Amador ledger., 1904-12-16
ENTER THE
WIDOW
Copyright, 1904. by t. c. Mcclure
BY Annette Graham

Great, isn't it," asked Dubois
Couldn't be better!" said Marshall.
you've certainly done wondersw
said the infant
Beats any boarding house we've
ever struck!' said Remmington, and
he glanced significantly through the
window across the court
The court was really nothing but
an air shaft, and on the other side che
window opened into the dining room
of typical city boarding house, with
its clatter. of dishes and forced con-
versation. Listening to it all, the four
bachelors in their own cozy quarters
smoked on in contented silence
They had stuck together for four
years, trailing from hotel to boarding
house, boarding house to bachelor
apartments, bachelor apartments to
restaurants, until in despair they had
decided to furnish fiat. Dubois had
been elected to buy the furniture and
install the domestic machinery The
other three declared that he had q
bump of domesticity that ought to be
encouraged. So he had experimental
with the employment agencies, where
he had interviewed women grave and
gay, who hailed all the way from Nor
way to Africa, and at last he had Sc
cured the services of Wyote, a typ
ical Japanese servant, with excellent
references.
No four children, possessed Of
brand new pals and shovels on a
sandy beach, ever experienced more
pleasure than these four grown men
with their new toy, which they had
dubbed "The Snuggery." Every night
as they sat at table they expressed
appreciation of their own comfortable
position and deep commiseration for
the unfortunate individuals who board
ed across the area. Then came a day
when silence brooded over the other
fiat. Bare, uncurtained windows, COW
cred with dust, greeted the occupants
of ''The Snuggery' when they came
home that night.
''A1ova very quick" said Wyote con-
cisely. and the bachelors really felt as
If something had gone out of their lives
when they could no longer pity their
next door neighbors.
For week the opposite fiat was
empty. Then came decorators. The
staring windows were cleaned, and one
night Dubois, coming home earlier
than the others, saw a pretty girlish
face at the opposite window 1t was
rather a high bred face, too, though
Its owner could not be more than six
teen, and 1t was framed ON either side
by hangings of some soft green mate
rial. Dubois turned away from the
window and looked inquiringly at Wy
ote, who was setting the dinner table.
mo man; all ladies'" said Wyote,
Good Lord" said Dubois, 81 hope
it's not a young ladies' seminary
And the rest of the fellows echoed his
wish. Half an hour later the pretty
girl, otherwise Kittie Bronson, eXclaim-
ed:
"Auntie, dear, do look; there isn't a
woman over there-just four horrid
men with Japanese servantr'
kitty, Kitty" said Mrs. Bronson as
she hastily drew down the shade, 81
can see very plainly that this is no
place for you. You must remember
that, while in Little River it was your
privilege to know all about your neigh
bors' affairs, In New York every fam
lily lives unto itself, and-and you real
ly must not display any further inter-
est in the people across the areaway,
particularly if they are all men,"
Kitty Bronson did not mean to be
disobedient but the window across
the areaway possessed fascination for
her, and even her aunt had to admit
mild interest in the doings of those
-four funny bachelors" Mrs. Bron-
son also had bump Of domesticity,
and, though q woman of means, she
managed her elegant little home, with
its two servants and her late hus-
bands niece, in a manner economical,
yet not penurious. She loved dainty
things and gave much time to domes-
| tic details 1t sometimes annoyed her
to see how Wyote wasted and mis-
managed.
"It's a burning shame" she would
say to herself what those unfortu-
nate boys spend to run that house
would keep two families"
She did not mean to be impertinent,
but she could not fail to see that gas
was burned until patience ceased to
be virtue and that good wholesome
food which could have been made into
delicious entrees went down to the jan
itor. 1t veXed her housewifely SOUL
Then, too, she was woman, still ap-
preciative, and the occupants of the
bachelor f1at-well, she had seen men
she could admire less. She had just be-
gun to call them those poor boys
when she was summoned one night
from the tiny drawing room to the al
cove of the dining room by her ex-
cited niece.
do look, auntie! He is showing his
Japanese servant how you set the ta-
ble.'
And, sure enough, at the opposite
window stood Dubois with Wyote. He
pointed first to his own table and then
to Mrs. Bronson's. And the next even
ing there were four silver candelabra
with silk shades and rosy candles on
their dinner table. The next lesson
across the areaway came in the morn
ing, and, after a heart to heart talk
with Wyote, Dubois turned to the ex-