The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-09-04
MISS NAN.

Slender, but not thin, with soft, haze
eyes and long lashes, pale complexion
light brown hair, with here and there 4
strand of gray, not pretty, but attractive
looking, simple in manner, speech ant
drcss-that was Miss Nan.
That she was an old maid was beyond
dispute. Her most intimate friend woult
not have denied it II he could Though
for tho matter Of that he could not, be
longing, as he did to tho feline specie.
and n being blosacd with tho power o
speech She was turned" 35 If she was ;
day, and the most hopeful of that socia
scourgo known as mntchmakers had lonl
since scratched her name off their list o
possibilities. ...-
Miss Nan lived in her own cottage ant
tho lawn in front Of IL wns tho neatest il
| THIN, as tho little pnrlor inside was TIN
tidiest. Tho three cats that monopoliZet
the hearth rug in tho parlor Of evening
were as sleek as could DO and exceptional
ly we'll behaved for cats. The furnitur
was Of q quaint pattern, but the cas-.
chairs were comfortable in the extreme
and If the little earthenware teapot wa
half as good o brewer as it was SINCE
don't blame her for indulging in its con
tents rather freely.
That Miss Nan had good heart and
kind one l can vouch for, md so coult
many barefooted urchin and many al
oyerworhed factory girl. There WAS N
Sunday school teacher in Tifiin as belovct
by her scholars, and they all knew tn
flavor Of her famous cookies. ! was no
surpris1d to hear one day that Miss Nai
had had bit Of romance in her life, s,
long ago that the younger generation ha,
never heard of it and the older generate!
had long since forgotten it.
i There had been certain hapdsom
young man who had courtcd her In tn
old days, and not unsucccssfully. He hat
been practicing law for three or four years
and his prospects were unusually bright
He was genial in his way, but proud to
fault Ho had never been n lady's man
and despite the fact that many jaunt.
caps had been set for him ho had almus
been set down for young bachelor con
hrmcd in his waywardncss until he me
Miss Nan at n church festival From tina
evening the predictions topplcd over Xix
sardhouscs, for, though She did not appnl
entity rcclprocatc at first, he was deter
mined wuocr with youth, good looks an
a winning tongue to back him So at las
She mcltcd--of course sho did, for wha
else was that womans heart Of hers cr6
atcdY-and the gussipS began to wondc
when the day would be set and to surmis
among themselves that 1t had been st
and was still secret, But whether
really had or had not been Silas Granite
knew and Miss Nan knew, but the gos
sips never did ina our.
| OF the matrimuninlly inclined youn
ladies who had set their caps for Sila
Grantlcy before the fateful church fest
val none had set them so artfully, S
hopefully rs LiZ2io Minks. Sho was
pretty bit of woman dong since til
wife of hcnpCckcd husbandl, with spar
king black Dyes, sharp features and
tight little figure that she was wont I
deck out with tho Paycst ribbons imaRi
: nablc. She had Spanish blood in her vein
and was proud of it, and proud of he
temper too. Though Silas had never pal
her any serious attention, she had al
'prurcd attractive to him until he me
Miss Nan. If it had not been for that
there is no telling what might not hay
happened. Miss Minks was not youn
lady TO submit to such total eclips
calmly, and tho truth was that she neve
had any intention of submitting to it a
all. One day about the time that the gos
sips had settled ii satisfactorily anon
themselves that tho day had finally bee
SGT, " she came tothc conclusion that mat