New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-06
A WHOEVER.
c..v,tsss. 1891, Bs The Tribune A'''''''''"'
I.

without husbands
oh dear mel"
7, was not quite clear whether TINS lase oo'el
.-.,,on referred TO the cats or TO Vhe aye GU" ~
.ro,ected condition of the newcomers i" '''
neighborhood' .,.oo, on the first
- And parrot and a canary, wenu oh 'n' ''S
der as If reading from a catalogue.
ross If the house to whom this informa-
-. v,os given. was wringiug clothes from so'ne
sYu rirsng water. Her large hands had !usc
- o sheet round and round. She wa'oheo
,,.a.er drip from the cloth and then' as sue
se o,,+ che article she said with emphasis tn"1
uas almost bitter: or.
Il must say did hope there "o"iO" -N
IA maids come into this town.
WILL they are old maids, and they We conle'
~. ,or 60 set against old maids for, Mrs. beli
u don't know as l be exactly set against '"eui'
nliad Mrs Bell, dipping shirt up ana uowu
- the wafer "but there's so many Iou""' ""u
,hsv,re always wanting sometmng' Ii 'ne 'no| s
s,;rs in the winter they have to ne aug ouV az
- ,here,s hard tempest in the summer sou''DVus
S'.. 80 ond eli ON a feather bed with them'
D., don't knows ought 10 blame theui' "oie
kniently. Tho bod q. round.
,.nrhinc face and who had dropped IN 10 'cii 'h'1
40 Riddle house was finally occupied No L
.hould sooner think of plying than oi'nins'
uos Matthew heard they've come yet? -
The sneaker accompanied this question "i'h
sHgbt laugh. It's high time for him 10 "egln
90 no looking round again, amt II! sne eu'eu
Il don't know much about Ma''he"S puel-
ress." was the reply Here nc Is NV ''pS
he can speak for himself
toll sallow-faced man with large oue eyes ana
- hro,,,r v,biskers under his chin, now walked
tn
frnv ON the braided rug. Then he went TO the
80 cd dron,, from the cocoanut dipper that was
- ,ho roiI of wafer He faced round toward the
Two women who were now silently watching him.
o,,horcb his aunt. Mrs Bell, yelled her ooserva-
.io nv on annarent attention to the clothes In the
tub before her
Al thought heard my name mentioned, he
.oia smAinolv. and speaking in tone SO pleasant
&c IN no almost musical. u hope you wan saying
ANGLING bad Of me-
There couldn't anybody say much bad of you,
MATTHEW. and that's fact" responded the visitor
81 was thinking mebbe you'd like to know that
a.. tolks have come to the Riddle house, bag and
baggage.
And cats. and parrots and canaries," added
Mrs Bell with scorn.
Matthew looked interested.
-Tbev said down to the store il was women that
bad bought the place he remarked.
~'TIs women. Two women. That's why l
was thinking of you, Matthew" said the caller,
whose name was Partridge. She smiled knowingly.
He looked al her intently for an instant Then a
faint color showed under his tanned skin. But he
said nothing lie was forty years old and he had
buried two wives ne was generally supposed TO
be looking for third, but he had remarkable
way of blushing when the subject was mentioned
him.
The neghbors generally upheld him in this sup
posed search They said he had been terribly
uplucky" in his wives The first had died in the
third year of her marriage. The second had been
the best housekeeper for miles around. She put
I'D greater variety of fruit in cans and more IN
quantity than any woman ever known in those
parts She had been thrown from carriage AMI
killed instantly That was three years ago.
Matthew Bell when he thought of his two wives
had . bewideriug sense that he was somebody
else that 1t never could have been he, Matthew
Bell who had been married twice. Those two
funerals where he had been chief mOurner, were
like two strange dreams to him. He used 10 think
of those women and wonder about them. He
supposed he had loved them both. Men always
love their wives
He had come to board with his Aunt Bell But
he hated boarding lie had tried having house
ment did not work" Then he tried keeping
bachelors hall" and that did not work, either.
He used to go down cellar and look at the row of
fruit cans and think how Ruth had labored with
them and how cross she had been after o morn
ings work putting up
Then he would 60 and sit lOnesomely on the
porch and smoke, and try to decide which one of
lis wives he had loved better. lie thought the
story writer's made great fuss about love- He
did not know why they did it. If you had decided
10 marry woman why, Of course, you began TO
love her. That was all right.
II was not month after Ruth was killed before
the wdower began TO review all the available
women of his acquaintance And some of the men
he knew told him Of some women who seemed eli
gble. But somehow nothing came of all this.
The months drfted into years Occasionally
somebody would hint TO Matthew about some
woman somewhere. 1t understood that he
wanted TO marry again. He did offer himself to
swidOw over in the next town, but she had just
engaged herself. lie told her " it no matter
somebody else would do just as we'll Some
times he brought one of Ruth's cans of fruit from
that cellar and his aunt had it on the table for
supper. On such occasions he would say that he
supposed Ruth couldn't be beat canning.
Ii seemed rather odd that one of these cans was
the means of his meeting with the women in the
Riddle house
1t had been rather a gloomy day, with the mist
driving in from the east Matthew had stopped at
his house and selected a can of purple plums AS
he came along the road with the under his
arm he met his aunt near the house
wish you'd take them plums up to the Riddle
pace" she said abruptly One of um seems L,
be kind of feeble just now. They were telling she
can't relish much of anything. And one of UNI
spoke Of purple plums.
Matthew's face lighted. Then he hesitated He
held out the can
guess you'd better take it, Aunt Susan. You
know L amt acquainted
, nat amt no matter Knock and leave it at
'he door I'm late about supper now"
. one hurried on. Matthew Bell stood moment
N the middle of the dusty road. He had been
Iohgihg 70 see those women at the Riddle house.
ana ne mad not known how TO bring about meet
MI lie had seen the parrot, and had heard it
gaining fersis Persis:" as it swung in its big
cdse On NE little piazza. He had seen the gray
cats proving in the yard. But he had seen no
otDer hvlng thing. He had hoped the new in
a 4,