Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-09-14
|. A M|SER'S ROMANCE.

ulu us own COOKING, WaSneu his own
clothes and mended the same Atmend-
ing he was an expert, for it was COM
mon talk that he had worn one suit of
clothes ten years. No one in the neigh
borhood knew his exact age, but he
looked to be on the shady side of 40.
Neither did any one have authentic in
formation as to the extent of his wealth
He was afraid of banks and kept his
thousands in some secret hiding place
about the house.
| That such a man should be a bachelor
was quite in order No doubt he looked
upon the question of marriage in the
same light that he viewed all other
Professionalism the standpoint of
probable cost. He seldom called upon a
girl. Occasionally when he had ascer-
tanned in advance that there would be
no charge for refreshments he would at
tend a church social, his grain leather
boots bright with stove polish and his
coat buttoned tightly over his gray
i flannel shirt. Vests i'll his estimation
We're in the same class with wives
luxuries to be enjoyed only by the reck-
lessly rich.
AT one Of these church affairs he met
the daughter of farmer who had re-
Gently moved into the neighborhood.
She was a lass of rare beauty, and it
] was no wonder that the misery bache-
lor exerted himself to Guido the younger
men in witty sayings and pleasant
4 speeches to her
AS he drove home in his squeaky
spring wagon behind old Esau, the mule
he had been driving for II years the
vision of the rosy checked, brown eyed
maid dwelt persistently in his mind,
and he caught himself repeating her
name over and over again:
"Nfabel Harvey, Mabel Harvey.
Nab Git up there, Esaul"
He interrupted his musings on the
fair Mabel with savage swish of the
reins and a command to the aged ami
NAL, which had taken advantage Of its
masters abstraction to slacken its gait
to slow walk.
81 can't bea-thinkin of gals and SIGH,
nonsense, !" exclaimed the farmer aloud.
I,"Wimmin is only expense and trouble
anyhow
/ 1t was a brave attempt to banish the
memory of the girl, but it failed. Five
minutes later Esau had resumed the
slow walk, and the bachelor was gazing
dreamily at the stars going over in his
mind the incidents at the church social
with the pretty Mabel as the center
l figure
Several times in the night he awoke
from a restless sleep to think of the
girl. He could not drive away the con-
slant contemplation of her Whether in
the fields or in the stable, the kitchen
or the sitting room, Mabel Harvey was
the subject OF his thoughts.
Two weeks passed. He met her the
second time at the church. On the way
home that night Esau's pace was abso-
lutely snailish. Pike ceased to try to
escape from the fascination. But then
a terrible battle arose between the imp
of avarice and the love sprite. Through
out his life the bachelor had denied
himself every pleasure and the gratifi-
cation Of every whim for economy
sake Why should he break the rule be-
cause certain girl seemed a thousand
fold more attractive to him than all
others? Then he remembered how she
had smiled at his witticisms, and his
vanity was touched. He argued himself
into the belief that il he should want
to marry her she would have him
| "I'm richer than any single teller in
the county, and she must know it, |" he
unused. Goals + great after fellers with
money, an guess she's a good deal like
the rest Of 'em. y
But he could not come to final de.
cision to inaugurate the counting.
"Wimmin is powerful extravaganza.
This thought invariably shattered his
dreams of welded life.
One day an idea came to him. He
would experiment and ascertain if he
could afford, according to his notion Of
expense, to support a wife.
Every time | buy anything for myself
I'll jest git twice as much as usual, and
III purity nigh know before long how
much it 'ud cost for the keep of q
wife. . He smiled complacently at what
he considered the sure evidence Of an
| ingenuity that would lead to the solu-
ton of the problem which was vexing
him.
"I'll try it for a month, and if it
amt too expenseful I'll go after that
gal. !"
Such an idea was exactly in keeping
with Pixies character. Heisaw nothing
ridiculous in it. 1t was business mat
ten with him, and he prided himself
that he had hit upon a method Of salts
flying his avaricious instinct on the
stubborn question of expense. He i'm
parted his scheme to no one. This was
nbt unusual. He had never been known
to talk OF his affairs.
! Some discussion was caused in the
town store when it was. noted that his
purchases Were precisely double what
they had been. This started the gossips,
and it was common talk that the bache-
lor had loosened his purse strings.
"Must be expectin somebody ter visit
with him, " suggested Jason Drifting
ham, a grocery store whittier.
"Most likely he's lookin fer the price
OF coffee and sugar to go up soon, was
1 the observation of T,inu Strong tba