Omaha daily bee., 1874-06-10

old brute /. l see if you'll stand there
shaking your head at me!' and
thereupon he charged at the n
NAL so furiously that she made an
inglorious retreat. -,
allow shall I ever repay you
cried the widow. 81 feel that
owe YOU my life, and my lifelong
gratitude is yours"
nDon,t,n said Mr.. Bundle, wi
IDENTIFY greatly touched at her exni-
bition of gratefulness.
worth speaking about"
az wish you'd let me lean on your
armu said Mrs. Blake family ; ~
feel so weak. l can hardly walk.
I don't know but / shall faint.
Oh !"
MI. Bundle was aghast at the
prospect of a fainting widow on his
hands. He grabbed off his straw
hat and began to fan her furiously.
Presently she said that she felt bet
ter, and took possession of his arm,
and they set out for home, which
was reached after many halts and
much suffering orf-the part of MIR.
Bundle.
dts getting desperate" said the.
prosecuted man to himself as he re-
viewed the events of the day and
looked the situation boldly in the
face. "a widow'H bring things to
q crisis i'm no time. / wish l was
going home Tomorrow"
The next evening there was a
party at a neighbours, and John and
Belinda and Mrs. Blake and Mr..
Bundle attended. Mr.. Bundle
supposed, as it was such a short dis
lance, that they would all walk
home together but Belinda got a
chance to ride, and consequently
Mr.. Bundle was left to the painful
duty of seeing the widow home.
"Such a beautiful night" she de-
clared, as "clinging closer than a
BROTHER" they sailed out. "HOw
forcibly 1 am reminded of the time
when dear Mr.. Blake walked home
with me from a party before we
We're married"
The widow gave signs of being
about to dissolve into tears. MIR.
Bundle could stand anything better
than tears, and he made a desperate
effort to ward off the threatened ca
lamity.
aHave you ever been to Spa
dunk?" he asked, grasping at the
first idea that came into his head
as drowning men clutch at straws.
'Pd like to have you come up"
said Mr.. Bundle, at a loss to think
of anything else to say, and deter
mined that the conversation should
not revert to the dear departed Mr..
Blake.
"WOuld you, now, really, Mr..
Bumble?!" asked the widow, smil-
ing into his face. "You men are
$3.50 fond of testing us poor wo-
men, you know, that we can hardly
ever tell when you are in earnest.
But l do believe you're in earnest,
this time. 1 would like to come up
and see you, l assure YOU"
az put my foot in it this time"
groaned the bachelor. "She'u pro-
pose before We get home" Then
aloud, he added, eyes, I'd like t.
have you and Belinda come up and
stay as long as you like"
"What If / should like to stay for
life ?" laughed the widow. "Oh"
suddenly appearing to notice what
she had said, "I'm so impulsive, MI.
Bundle, that 1 never stop to think.
What can you think Of me
Mr.. Bumble tried to say some
thing, but the words stuck in his
throat, and produced only an unin-
tellieible sound.
"You wish ! would? Was that
what you said, Mr.. Bundle? ?" ex-
claimed the widow, archly. "Oh,
Mr.. Bundle! Did you really mean
that ?"
81 didn't say it," exclaimed
the suffering man, driven to desper-
alton. "YOu-you misunderstood
me, ma'am."
ooh, 1 did? Excuse me, do"
pleaded the widow; how could !
have been SO mistaken 2"
Mr.. Bundle didn't remer Der the
incidents of the walk very clearly
when he reached home. He tried
to shake her off at the parlOr door,
but she wasn't to be got rid of in
that way.
"Come in and sit down, Mr.. Bum
BILE, do,n she urged. And MIR. Bum
BILE, cursing himself all the while
for being such a fool, allowed her to
draw him into the parlor, aft er the
fashion of the fly and the spider,
and there he sat and suffered for
three mortal hours. More than once
he thought the important moment
had come and that she was about to
PROFOUND the awful question. But
neutrality-suspicious., he called
it-helped him to avert the awful
fate with which must have been his
if she had spoken, and he colgratu-
lated himself as he reached his
chamber that he was still spared to
freedom O little while.
He went to bed and dreamed.
He thought Mrs. Blake came and
informed him that she was going to
marry him the next day at precise
ly half-past ten. 1t was terribly
real. He woke up in a cold and
clammy perspiration. Hours passed
before he slept and then he dreamed
This time he thought that he ran
away to escape his awful doom, and
the widow followed him and over
took him. "Oh, you naughty
man !" she cried, putting her arms
around his neck; "yOu foolish
man! to think you could get away
from q woman so easily, when
she'd made up her mind to marry
you" And then she fell to kissing
him, and he woke up with a
scream and found himself sitting
bolt upright in bed, with a pillow
clutched in his hands as a defense
against his prosecutor. He got VI
and dressed himself.
"I'm going to get out of this" hi
groaned. al won't stay anothel
day for any money. 1t amt safe
Ten minutes afterward some on,
knocked at Johns chamber door,
"Who's there ?" he demanded.
"Me-Mmolhy,n answered Mr.
Bundle.
John got up and came to the doc
to find out what the matter was,
am going home" declared MI
Rumble. "The train goes i'm fifteel
minutes. I thought I'd tell you