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THE DURHAM CHRONICLE (Copyright. 1306. by 088w B. Test-l Y DEAR LITTLE GIRLâ€"I am simply consumed with as- . tonishment. The idea of my daughter, my little sweet- heart, thinklng of marriage comes to me like a blow from a pile driver, afl you know, ' my dear, that plle driven hit a pretty hard lick, esneclally when you aren’t looking. I’m away tron home so much that it’s mighty hard to realize that you are not my baby any more; that it is no longer proper nu: dignified to dandle you on my kneeâ€"- not for me, at least; that your arm have lengthened downward until they curl around your dainty ankles, M thegolden hair that used to hang down your back like a streak of woven sun- shine is now done up in a fashionable something or other on top of your head. I forget that you are a young lady, a graduate from a swell semi- nary, can hammer the piano to make a Paderewski (I’m not sure whether I spell that right or not) sit up and take notice; can embroider dinky little flow- ers so faithfully that the honeybees come into the windows to suck the corner drug V sto r e perfume from their silk- ‘1 { tectnre. Don’t you member how you ' nsedtohidebehlndtherosebushby the walk and jump out and frighten me half to death by hollering “Boo!" i when I came home in the evening? Don’t you remember how you used to I climb up into the haymow and slide down with a cry of alarm at the start and a shout of delight at the finish when you landed safely in my arms? Don’t you rememberâ€"but, pshaw! Of course you don’t. You haven’t reached the age of memories yet. In your im- agination all the beauty and brightness and glory of life are just ahead of you. and you look that way. I pray God that you may always look that way, always see the sunshine a llttle brighter just beyond until you bask in the light supernal. i i i g l i I I mum-s CONSENT.â€"â€"li'a All my if Williun Loves You I.“ You Love Him and He's Neither l M 8:“ Nor a Spendthrifl. but nu g Good Job an! n Little Cub on End. gether DV‘vâ€"vâ€" fiâ€"â€"â€"â€" _ short, my dear, I forgetâ€" that my daugh- ter as an up to date young lady is strictly it. La me, child, it seems only yesterday that I was reading you fairy stories from a yellow covered linen book and showing you how A was differentiated from B by'certaln peculiarities of archi- working the shells, and the chances are 100 to 1 against 91' pa. I’m might! sorry that I don'tl know him. At 1 least, I don’t re- member having that string of dough faced pop- lnjaya that danced around The Young Man in the Case. And. now my little girl wants to get married and would like to have papa’s consent. Pam's a good deal in the po- sition or the countryman who goes up against the shell game at the circus The trip and kept me from seems you when I wanted you all. none. Of all the high collared. turnedmptratsf-t: dudes I ever saw that bunch was 01' them. and. come to think of It. my By CASPER s. YOS‘l‘. as to. the whereabouts 0‘ 3 “a“ strayed or- stolen angel. “mum fits your description he’s 80“” We“ a 1 per‘L'cen‘t basis- W' 50. a mother assures me and WW It :11 wool and the W wfith. forty years’ W has “08*“ u" that your 'mothet'suw an be zo- natural-31"! on. just as I did your mother, though for the life of me I never could under- stand what she could see in this bun- dle of bones to banker after. The Lord did a mighty good job when he made woman, but it seems to me he mlght have improved upon Adam a little. I don’t expect to find pertection in William. If he’s got a snficient quan- tity of good, everyday sense. if he's honest and upright. .11 he doesn’t jump backward when anybody says work. and if he really and truly loves you. I reckon that’s all that I can reasonably expect. Ho Must 80 Saving. I’m not particular about the size of his bank deposit. Just as an evidence of backbone i hOpe he's out of debt and has a little money laid by. I would hate to see you married to a deadbeat or a spendthritt. One is a moral and the other is a mental delinquent, and you wouldn’t be likely to find happiness with either. But giv- en industry and a disposition to spend a little less than is made and comparative poverty in youth is no great draw- back. When I ‘ +.\ married your ' mother 1 had a stout heart. a B steady job, my ._______, trousseau and $200 in cash. Embarrassing ‘0 a That was all my ma capital. 1 have more than that now in cash, but I don’t feel as rich as I did then, nor was I in reality. That is a good enough foundation for any youngster to begin married life with, provided, of course, the girl in the case is con- tented to start with that and be satis- fied with what he can provide for her without overstepping his income. So I say that it William is as well fixed as I was I shall have no objection to him on the financial score. But it Is mighty lmpdrtant that he have this start. It’s mighty embarrassing to a bride to find the tauor'a nnneceipted bill In the in stde pocket of her hubby’s wedding coat. and it you discover that William is a little backward in money matters you'd better postpone the ioyous cere- mony until he can get a move on him- self and get ahead of the pay wag-on. On the other hand, my dear. if he has n roll as big as a telegraph pole I wouldn’t consider it an insurmounta- ble obstacle. Money is a mighty good thing to have lying around, and I don't go; that I vioufd consider it advisa- ble to put 8 mm: on the amount, pro- vided it doesn‘t pile up around a man's legs so that he can't work. I have tak- en it for granted. little girl, that you love each other. I don’t know my I v v W should. for I am well aware that love is getting to be unfashionabie, but I am one of those old fashioned fellows who believe that love is quite essential to happinem in married life and have no patience win: those people who hold that mutual esteem is a satisfying sulr stitute. There are lots of men and lots of. women that I highly esteem. but I’d hate mighty bad to haveto make