Evening journal., 1908-07-24
The Flower Widow.
[orIgInal.1

she was troubled. Why should she
be7 She owned the finest farm in the
county, was a college graduate and
comely. True she was an orphan. but
as far back as she could remember
she had always been an orphan. Her
home was with an uncle and an aunt.
What troubled her was this: She had
nearly passed what might be consid-
cred the best age for women to marry
-she was twenty-seven-and was not
married. Had 1t not been for her prop
erty she might have been married long
ago. None Of the youag men of her
acquaintance dared to aspire to the
hand of the heiress. especially an heir
ess who was a college graduate. New
ertheless Alicia was country girl and
desired to remain country girl. If she
married she would marry a farmer.
On her return from college she did
not think OF marriage. She had re-
sources within herself which were
greatly broadened by her education.
For time she read books on the lines
marked out for her in college and was
satisfied. But one morning she awoke
to the fact that she was drifting into
perpetual spinsterhood. The prospect
did not please her. In her childhood
and youth she had been deprived Of
that affection which exists In families
and was ayerse to passing the latter
half of her life without husband and
children. She thought over the bach
elors Of her acquaintance and after
some deliberation settled on snas
Blakely, young farmer with little
on his farm except a mortgage. On
him she resolved to bestow her hand.
She did not know that Blakely would
care to marry her. though abe rather
thought he would. But. considering
she was well to do and he was poor,
she knew he would not have the assur-
ance to propose to her. She must
propose to him. How should she pro-
pose?
One evening Alicia saw Blakely com
ing up the road, driving the stock from
! pasture. Hurrying into the garden,
she gathered bouquet and said to 1t,
~ take you beautiful flowers, with
/ your pink and blue and crimson and
white compilations, to be my welded
husband" Then, calling to her aunt,
she told her to take them to the well
and throw them In as soon as Blakely
came opposite, making sure he saw
her doing so. The aunt took the bou-
I quet, went to the well and when the
young farmer passed acted as she had
been told.
why do you throw those beautiful
flowers away7 called Silas.
They are my husband" said Alicia
from the porch. I'm a widow"
what do you mean by thatf'
"Haye you ever heard OF the provert
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; con
slider her ways and be wiser"
"Yes."
"Well IL you wish to know the
meaning of my being married to the
flowers, go to your books. and II you
hunt patiently you viii find out"
With this she went into the house.
Blakely hurried on to overtake the
stock which had passed during the
brief dialogue, but he knew not OF
horses or COWS; the strange episode
had got into his head, and he was
filed with wonder as to what it meant.
While Alicia had been telling him that
she was a widow she had looked upon
him kindly, and her voice, which was
sweet, still sounded pleasantly in his
ears.
Now, Silas Blakely was no fool His
education was good for a countryman.
but he neither had the books nor the
inclination to hunt through them for
any Interpretation of such an inane
proceeding. One Of his schoolmates,
however. had gone to college and had
become professor. To him Blakely
wrote an account of the episode, ask
ing for an Interpretation.
Alicia possibly wished to test Silas'
common sense. To hunt for the expla-
nation himself would have been like
looking for a needle in haystack and
while doing so his farm would have
been sold out under the hammer.
1t was a long while before he re-
ceived the Interpretation to the conun-
drum, but when it came he opened his
4 eyes and his heart started up at a gait
Of hundred beats to the minute. The
same evening, getting off his farm
clothes and into a very respectable
outfit. in which, by the way, he looked
very well, he went to call on Alicia.
II have come" he said, "to offer all
4 | have-that is, my farm with mort
gage on it-for the flower widow"
"And how" she asked, blushing and
smiling, did you learn what is meant
by flower widow7"
Blakely told her Of his application and
showed her the reply, which was as
follows:
In India a man often remains unmar-
ried longer than he would desire simply
because he cannot afford to pay the sum
the father of a desirable daughter de-
mands of his would be son-in-law Wild
ows however, are cheap. and a willy ia
ther who finds his daughter IS getting on
In years while suitors tarry takes advan-
tago of this fact. He marries his girl to
bunch Of flowers, which he then throws
into a well. Thus the lady becomes tech
nicaily a widow, and as such she is
bargain In the marriage market. Thus
the flower widow is secured as a wife by
a suitor who would not have dared offer
a small sum for her before her so called
marriage.
Alicia found in Silas Blakely the man
she desired for a husband He not only
lifted the mortgage from his farm, but
managed hers for her so that both