The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-08-14
Three Old Maids
and q Widow
By c. 3. LEWIS
Copyright, 1905, by M. M. Cunningham

| There are few towns of 1900 popu-
lation that can boast of three old maids
and widow living on the same street
but that was the case with Clifton
Miss Vinton was an old maid because
she never had met with q man good
enough for her. Miss Hopkins was an
old maid because the young man she
| would have married at eighteen was
sawed In two in a sawmill and she had
vowed to be true to his memory Miss
| Warner was an old maid because she
was determined to marry none but
minister, and all the ministers who
came We're already provided for. The
| Widow Carter was a widow because
| part of a house had fallen on her hus-
band.
| The old maids and the widow were
| on visiting terms-in fact, they rather
| liked each other. Where there are no
male candidates for matrimony con-
cerned old maids and widows can sit
down together on the same veranda
without quarreling. After the widow
had solemnly assured the old maids
that nothing on the face of this earth
could induce her to be false to the
memory of her crushed, the quartet
loved each other even more.
One day one of the merchants in the
town sold out and stranger came to
take his place. If he had been a mar
ried man the dove of peace would have
continued to hover over Rose street,
but as he was single, only thirty and
a "catch" the dove saw a hot time
| ahead.
The widow let no grass grow under
her feet in calling at the store and in
cidentally mentioning her name and or
dering four pounds of sugar all at
once. She was one of the Four Hun
dred of the town, and on the part of
the other 800 she babe Mr. Strong vel
come to their midst. When he had
thanked her she ordered two nutmegs
and paper of starch, in addition to
the sugar, to let him understand that
she wasn't obliged to pinch pennies,
and then departed
| An hour later her reprehensible con-
| duct was known to the three old maids
and up went three pairs of hands; six
eyes were turned upward in horror and
three mouths opened to exclaim In cho-
rus, How shOckingr'
Then, during the next two days, each
Of the old maids made an excuse to
call at the store and follow the pro
gramme carried out by the widow.
Each thought she was sly and slick,
but they found each other out, and
from that moment the bond of friend
ship snapped asunder like an old
clothesline left out in the storms Of a
year.
When women make war on each 9th
er they don't use fence rails to pound
each other on the head In most cases
they go right on treating each other as
nicely as they can to their faces, but
using daggers and the darkness to as
sassinate. The three old maids and the
widow gathered together as of yore,
but the dagger was used whenever
there was the least show
Mr.. Strong proved a social success
The widow gave a little dinner and
brought him out, but the old maids
| really monOpolized him for the even
ing. Then Miss Warner gave an exhi-
bitton of her own paintings, which con-
sisted of COW apparently thirty-six
feet long and of a river running up
stream instead of down, and the wild
] ow held Mr.. Strong's attention for an
hour while she talked about her crush
ed and departed
AT the end Of six weeks the man who
ran the sawmill and had a mortgage
on the mill dam figured it out to his
wife:
There are three old maids to one
widow, but If the widow gets left she'll
be the first one ever heard Of"
| Even the small boys around town no
ticed how girly the old maids were be-
coming They giggIed they uttered
cute little screams when they turned
corner. and found themselves face to
face with COW, they Uttered when
they asked for gum drops at the gro
Gerry. AS for the widow, she set her
| Jaw and walked into the store two or
three times week to ask the mer-
chant If he thought the Seventy sew
enth National bank Of Boston was per-
fectly sound and to sigh with relief
when he assured her Of his confidence
in the institution. Sly reports were
soon afioat that Mr.. Strong was paying
his attentions to this or that one Of the
four. Then the other three would reply
as one:
well. may be he is, but what on
earth he can see In her is more than /
can make out. She grows more home
ly and dowdified every day. OF course
Pm telling you this in confidence, and,
of course, 1t won't go further"
One fatal evening tragedy after trag-
edy happened, and the. light went out
of several happy households. Mr..
Strong boarded with a family living
half mile from the store. He wanted
the walk He had to cross the bridge
over the river and ascend a hill COW
cred with woods, and there wasn't
house between his boarding place and
the town.
The three old maids and the widow
had had their eyes on this road from
the first. They had soon begun walk
ing for exercise They didn't walk Mt
the hours the merchant might be ex-
/
other they made all manner of ex-
cuses, but each one understood what
the other was at and determined to
battle her in the end
Mr.. Strong had been given three
months in which to declare his atten-
tons, and he hadn't declared Time
was too valuable to be wasted His
habit was to return to his store after a
8 O'Clock supper ana lr.Gain there until
8. Just before 8 O'clock. then. on this
awful night four hrn.an figures might
have been seen stealing out of the
town and over the bridge
Each and every one of them would
have paused on the bridge to listen to
the musical plash of the river if they
hadn't seen each other. The first, sec
ond and third We're obliged to 20 on to
avoid the last one. She was the " dow.
She knew the value of a bridge and
river and musical plash, and she de-
termined to stick.
One old tramp and dog were re-
sponsible for most of what followed.
The tramp came humping along
| lurOuku Tie IUWu. Deut Oh HUllIIS u
country stra wstack as soon as possible,
and as the widow on the bridge heard
his footsteps she began to look artless
and coy.
1t was labor thrown away. The
tramp was nearsighted and bumped
up against her, and in her fright she
went over the low railing and down
into the water. If she couldn't swim
like duck she could at least scramble
like a cat, and she managed to get
ashore. Her condition was dripping,
also dropping, also Indignant She re-
allied that no dripping, dropping wo-
man stood the slightest show In that
contest, and she dragged herself home
ward and was not improved in looks
or temper by having to wade through
a couple Of mud puddles
Miss Vinton came next. She was
sauntering up the hill wondering how
that widow" dared be so bold and
/ brassy when the tramp, who was now