A Cool Proposal.

A COOL PROPOSAL .

A young friend of mine is , as they say , in a " very bad way , " anel came to me the other mommy with a rueful face , and an agitated maun or . Though I might make some little allowance for the nervous " abord " of our youth

today , their shaky hands , and their husky voices , on account of a preposterous allowance of Cigarettes or Cavendish , or to a too normal indulgence in " corpse revivers , " and"B . and S . ; " yet , I saw that something above the wont had

fluttered and flustered the not generally ungenial Anthony . So I said iu a patriarchal manner , and a suave voice , " Anthony my son , what ails you ?" 'Is it cold salmon , or curried lobster ? or are you in ' Queer Street , ' or , worst

of all are you in Jove ? " The gentle Anthony blushed , a fact I am glad to record , for it is not often that our youth can or do blush . Infatuated youth , at last I said , are you treacling on that dangerous groundwhere as some one

, said of old , is to be found , alike a " brovis insania , " " et luctus et olor , " or as another ancient writer , well puts it , " Tti levis es , et multoque tnis ventosior alls . "

Mentor , he replied , " I is / " I confess that I was much overpowered by the announcement , but having refreshed the inward man , by a good luncheon , at which I observed that Anthony ' s "fervens amor" had not taken away

Anthony ' s appetite , I asked him incontinently , who the fair being was . " Euphrosyne Brown , " he replied , with a sigh , and then immediately added , " the most charming girl I have ever seen , or ever danced with . " " "Where did

you meet her ? Anthony , " I . asked , thinking that my young friend from the extreme volubility of his utterance , and the existability of his manner , was- a "little off the nut , " and I was wishful to soothe and trauquilize his perturbed spirits . "I

met her the other night at Mrs . Gator ' s ball , was introduced to her by Tom Jones—you know Tom—and fell madly in love with her . " That ' s the modern .

| phrase , it appears , the striking utterance which our young men use , though in nine eases out of ten it means not with her , but with her money— £ . s . d . " Who is she ? " I again asked , struck with the young man ' s determined and

emphatic asseverations . " Well I don't know much about her belongings , " said Anthony , "except that she has a brother iu a Lancer regiment , one sister married , another with her governessand a rather queer old gal of a

, mother , or ' mater' as she called her . I believe she has lots of tin , and so I have made up my mind to propose to her !"

I stared at him aghast . ' "Afteronly—seeing—her—once , " I replied hesitatingly and in monosyllables . "Ob dear no , " he said , "I have met her twice since then , and we ' ve got on capitally . Though I do wish she would not be so

civil to a young fellow in a blonde moustache , who was talking to her the other night , something about a battery , and lord Napier , and the Abyssinian War . I suspect that he is a gunner . " " But Anthony , " I resumed in an

expostulatory tone , " what do you know of her ? how can you think of proposing to a person you ' ve only seen three or four times ? What can either of you really understand of each others sentiments and sympathies so as to render it likely that your journey through life ( which , remember , will have to be henceforth slow and

commonplace , as a luggage train" with no more ' expresses ' or ' specials , ' my boy for you , ) a happy and a peaceful progress ?" "Oh , " he said with the happy indifference of youth , " we do agree about the

'Boat Bace , ' and 'Hunting , ' and 'Dancing , ' and 'Drags ; ' in fiict everything . " " Well , all these are most important , " I said , " but how about temper and tastes , and home life , and the humdrum affairs which make up oar common

existence . " Oil , he said , "you know , I don't think all that matters much . People marry because they like a ' party , ' or