New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-04-27
THAT CAROLINY GAL:
THE WIDDER 'BIJAH'S GUEST.
L :

II was universally felt that the term widow by l'Sen
did not sufficiently indicate that the bcreaVed opjeo'
s an individual, of The human species, and OF the
80, GOV There were some who allowed them
,,os IN say widow woman but these careless
| IN their speech, and not to be considered In TINS
article.
In common everyday talk however, Mrs jacobs
was universally mentioned as the "Wldder b]ah'
! N distinguish her from two other women VINO iiid
married men by the name OK JACOBS III LaheVHic'
and from whom Providence had wrcsted their partners
The Widder 'Biah fat and thrifty, and had a
shrewd cast to her right eye winch gave her an
appearancc Of wtnkng sometimes when shc wouid ho'
| have uinbed for all the world. II was by reason
NJ the appearance of this eye that Mr H. r. lurher'
proprietor Of the store at LahcVhe' Il "ido"er-
or ton,ntcd 70 say a widower gentleman-was I'M
messed with the ineradicable convection that Mrs.
Jacobs encouraged him even AT thc very iuio'"i VI
| Abiah on which occasion ne ac'ed DIS one Vi '''o
ho,rors II * probable that nothing Will ever con
vince him that he not wnked AZ AT tha' t'H'e ~
is true that when he called on the sIehst" vi NAV
,oo week or two later the GOODNESS OF his reception
was not conducive to the belief he had iormed. Pts
Jacobs was barely civil ana shc Perse'creu III .'''
manner on all tho occasions wheh she was opneo' "
| 20 10 his store Notwithstanding all this, though
| Mr. Turner did not again call Win true masculine
| s.fannrcciation he always had firm belief that
Mr. Jacobs really was fond Of him, but that for
some reason she had made up her nina not 10 yelu
| 70 that fondness, and when TINS WOMAN hau ih"'o
nm her mind all who knew her SAID III want 10
psc. So H. F. Turner turned his thoughts toward
some one else who, though a eood houScAeePci' """
not so much Of this worlds goods
IN +ho year following the death Of Mr. Jacobs his
rect had several opportunities to marry again. III
appeared to be understood in the neighoorood 'a' '
time to console widow was when shc was nour"hs'
II was not wise TO wait till she began to peep up
Of her SELF
! put Mr. Jacobs refused all offers Of consolation
sho e,d she could take care Of herself and she could
take care Of her farm and she guessed somebody else
would suit better.
| She went 10 every service which was held In the
congregational Church at Lancville. She was always
present at the Tuesday evening prayer meeting, AZ
every "prcparatory lecture at the sunday school,
even al the choir meetings where she sat and heard
the sopranos try toss their voices entirely ont OF
| reach Of the bass and alto singers shc uNaflaDy
| contributed 10 cents 20 everything she bought
! ticket every time there "apron party OF
| necle party in the vestry, such entertainments
bcing of frequent necessity in order 10 exc out tho
minister's salary But she never went 10 those parties
She said she would rather set m toast her feet 10
| home so she gave her ticket 10 some young person
10 whom II was treat to see and hear three.or four
fcllcrs and girls, speak dialogue which they had
impcrfcctly learned and where ey were suc l" e's-'
| in the wrong place.
She was one who said she was bound to 10 good
! ~ II killed her She would allow paupers from the
almshouse who 81 longing for change, TO come
10 her house and make long vlSlts WHAT she ehuucd
| with some OF them she told any one. The
| utmost she was heard 10 say on the subject
was after particularly trying visitation when she re-
marked that she had made up her mind that " there
was generally reason why folks come on to the
TOWN +, want all misfortune there
devll,ry mixed up with Il"
Thus II natural enough that Mrs Lander. who
lived IN Nc,r. York and who boarded with the Widder
'Dijah few weeks summer. should send Daily
out to the old farmhouse In Laneville. Mrs. Lander
! found Daily on White Crow Mounting living
hrutcs life with A woman called L" Ole It'd and boy
named Darker. who said 20 be Dally's brother
White Grow Mounting of the most picturesque
spots in Western North Carolina picturesque spots
| sometimes harbor strange vermin.
The child was like little flower 10 look at.
II the Of pretty faces who stand the best
/ chance of being rescued from unhappiness Mrs.
Lander took Daily she lett Barker 10 get along as
| hest he might She forgot the boy. who was not
interesting. though perhaps he also had soul to
save But the lady may have thought she could
not save all those wrctched mountain children, 50
She would select a pleasing specimen.
Yes send her on wrote Mrs Jacobs IL answer 70
Mr. Landcr's letter.
The work worn heart lcaped in a strange way when
the sharp kindly eyes above II looked out Of the
window one rainy morning whole day earlier than
the child had been expected. Those eyes saw
sirl II thirteen fourteen, completely covered by
plaid cloak large for her with hair and eyebrows
dripping with rain trying 10 open the gate which
led into the neatly kept dooryard.
The WiGdcr 'Blah dropped the strip OF rug she was
braldne and hurried TO the door
LIT up the latch from the inside she cried out.
| II kinder kcchcs when It's wet
| We, ma'am." answered sweet voice. and. the
latch having been lifted from the inside the conner
walked up the barrow planlng that made the path.
and held ont an envelope addressed in Mrs Lander's
tall angular handwriting
Il s'pose you como from North Carolny - said Mrs
Jacobs.
Yes. ma'am'
Gone right in m take of that drppin' cloak m
s'posc your feet soppin' wet. amt iheyl
| Yes. ma'am'
The girl ,tll stood hesitating at the door Of the
kitchen. and when Mrs. Jacobs put out her hand and
drew her forward she shrank back Involuntary. n
horse will shrink which has been treated cruelty.
For mcrcys sake. child. you don't expect I'm going
to strike yon do ycf' cried the woman her quick
| rightly Interpreting the movement
The kind voice made Daily trcmhle.
Yes ma'am.' she said. humby. II rcckoned yo'
war gwinc ter hit me. I'm used ter BEN mt
"Gracious -
with this exclamation Mrs Jacobs almost roughly
removed pay's cloak and hat. which articles She
rcd from the and hung in the porch. she stood
there A moment looking at them.
IT'S the dearest little face saw" she whis
rcrcd to herself she'll make a fool II me- know
ALWAYS was weak minded bout them faces with soft
,hitc skin m light hair. N brown eyes. oh | do
honc She wont turn 10 bc an imp OF she's
regular heather. Of course. I'll take her Ia the choir
mect,n tomorer night. s'posc she lived on
much but clay yet
II was Mrs Jacobs's conviction that people who dwelt
in the southern states which shc invariably spoke Of as
.. hollow Mason and Dixon's linc.7 were always clay
eaters In this particular instance this article Of diet
had produced pleasing effect
In ten minutes from her arrival Daily sitting
with her feet on the Kitchen stove. little shoulder
shawl belonging to her hostess her. while she
sippcd some ginger II occurred to Mrs Jacobs that
ginger tea would counterfeit any Ill effects which might
come from change Of climate
Daily drank the tea copously she could she
finally held out the huge bowl toward her companion
and said pcously that she did wish she had bit er