Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-06-17
Between Two
StOoIC
BY ALEC BRUCE
BY ALEC BRUCE
Copyright, 1903, by t. C. Mcclure

ana Tor both she entertained a measure
or affection and respect. In the bal
ance she had weighed them and found
neither wanting. Tip, up went Gott-
heb, down went Hans. Tip, up went
hahs, down went Gottlieb. Tip, steady;
ounce to oupce they weighed and hung.
n very hair would sway them.
Ach, dey both be goot vor husbands.
Nich best. hey? I don't know now"
she unused. 'Gottlieb he haaf a warm.
uree hondred acres, two horse, SOM
COW, som pig, an he work hard; he
plow so much. Ach, but Hans, he haaf
dat much, too, alretty, an he work
harder; he pillow so much as GottIieb.
Elder wood do. Oh, myr' And again
the widow sighed.
Now. of the well matched rivals hard.
working Hans was the younger and
the handsomer. but Gottlieb. IL he was
oluer and OF coarser fiber, was more
ardent, more noticing of the small
things so dear TO woman's soul. and
II neither had popped the momentous
question. right cunningly had Gottlieb
approached it, Yah. yah, much nearer
than Hans had ever dared to 60.
Pauline,' one day he had ventured
with grin all over his vacuous face.
YOU make ride goot soup. Eferey day
L vish'l ged mine dinner vrom YOU"
Dat vas near, YER near, vas it notP
Ach, bud Hans! Hans vas chust SO
awvul handsome. too, te-he-her' snIg-
gered the widow, and certainly. In the
sheepish Chances. the frequent wise
Ike pressurcs of his horny hand. in his
own dumb way Hans told an equally
tiattering tale.
Ha, bud chust so val ] might be
carevul Won nefer knows" argued
the widow.
Truly for this caution the widow
had good cause. Before marriage the
late Herr Stahl, like the present suit
ors, had been weighed in the balance
and found mot wanting" After mar
riage long. long. practical sermon he
had preached. the text of which had
been ''the waste of precious love"
And now: "Loofe. loofei oh, no: oh.
no." sneered the widow. Nit such
tings as dat haaf noting more to do,
Nein. neinr
For her man, Gottlieb or Hans.
Whichever won her hand. she would
wash close, make ride goot soup. clean
house and do chust so val as she could.
Bud loofe-nein. nein!
In grinding matrimonial mill. To no
sure, the widow had been hattened
Not so Gstuicb, not SO Hans. and she
forgot that. while to them the practi-
cal side OF the contract must have its
roseate hues. the loofe side still would
be the roster. Such was the case. For
the tender feminine signs which never
came each bashful lover had waited
long. and ut last: Zach. chust SO val
Wait SOM longer. Won nefer knows.
Won nefer knows" each argued in his
turn.
Now, TO her name the Widow Stabl
mad nothing-no horse. no cow, no pic.
no DOT. But. worst OF all. the marriage
inangle had squeezed from her that
subtle coQuetry. the magnet of her sex.
and. try as she might to extract n pro
posal from her cooling SWANS. they
returned only sheepish looks. hand
Chaps and praise for culinary skill.
O'hone, what was the mattcrY
The widow stepped her brains.
"Ach, Colt, the sordid loonsr II
was dowry they were after. To wash
Close, to make ride goot SOUP. TO clean
house, to do chust so val as n woman
can, was not enough for thcm-ach.
nein! AT last she understood.
In the old country the widow had an
ohcle. Seventy years of age was the
ohcle' ana at seventy oncles sometimes
ole. To Gottlieb and to Hans OF that
oncie she had often spoken-yah. yah,
Eight thousand dollars she believed he
had amasscd. All. II I'm loofe Pauline
was weak In strategy she was strong,
Mine Colt. she had schemel
Nv the widow OF the late Auguste stahl
mt the Undersigned viii correspond. OF
som ting greatly TO her advantage she
WI hear In Stuttgart her aged oncle
haaf died.
-Four insertions such as that I'm the
Western Prairie Farmer. and Pauline
could take her choice. Hans? Mebbe.
Gottheb? Mebbe. Ach. chust SO wall
she might be carcvul. The less sordid
she would choose.
Hey" unused Gottlleb. two weel,s
later, when his gray green eyes de.
voured four closely printed lines in
the personal OF the Western Prairie
Farmer. Hey, Stuttgart? Dat might
be Paulines oncle NIT the comfortable
Vortune Pauline hal she wash close:
she make ride goot soup. Wy not yed
mine dinner by her eferey day? can
chust so val pay vor two. den. I hasf
more time TO work. Hey. Wy not? Und
-rnd to Hans. dat leetle mortgage
could pay. Hey, Wy not?"
SO to the widow FASTENED Gottlieb.
Pauline" In cold sweat he rambled.
his bony fingers clinching and un-
ciinching at q cracking hayseed hat.
I-l-ioofe you. I-I-haaf warm.
dree hondred acres. two horse. SOM
COW, SOM pig. You-you haaf not
ting-notting at all. Pauline, no warm.
no husband. You vas yelic: but l
loofe you. Pauline. / lopfe you. You
wash de close. ged dinner, clean house.
pillow. work I'm de Weld. We better
ged married. hey?"
1t was mighty effort for the wooer.
but 1t did not please the wooed. Hey.
SO vas relic. vas |, Gottlieb? What
vor you loofe relics? Dem only in
terestin'. Ach. vrom the heart you do
IL.
mebbe. Ride goot soup. Pauline you
once say. ha! ha, What vor we ged
married, GOttlieb. hey? Nein. nein!"
she crashed in his face.
Threatened Gottlieb: Den, / marry
Katrina"
Katrina. heyT sneered Pauline with
clumsy shrug. Zach, val she marry
you, Gottlieb. She joomp at you. You
ask at herr
Himmel! A few moments later. as
she listened to the slow, uncertain
shuttle of his heavy feet trailing down
the wooden stair. the widow wavered.
Should she recall him, hey? Ach, nein.
lie had seen the al. about her oncle |
in the paper His was Il sordid, stom- |
ach ioofe, chust the thing for the
spinster Katrina. For her, Pauline. der
vas still the handsome Hans, dree hon |
dred acres and n warm!