sure is
not by any means unusual.

Then, too, a girl misses a possible opportunity of seeing a man blush
and stammer. One does not often get a chance to see a man willingly
making himself ridiculous, and the spectacle is worth waiting for.

[Sidenote: Confusion and Awkwardness]

Confusion and awkwardness are high trumps with a woman, for they
indicate inexperience and uncertainty. The man who proposes in a
finished and nonchalant manner, as if he had done it frequently and were
sure of the result, is now and then astonished at a refusal. It is also
a risk to offer a ring immediately after acceptance. The suspicion is
that the ring has been worn before, or else the man was sure enough of
the girl to invest heavily in his future.

Sometimes a man will disclose to a platonic friend the form he
habitually employs in proposals. The hero of battle engagements has
proverbial charm for woman, and the hero of matrimonial engagements is
meat and drink to the spinster athirst for knowledge.

Feed the man, and when the brotherly love for the entire universe begins
to radiate, approach him gently upon the subject.

"Why, bless your little heart," the man will say, "of course I'll tell
you about it. Yes, you're right in supposing that I know more about it
than anyone else you know. I've never been refused in my life and I
know I've asked a hundred. I've had medals for that.

"I always try to make each one different," he will continue. "Girls
sometimes compare notes and it makes it awkward. The girl I'm engaged to
now doesn't know any of my other girls, though, so I'm safe enough.

[Sidenote: "One of the Best Proposals"]

"I'll never forget the way I did that. I think it was one of the best
proposals I ever made. She's a mighty pretty little thing,--blue eyes
and black hair,--a regular Irish type. I must tell you first, though,
how I came to know her.

"The one I was engaged to just before I asked her, had just broken it
off on account of property which her children would lose if she married
again. She was a widow, you know. I've told you about her--the one with
red hair. Between you and me, that's the only woman in God's world my
heart ever went out to. That is the love of my life. Her little girl,
eleven years old, was in love with me, too. She used to tremble when I
kissed her, and was jealous of her mother. But this little girl I'm
engaged to now, why I just love the ground she walks on.

[Sidenote: "A Very Peculiar A