The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1881-07-14

she soliloquized thus:
ssAll of these men visit me with kind
Of tilnidity | cannot fully understand.
They look almost as if they approached me
by stealth, and Mere ashamed of it, 1t
may be that they all moan marriage, but
are in doubt as to the existence of rivals.
Perhaps they think it too soon for them to
begin to make overtures. But, though
they have made none yet, [ can perceive
a disposition in them to sound my senti-
| ments us to a second marriage, and to in
/ quire about each others relations toward
me, and my opinions Of them. | may be
wrong, but whether they persist or not in
! keeping me in doubt, shall certainly keep
them in that condition till such time as
think it polite to throw off all Disguise
A discretion like this might we'll have
been approved BY the lamented himself,
ana perhaps SO even If he knew the motive
| for it. But her uneasiness kept these eight
men ignorant of this resolution; and this
resolution was the cause of much pcrplcx-
ity to these eight men.
And well might they be pcrpexed.
Here they were-they came and Went-ir-
regularly, but frequently-all to be sure,
with plausible claims for some worthy
woman's hand, and all, to be sure, equal
ly solicitous for hers; but circumstances
had conspired to place them in q great
state of doubt
! In the first place, they were in doubt as
to the deccney Of this running after a
a widow before her weeds were rusty. This
of itself caused them to feel sheepish and
| look so on approaching her. They felt
that their object was suspected, and might
be held in reproach by others beside her;
they might be thought unfeeling, or mcr-
cenary, Or both. Then, what if the widow
the departed landlord Of the Pelican,
| What-and that was quite rs bad for them
what if Mrs. Alice Brightly had already
set her affections upon another, and had
promised him both her hands, with her
heart and soul in one, and ali the perpleX-
| ity in the other! This would be a griev-
Gus piece Of information to find out. Just
at the moment Of refusal, too.
1t was best to be careful in this matter
Time might show. But time was long in
waiting. It was a precarious state of
mortifying suspense. What if they should
get tired, and some more impulsive being
should step in and set the doubts at rest
forever in the black ditch of despair, firing
ed by the golden fruition Of his nuptial
hopes? This made them swear, to them
selves; all except the clergyman, he pray
ed.
And while he prayed others watched.
! Here was not exactly a sssvidoW beWitch-
predicament had not been peculiar and
her temperament extraordinary there is no
doubt she would have held out a sign of
ktruce and surrendered at discretion to
somebody. But though 50 much was said
and thought about her, much remained to
be told, and she did not choose to tell it.
Was there some fearful mystery con-
nected with her remarkable retcence
| Was she heart-broken and had a strange
power Of concealing it? Was she pleased
with thus being an object of constant re-
mark and curiosity? Could it have in
Hated her vanity, or amused her sense of
the ludicrous, to know, as she did, that
the ordinary frequenters of the house and
neighbors round about were eyermore
the precise meaning of her outgoings and
wheregoings, and incomings and whatdo-
ings; Of her casual remarks and chance
glances; her purchases, of whom and
what; the state of her health, what she
wore, with whom she correspondent, and
for what particular person did she have a
positive preference, and, if any, how much,
and within what bounds restricted?
1t might be orit might not; but she con-
Quoted herself as if ignorant of these cir
cumstances; and she moved among them
all seemingly careless paragon Of Won
der, still wearing enough Of the insignia OF
widoWhood to show that she had not for
gotten it; and yet diversifying the black
/. from time to time with such gayer colors
as made perplexity do extra penance fol
the wearisome inquisitiveness Of its fertile
researches.
Matters regarding Mrs. Brightly and
her eight eyasive and undecided suitors
remained in much the same state for about
ten months after the Pelican had lost its
! landlord, when the said suitors concluded
to make change in the programme OF
Pelican affairs, as far rs they were con-
cerned. They all thought it was high
time something should be done. The
| slowest people, when fairly aroused are
sometimes the very quickest; and where
as, before they had striven to keep out OF
each others sight and knowledge, they
now met frequently about the hotel and
i did what they could to give each other to
understand that there was a certain at
! traction at that house which each con-
sidered it his privilege to try to possess
against all comers; and that it would be
indicate, not to say dangerous, for ali
other comers any longer to interfere.
Il Shrugs, coughs, looks, and tones OF anti
Ipathy between them served to convey the
! Iintimation between them, but failed tc
/ produce the desired result. Each man