Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1873-08-23

/ must 90 to the theaIer ana opera II
she is gay, and to church meeting il
she is pious. At fifty q man likes
his slippers and dressing gown aud
easy chair of an evening. If it was
Just stepping over to the clergy
mans and getting married, put =
ring on her finger and saying or
nodding 'yes' two a three times,
why, L wouldn't mind it, you
know"
"Ah well, courting is the fun of
it all in my opinion" said the Old
doclor, "but every one to his taste.
And my advice to you is to so into
the country"
HTo another hotel and more mer-
cenary walters" said Mr.. Patter-
| son.
EsNo." said the doctor, ego to q
nice private home. / know one, q
motherly widow lady who cooks a
dinner fit for a king. River before
the house, woods behind it, orchard
to the left, kitchen garden to the
right no fever and ague; no mos
quitoes. Heavenly l am going
up there tomorrow, and III see if
she'll take you."
every well," said Mr.. Patterson,
''I think I'd try it,"
"And you must drink plenty of
milk, and eat plenty of nice, home
made bread" said the doctor.
''Yes / WILL" said Mr.. Patterson,
oYerjoyed at last at hearing some
thing that sounded like a prescrip-
tion. "And you would advise
milk ?''
"Quart of it every day" said the
doctor.
''I'n take a note of it," said Pat
terson. "And if / should be very
i'll she'll nurse me?"
"Splendidly," said the doctor, and
went his way.
Mr.. Patterson thought the matter
over, and thought better of it every
day, and when the little note inform
ing him that the widow would be
willing to "take him in and do for
him" reached him, he had his trunk
and portmanteau already packed,
and was all ready to start that after-
noon. AS for the widow, the doc
tor had prepared her for her board
er's peculiarities thus:
''Nice fellow; solid; plenty of
money; thinks himself i'll, but isn't I;
ought to be married; told him so,
butlhe hates the idea of courting; ;
marry off some day no doubt; will
you have me?' Yes Call in cler-
gyman. Over. Very peculiar old
bachelor; but then old bachelors are
peculiar generally"
The widow was what Yankees
call an amazingly smart woman.-
She had married at sixteen, and had
never failed to have washing over
when other people were hanging
out theirs. Her bread always rose,
her cakes were always good, and
her butter was always sweet. At
forty-five she had married off all her
daughters, and was well-to-do,
buxOm and happy.
Her son and his wife boarded
with her, and she added to her
plentiful savings by taking board
or or two, if they happened to offer.
'fFifty and a bachelor" said Mrs.
Muntle, looking in the glass. "Well,
it seems a pity; but then, when
elderly gentlemen marry, it is gen.
orally some hity-tity girl that leads
them a terrible life, and likely it's
for the best"
Then she looked in the glass
again, for the widow was but a
woman after all.
Mr.. Patterson came to the wild
owls and obeyed the DOCTORS pre-
scription carefully. He ate bread
and drank milk, and robbed the or
chards like a school boy, and de-
claimed over the strawberry short
cake after a fashion that would have
made his reputation at the bar
Then, too, Mrs. Muntle did not
smile at his aches and pains, and in
sist that he must be peFpetually
well because he had a fresh COM
plexiOn and dimples in his cheeks.
She had savory herb teas and po-
tions, which she produced when he
complained of feeling miserable,
and she had that blessing to hypo-
chondriac, homeopathic box and
| book in the house.
There were remedies in that box
for everything; and it was pleasant
to find that WI en- there was . crawl
ing sensation in your flesh or a kind
of uneasy feeling in your legs, there
were dear little globules to be had
Just suited for the symptoms; that
| to find yourself very angry about
nothing indicated pulsatilla, and
that even for unrequited love there
was medicine.
For two months and more Mr..
Patterson boarded with Mrs. Mum
tie, and happier months he had
never lived through. Then he went
| haeI- n tho cifv for a faNU vvaaIro
returned in urgent need of more
pellets from the medicine chest f.;
and stayed until the last pink chrys-
anthemum was blooming on its
withered branches. He had grown
so fond of his little room, with its
white curtains and fresh grass
bleached linen, of the country good
things, and of the cosy nursing OF
Mrs. Muntle, that he could scarcely
bear the thought of parting with
them altogether.
After all, why could he not buy 3
house, and try to get Mrs. muntle to
keepit for him? Perhaps she would.
He would offer her q high salary,
and she would have plenty of ser.
wants. Then, indeed, he might have
friends to dine with him, ana be as
happy as possible.
If only he could approach his host.
ess; showing her as he did so that
he considered her his equal and 8
lSdY, and all that, as she certainly
was, little countryfed, of course
but clergyman's daughter and the
widow of a country doctor.
After much consideration he final