Life — October 11, 1900 — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

295 of persuasive love presented themselves to him at every step, like sirens to the ancient mariner, but he fought them off one by one. He was determined that his mind should be a blank, and with grim courage he hurled himself up the step and rang the bell. * . * V HEN he finally faced her, it was harder—ao great deal harder—than he thought, but he never flinched. Hehad made up his mind that he would say what came to him when the instant arrived, and he plunged likea bold swimmer into an unknown sea. “‘Dorothy,”’ he said, calling her by her first name for the first time, as he turned and faced her, ‘‘ I—the fact is, I am dead in love with you. I want to marry you, and that’s all thero is to it!” She looked at him swiftly and then lowered her eyes. He could almost feel that she trembled slightly. He felt a sudden sense of relief, even in this brief moment. He had done it and nothing had happened. The earth continued to revolve. “Yes,""he said, gathering courage with every word, ‘“‘I don’t know when I began to love you, but I think it was the very first time we met. I couldn't help it exactly, and indeed I didn’t want to, for I don’t know of anything finer than just to let yourself go when you don’t want to stop. I remember how beautiful you looked to me on that first day, and how your grace and charm have grown on me every day since, until all I can think of is‘ Dorothy,’ ‘Dorothy ’ all the day long.”’ He reached forward and took her hand. It was all so easy now. The floodgates of his soul were open. “All that is beautiful, and tender, and harmonious in the old world,” he said, ‘‘seem to have entered my heart, and indeed, it bends so to the weight of this great love; that unless you, my darling, accept it, 1 am afraid that it will break. Can’t you say something to me, Dorothy? Something to show me that what Iam saying is not allin vain? Can’t you tell me that you do love me just a little, and that there is some hope for me? Beloved, speak to me !"" She lifted her eyes to his. There was an un- certain look in their clear depths. “T wish I could believe it,” she said, doubtfully. ‘But I just know you couldn’t talk that way to me, unless you had been practicing all your life on other girls.” “She lifted her eyes to his." Tom Masson, comicbooks.com