Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-18
GAVE HIM A SCARE

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A bold. ba-4d young married man Of this
town acted - receiver for q scare the
other eveningsthat has kept him in more or
less OF a state OF pal@F ever since.
Several weeks ago Ne was introduced. In
an street of1ce. to handsome. rogueish-
eyed young Woman NTH the Mrs" prefix
to her name. but around whose delightful
personality 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 exceed
ingiy Interesting. It was borne in upon
him In vague sort of way that she had
the knack of selecting the right sort of al
Turing perfumes. that she most decidedly
knew how to do up her wayy raven hair,
that the simplicity 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 sin
gle. bold and bad, or otherwise. 1t should
be stated that the young married man just
didn't happen to think to mention to the
hazel-eyed grass widow that he was mar
rted, during the progress OF his little con-
versation with her.
About 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
a 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 about
the miserableness of the waning winter.
the largeness of the day, and so on. It was
not up to him, of course, to obtrude his
private affairs upon Mrs Naught to the
extent of coming out and informing her
that he was a married man.
Three or four days later he met the
piQuantly mysterious Mrs. Naught on F
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 board
ed 14th street car on which the young
married man was riding down town, and
they conversed Interestingly on the amount
of unprecedented moisture in the atmes-
phere, the former cleanliness of Washing
tons streets, etc.
Now, this young married mans wife be-
longs to. the type of young matrons who
exclaim, when the subject of Jealousy is
breathed:
Jealous? Deed, wouldn't give the best
man alive the satisfaction of being jealous
of him. -
= It therefore goes without saying that she
was almost ridiculously Jealous of her hus-
band.
When the young married man reached his
fiat on the evening of the day on which he
had ridden down town in the 14th street
car with the LOrlei-voiced Mrs. Naught he
found the wife of his bosom in state that
oscillated between tears and extreme
wrath.
"Read the indictment, my DEAR" he said
to her. What have I done now?'
Wretch she exclaimed. tearfully.
Don't you dare to attempt to pull the wool
over my eyes! I know all-all!'
LOOK here, my dear" said he, you're
only playing off-fooling. aren't you?"
Pooling! How dare your' she exclaimed.
tragically. "DNyou think don't know that
this horrid wofshn is that you're anguish
ing over at matfneess meeting by appoint
with on the street cars?"
("WashingtonS burned small town all
right thoughtful young married man to
himself)
However. after an hour or SO of careful
work. he contriyed to square himself.
There was some cooling and mutual apollo
giving, and peace once more brooded over
the fiat. 6
young married man was reading his paper,
in slippers and Jacket, the bell from the
vestibule below rang. His wife was out in
the dining room, and the young man went
to the tube.
"Well?' he called down the tube
II am Mrs. Naught.'' was the f1ute-like
reply up the tube Is your wife in?'
The cold beads Woskea their way to the
young married raAnss urow irr something
Less than two secends Il His heart seemed
aspen.
.'Just wait a mfnute."she hoarsely called
down the tube, and ne was out of the fiat
door and down the steps like a flash. He
had but one idea, and that-was to head Mrs.
Naught off.
I'm up against the real thing now, all
right" he frantically reflected as he Hoped
down the stairs to the vestibuled entrance.
AS he reached the hail the vestibule door
opened and nice, whoiesome-lo looking
young woman entered the hail. The young
married man looked at her with straining
eyes. s.E&
you are he sbegan in tremulous
tone.
II am Mrs Naught," broke in the whole
some-looking young woman, sizing up the
young married man with some surprise IN
her expression. y q ,-5 =
.'Oh-er-yes-er-delig to meet you
I am my. wife,s husband, you know-won
you come right up2y he said to her, hoarse-
ly, and in broken chopped-up sentences,
the reaction from -the shock bringing out
more clammy beads on his forehead.
1t wasn't the grass widow Mrs Naught at
all, of course. He conducted his wife s
visitor to the fiat, and as soon as his wife
saw the visitor she looked delighted and
formally presented her husband to Mrs.
Naught He had never seen her before.
1--WE belong to the same euchre and lite
rary club, jack said the wife of the
young married man.
''Yes. my dear" said Mrs. Naught, land
came to tell you that the clubs meeting
has been postponed from tomorrow after
noon to Thursday afternoon"
''Why how pale you are, and your hand
is trembling sou exclaimed the wife of the
bold, ba-ad young married man. solicitious-
ly. when the visitor departed after short
stay. Are you Ill, Jack?'
"Oh, no. he replied, with labored light
ness. lust feel a bit nervous, that's all.
Reen working like q horse thief down at
the office lately. and guess it's telling on
me a trifie!
siWhy, you poor. overworked thingr' said
his wife.