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fctSS ESTREbLA REIULY. one of the young-
rr ut-'litrB ui ivniwuuu mnieiy, in iiic nivrmur
of one of the newest fads for girls, and one
which Is likely to become popular among
young women whose lives are tinged with
the romance of love. Mlrs Rcllly, now In her
fourth season In Chicago society, has se
cured photographs of every place she ever
has received a proposal of marriage, and she keeps the
photographs of these hallowed spots mounted In a hand
some souvenir album, and written under the photographs
are brief stories of the proposal, the name of the man, and
the date and at the end of each sketch a single word:
" No."
The " No " records the fate of thirteen unfortunate
wooers, and Miss Rellly declares that, fiom present pros
pects the book, which contains eighteen pages, will be filled
oefore a " Yes " Is recorded.
The photographs, some of them secured at much trou
ble and expense, tell the Btory of happy outings and pleas
ant Journeys as well -is half reveal, half hide the romances
of her life. She will not permit the name of the man
In any one of the cases to be used, but, undoubtedly, the
men themselves and the friends will recognize the spots
where thirteen hopes ere blighted by those "noes." The
photographs, too, reveal the fact that romantic surround
ings may have their Irfluence on wooers, and also that
the girl can say " no " even In the mklat of beautiful
scenery. In lands of romance, and In the wonderlands of
nature.
May Have Its Terrors for Men.
Those of Miss Rellly"a friends who have seen the " Pro
posal Book " have seised the Idea of having one of their
own and some of them already are striving to secure
photographs of the exact spots on which men told them the
old, old story. Some one has hinted that the men of the
south side are In more peril than ever and that they may be
led Into proposals for the mere sake of a photograph, and
several men are reported to be suffering the pangs of ter
ror for fear the Kenwood girls may compare " proposal
books 7 and discover strange things that may lessen their
belief In the constancy of men.
Miss Rellly began to keep her proposal book In litu.
when she received the first proposal. It was In the recep
tion room of her father's home and the young man was a
Vnlverslty of Chicago senior. Just preparing to depart for
Ma distant home. It was he who really started the Idea,
for he photographed the Interior of the reception room,
and he gave one of the photographs to Miss Rellly. After
she had said " no " Juxt as kindly as she could undeY the
circumstances and he had departed crestfallen, she admits
that she felt sorrowful and romantic, so she took the
photograph and marked a tiny cross on the spot where
he sat when he poured out his story of love and ad
miration to her.
But on that same photograph there are now four tiny
crosses, marked there In legs than five' years, and the
notes under It tell the story of three other proposals and
three other " noes" spoken In that aam room.
One was a young doctor, one a Junior partner In his
wealthy father's business, and one a hotel man. The
strange coincidence In those four propoals Is that each
one of the four declared his love Just at the close of an
evening call, which may Indicate that men delay proposing
to the last possible minute, trying to screw up their
courage, or else that they propose when within reach of
tlielr hats, so that they can escape hastily afterwards.
Two from the Fox River.
That summer of 11 Miss Rellly spent with a party In
the Fox lake district, and there were two photographs
added to the collection. The notes under these photo
graphs are brief and to the point.
The first says:
" Scene on Fox river, at Geneva. Went to gather pond
lilies with Mr. on July P. We had a boat load of
lilies and had started to row back to the cottage late In
the evening. Bun wis getting low. I'nder the railway
bridge Mr. stopped rowing and told me he loved me.
The ride back to the lending was faster. Neither spoke.
NO.
" August T. Dance at hotel. Hot. Mr. asked me
to walk with him. Walked down towards the shore. I
saw what was coming and asked him to take me buck to
the veranda. He stopped, stood directly In front of me
to stop me. and then proposed, as If he was trying to bid
for a new horae. Afterwards he turned and walked
straight away from me. leaving me alone. No."
The Rellly family spent that winter In Florida and,
strange as it may seem, the young girl added but one pho
tograph to her collection, and. without any confession
from her, the evlden.e leads to the conclusion that she
came near adding " Yea" after that one, at least aa near
as at any time.
St JM
Romance Might Have Been Different.
The spot was miles back of Palatka. They had walked
alone, she and a young American naval officer who was on
furlough, miles from the hotel at which she was staying
with her mother and aunt, and they came to a bridge over
a sluggish stream In a cypres swamp and stood looking
down upon the water, as they leaned upon the bridge.
