'J ' \\ \ x &«t upon a >ught rtad hcraja for me\o »tray— \
heard ail 112 a
■ I ■ 11 B » III! W—MII W —!■ 'IIM
(C'upyriKht. 1910. W. I>. NVsbit.)
Finds oS
Lip Wilbur 1) * Nosbii
A called me to her day be
HOI fore yesterday and sed she
W wante< ' me *° help her do
something
a l' t * ece °f pen
cil In iier hand that was
about a inch long and
looked as If she had chewed it to
sharpen It, ni.d she had a lot of notes
made on the back of a bill from the
dressmaker.
Henry, she said, 1 am puzzled to
doth to kno what to give your pa and
four T'nkel Wlllyuni for Chrismus. 1
do wish you would kind of pump them
and see what they would like to hav.
and then tell me, without giving It
away to them what you are trying to
find out.
All right, ma. I told her, and tried
to get a peek ut her list to see If she
had me down for the muggtezine re
valvar I want.
Hut she folded up the paper and put
It away.
So that night win n p» and Unkel
Hill was sitting In the librarey talktn
about th<- way senator TlUiuan had
biter look out or he will be playing
in a drama that lias a pi ex* agent, or
« Ise |»e will be cruckln a bh'i k nak«
whip aroui -J in I n!. I TMM CiMM, I
I- 1 pa what he thol mum the right
kind of a ('hrlsmus present
You otto l»« sat Is fid)- with what you
g"t. my young man.he sed. without
coming aroiud unci hint in.
I ulnt hint In. I told him, I just won
d' red what your Idee would be about
on» for your»e!f.
Urat«' S-otf he S'-d. Has It
to this* It Is bad enuff to hafto fork
over for the find things yure ma buys
fur me without bavin to pay lor some
thing you get for me
I dont want to gm you anything I
•ed I Just want to g««t yure Idee
about what you want
I nkel inn *p»ke up and sed ui<i»t
*"•« could tell what they wanted bet
ter by t« 111 n ultM they dont want
What would you like to hav, unh»l
Hill* I am him
Weil in » he srd, (hare l« lots of
things i would be glad to see in my
stockin on Christmus morning. If I
was a woman of course i would yern
for dimund bracelets and necklaces
and rings and gold wotches that i
could pin on me somewhare whare a
pickpocket could get them without
pick in my pocket. Thare never was
vt pickpocket that could pick a wom
an's pocket, xcept one that lived in
Noo York, and h<! had been marrid
forty times, and he confessed that
the reesoti he ge.t marrid so monny
times was just becos he wanted to
I
?L&
1 v w/t | I
'/sjj ,'ii
/V i! 11 '
>1 ** V 7&;
| / /
» I
"H»nry, 3h* Said, I Am Pu«il*d to
Death to Know What to Civ* Your
Pa and Unci* William for ChrUt
mM"
lurn »luir«- u MOIHUU tun IXMUI
•t. It wm u matter of |>ruft-»huul
prlil* «rlth hint, bi'tiia hi* *>-d tlmm
waa nu (iruflt In iinkln it woman*
|>o< k»t when all yon nut wan a buiii'b
at *itiupl«* Hml a bnttuii liunk ami a
|i..*>|ir ru* Mini h»i*m« thirty and
furl) »»nu
lint t limit ara what |i|rhlu
haa to Uti with ('hrlaititi* prrni-iua I
»ad
You wate till you get marrid, pa
spoke up reel quick.
Kindly pa and Unkle Bill thay got
nie to tell them about ma astin me to
llnd out what they wanted, and then
thoy laffed and laffed, and Unkel Bill
sed it was a refreshin indication of
the change that was takin place when
a woman even thought of thinkin
about what you wanted. He sed they
usually went ahed and got what they
wanted you to want.
You tell your ma, pa sed, that as
neer as you can lern what i want in
more hair on my hed, my wlsdum
tooth filled, and rockkln chares that
I wont bump into with my legs when
I get up in the mornln.
And if she asts you what I want,
unkel Bill sed, you tell her that 1 am
noncommittal to a degree, but that
you think I would prefer a tobacko
pouch that hns sashay powder inside
the lining, a collar and cuff box with
pink satin inside of It, a cigar cutter
that 1 can hang on my watch chane
whenever i want to feel pertlckerly
ashamed of myself, a silver handled
pensil that she can borrow frum me
the day after Chriamus and never
Kiv back to me, and a smokln set
made out of hammered brass that I
can s«U to somebuddy for flnger
bowls
That'* rite, pa sed.
But the best Chrismus present for a
man. unkel Bill sed. U to pick out a
fifty dollar present for him, that he
would hafto pay for when the bill
romes In.and then not get It
tfupyrlghl, W [> Nesblt.)
DARK OUTLOOK BEFOREHAND
"Mamma," asks the little boy. ho*
can Huuta Claus get Into our fiat,
when we haven't any rhlinmv -noth
i ing but a steam radiator?"
"H<» will probably slip In by the
bust nient door, darllug "
"It's all off then." says th«- lad, with
a urpiUlng vigor In the u.<« of slang
"That Janitor will put liliu out of busl
!»•*•* before he can unpack his sack "
»
MIH ONE BIQ WISH
Hletar rtu« Johnnie, do you know
what I would like most?
Brother Johnnie No, What*
Ulster Hue | saw a fat lady at the
••'reus last summer and I «uh I had
ler slot king to hang up «• 'hrUttuaa
nlfht *