The Hazlehurst signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1883-1885, 1885-05-21
COURrlNG A WIDOW.
An Exhilaratinx but Dangerous rastims
IA Case In Point.

There. IS any amount or run IN
counting young girl who has not
become used to it. She swallows
all the soft things fellow says,
but when it comes 30 popping the
question or something of that
kind, she gets frightened more or
less and hesitates and wants time
to consider. until there arc enough
loophulcs for her lover to slip out
through without the least bit of
trouble, if he happens to sec some
one he thinks he could love a
shade or two better. Young girls
arc timid, shy and in earnest, and
if a fellow is not pretty certain he
has found precisely the angel he
is looking for, hc'can manage so
rs to have the refusal of her for Il
year or so, and ut the same time
keep his neck out of the reach of
a breach-of-prom,se suit, when he
happens to meet some other sweet
faced angel that seems to him to
be better suited to his taste.
1t Is different with u widow.
She gets rid of all her shyuess ut
the earliest convenient opportuni-
ty. and finds out the principal
things, she desires to know Of him
before she allows him to get ac-
quainted. The schoolgirl of six
teen trusts herself to u fine young
fellow OH sixty or ninety days
sight without security, but the
widow, like u thrifty wholesale
house, goes out and examines the
mercantile reports about him, and
then sells to him OH her own terms
for cash. She has him sized up
before he comes to market, and
looks rs if she were very art
less creature and fights shy of him
whenever he happens to sit u lit
tie close TO her on tho sofa, there
are ten chances to one tha, he will
never look any farther, but will
buckle up to her and put the
question fairly and squarely, and
when he has done 50, she is not
going to tremblc all over and
blush and ask for q week or month
in which to make up her mind.
She will just wind her arms
around his neck and look mp i'll
to his face with Il melting gaze,
and before he has had time to
catch his brcoth, he will find him
self nailed to the cross with a
"yes" that pierces him to tho
very soul.
l once had q friend. ! have
him not at present writing, but
there is the living remains of u
widow in possession of him. He
was II mashcr. He had beauti-
ful coal-black hair that clustered
about his whitened brow in mas
sive curls, and he was the pos
SCISSOR of one of the most kissa-
BILE mustaches that ever decorated
the lips of a human dude. He
had broken more hearts than all
my other acquaintance, and was
gong to college smashing youth
full female affections and revel-
ing I'D more than a tubfull Of girl
ish love, when u new girl came to
the school. Nobody suspected
the truth concerning her. No
body would ever look for a widow
in school, and yet she had III a
moment of passion, bewidowed
herself the worst way. My friend
made up his mind to perpctrato
against her acold, cruel and heart
less mash. He watched his OPP
portunity, aud one day, when he
and she were left alone in the
hallway byastraiIge accident, he
told her she was the prettiest girl
he had'evcr seen. She rctorted
by intimating that lie was II bold,
bad boy, and. she had made up
her mind to have nothing what
ever to do with him. He assured
her that she was heartlesss and
cruel, and when he saw large
tears coursing down her checks.
he relented and rctracted his rash
remark. and she forgave him and
they shook hands. He afterwards
told me in confidence that the mo-
mcnt he felt her fluttering hand
in his, he could not resist the
temptation to squeeze it that came
over him. She gently returned
the pressure, and from that mo-
ment my friend was not himself.
He was her slave, 50 he says with
his own lips. i specify whose
lips he said it with, because I do
not want the impression that the
lips of any innocent and inoffen-
sive person was mixed up in the
affair to prevail. Time wore on,
as it often does in cases like this.
My friend, finding that he could
not get within four feet. of her,
proposed to marry her. She ac-
cepted him, he drew her to his