Evening star., 1901-06-08

short notice under the head of "Matri
monial' at once attracted his attention.
A plump and pleasing middleaged lady
wishes to correspond with gentleman in
comfortable circumstances. Object matri-
mony and a home
Obadiah fumbled with his struggling
whiskers and gazed at the lines long and
thoughtfully. He liked the way the lady
had expressed herself.
Plump and pleas.ng-plump and pleas
ing"
He said 1t over and over many times.
No matter where his eye wandered. it soon
returned to the fascinating sentence. and,
pOnderingly, he unconsciousy hummed the
words to the tune Of old Hundred
He wondered how it would seem to have
a wife that was plump and pleasing Lydia
had been lean and angular to marked de-
gree. Never plump and not always pleas
ing. Object home that he could give
her. coZy and comfortable as any rea-
sOnable woman could ask. The result of his
cogitatons was letter which he spent the
whole evening inditing. being a slow pen
man and very uncertain as to spelling. He
| addressed 1t to j. A. B.. as directed in the
advertisement. sent 1t off in the morning
mail and awaited results.
In due time an answer came which
pleased him. and SO after cautious and
satisfying correspondence behold Obadiah
in his Sunday clothes, his troublesome
starched shirt and collar doing an UNI
wonted service, wandering along Boston's
busy streets in search of the Common and
! IL,
designated by the plump and pleasing one
for their first meeting His hair and beard.
| which he had treated to a generous dress
| ing Of musk-scented hair oil. were care
| fully combed, and it gave him a slick and
unnatural appearance. His Sunday boots
/ creaked loudly on the stone Tagging, and
he gaZed with open-eyed interest at the
unusual sights on all sides. He had never
been in a large city before. but. having
great confidence in his own acuteness, he
felt quite at his ease, and when a newsboy
yelled Hi, Jimmie, get on to the Rube.
Obadiah bestowed upon the urchin wink
so prodigious and knowing that the abashed
boy imagined it was all mistake. and
that Obadiah must be the advance agent
for some farmer drama in disguise. A
kindly policeman directed him to the Com
mon and Soldiers monument, where on his
arrival he seated himself and adjusted a
bit of red ribbon in his buttonhole. that
being the sign suggested by the unknown
| for his identification.
| Soon he became aware that person
| was watching him from seat some dis
| tance away. 1t was a woman. He could
| not distinguish her features at the dis
| tance, but her form was very prominent
/ She was robed in black satin dress. with
| strings of jet across the front. which re-
| 1ected many shimmering points of light In
| the sunshine feminine observer would
/ have noticed that the satin was consider
ably worn and rusty, but Obadiah thought
it was about the richest affair he had ever
ga~ed upon However. it was not the dress
| Her breadth was startling.
| Il swor! That woman is bigger round
| than Matilda RaZey, muttered Obadiah,
| comparing the stranger with the largest
| woman of his acquaintance. wonder
| what she's eyein me for He hitched
| uneaSily.
! The object of his attention arose. shook
| out her giistening raiment. opened a sun
| umbrella which looked absurdly small and
! moved slowly in his direction. He now no
| ticed that she carried in her hand bunch
| of vioIets, which was also an identifying
| mark. settled upon In MS correspondence
! with j. a. b.
| EFF tan't her. I'm an Injun!" thought
| the surprised man. Great Scat. don't
| want her and don't want to see her"
| He covered the red ribbon with his bony
| hand and sauntered away. trying to whistle
| indifYerently. Noting that she quickened
her pace he accelerated his correspondfngly
| endeayoring to keep the monument between
| them. He circled the monument several
| times with the lady bearing in his wake
like a ship under full sail
II got to see her. anyhow" he muttered
| 1 DON'T He paused and pretended to be
| greatly interested in the monumental In
| scription She was quickly beside him.
| Excuse me. sir" she began. Il want to
| ask If you was Mr.. Gimley.'
He noticed that the voice was low and
| pleasing and tinged with a foreign accent
| Yes, ma am: Obadiah Gimley from, Brad.
| ley Holler" He turned and bobbed his
head looking at her sharply. What he saw
| was an attractive, pleasant face, large
brown. kindly eyes. a good mouth with fine
| white teeth and q smile which dimpled the
| plump cheeks in a most satisfying way.
| We'll: l ask you because / want to be
| sure you was Mr.. Gimley" She looked him
over with a dubious expression. II don't
think we should waste some time any more