The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-10-03
OLD MISS ALLEN.

4
! sensational piece of news which had dis
turbed the even current OF things in An
/ tiDch for many q year. Old Miss Allen was
one Of the Oldest residents Of the village
! IN spite of her title she was a widow
/ She had come 70 Antioch with her second
husband in the year when there was talk
! that the c. L. & X railroad might tJild
a spur from Antioch 20 the county seat
The spur had never been built, but odd
I Miss" Allen had lived or and in the Hap
Ply Home Cemetery were the graves not
only of her second but also Of her third
! helpnaeet-
! It was the second husband, assisted by
few hundred dollars left by the first,
who had built the frame cottage in which
old Miss Allen had always lived The
/ cottage was nearly fifty years old and
never had a dollar beer spent OF it il the
way of repairs. Old Miss Allen had other
/ uses for her money. A certain per cent
Of It went With uafailiEg regularity TO the
support of the church and the foreign
missionary society A little went to
supply her daily wants in the way of food
and fuel But the largest part was reg
ularly spent IN the purchase Of bar
( gains. Old Miss Allen was a hopeless
victim OF the bargain habit" principally
+ by mail
There was no railroad which came near
er than rine miles to Antioch. bat the
stage brought the mail over every day
I and old Miss Allen was regular sub
( scriber to the tri-weekly edition OF a city
( paper, which, with tia addition Of the
! Bible ana Mrs. Hernan's poems, bounded
/ her acquaintance with literature. When
! old Miss Allen could discover in the paper
/ al advertisement of a remnant sale she
I felt as does man who has discovered a
| new novelist or poet First she sent for
! samples. then she bought, and she always
/ selected the goods OF which she could get
/ the greatest number Of yards for the
money
! Old Miss Aliens house was a curiosity
I shop. It was absolutely craUmed with
/ bargains, many OF them thirty years old.
4 Her chief delight IL life in adding TO the
/ astonishing collection.
One Of her rules in life was to never
1 throw anything away. She kept bits Of
( string. odd ends of ribbon. WORKOUT
clothes, and ancient pieces of everything.
( Her bureau drawers were stuffed tc over
! flowing with stuff" On the walls OF her
/ three-room cottage were pinned and past
/ ed every chrome and colored picture
I which the Sunday edition of the Budget
I Of Freedom had ever issued. Even her
marble top center table, which in the
/ households of Antioch occupied the place
4 OF holy OF holes. was buried under a mess
OF clippings and scraps which in the eyes
Of most Antioch people were entirely dis
graceful.
Furthermore, old Miss Allen was a no.
tably bad housekeeper in every way The
regular sweeping day in Antioch was
Thursday, but old Miss Allen rarely Weld
ed broom more frequently than cnce in
two>or three months She was afraid she
might disturb some of her treasures. They
Included, in addition to TIE bargains and
the miscellaneous spoil, countless memen-
tos Of the three dearly beloved departed
ones. The first whom Antioch had never
known and of whom It consequently al
ways had its suspicious. had been a sailor
He had left behind him an artificial mer-
maid or two, exceedingly dusty and Some
what odoriferous, a full-rigged ship In
| glass case, which had been broken in
| one Of Miss Aliens infrequent house
cleanings and a number of sea shells,
/ which served as convenient repositories
for bits Of paper and other similar troph-
! les. The second came TO Antioch as an
attorney at law, and, after he discovered
that the village offered small opportuni-
ties for the practice of his profession, had
taken advantage Of his talent as d jeweler
and elocknaker.
Ever since the third husband died Mary
Ann Adams had been old Miss Allen S
/ best friend and nearest enemy. Mary
Ann Adams was the typical New Eng
land spinster. With her order was truly
natures first law To her eve the condi-
L
next thing to being sinful. Only the fact
that old Miss Allen was so prompt and
I regular in her contributions TO all good
works and that she was one Of the char
ter members OF the church prevented her
from CHASING old Miss Allen with the
goats. As il was the dirty, disorderly and
mussed-up'' condition Of Miss Allen
house was the greatest burden she had TO
bear. In everything else they were in
accord But on the one subject they had
often come as near TO blows as was pos
sible
For twenty years Mary Ann Adams had
suffered to get at the interior Of the
Allen cottage with q scrubbing brush and
q mop. She was almost a monomaniac on
the subject. Twice she had artfuliy or
gained a surprise party on old Miss Al
len and at TIE head of the sewing society
had invaded the cottage determined 10 do
/ her best. But each time she had been
repulsed.
Mary Ann Adams lived two doors away
from the Allen cottage in a white house
with green blends that was as trim SPOT
less and angular as herself. Strangely the
news that the doctor had given up old
I Miss Allen" did not reach her until near
~ noon. Then she reachd an Instant de-
cision. She put on her "scrubbing dress"
of faded brown Bingham and. armed with
scrubbing brush mop and broom, start
ed down the street TO the Allen cottage.
on the way she met Squire Hall on his
way home to dinner. The squire CON
flrmed her worst fears and at the same
time made her hope bright
Doc Elliot saws that Miss Aliens be-
yond hope he said. "She IS par7lyzed
from the waist down. she can't talk and
her right hand IS all she can move"
Mary Ann Adams hurried on. She
pushed open the door and walked into the
Allen cottage Old Mss Alien lay in her
little bed room adjoining the par'ors
with the door open between them. BY
the side Of the bed sat big brass farm
bell which Miss Allen could reach with
her right hand
Eliza Allen said Mary Ann Adams.
as she came in, II have come down 70
clean Up your house The doctor SAYS
you are desperate sick and an not GO
ing 20 have a lot Of strangers coming into
the house Of a friend Of mine while IL
looks ike this
Old Miss Allen locked At her friend and
enemy " - speeches. lips and speaking
ewes. She seemed 70 cespise herself for
not being able to talk.
II know this won't please vou. Mss Al
len. Nens on Mary Ann Adams "t1t IT.
my duty TO clean up avcaud here before
things get any worse 7 don { want o
hurt your feelings TO more than Is rec
essary. So III shut this dcor.
Miss ADAMS closed the door leading
from the bedroom into the parlcT. Thea
she went 10 work. Within 2 few ni1-
utes she was busy with bucket OF water
and mop FL the parloT. Sfe worked
vigorously and made some Noise. Old
Miss Allen stood Il ss IoIg as she co5i5
.rnen she reached down and graspei the
biz brsss bell After the second ciaue
Miss Marv Ann Al uls opened the door
ana looked in old Miss Allen was max
ga "a wa- q
Presently Mary A1a made en- shat she
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