The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-04-15
34Si5Crllancp1GS



mature age OF 40 outside the pale al
matrimony, and during the last han
| dozen of that period has scarcely
| looked at a woman, there Is very little
| hope for him.
Such at least, was the case with
Hezekiah Wigglesby. Whenever
| Wiggies5y saw himself in his mirror,
which happened once a day. when be
shaved himself mot being vain or u
woman, Wiggiesby had 40 occasion to
consult it Gftener), he had a deplora be
| habit of addressing coDEratulatory re-
| marks to his reflection in the glass OIL
| the fact that they-he and the shadow
were able 10 get along without the
silly SEX" RS Wigglcsby ai.iterativeiy
| expressed 1t.
used the tenn deplorahle, and II
certainly is. deeply 50, when an other
wise sensible man is addicted TO talk
| ing to himself in the glass and trying
| to deceive himself into the belief that
| he is perfectly happy ana contented
old bachelor. when such thing is an
utter anomaly and impossibiIity.
Wiggleshy knew at the bottom Of
his heart that the life he was leading
was unsatisfactory and incomplete,
| that his daily self-congratulatiOps
were 4 hollow uockery and q farce,
| and one thing more than all else that
caused him to realize this was an &C
casionaI glimpse which was vouch-
safed him Of = plump young widow
who had recently moved into the
ro0lnY old farm house across the way.
For years the place opposite had
been what is known as IAN abandoned
| fam but ii had lately come into the
| possession of Mrs. Wiltsey, Il substaE-
! tial end pleasant-,OOking widow, who.
| in company with a younger sister, had
moved there from the city to engage
| in the fascinating az q sometimes
| profitable pursuit Of chicken raising.
Until they came, Wigglcshy's daily
! vision had been uudlsjurbed by the
| sight of a woman, save when one hap
| pened 90 drive up, and in that ease
! there was no law compelling Wiggles-
by to look at her-and he usually
| didn't.
Wigglesby attenCel to himself az
! ter fashion of his own, which was
certainly original, though it probably
would bother him some to secure a
| patent TO il.
He had way of making bed. for
| instance. 20 that nobody on earth eX-
/ '
which end was intended for the head
and which the foot. and sometimes he
couldn't And when ii came TO bak-
ing flapiacks, a dish Of which he was
very fond, Wigglesby usually distri-
buted the dough impartialiy over the
top of the stove, the griddle and the
floor, so that when he got through pre-
pairing he meal the kitchen looked as
if the battle of Bunker Hi! had been
fought over again on the spot, with
dough for AMMUNITION.
II was one of those interesting Oc
casions-whcn Wigglesby was struS
Cling with q refractory batch Of flap
| lacks. | meau-that he received his
first call from Mrs. WiitSey, the I lump
widow across the way. He had 4
griddle full Of tlapjack5 baked on one
side, aud he was making a heroic ef
fort to turn them over, using II table
knife for the purpose, SO they could
bake on the other, when a pleasant
face suddenly appeared in the half
opened doorway and a musical voice
said:
Excuse me; this is Mr.. Wigglesby
| presume"
The fapiack which Wigglesbv Wa:
in the act OF turning, dropped with q
thud to the floor, and poor Wigglesb by
turned all the colors of the rainbow al
once and incoherently stammered.
"N-n-no; Im-means yes, In
MIR Wiggs-I shou!d say Wiggles
by; and-and-"
And I'm Mrs. Wiltsey, your new
neighbor, and l can't find my tacb
hammer, and would like to borrow
YOURS a little while if you don't mine
lending it. But see I'm interrupting
your work, and-pardon me, but you
hapjacks are burning. Allow me tt
turn them for you, won't you? There
now they are all right, but you really
need"
"Oh, no; mo don'tn' interrupte.
Wigglesby, hastily. "Reallv-I-'
why, yes, you do, Mr.. Wigglesby
calmly went on the plump widow
you need a regular pancake turner
They only cost few cents, and yol
would find it ever so much handle
than . knife for such work"
Gosh. that was a marrow escape.
thought she was going to say al
wife, " muttered Wisgle.by to him
self, as he dashed out of the room
in search of a tack hammer.
THANK you very muck" said Mrs
WllISey, WIFI Il grateful smile, WNel
Wigglesby returned with the required
article. 1T is real kind Of you to len,
your hammer, and l will be sure t,
bring it back the minute I'm through
using it"
Your welcome, I'm sure; and
there's no hurry about bringing j
back" WiggIesby managed to STAN
mer, as the fair caller took her de
parture with the hammer,
After she was gone Wigglesby wa
unaccountably nervous and detected
3 His bachelor BOSOM had suddenly be
come filed with a vague unrest,
new, strange longing. Could it b
that, after AL, there WAS sometime
lacking in The life he was iradiugy II
wandered restlessly about from ron
to room, and somehow the big hous
, had never seemed to him 80 empty Il
it did then.
Next day there came tiInid l<noc
at the door WiggIe,hy's heart junr
:. ed up into his throat, and ne straighr
:. way forgot every word Of the grac
2 Gus speech he mad planned SO careful
: ly.
Just my luckn' he groaned, an