Miss Rellly was tired from her walk and she clambered
WM
where naval
lieutenant came
near winning
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where fvur men were r-eieeivtl
Other evidence that the lieutenant came near winning
lies In the fact that Miss Rellly did not photograph the
snot then, but afterward almost n year ufterward sent
an order to a photographer to make a picture of that
bridge, and when It ,'nmo stic found a fisherman leaning
at the spot whereon thp romance t shattered.
The girl took her camera one d.iy In the following
August and started fur Lincoln park to take a photograph
and when she had developed the plater and selected the
best one she sadly marked a cross upon H and wrote:
"This Is the first surprise. I went for a car ride with
Ed yesterday and we got off at Lincoln park and took a
W'alk. Finally we sat down on the grasf. In the shade of
some bushes and Ed proposed. I never thought of him
except as my kid brother's chum, and It hurt me to refuse
him, and he. poor boy, nearly cried. I wish he hadn't
asked me. He Is too young."
i "Ed " evidently refused tr take " no " for an answer,
for the next photograph Is one of the Royal gorge In Col
orado. Miss Rellly, her mother, her "kid" brother, and
his chum " Ed " were on their way to California when
Ed ppiposed again. It was months before Miss Rellly
could get a photograph of the spot, which Is just at the
end of the famous hanging bridge, hut she finally found
one and added it to her collection. That second .refusal
evidently finished Ed, for there Is a foot note In the " pro
posal book " which reveals the fact that " Ed " became
engaged to ' Milly " the next summer.
The next photograph in the hook Is i. scene In ti e heart
of the White mountains In New Hampshire, where the
Rellly family spent" the summer of l'.xa. The photograph
shows the famous flume In Franconla Notch and Miss
Rellly's story tells the rest.
" Mr. of Philadelphia Is here with his sisters, who
knew Jennie at school. He Is awfully handsome
and wealthy, but I don't like his sisters. They seem to
think because I'm from the west I don't know anything.
Mr. has been very attentive.
"August 27. Mr. wanted me to walk with him.
His sisters, with Boh, were behind and wc got so far ahead
that we lost them by the time we reached the flume. He
helped me walk across a log over the water and we sat
down on a broad bowlder to wait for the others.
" Then he proposed. Ho did It so nicely and so ear
nestly I was sorry. I really liked him pre tty well, but I told
him It was useless, because I couldn't stand his sisters.
Then, when the others caught up with us, Rob told us
that he and Katherlne were engaged, so we'll have one
of those sisters In the family after all."
Refected on Lake Shore Drive.
The next spring there was a photograph of the Lake
Shore drive, with Just a cross on the pavement. There Is
no note under the picture to explain It, nor will Miss Rellly
explain It at all. The only hint as to what happened there
Is a "No" written 'n rather rougher style than usual.
The keeper of the "proposal book" flushes angrily when
asked If that " No " may not be changed to " Yes " some
time, and refuses even to talk of It. "We went to the old
churchyard," say? the next entry. " Mamma was tired and
preferred to stay at the hotel Instead of sightseeing and
she said It really was foolish hut Mi. wanted so
much to show me where Pocahontas Is said to be burled
that I let her. It Is a beautiful old spot and an old sexton
showed us through the church and to the grave where the
beautiful Indian mali.-n Is said to rest. We sat down on
an old tomb and then Mr. asked me to be his wife.
I felt really flattered because he Is wealthy and awfully
nice for an Englishman but I had to tell him that I could
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LakeShore Drive hfrysiuiroposaX was received
Lincoln
whet Cd was refused
upon the rail and sat there. The man, standing by her
ui arm around her and, before she could
move or clamber from the rail to tLe bridge again, he
clasped her tight and told her What he told her or how
ardently she does not write In her " proposal book," and
she grows Indignant If any one hints that the atranae
looking blur by the " No " is a tear stum
not marry a man I did not love."
Finally, there Is a photograph of the Interior of Orches
tra hall In Chicago and a cross mark on a et that is II 5
I'nder It Is a note.
"April. 1:ki.Y a man should know Utter than to pro
pose in the middle of a Wagnerian over ure
O didn't. NO."
