The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1879-05-30
said the deacon with l,,slbrious shake

k placidity-"I might a well let it o,
r flst as last; we've herd bad stories abol
: you-bad enuff. if theyr re halt true to-
t to"
"Send you to the Sta, prison for th
term of your natural liIe!" said Mr.. Er
gene Henderson. finishing The sentenc
with an expressive looklat Mrs. Jones.
"Yes! bad enuff to prorel her from tn
church, and shut her ou from all homes
folks and their childre, We've hurl
enough to blast her G. l,aracter forever
lastingly!"
"Have youP indeed" >-eturned the in
flexible widow. "Well, inst tell it over
We'd all like to hear! Wouldn't you
dear EugeneP"
"Dear Eugene" b, wed and testified
his willingness to listen to anything
which would give his fair companion
pleasure, at the same toz ,neezing ten
Derry her unoccupiod
Mas. Danes fury boiied over at thil
dreadful preceding. She! insulted ir
her own house! federation was at ar
end.
"Mrs. Jones-it aint no use to perpetu.
ate! You can't get out of it. That young
feller there-may l just ask you to tell
me who he isp"
Certainly; Mrs. Dame, allow me to
present to Jour attention Mr.. Eugene
Henderson, of Portland, State of Maine"
Eyes. but what is he to you? You, a
widdert whose husband aint fairly cold
yet! What is this man to youP" Mrs.
Danes face was in blaze of passion.
20, he is very dear friend-a-"
mo doubt Of that" put in the Widow
Robinson, "but folks don't generally let
their dear friends kiss EN- and hug 'em
in broad daylightw
.'Ahp" said Mrs. Jones, "then it wasn't
you that saw Tom Wheeler kissing be
hind your woodshed las. nightp / didn't
think l could have been so mistaken.
She had on your bonnet and dress,
thought"
This was too much for the equanimity
of the vir.uous Mrs. Robinson. She
st arted up with jerk, upsetting theicen-
tire table in her rising, and scattering the
the babies frocks, shirts, stockings, over
al Is, etc., in every direction. The large
smoothing iron, hot from the fiIe, which
had Just been used in pressing q seam
fell plump on to Deacon Griswold's par
ticularly sore corn, and the deacon, hard
ly certain of his enemy, sprang up with
half-smothered imprecNtion-smelling
little too strongly of birthstone to be ex-
a.tlv deaconish-and kicked Mrs. Miles
Yellow dog across the room. foor
=. Ioreln with the impetus derived from
the deacon's sanctified loot struck 'he
looking glass, breaking it into a thousand
pieces, knocking the breath entirely out
Of his unfortunate body
Mrs. Dame stood W. uplifted hands,
sc. eJos .!rtSmou;a(a@ aobay &c Sgh:
or retreat as would seen practicable; the
younger portion of the company had
fled to the hall in dismEy-the afflicted
deacon tore round like mad-cursing all
the widows in the world. and the women
particularly. Mrs. Robinson was beg
glng him not to be SO "decomposed"-
ana 70 let her rub the corn in pain killer.
MIS-. Jones and her "beau" alone re-
tanned their seats, quiet and composed.
At last comparative order was restored,
and the good people had time to think of
the conversation which had preceded the
accident. Every one agreed in denounc-
ing Mrs. Jones as the prime cause of the
catastrophe.
"Well," said the widow. 81 don't deny
it. I'm ready to pay the damages. Dea-
con Griswold, one smashed corn-Mrs.
Miles one battered dog-Mrs. Dame, one
broken looking-glass-how muchF
Come, name the sum-"
20, land of the iri2gw cried Mrs.
Dame. "Did ever anybody see sich
shameless critterp"
Mrs. Jones was preparing to depart,
for Mr.. Henderson brought her wraps.
and nut on his terrible shawl. Mrs.
Dame was jubilant-sbc had at last sue
ceeded in mortifying the guilty couple
actually forced them to leave. She cast
a triumphant glance at the company and
was about expressing her feeling In
words-when Mrs. Jones turned back.
Ladies'" said she benevolently. "if it
will make any of you any easier. know
then that Eugene Henderson is my
brother-the son of my mother by her
second husband. Moreover, l allow him
to hug and kiss me just as much as he
likes-in broad daylight. too. Good al
ternoon, my friends"
The widow was gone, and the Puddle
tonites were ashamed-heartily ashamed
of their unworthy suspicious. The
young ladies regretted the departure Of
so handsome a young1yr-.s the widows
brother; and the gentlemen were in de-
spair at having countenanced an insult to
the pretty widow.
1t is hardly necessary for us to say that
Mrs. Robinson was among the missing.
Reader, for your special benefit, We
will say that Mrs. Jones renamed a
widow for two years-at the end of which
time, she married young Mr.. Wheaton.
the minister.
Mrs. Robinson is Mrs. Robinson still
and if any unmarried gentleman reads
this sketch, we would say to him in a
private way-Sir, there's a woman wait
ing for you!
Excellent paper is now manufac-
/ ..,.al Frnt,, tin, athu har