[Sidenote:  A Trip Down Town]

A latter-day philosopher has beautifully likened marriage to a trip down-town.  A man leaves the house in the morning, his mind already active concerning the affairs of the day.  His newspaper is in his pocket, he has plenty of time to reach the office, and his breakfast has begun to assimilate.  Suddenly he sees a yellow speck on the horizon.

He calculates the distance to the corner and quickens his pace, his eyes nobly fixed meanwhile upon the goal of his ambition.  Anxiety develops, then fear.  At last he surrenders all dignity and gallops madly toward the approaching car, with his coat tails spread to the morning breeze and tears in his eyes.  Out of breath, but triumphant, he swings on just as farther pursuit seemed well-nigh hopeless.

Does he stop to chat cheerily with the conductor?  Does he dwell upon the luxurious aspect of his conveyance?  Does the comfort which he has just secured fill his heart with gladness?  Does the plush covering of the seat appeal to his aesthetic sense?  No mere woman may ever hope to know, for he grudgingly gives the conductor five pennies, one of them badly battered and the date beaten out of it—­and devotes himself to his paper.

[Sidenote:  The Masculine Mental Process]

The thing which appears unattainable is ever desired by man.  A girl who wears an engagement ring upon her finger has a charm for which the unattached sigh in vain.  The masculine mental process in such a case, briefly summarised, is something like this.

I.  “Wonder who that girl is over there?  Red hair and quite a bit of style.  Never cared much for red hair—­suppose she’s got freckles too.  Now she’s coming this way.  Why, there’s a solitaire on her finger; she’s engaged.  Well, he can have her—­I won’t cut him out.  Wonder who she is!

II.  “Really, she isn’t so bad—­I’ve seen worse.  She knows how to dress, and she hasn’t so many freckles.  Brown eyes—­that means temper when associated with red hair.  Must be quite a little trick to tame a girl like that.  She doesn’t look as though she were quite subdued.

III.  “He probably doesn’t know how to manage her.  I could train her all right.  I wouldn’t mind doing it; I haven’t anything much on hand in the girl line.  So that’s the cad she’s engaged to?  Poor little girl!

IV.  “I feel sorry for that girl, I honestly do.  She’s throwing herself away.  She can’t love that fellow.  She’ll get over it when she’s married, and be miserable all the rest of her life.  I suppose I ought to save her from him.  I think I’ll talk to her about it, but it will have to be done cautiously.

V.  “Fine young woman, that.  Broad-minded, bright, vivacious, and not half bad to look at.  Seemed to take my advice in good part.  Those great, deep brown eyes are pathetic.  That’s the kind of a girl to be shielded and guarded from all the hard knocks in the world.