The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-03-18
4 Visit 80 the Widow,

AVisit 80 the Widow,
| felt no little arrogance when a
| letter reached me from the widow
whose hospitality Truman and | en-
| ioyed while on our recent hunting
excursion. Among the many strange
| things she mentioned in her missive
was, Dear preacher, Do please come
out here at once. | am in heaps of
trouble. My neighbors are telling
| around that we are engaged to be
married, and they tell also that you
have a wife and six children living in
Missouri, besides a wife and seven
children living in the state of Maine.
They say that you have two vaca-
lions year. The summer vacation
you spend with your family in Maine,
| and your winters in Missouri. Now,
| am anxious for you to come soon
| and bring a letter of recommendation
or something like it to show the peo-
pie here. Sandy is awfully put out;
she is Fostering the life out of me to
have you come. We don't believe
one word of this SANDER. just you
come and help us straighten out this
awful muss.n Feeling that | had
innOcently been the means of ilnpOs-
ing upon this cOnfiding w0man's
credulity, | believed it my duty to
1yCn,, ", ,,v,,,,,i., / had 10 20, ;.,;+
her, when last at her house, and dis
abuse her mind about my having a
sacred calling. | sent her a note
apprising her of my intended visit,
and in compliance with my promise |
left Oakland on the 10th inst. and
reached my destination at about four
O'Clock p. III. on the same day, The
widow had anticipated my coming
and stood in the doorway as l drove
up to her gate. She ran out and vel
| coined me with a hearty shake of the
hand Sandy and Maria both greet
ed me cordially. We repaired to the
parlor and after inquiring about my
health and that of my friend, we con
versed about the weather, etc, etc.
Imagine my surprise when she said,
fellows, Corbett or Fitz, will win the
| fight? Hit comes off on the seven
| teenth, don't it, Preacherr' Irepiied
| that could not venture an opinion
on the result Of the battle and that in
all probability the fight would come
off as advertised. She then excused
| herself and directed me to her library
which contained about thirty books
of light literature. Quite while had
elapsed before she entered the room
again. She was a sight to behold. |
shall try to attempt a pen picture of
her makeup. First let me tell of an
accident that befel her. After max
ing profound courtesy she stepped
back step or two, and in her excite
/ ment, for she was excited from some
cause or other, she attempted to sit
down on a small sewing chair, but
missed it. | FASTENED TO her rescue.
My heart ached for this poor woman.
! Had | not thought that she would
have deemed it weakness in me |
would not have turned from her as
did when tears of sympathy forced
themselves down my cheeks. The
girls felt the shock and ran into the
room. Their laughter relieved us
Of our embarrassing predicament.
will now go back to her dress and
makeup. Her hair was smootly
combed down in front, each particu-
lar hair resting on an imaginary line
running across the middle of her fore
head. 4 little twist of auburn hair
surmounted the back of her head;
this seemed TO be pinned on by an
| immense high comb around which
was twined lemon colored ribbon,
the ends of which hung far down her
back. Her dress was Of pink China
silk. The skirt had five rows Of
ouilled lemon colored ribbon about
it; the first on the extreme edge, and
between the rows was about four
inches. The bodice was closely fitted
to her shapely figure in the back and
had short, square tails that were cut
off sharply and arched at the sides.
Little rosettes made of white, red and
blue ribbon decorated the bodice in
front and rear. The bodice had an
extremely long point in front. The
sleeves fitted snugly to her arms and
ruffled at the wrists. There was pre-