The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-12-26
A CALIFORNIA WIDOW.
BY HELEN BARTLETT.

@The idea of that little thing being a
 widow! 1"
 "And widow of four years standing IL fairly takes ones breath away. She doesn't look day over fitteen." Except in strong light. In strong light she would be taken for every day of twenty-one. never settle upon a woman's age until l have seen her in a
 strong light"
 This rather pointed remark from the lips of Miss Pickett, spinster whose age
 vas frankly beyond repair. seemed to produce an electric effect. Every woman
 on the piazza, as though suddenly re- minded of neglected duty, began care fully protecting her eyes from the glare of the sky.
 "I wonder if she will get the English man," began the first speaker again. She is putting in some pretty hard work.
 Her slightest glance is the incarnation of
 iattery."
 "A great mistake. Never give a man more than he expects-you will only bore
 him. Syrup is commodity which should
 oe used sparingiy"
 "I am not sure of that. A man is a very weak thing"
 "Well, mark my word-he doesn't
 mean a thing; he is only amusing him self"
 A boarding house in Santa Barbara, even when nestled amidst all the luxu. nance of semi-tropical California, is quite like other boarding houses after all Thus
 was that Radcliffe mansion, though shaded by graceful peppers and the stately
 eucalyptus, though knowing the delights ot hgs and oranges fresh from the trees,
 though wrapped in an atmosphere it for the houris, was yet nothing more than a regular American clearinghouse. 1t contained the usual abundance of idle women, the usual scarcity of vigorous men, the usual superfluity of gossip. So it happened that the boarders at Radcliffe mansion-which, by the way, vas no more of mansion than any re- pectable two-story building, but was bur- tened with that title in deierence to the
 prevailing California tendency to make everything greater than it is-were all more or less interested in Mrs. Cora Tyr
 reil. Mrs. Tyrrell sat opposite me at able, and l used to watch her in a sort maze that any one could be so young and fresh and fair and yet be widowed. Her form was absurdly slight for full
 grown woman's while her face was as sweet and guileless as a child's. She some way reminded me of a pansy, par ecularly when she wore slightly faring aat, its dusly brim setting of to persec- oon the transparency of her complexion, ne soft baby-like rings of her hair, the arge, tender, pathetic eyes. Beauty of nfs sort wins women as we'll as men
 Even crisp Miss Pickett, noted for the
 ssverity of her mental atmosphere, even
 Aiss Pickett was subjugated. Not soman grudged Mrs. Tyrell her beauty, put several drew the line at the English aan. Feminine generosity has its limits. Yoa see Percy Elliott was the only eigible man at Radcliffe mansion-elig- icle in the worlds deception of the term, snich has a well defined reference to an Teproachable bank account-and it was .axd to watch him slowly disappear down
 ne widows little throat. He was a tall, sonchalant young fellow, quite convinced his own importance, after the fashion ahis countrymen. A certain narrowness chest told why he was wintering in ss far western land, and frequent horse ssck rides with Mrs. TyrreL told that he aeheved in mingling business with pleas 9s. She was wonderful horsewoman, nding as easily without the saddle as sah it, and jumping any fence without a semor. These equestrian duets stimu- akd the boarders to the hveliest specu-
 non. Would she get him2 Depend
 Poa 1t she wouldn't. Engiishmen don't
 ary poor widows
 Cora certainly was not overburdened
 - money, though her taste in dress
 nIlfully concealed the deficiency. lew
 y cf every description she utterly es-
 swed, but the gloom of her crape was
 quiStely relieved by flowers. She was
 eser without flowers upon her breast,