The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1884-08-09
THE WIDOW FIDEssA,

were one day strolling lelsurely through
the park-"a collar which made you
-
Gas chary of turning the head as a
dude of bending the kneeP 1 can't
say l have ever worn one, exactly.
have had one on occasionally, for a
brief space"
"What is your opinion" continued
Amys, with apparent inconsequenee,
''of woman who will ask"
"Questions2 Find me one who doesn't
and I'll tell you what l think Of her. ~
mot alone questions, Amylion.
Deeds, man-favors- services
small and great.
Reasonable and unreasonable, in
season and out of season, suppose
you mean," put in l, too impatient to
wait his explanation; for l had guess
ed, as usual, what he was aiming at
more quickly than he, slow old fellow
that he is. could express it. 81 see the
points of your comparison, and l think
it is deuced pity we can't dispose of
one annoyance as readily as of the
other. If collars irritate the euticle
we may tear it off and chuck it away.
If fellow-man disturbs our equanim-
ity, we can curse him and hustle him
aside. In either case we enjoy bliss
full sense of relief, not unmingled with
self-approval. But let woman be the
destroyer of our nerves or comfort, and
no matter how savage the mood in
which she comDels us, any effort we
make to put her down, be she never so
deserving of snub, leaves us with an
uncomfortable suspicion of our own
brutality, even more harassing than
the original annoyance TO which she
subjected us. A man has no defense
against such a woman as the one you
mean, Amys. l know whom you were
thinking of-your friend Fidessa, the
widow. There is but one way for you
to escape the infection of that woman's
ceaseless demand. Avoid her. But
you seem utterly unable to do that, my
friend, You have as good as confess.
ed that she initiates you. Yet she
hasn't a more willing slave, apparent
ly, than yourself. Has she been victim
izing you again lately2"
"Ah, no; not exactly that. What
she asked me to do wasn't 50 far out of
the way. 1t wouldn't have mattered,
you know, if that internal parrot had
been less vicious, and if those cursed
old women hadn't been on the spot to
report the affair as even more ridicu.
lous than it really was"
This is interesting, Amys. The
latest parrot storyl Let's have it. old
fellow without delay"
well, you see, dropped in OIL
Fidessa, the other afternoon, at most
inopportune moment, as it proved
She was moving. Leaving the Mars.
den house and going to housekeeping
She had a parrot. Thinks the world o.
it. Was afraid to trust it"
''TO the expressman. 1 see. So sh,
asked you to carry it through the
streets on your finger from the MarsdeI
house TO her new place of abode. How
many miles did it prove?"
mot on my finger, Amyllon," h,
said, Ignoring my question. sit had /
NICE stand to which it was chained
After IA block or two found 1t rattle
heavy, and it was an awkward thing t
carry, so l got into passing dummy
| put it on the step beside me, clutche,
it tight with the left haad-"
what, the parrOtp"
''IIang 1t, mol How stupid you are
The stand-the perch with the parrO
upon it. Well, just as the bird bega
to flop its wings and scream like mao
drawing after us all the boys in crea
ton, vino should come around tn
corner but Old Mother Bunch an
Mother Carey"
9Th biggest old gossips in tow
Did they see you?'
"Hang them, yes. How could the
help it, thought That green devil W;
making noise enough to rouse the cit,
l had to bow to the old witches, an
just as | was in the act of raising II
hat, something seized my left uppC
arm. | thought for an instant it wa
the conductor"
introducing newly invente
method of eliciting car fares. Hal IA
Was it the parrOtp"
ut was the parrot. 1t had buried /
beak IN my arm, andlEas twisting an
turning it in the flesh. My coat was
new one. Torn flesh heals, but tor
cloth does not. Sears can be respec
able; darns are disreputable. A pate
on my skin l could endure e, but one ,
IN ycOat-sleeve, never. But of sudde
the stand, upon which had let go n
hold, toppled over into the street, al
dragged away the parrot by its chi
The boys set up howl of delight, viii
the old women stood still taking
every detail, and more besides. Jump
off to pick up my charge, and found
crushed and lifeless green mass up,
the car track. Devil, that it was,
seemed to have fluttered under {
wheels simply to crown my discount
ure. ANY decent bird would ha
flown clear of the rails. If l didr
look like a fool as stood there, clutc
ing my arm and gazing upon the wreC
| shall never do so to my dying day. -
slow did you break the blow
Madame?n
81 didn't venture to. | went doy
town, got Il parrot as like the de
devil as one pea to another, and sent
with new perch up to the house.
got there before FIdessa arrived, al
he would have never discovered I