Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1905-08-10
GAVE HIN a SCARE.

more or less OF state of palsy eve
since.
Several weeks ago he was introduced
to a handsome. rogueish-eyed youul
woman with the Mrs. prefix to hei
name, but around whose delightful per
sonality lowered various mystifyinG
little circumstances, such as the where
abouts of her husband, etc.
The grass widow may figure here as
Mrs Naught.
The young married man found the
FIVE minutes chat that he had with her
exceedingly interesting. 1t was borne
in upon him in vague sort Of way
that she had the knack of selecting the
right sort of alluring perfumes, that
she most decidedly knew how to do ur
her wavy raven hair, that the simple
ity Of her tailor-wrought gown was
fetching to a degree-and other things
that occasionally fit through the dull
minds Of male persons, married or sim
gle, bold and bad, or otherwise.
About a week later he happened to
drop into a matinee performance at
one OF the theaters. He stood behind
the last row of seats to watch an act
or so of the show. The radiant Mrs.
Naught happened to have seat in the
last row. What more natural than that,
during the entr'acte, the bold, ba-ad
young married man should bend over
and engage in a little cheerful talk.
Three or four days later he met the
piquantly mysterious Mrs. Naught on
the street, and she was good enough to
permit him to walk square or so with
her. They talked of the depth of the
blue empyrean that arched above them
the probability of an early spring, etc
A few days later still Mrs Naught
boarded a street car on which the
young married man was riding down
town.
Now. this young married mans wife
belong to the type of young matrcns
who exclaim, when the subject of jeal-
ousy is breathed:
Jealous? Deed wouldn't give the
best man alive the satisfaction of be-
! ing jealous of himi"
she was almost ridiculously jealous of
her husband.
When the young married man
reached his fiat on the evening of the
day on which he had ridden down to wn
| in the street car with the Lorlei-
voiced Mrs. Naught he found the wife
of his bosom in a state that oscillated
between tears and extreme wrath.
Read the indictment, my dear" he
said to her What have l done now?''
"Wretch!" she exclaimed, tearfully
Don't you dare to attmpt to pull the
wool over my eyes! l know all-all!"
Look here, my dear" said ne,
you're only laying off-fooling, aren't
your"
"Fooling! How dare you!" she ex-
claimed, tragically. "Do you think |
don't know that this horrid woman is
that you're lauguishing over at matt
nees, meeting by appointment on the
street, and riding down town with on
the street cars?"
However, after an hour or so of care
full work he contrived to square him
self. There was some cooling and mu-
tual apologizing, and peace once more
brooded over the fiat.
Then. along toward eight o'clock,
when the young married man was
reading his paper in slippers and
jacket, the bell from the vestibule be-
low rang, His wife was out in the
dining room. and the young man went
to the Tube.
"Well?" he called down the tube.
81 am Mrs. Naught" was the flute
like reply up the tube. "Is your wife
in?"
The cold beads worked their way to
the young married mans brow in
something less than two seconds. His
heart seemed to quit work. His hand
shook like an aspen.
"Just wait a minute" he hoarsely
called down the tube, and he was out
of the fiat door and down the steps like
a fash He had but one idea, and that
was to head Mrs. Naught off.
I'm up against the real thing now,
all right" ne frantically reflected, as
he loped down the stairs to the vesti-
buled entrance.
AS he reached the hall the vestibule
door opened and a nice, wholesome
looking young woman entered the hall.
The young married man looked at her
with straining eyes.
''You are" he began, in tremu-
lous tone.
81 am Mrs. Naught," broke in the
wholesome-looking young woman, slz-
ing up the young married man with
some surprise in her expression.
"Oh-er-yes-er- delighted to meet
you'll am my wires husband, you
know-won't you come right up?" he
said to her, hoarsely
1t wasn't the grass widow Mrs,
Naught at all of course, He conduct
ed his wlfe's visitor to the fiat, and as
soon as his wife saw the visitor she
looked delighted and formally present
ed her husband to Mrs. Naught. lie
had never seen her before.