a contract to live with any one of them indefinitely. Love is an entirely differ- ent proposition. It com to the nor- mal man or woman but onceâ€"once at a time, at any rateâ€"and it’s the feel- ing which the good Lord meant should , be a prelude to and a necessary ac companiment of the relations between man and wife. It's the real divine fire, little girl, and there are no substitutes that are of as much value as a cookie- 74 - _-.4~.A- sun» “5v v- â€" _â€"â€"_ bur in a sack of Vents by comparison. But young folks are sometimes mistak- en in the feeling. The Genuine Article. Do you remember how you broke out with the hives at the same time Nannie Jones was down with the smallpox over in the next block and how des- perately scared your poor mother was? Lots of people make the same mistake about love. They think they have a very serious attack of the real thing when it’s only a case of hives, figura- tively speaking. i hope you and Wil- liam have caught the genuine article. None but the genuine will last; none but the genuine will carry you through the storms and land you safely in the blessed haven. Your mother and i have passed forty happy years togeth- er. There have been trials and trou- bles a-many, God knows, but we brav- ed and breasted and surmounted them love. It doesn't insure happiness. There are circumstances under which love is unhaDDY. miserably unhappy you over to his keeping. but I am no situated that I cannot do as I wish. I must go it blind, my dear, and perhap- it is just as well. It I were at home I would doubtless do just as your moth- er and yourself desired me to do, and I whether we know or whether we don’t .â€" ‘â€"‘--â€"-‘- -A :‘ WUC‘UVL 'Vv â€"-â€"v -. ‘ certain extent go it blind in this matter of matrimony. We ‘1 IV â€"â€"‘ _ how, and we Vein only hope and pray that your mgrded life may be as hap- - ‘ “-n- “A‘kn. la. ’Vu- -â€"â€"â€"__ - or. as tree (roman. 18 ion:- mother and I have tried to make your child- hood days; that your husband may be and always be. gm _that you now beneve â€"-- A LI. __ And now, little one. as to your wed- ding. 1 don't believe in long engage- ments, but don‘t be in a hurry. The engagement is a period at trial that is a mighty valuable preliminary to mar- riage. It gives you a chance to get better aequatnted with one another. to get a closer view of the other’s quali- ties, to find out whether you are really fitted for life together. There’s no rush about it. The person isn’t go- ing to leave town. And whatever you do, honey, don’t sneak out the back door and get married by a justice of the peace with a deputy constable as the witness. That isn’t a real mar- riage. It's just a going through some legal forms that enable you to live to- gether without being interfered with by the sherifl. Her wedding should be the greatest event of a girl's liteâ€"- something that will be full of pleasant memories for her in after years; $ memory of pretty drm and a prettier bride, a memory at Joyous music and glorious flowers, with the odor of or- ange blossoms hovering over all and ? scouting the years like a breath from the blessed land, and. above all. a memory of solemn ceremony and of holy vows so impressed upon young hearts by the beauty and sublimity of the surroundings and the service that time cannot errace them. You Are Worth Waiting For. You can’t aflord to miss the material pleasures of the preparation; the hours of shopping with your mother. the making of plans and specifications for the bridal gown, the building of weird and wonderful garments immersed in oceans or rumes and laces and rib- bons, the delightful little pernuptial social events with which your friends honor youâ€"you mustn't ship all these just because William is impatient. Give him to understand that anything worth having is worth waiting for as well as working for. and it my little girl isn’t worth having I don't know anything on this green earth that is. No. sweetheart, take your time and , get married right. I haven’t any use I for these impromptu weddings. “Let’s I go out and get an ice cream soda, and while we’re about it we might as well 3 tie up." That’s the kind of stut! that l fills the divorce courts and the news- - papers with harrowing tales of unhap- ; plness. Don’t do that, dearle; it doesn’t pay. Besides, I want to have you for my own a little longer. and when you do get married your old daddy wants to be there to be permitted to walk down the aisle of the church with you Your olddaddempow downw am mammmam while pride and sorrow and Joy are rolling over one another in his heart. Yes. little girl, you have my consent. and may God ever bless you. Your affectionate father. ‘ ____-_ Aâ€"onn“ want to get from my future son-1n- law. It gives me the impression that his friends call him Bill, and I m:- - - “AAâ€"A.‘ um LLLWW Vâ€"-- _ that. If his nameâ€"Ed béen Reginald or Algernon I should have felt com- penedtogobomeonthenrsttrunu 1 A look him over. advised all sort} of m but W. wife set her wits to'mdt and tom the right one. The. nan m I (all. Into a light doze after I fit in!» M.- but in less than twenty mm C was as wide awake as ever. 911:!!! and tossing and ninth to close my. until eyes. Well, my wife got up, m a match and pnetendeddo look at 121' watch. hen she said: ~ ‘I wouldn't try to sum sleep. m .9 ttwfll vacuum-100w“ up now.’ "that settled it. Irma man! I was asleep andtw m: h"- 1‘2113 was repeatedmortmw now I get my m M 0'1! night. Thebestotmm_lm .â€"â€"uâ€"_.. know {61" a numbefiot dun the m ruse that had beau-Wm a emu Bath Vim A company prmoter whom for an omce boy received 1 hundred replies. Out or the hundred hf salea- A A- Enema; 22m wan ww- loom: youth. “My box" and the m “I like your-wee anti!” man- ner very much. I Junk you: any do for the plum. ma; you m. cm:- acterT' “No.81r.”'repue3the bay. “Ban go home anmget it.” A Thoughtful Wife. “1 was cured of an mills propen- to 3n;?â€"I;tore 1t ‘wu am to r!!- Dec. 12, 1907 {as masked m an at 9° JOHN SNEED.