Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1885-11-11
A CASE OF SCANDAL.
BY Ella THOMAS.

lhere may be women more jealous
md suspicious by nature than was the
Widow Hester Hatch; but if so, the
people of Algonac would certainly pray
that they might never choose thai
pleasant town as residence.
Tall, thin and angular was the
Widow Hester Hatch, with scanty
light hair twisted tightly into the
smallest of knots, and held in place
by shell comb of severe pattern
restless eyes she had, of a pale gray
shaded by thin colorless lashes; q
mouth whose thin lips shut so tight as
20 leave white line along their edges
while her whole face wore ar
habitually injured expression.
And an injured woman the widow
considered herself, who went through
life cherishing the belief that the
world was in league to wrong and de-
fraud her. When she carried her
butter and eggs to the store, she always
took the opportunity to inquire of her
neighbors what they received, before
she would believe that the merchant
had not given her less than his usual
price.
If he had not an article she asked for,
she went away in the belief that he was
simply hiding it for some more favored
customer; while ifhe produced it she
was equally tortured lest he considered
it unsaleable.
If she was invited to tea party or
quilting, or any of the. mild festivities
Of Algonac, she always sat on the
extreme edge of her chair in the most
perpendicular of attitudes, and replied
to all converse lion in the briefest OF
monosyllables, while she inwardly
weighed every word and action in the
light of its possible relation to herself
if she was not invited she laid the fact
up, and brooded over it with a certain
frosty resentment which nothing could
ever thaw.
The simplest pleasures were even
embittered by her suspicion. She was
fond of flowers, and would have en-.
joyed her well.kept garden if she had
not constantly suffered with the fear
that some ones flowers would look
better than hers, or they would have a
variety she had not.
With Mrs. Ames, the village post.
masters wife, whose yard was usually
gay with flowers, she waged ceaseless
though one-sided rivalry. inasmuch as
the lady was wholly unaware of its
existence. On her head, too, rested
one of the widows darkest suspicious,
for as it CHANGED one spring they both
sent to the same florist for some choice
lily bulbs, and because Mrs. Ames re-
ceived hers few days sooner, she al
ways cherished the firm and implacable
belief that Mr.. Ames had purposely
withheld her own in order that his
wife's might get started first.
II mistrusted it at the time" she
used to relate; che didn't look as a
man ought to look when he said there
was nothin' for me, an when said,
it is very strange, for was expecting
some bulbs, he said he was very sorry
but they hadn't come, and that very
afternoon Mrs. Trueblood told me that
Mrs. Ames had got her'n. The next
day l went again, but he said mo, they
hadn' come yet, but he couldn't look
me in the eve when he said it, an when
l tried to catch his eye he pretended to
be busy stampin' some letters. And
the next day was Sunday. so you see
Mrs. Ames had had hers four days be-
fore l got mine, an when he did give
'em to me they looked that dry as
though he might have kept them a
week. But that wasn't the strangest
part of it;'if you'll believe me not a
single one of the bulbs came up the
next spring-not one," with a grim nod
of her head by way of emphasis. 'Of
course, don't say that any body came
and pulled 'em up in the night. I
make it a roole never to judge people;
but do say that its very curious how
Mrs. Ames' all happened to live through
the winter and none of mine"
But, happily for kindly Mrs. Ames,
who was without q single spark of
jealousy, she never knew the imputa-
ton she rested under, nor why her
friendly advances to the Widow Hatch
were so frigidly received.
Another cause of suffering to the
good woman was that she was wholly
destitute of any sense of humor. 4
joke always mystifed, and as conse-
quence aggravated her, and when one
Hallow-e en- the Frew boys appeared
at her window with jack-o-lantern
carved from pumpkin, instead of
at the apparition as did the