Charlevoix county herald., 1904-02-13
BY LAWRENCE PERRY


Never had there been such winter
In South Dusenbury. What with mu-
sicales. lectures. socials and the like
the little village usually managed to
fill in the dark. cheerless gap between
harvest and sowing nicely. But this
winter the felicities of village life had
been augmented 10y an amazing and
unparalleled number Of wedding ami
versarics Wooden weddings. tin we'd
dings, crystal weddings, had followed
one another in rapid succession until
those who were blessed in the giving
were hardly less numerous than those
blessed in the receiving.
Now. South Dusenbury contained its
share of spinsters. village parlance
which. being interpreted. signited that
the woman to whom the term was APP
piled had lived twenty-eight years or
more-generally more-and was still
unmarried To their eternal credit be
it said that they rejoiced open hearted
~ In the marital anniversaries Of their
fellow citizens and had contributed not
little 10 the general atmosphere Of
happiness which attended these func-
tons.
No. not quite ALL One exception
one distinguished exceptlon-must be
noted. Keziah Bottleby. Miss Bottleby
was strong minded. tall. angular wo-
man, an ardent church worker and
ready to turn her helpful hand to any
thing when the needs Of the neighbor
niversnries began to pail upon her, and
by the time Deacon Thompson and
Mrs. Thompson had celebrated their
silver wedding she was thoroughly dis
gusted. She lost no opportunity in let
ting that fact be known. Hers was Il
trenchant tongue. Some were amused;
more were made uncomfortable. But
there was no other result The ami
versaries continued just the same. OF
course this fact did not silence Miss
Bottleby.
II tell ye." she said one afternoon at
a meeting Of the Kings Daughters. ats
perfectly scandalous. Sech gruspin'
tendencies as has been exhibited in this
village this winter Is downright hea-
and Sophy Newell. They amt done
nothin' but spat these mortal twenty
five years. accordin' to all accounts.
and. laws me. there they stood up to-
gether Mt their silver weddin. she in
new gingham dress and all perked up
and simperin' about with one eye and
countin the presents with the other. 1t
made me sick. And l guess | showed
Jest how felt toov'
AS usual, Miss Bottleby was listened
to In the most respectful silence, and
when she ceased speaking no one ven
tured remark. Miss Bottleby gave
contemptuous sniff and applied herself
to her needle. While she sewed on. the
glimmer Of an idea shot through her
mind. and as she pondered and en-
larged upon 1t the stern lines of her
face relaxed into broad smile. Yes.
she would do 1t. There was no reason
why she should not and many reasons
why she should. If so many persons
congratulated themselves and asked
others to join them simply because
they had been married score or so of
years why should she not be congratu-
lated in remaining single a similar
period? Surely 1t was more difficult to
remain unmarried than to find hus
band. Yes. she would do it.
In day or two the villagers received
the following invitation:
Miss KeZiah Bottleby. having exist
ed In single blessedness for forty-fve
years, requests your presence ut her
home on Thursday, May II. at 3 o'clock
in the afternoon. the occasion being an
old maids variety. Tea and dough-
nuts will be served. and presents may
be stored In The parlor."
They were the talk of the village
these invitations. and every one said
how like Miss Bottleby 1t was. They
all meant to go, too. for they felt that
she did deserve something for her long
years Of abnegation. The general tend
ency was to defeat her purpose by ig
noring the obvious sarcasm and pre-
tending that they took her seriously.
Hiram Spinks had received an invi-
tation. and ii had struck q responsive
chord In his heart. for he. too. had en-
joycd life of celibacy.
He met Miss Bottleby several days
before the variety" party. and she
smiled so warmly that Hiram lifted
his hat clear from his head instead Of
giving the customary little flip Of his
hand.
"How be We, Hiram?" said Miss Bot
tleby. Zine warm day."
"Why, how de do-o-o. Keziah?" said
Hiram. Eyes, um; yes. it's tolerable
warm"
That was all. Keziah swept by, but
Hiram suddenly gave a start and turn
ed to look at her retreating figure.
"a fine, smart woman" he muttered;
"a real woman" He was thinking.
He thought all the way to his lonely
home and finally slapped his hand on
his thigh.
"By gumW he calculated "I'll do IL