The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-10
MRS. LUTHER WILKINS.
story of the Result of MIsdirected
Advertisements.
By Susan Brown Robbins.

BY Susan Brown Robbins.
The postmaster smiled little when he
passed out the mail, but Luther wilkins
did not notice. He was trying to remem-
Der whether it was a yeast-cake or a
pound of cheese he had meant TO get at
the store. He went out of the postoff1ce
still bordering and ended by forgetting
both articles, his attention being diverted
by the sight of two boys playing marbles
on the sidewalk. This was the first sign
of spring Luther had seen, so it was no
wonder that his memory played him
false.
After he got home and had eaten his
supper he thought of the mail in his over
coat pocket. He brought it to the table and
sat down to examine it, There was the
weekly. county paper, a poultry journal,
an agricultural monthly, and last of all
a letter
We'll now" said Luther picking it up,
q wonder who's been writing to me.
don't know when I've had a letter"
He looked at ii eagerly, held it nearer
his eyes. then farther off. He removed
his glasses and polished them in nervous
haste After replacing them on his nose
he picked up the letter again and scanned
it narI owly, then he looked over his glass
es as if al some person and said:
Il snum! "
He sank into revery, out of which he
reused himself with a start to study the
envelope with renewed interest.
Mrs. Luther wilkins" he said. Mrs.
Luther wilkins. And I an old bachelor
who never so much as hardly thought of
getting married! Mrs. Luther wilkins,
why. where is she? And who is she?
We'll. l guess III see what's in it," He
inserted the point of his knife under the
| corner of the envelope flap, then he hest
tated.
What business have l opening of her
letters?" he asked himself. Il never did
open other folks letters. and 1 guess I
won't begin now" He rose to his feet and
| carrying it to the mantle-piece leaned il
| up against the clock.
He settled himself to his papers. but
| thoughts of Mrs. Luther Wilkins kept in
| truding on what he was reading about
patent nest-boxes and UNDERTAKING, and
| the news of the village.
! Thereafter, during all his waking hours
| Mrs. Luther wilkins was often in his
| thoughts. She even haunted his dreams
| at times He wondered what she was like
| and he thought of the kind of woman he
would wish her to be. and enjoyed himself
very much in imagining how it would seem
| to have her meet him a the door when he
| came in from the fields, and how nice 1t
| would be not to have to get his own meals
AT first he was a little cynical and told
himself that the imagining was much
| more satisfactory than the reality would
be, but after awhile he changed his mind
| ana would sigh heavily when he came into
| his lonesome house
The letter by the clock too began to
trouble him. He had a devouring curios-
! ity 10 see what was in it, and besides it
did not seem just right to keep it so long
before delivering it,
One evening i'm lime Tltther p,t ~, t,,s
best clothes and walked three miles 10 see
/ an old schoo.mate who had an unmarried
cousin living with him. 1t seemed TO him
/ that Eliza Elliott fitted in exactly with
his idea of Mrs. Luther wilkins. He came
| home quite early very much disappointed
| Eliza wouldn't do at all
lie worked doggedly for a month, trying
/ hard not to think of the disquieting sub
/ ject. 1t was no use and toward the end
/ of July it was observed that Luther was
becoming very neighborly. He spent his
! evening al different neighbors' houses. he
| accepted invitations to tea he went to
| church regularly and 10 all Sunday school
! picuics. And still he could not find a
suitable owner for the letter.
Il must be terrible fussy." he sighed
| I've got acquainted with about all the
women in town; they're nice women, every
| one of them. but somehow they don't suit
me. l guess III have to give up beat"
| 1t was one cold raw day in early No
vember that Luther sat at a window maxi
| ing clumsy attempts at mending a pair of
! very ragged socks. Happening to glance
! across the road he saw a woman out in
! the Hammond's yard She was busy rak-
| ing uD the fallen autumn leaves.
! 'Lelitia Hammond" Luther commented
| "Bul Hammonds sister We don't see
much of her lately She don't even go to
| church, there's so many of Bits children
to look after. and Bits wife is so took up
with her clubs and things. It's hard on
| Letitia, but she never finds a word of
| fault"
| The sock he was mendng fell to the
| floor and the wooden egg inside it struck
with such loud bang that the cal started
| in his sleep. Luther did not notice. He
was standing at the window staring out