The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-15

subject of religion, alone, There are
 others who study human nature as
 we'll The Rev. Bates was one of the
 latter.
 An old maid he reasoned, Its a
 young woman who has been overlooked
 in the scramble or got left In the snuff
 fle, This fact has soured her temper
 and made her envious and jealous. The
 only way she can get even Is to use
 her tongue. She Is down on all her sex
 and on the married men of the other.
 The tongue of one old maid can stir
 up more mischief than five ministers
 can smooth over
 When the pastor had reasoned that
 far he took a rest for few minutes,
 and then continued.
 What is the remedy for a tattling, gossiping, slandering old maid? Re-
 move the cause and the disease ir cured Tn other words. if she can be
 married off the spirit of spite will be laid and she will have no reason to interfere with the peace of mind of others =,
 The line of reasoning was uptodate and the philosophy weighed full six teen ounces to the pound. One may reason thing to a logical conclusion however, and yet find that only one diff ficulty has been removed The Rev Bates was pitted against Sarah Lee. It was Lee vs. Bates. He realized that
 he would have to go at the end of a year or Sarah Lee would have to be provided with husband. Not only was the instinct of self preservation appealed to, but if the question had been submitted to any lay mind the answer would have heen that one min | ister was worth ten times as much to any community as an old maid. The Rev. Bates did not turn conspirator It takes two to conspire. and he did not takes any one into his counsel. His very first move almost brought | about his downfall. He made a second \ call on Miss Lee, and during that call he brought the conversation around to | the subject of matrimony. It was the duty of men and women to marry; the \ world would be a savage desert without | homes; race suicide would end in a | state of Abarbarism. For good reasons of her own, he supposed. she had neg | lected this great duty; but. he hoped soon be remove He himself was still single, but he was happy to state Before he could make his statement | the old maid was iii his arms. or would have been if he had not quickly in-
 creased the distance between them. She made 1t pretty plain that she was will l ing to be his'n, and would do her best | tO Al0hC tAAO AaPPy AOE tititis w Hcu ne closed the conversation by saying that he was engaged to lady in the West he was almost turned out doors. and Miss Lee started three pr four new stories about him.
 The pastor felt sure that he had struck the keynote. however, and a week or two later he was writing 8 letter to an acquaintance in his former parish. The man he wrote to was not a QhfIrah mi xva n n1d
 bachelor who paid pew-rent. contrib uted to the heather, attended Sunday
 school picnics and let jt go at that. The pastor had once talked with him on the subject of matrimony and had
 been given to understand that there had been no marriage because the right woman had not been found.
 "Referring to a subject once discuss ed between us," wrote the Rev. Bates,
 'let me say that there is a young wo- man resident here who seems to have many of the qualifications to fit her for wifehood. That is. she has the
 best of health, Is worth several thou
 sand dollars. and she has assured me
 that she would do her best to make a
 husband happy. Were you to pay me a visit and meet her she might prove
 to be the one you long have sought. Did you not know my radical ideas on the subject of race suicide should not have mentioned this matter to you While mentioned that the lady had
 money. it was only incidentally, and that fact will have no undue influence, I trust. /"
 Ten days later Mir. James Perkins quaintance and the guest of the clergy
 man. The Rev. Bates did not boast of | being a hustler, but within twenty-four hours he had introduced his guest to
 Miss Lee. MT. Perkins had no reputa- | ton as a hustler, but within forty eight hours he was speaking words of battery that made the old maid smile l like a June day. She couldn't forego what she had come to believe was her privilege. however. She told Mrs. Jack | son, and Mrs. Jackson told Mrs. Taylor and Mrs Taylor told Mrs. Bebee and the rest of the town that she believed MT. Perkins had had two wives and killed them both by smothering them with a pillow. The story reached the parsonage and the ears of the guest within a day, and
 the guest was wrpth. but the good pas-
 tor sat down with him and argued: James. the gossip of woman Is as the breeze that bloweth. Give it no
 heed. I incidentally learned today that the exact amount of wealth pos
 sessed by Miss Lee is about $12,000 and all In DOndS drawing Ialr interest. am also assured that she is a great worker in her own house, has no ex- 1 travagant habits. and that she would have DO objection to a home In the great and boundless West. Perhaps should not have mentioned the exact sum of money but I know you will receive it as only incidental. James only incidental. If there Is a mar
 riage I hope and trust that 1t may be | founded on love alone. I shall be busy with my sermon tonight. and should you desire to call on Miss Lee
 I shall not miss you for couple of | hours"
 There was no hustling on the part of the Rev. Bates or MT. James Per | kins, but two weeks after his arrival in Harpersville. MT. Perkins entered | the minister's study one evening with a bland smile and an extended hand
 and said:
 l My dear old friend, congratulate me. am the happiest man in the
 State"
 "Has-has something happened" "something has. Sarah has promis-
 cd to be mine. and she has set the marriage day for only six weeks ahead. HOW can I ever thank you for bring | ing us together?