The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-07-15

II friends. OF course, q low
NAESsSASXsk3 ers' quarrel was at the bot
tom Of it all. But even
then, for young and attractive girl
of twehty-three to join the Spinsters'
Society, and adopt the vows of eternal
celi9acy like the rest of its members,
WHOSE ages gave them some excuse for
81 doing, was an admittedly extraor-
Hinary proceeding.
When Sibyl Cathcart found herself
fully installed into the sisterhood Of the
Spinsters' Society, she began to rum
mate as to whether, after all, she had
acted wisely. True, he had been seen
leaving the theatre with another wom-
an, and what made matters worse was
the fact that the other woman was
young and pretty. RumOr had it, too,
that he had been seen to publicly kiss
the other woman at the railway sta
ton. SO Sibyl, with the usual i'm
petuosity of her sex, sat down immedi-
ately and penned a short and formal
note giving him the congo. He de-
manded an explanation, first in person
and then by letter. She refused to
see him when he called, and upon re-
ceiving his letter, tore it up and then
cried over the fragments.
But once she had set her hand to the
plow she did not intend to go back All
the other members, to the number of
seventeen, were at least a quarter Of
a century older than herself, despite
their allegations to the contrary, and
their business aptitudes were not bril-
liant. The pretentious building in
which many of the members dwelt,
and which was recognized as the So
ciety's headquarters, required judicious
management, in view of the small
amount Of money forthcoming for the
purpose. One day Sibyl found herself
in the presence of her chieftainess.
"My DEAR" began Miss Tabs, as she
surveyed the girl from over her specta-
Giles, do you think you could become
one of us altogether? l mean, could
you come and live on the premises, for
instance?"
Il think So" Sibyl replied doubt
fully, well aware that her friends
would think her more eccentric than
ever
"Now that is nice of you'll Well, the
fact of the matter is that Miss Frank
lin has come to the conclusion that the
position Of secretary to the society ell
tails more work than she can under
take, and if you will, we want you to
take her place. You are young and en-
ergetic, and with all due Difference to
Miss Franklin, l might say that you
would be able to manage the society'S
small income more benefcially to our
selves. You must know my dear, that
the greed for money of the opposite sex
is horrible, and unfortunate creatures
like ourselves are therefore robbed Of
what justly belongs to us. You will,
OF course, have your board and lodg-
ings for nothing and a grant Of fS per
annum. Will you accept the post?"
Certainly. With pleasure"
'That is good Of you. But mind, you
must do your utmost to thwart the
Vaccinations of the OPP osite sex. Never
patronize a tradesman, or any business
conducted by man, and if you ever
find that either of the servants has a
follower, sack her, my dear, sack her
immediately
At this point a gray-haired lady, any
thing but prepossessing in appearance,
entered the room, and was greeted by
Miss Tabs.
"Ah! here you are, Miss Franklin.
Miss Cathcart has promised to act as
secretary from this day forward, and l
have just been giving her a few wrin-
kies.'
THANK you SO much, dearie," re-
sponded the eX-secretary kindly. "But
do you know what has happened? The
landlord has come himself for the rent
What are we to do? We have no
money, and the rent is months over
due"
How fearful to be in the hands OF
such a money grabbing brute"' inter.
posed Miss Tabbs.
"Men were always brutesw volun.
teered Miss Franklin.
Sibyl thought the same and remained
silent.
But where is he now?" asked Miss
Tabs.
"Oh, he's on the doorstep. I spoke to
him through the letter box. I could
not have the house polluted with his
presence inside. It's bad enough fol