A Day of Fate | Page 7

aspect of a printer at the close of
his day's tasks.
"This source of fear, however, is also a source of hope. If she has the

quickness of intuition to discover that I know the world too well, she
will also discern the truth that I would gladly escape from that which
might eventually destroy my better nature, and that hers could be the
hand which might rescue my manhood. To the degree that she is a
genuine woman there will be fascination in the power of making a man
more manly and worthy of respect. Especially will this be true if I have
the supreme good-fortune not to offend her woman's fancy, and to
excite her sympathy; without awakening contempt.
"But I imagine I am giving her credit for more maturity of thought and
discernment than her years permit. She must be young, and her
experiences would give her no means of understanding my life. She
will look at me with the frank, unsuspecting gaze of a child. She will
exercise toward me that blessed phase of charity which thinketh no evil
because ignorant of evil.
"Moreover, while I am familiar with the sin of the world, and have
contributed my share toward it, I am not in love with it; and I can well
believe that such a love as she might inspire would cause me to detest it.
If for her sake and other good motives, I should resolutely and
voluntarily; turn my back on evil, would I not have the right to walk at
the side of one who, by the goodhap of her life, knows no evil? At any
rate, I am not sufficiently magnanimous to forego the opportunity
should it occur. Therefore, among, the lengthening shadows of this
June day I shall woo with my utmost skill one who may be able to
banish the deeper shadows that are gathering around my life; and if I
fail I shall carry the truth of her spring-time beauty and girlish
innocence back to the city, and their memory will daily warn me to
beware lest I lose the power to love and appreciate that which is her
pre-eminent charm.
"But enough of that phase of the question. There need be no failure in
my dream, however probable failure may be in reality. Let me imagine
that in her lovely face I may detect the slight curiosity inspired by a
stranger passing into interest. She will be shy and reserved at first; but
as the delicious sense of being understood and admired gains mastery,
her thoughts will gradually reveal her heart like the opening petals of a

rose, and I can reverently gaze upon the rich treasures of which she is
the unconscious possessor, and which I may win without impoverishing
her.
"Her ready laugh, clear and mellow as the robin's song that woke me
this morning, will be the index of an unfailing spring of
mirthfulness--of that breezy, piquant, laughing philosophy which gives
to some women an indescribable charm, enabling them to render gloom
and despondency rare inmates of the home over which they preside.
When I recall what dark depths of perplexity and trouble my mother
often hid with her light laugh, I remember that I have never yet had a
chance even to approach her in heroism. In my dream, at least, I can
give to my wife my mother's laugh and courage; and surely Nature,
who has endowed yonder maiden with so much beauty, has also
bestowed every suitable accompaniment. Wherefore I shall discover in
her eyes treasures of sunshine that shall light my home on stormy days
and winter nights.
"As I vary our theme of talk from bright to sad experiences, I shall
catch a glimpse of that without which the world would become a desert
--woman's sympathy. Possibly I may venture to suggest my own need,
and emphasize it by a reference to Holy Writ. That would be
appropriate in a Sunday wooing. Surely she would admit that if Adam
could not endure being alone in Eden, a like fate would be far more
deserving of pity in such a wilderness as New York.
"Then, as a sequel to her sympathy, I may witness the awakening of
that noble characteristic of woman--self-sacrifice--the generous
impulse to give happiness, even though at cost to self.
"As the winged hours pass, and our glances, our words, our intuitions,
and the subtle laws of magnetism that are so powerful, and yet so
utterly beyond the ken of reason, reveal us to each other, I detect in the
depths of her blue eyes a light which vanishes when I seek it, but
returns again--a principle which she does not even recognize, much less
understand, and yet which she already unconsciously obeys. Her looks
are less frank and