Perth Amboy evening news., 1907-01-04
Their first Visitor


stdliOnS on tne railroad, q been set
tied by people of the old regime. Not
that the regime was very a~ncient-noth-
ing is ancient in America-but it was
certainly not the new regime of
wealth. There were families that had
been in comfortable circumstances for
q hundred years, some who had de-
seconded from those once prominent,
and all were refined. Refinement nee
essarily mean exclusiveness, and Wa
verify was known as an exclusive place.
Awealthy soap boiler had settled there,
but after years had passed without
making any friends he moved on.
But n day a little house that had
been vacant for a long while was
opened. the paint retouched, shutters
repaired, broken window panes put in
and the fence set up. No one in Waiver
" was especially interested in who
was to occupy it, for people occupying
such houses We're usually not of a kind
to be associated with. But when a
young couple appeared, a boy and a
girl just married, both bearing the
marks of refined parentage, some of
the Waverlyans took Notice. Those
who would scorn to visit a millionaire
soap boiler would not hesitate to take
into their hearts refined people.
But the citizehs of Waverly were
not in the habit of being in a hurry in
their Welcomes. Time enough to call
cf.~. kIo-E I.oI Ionp,n1 cOrnnfhin0
about thsfyoung couple. The husband
.wenk-mto the city almost every day,
but not every day, and when he did
90 in he often came out long before
the closing Of business hours. The
wife remained at home all day. She
dressed plainly, but neatly. If she
had fine clothes she had no occasion
to show them except at church, where
she wore such costumes as were APP
propriate. But information concerning
the young couple did not come rapid
ly. Weeks had passed before the
name, Tileston, was generally known.
The couple did not appear to wish to
be left alone. Indeed, young Mrs. Tiles
ton made several efforts to become ac-
quainted with the ladies' of her church.
But the ladies of the church did not
see why persons travelling on the same
r~oadfogether to heaven should need to
camp together by the way-not that
they proposed to exclude Mrs. Tiles
ton; they simply intended to find out
all about her before becoming intimate
with her.
Months passed and still information
concerning the young couple fingered.
There came a vague report that let
tiers were coming through the post
office to them under an assumed name.
This settled the matter. There was
no further question as to the future
social status of the SO called Mr.. and
Mrs. Tileston. They were to be let
severely alone.
One day a man with Il small satchel
canes 0ut from the city and made
straight for the Tileston house. He
stayed half an hour, went away and
came again the next day, and the next,
and the next. Neither husband nor
wife was visible, and the shades in
an upstairs room were drawn.
No one in Waverly took note of this
except an old maid who lived OPP
posite. Though living so neal the
Tilestons, she had not paid any atten-
tion to them. She had an income of
5000 a year, the remains of a large
fortune built up jby her g~reat-grand-
father in the slaSe trade. She was a
De G., and the DE G.'s had nee been
the social heads of society in the city.
When one Of the Waverlians had pro
posed to cali on the soap boiler Miss
De G.. had held up her hands in holy
Horror (and prevented the call. But
lskAA was an old maid, and old maids
are p~roverbially curious. What could
be going on in the little house OPP
posite9 There was but n way to find
QUITO go over and see.
Miss De G. knocked at the door and
received no answer. The latch vas
not caught, and the door was shaken
fitfully by the wind. Opening it, she
went inside. Neither in the living
room, the dining room nor the Kitchen
was there a sign of a living being.
Curiosity overcane her objection to
intrusion, and she went upstairs.
The TilestonS had received their first
visitor-a visitor who had come to
stay. On Me bed lay the wife, dead.
The husband sat in a chair, his arms
on a liable and his head on his arms.
Mss De G. saw this from the head
~ the stairs. Her curiosity was salts
I'D. She stepped back stealthily, went
out and reported what she had seen
to IN of the ladies of the church.
The lady called on several other ladies',
and the matter of taking ONE action
was discussed. All those visited were
engaged to go to a lunch party, but
they decided that it was their Chris
tian ~duty-after the l~uncheon-to go
and see if they could do anything for
the widower.
AS they were about to enter the
little house a carriage, the coaciiman
and footman in rich livery, drove up
to the door. and a gentleman and lady
with two children alighted and hur-
rled into the house.
Hsba x~fcifiun o1iac loolxad ~ n an