Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-06
TIL WIDOW YoNsoN.

understand what size was saying. pro-
vided she said IL slowly; but OF Eng
fish she thew nothing at all That
was the reason. perhaps. why they lin-
gered so long on the balcony togets er,
with no one else around. and why they
held such close communion. much OF
the time scarcely arms length apart.
Their speech was necessarily very I'M
perfect: but then. there were their
eyes. which sometimes spoke volumes,
when a single word or sentence might
have suffered. In this 'iengua uni
| ~versal," or speech Of the eyes-as the
| Spaniards call it-she was an adept. for
her orbs were black and brilliant, and
when they shot a glance at him from
under the big velvet hat she wore,
they scored a center-shot. every time,
He may have lost his heart; he thought
he had; but anyway he lost his head.
| and she played foot ball with II.
How 1t came about that the Senorita
Dolores Delmonte. daughter of an aris-
| IDtIdlIC HOuSt. SHouiu haN aftQNNh
| herself such a lapse from the rigid con-
| ve~ntionalities of Havana's best society,
!! as to hold tete-a-tete with a man. and
a foreigner at that. may seem to de-
mand an explanation.
How 1t happened that Mr.. Samuel
Foster, erstwhile of Boston, now So
journing in Cuba, found himself In such
charming society. and in an apparent
ly compromising situation. demands no
explanation at all; for he had merely
exercised a mans prerogative. and
walked into 1t. However. 1t had come
I, about in a perfectly natural way, and
neither was TO blame.
Six months had passed since Mr.. Fos-
ter came to Cuba, with a little money
In his pocket and a modest letter OF
credit, looking for a few of the remu-
neratiye investments which, he had un-
derstood. were to be found on almost
every bush. But he had shaken all the
bushes, and so far had made no val
liable finds" except in the way Of
acquaintances. These latter had proved
of great assistance In disposing of his
funds, so that he had been compelled
to remove from the big hotel to the
cool and quiet casa de h~uespedes" Of
the Widow Johnson.
1t might now seem in order to ex-
plain how 1t was that Mrs. Johnson. a
native Of New York. became 81 well
known in havana tina her house was a
Mecca for all respectable Americans
twho could get i'm, and of some very
refined Havanese. as we'll. But a halt
may as well be called now as hereafter,
! nthis explanatory process, else a de-
mand may be made why she was Mrs.
Johnson, where she had left Mr.. Jonn-
son, and moreover, how she, a charm
ing woman ON the sunny side of forty,
blessed with a pretty face and lovely
figure, should condescend to keep a
clearinghouse at all. None Of the In
mates of her house desired TO raise .the
last question, for they shuddered at The
thought Of her giving up a profession
for which, as was clearly evident to
everybody, she was superemlnently
fitted.
And when II Is divulged that she had
q daughter, an only child, who was
every whit as fascinating as her moth
er, and with an added advantage, Oh be-
ing about seventeen years younger
then it will be seen why wild horses.
tame oxen Tor any other beasts of
draught or burden) could not haul a
single boarder away from the house OF
Ia Viuda Yonson." II was simply i'm
possible for her boarders tthey were all
men, by the way to tear themselves
away for a longer period than suficed
| for the transaction of their legitimate
business between meals, or to leave the
table while the widow and her daugh-
ter presided, one at either end, and a
double row Of admiring aspirants for
their favor sat between.
The young Bostonian seemed to be
a favorite with the hostess from the
very first; which fact may have been
| attributable to his birthplace, or to Ills
| apparent Indifference to her charms.
Whatever the reason, ~the other board
ers. Cubans as well as Americans, could
not but notice 1t, and INDUCED in many
a growl among themselves. They had
to confess, however, that he did not
go out OF his ay in the least to win
the widows good will, but rather, tnat
he was somewhat grun in his
towards her. even domineering. They
did not know-or II they did know they
seemed to have forgotten-that the
most direct way to a widows heart Is