The Art Of Proposing.

of thing , you knoAv . "' " NOAV , " continued Rummy , " I think young Hope ' s plan may have done for him , but it does not folloAV that it Avill do for me ; and so I ' ve come to ask your advice , old boy . " " Well , Rummy , " I said , " though the

soft impeachment has never been mine , I see the difficulty of your situation , and I think I can put you in the way of saying the proper , and doing the needful . " " Oh I" said he joyfully , " let ' s hear all about it . "

NOAV , I must observe before I proceed , that Rummy is a man of feAv Avords , and of brief letters . The longest letter he ever Avrote in his life Avas about a spavined mare ; the shortest he ever penned was an epistle , as he saidto his " governor" Avhen he was

, , very hard up . I think Avell , in these days of publishing private correspondence , to g ive my readers a transcript of a letter which , under similar circumstances , might be taken as a model for brevity and

point : "Dear Father , —I ' m in Short Street . Send me some ready . " Your dutiful son , " Rummy . " I did not , therefore , expect any very great amount of Avhat the young ladies

call " sentiment" from him , but still before I could offer him my oracular advice , I required to understand the psychological diagnosis of the case . So I requested him to inform me of all the particulars , and I give them to you as he gave them to me

, in his own terse and striking language . " Well , old fellow , here goes ! First of all she ' s a regular brick . She ' s very good looking ; she ' s lots of ochre . Her father and mother and my father and mother are all serene . There are lots of leasant

p relations , sisters and cousins ; and the course is clear and the thing has to be done . Both the governors have come down handsome . "

'Yes , I replied , "but what about the young lady herself ; what ' s she like ; what are her tastes and proclivities . " " Oh I" he said , " she ' s got black hair and blue eyes , and she ' s very even tempered ; and she ' s a first-rate stepperShe ' s

. very sentimental ; she reads a lot of poetry , and has a great deal to say for herself . By the way , he went on , old fellow I wish the gals would not be so down upon us as they sometimes are . We were in Rotten Bow

the other day , and Ave met a sister of mine , for she and I were riding . ' What a pretty mare , ' she said , ' Avhat ' s its name ? ' 'Arachne , ' said my sister . And I ' m blessed if that young woman didn't turn to me , looking very funny , and said ' Avhat a nice name ; you

remember all about Arachne . ' Of course I said I did ; but Avho the blazes was Arachne ?" I told him Avith a grateful remembrance of old Lempriere , and the " Scobs , " and the " Prtefect of School , " and " manners makyth man , " and " ant disce , aut discede , manet sors tertia ccedi . " He then

continued innocently : " I hardly know how to begin Avith her . " " Well , " I replied , " there is one rule good in proposing as in everything else ; take it easily , don ' t get flurried , don't get nervous , but be calm and composed , and

you will soon find , if she means business , she will be as the Germans say ' , zukommend , ' and meet you half way , if she really cares anything about you , or means to have you . Begin a eonveisation with her carelessly , a question on some subject ,

lead it on to yourself , and without being too spooney , or too sentimental , manage to intimate to her clearly that you and she had better set your horses' heads together . " "Ah , " said Rummy , brightening up , " that's the style of things , my boy . " " But , " I added , " don't be in a hurry , aud don't slur it over , but be distinct , emphatic and decided . Let there be no

mistake about the matter , no ' double entendre , ' no parlevouing . A great many marriages never come off because the young men won't speak plainly and honestly to the girls . " " Ah ! " said Rummy , " you are the best

of friends ; " and he took his leave more radiant and cheerful than he entered , to which happier state , I am inclined to think , his " Aviring into a bottle of phiz , " as the young men say , had not a little contributed . I Avas sitting in my bachelor sanctum ,

Avith Burton ' s Anatomy of Melancholy in my hand , having forgotten Rummy altogether , his purposes and his proposal , his duleinea and his dilemma , Avhen all of a sudden in he bolted , like a rabbit , in the highest lee .

g " Gone and done it , old felloAV , " were his first Avords , almost out of breath , " in first-rate style , won in a canter , though it Avas a buster Avhile it lasted . " " Indeed , " I said , " tell me all about it . "