The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-03-16
ccDYREHL 1888. BY THE AUTHOR. \

from the lonely little northern widow.
Failing that every woman in Glover
dell sought to do honor to all that re-
manned of her.
Miss Melanie Potts was in the lead as
usual.
Friends, we've got to do this thing
decently and in order if we give up the
best we have left You see, in Mrs.
Matthews case things are somewhat
complicated. If she had been one of our
very own by birth, as she was, dear
heart in spirit and in truth, and we
knew that she would lie until the trump
| shall sound at the last great day, just
where we are going to lay her, among
the sweetest jasmines and the brightest
roses of the Cloverdell churchyard, I
wouldn t make such point of every
thing as am doing. But that is just
what we can't make sure of, for, being
northern born and northern bred, Eddie
may want to take her back home'-
Here the speaker was interrupted
plaintively by Ollie Potts.
eff he ever gets home himself. p"
"Of course he'll get home. Don't
make a goose Of yourself, Ollie. Our
hands are full enough of troubles with
out going abroad to import more. So,
you see''-turning once more toward
the others-'I am especially anxious
that her coffin shall be nice one. Those
dreadful plain white pine affairs we had
to use when the Bradley child died will
never do. They might say up yonder in
her old home, you know-I mean in
case Eddie insists on removal-that we
thought anything good enough for
Yankee"
There had been neither lack of wom
ans nursing nor dearth of woman's
tears in the Widow Matthew's cottage
those weeks of her fading, and the idea
that they were capable of putting any
affront upon the helpless form no longer
able to thank them was severe shock
to the sensibilities Of each one Of her
Cloverdell friends.
Cloverdell had been in the habit of
importing. the very finest products of the
undertaker's skill from New Orleans
when the local supply did not come up
to its exaoting taste III mortuary fash
ions. The1oca supply had long since
been exhausted, and New Orleans be-
longed to the enemy. But Cloverdell
women had grown wise ia expedients.
Miss Melanie's remarks set them all to
taking mental inventories Of the ward
robes in which only the articles too good
for daily wear had escaped the test of a
shopless ers.
''Of COURSE it must be black, y Mrs
Clark said timidly and was not at all
surprised at having several extinguish-
ers clapped on.
81 have heard, - said Miss Melanie,
staring resoiutely at photograph of
Eddie Matthews in velvet frame on
the table she was sitting by, "that IN
some foreign countries, am not pre-
pared TO be accurate collins of brilliant
purple ara III vogue. But I am afraid
CIoverdell is not educated up tc them"
'I have black foulard silk, but it's
got white sprigs in it, Mrs. Brownell
said eff Miss Melanie thinks that
won't make any difference, poor dear
Mrs Matthews is welcome to it dozen
times over"
Miss Melanie was afraid it would
make difference and waited anxiously
for some more promising sacrifice to be
offered up on the altar Of friendship.
81 looked over all my things before
leaving home" she said, with view
to finding something that would do to
cover those dreadful staring boards but
the girls and l have cut up everything
that had any substance to it for the
sharpshooters long ago.
From a dozen different sources came
an answering murmur:
''Thar is just exactly my fix"
Something must be found" Miss
Melanie said this with the inexorable-
ness of fate. Something came. Mrs.
Phipps was the one who tided the trou-
BILE over.
81 have long velvet circular that I
will send down as soon as l can get it
out of the cedar chest in which I've got
all my best things packed away. [ hope
you won't think I've been slow in offer
ing it to our dear friend, but I have
sorter been holding OH to it in case I
might have to be put away myself. L
am ashamed to think how selfish that
sounds now, since I've put it into
words. F"
ITO be cOntinued.)