s business then to start out and persuade her to
his point of view. "Neither willing nor reluctant" is the attitude of
the young girl.

Gifts and Attention.

Just what attention a man is privileged to show a young woman to whom he
is not engaged, and yet to whom he wishes to express his devotion, is a
point a little difficult to define.

If she is a bookish girl she will be pleased with gifts of books or the
suggestion that they may read the same books so they may talk them over
together. She will probably feel complimented if a man discusses with
her his business affairs and the problems that are interesting men in
their life work. When a man begins to call often and regularly on a girl
it is best to have some topic of conversation aside from personalities.

When a man is led to spend more money than he can afford in entertaining
a girl it is a bad preparation for matrimony. Courtship is a time when a
man desires to bring gifts, and it is quite right and fitting that he
should do so within reasonable limits. A girl of refined feelings does
not like to accept valuable presents from a man at this period of their
acquaintance. Flowers, books, music, if the girl plays or sings, and
boxes of candy are always permissible offerings which neither engage the
man who offers them nor the girl who receives them. This is the time
when a man invites a girl to the theater, to concerts and lectures, and
may offer to escort her to church. The pleasure of her society is
supposed to be a full return for the trouble and expense incurred in
showing these small attentions.

The Claims of Companionship.

A man cannot justly complain if a girl accepts similar favors from other
men, for until he has proposed and been accepted he has no claim on her
undivided companionship. An attitude of proprietorship on his part,
particularly if it is exercised in public, is as bad manners as it is
unwise, and a high-spirited girl, although she may find her feelings
becoming engaged, is prone to resent it. It should be remembered that a
man is free to cease his attentions, and until he has finally
surrendered his liberty he should not expect her to devote all her time
to him.

At this period it is a wise man who makes a friend of a girl's mother,
and if he does this he will generally be repaid in a twofold manner. No
matter how willful a girl may be, her mother's opinion of her friends
always has weight with her.

Moreover, what the mother is t