Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-01-21
Observation-Disclosures
| The Widow Bliss. I


stlcetS III tue dlllShlcSS center oil pop.
uous Canadian town. The business
had descended from father to son.
BESIDES i.s own building, the bank
owned one face Of the square and this
ground was covered with stores and
the buildings rented from year to year.
The one next To the bank was two
story brick and had been rented Mt
different times for different purposes.
Jus: now 1t stood empty. with sign
of "To Rent In the window
The banker was II man who was IA
| millar with all the minor details of the
institution. lie accepted or rejected
tenants and signed the leases 1t was
To him that the Widow bliss applied
for the vacant store She was The Wild
ow of New York inventor ana elcc-
trclan and she had herself worked
With tools and studied the science of
various problems She had un electric
Invention III mind and had come to
Canada to perfect It. II was the prob
lem of heat She hoped to reduce It's
cost below that of coal or wood. She
would hsve TO fit up the building with
m engine. dynamos. shafting. etc, but
there would be no noise TO disturb any
one. In fnct, her force of three or four
men would work mostly at night. when
there wns smaller chance of outsiders
prying into their secrets.
A banker may he II close observer OF
human nature, but when he Is Wild
over and The other party is Il good
looking and we'll to do widow who Ia
on the point of notwithstanding the
/ heat problem and making II possible
to keep warm at the north pole the
machinery is apt to skip cog. Ii dla
! In this case AIR. Pardon was inter
/ csted In the widow, and, If lie could
save coal by adopting her new inven-
ton That would be to the profit of the
bunk. The tepdnt went ahead and lit
| ted u1 the plnce ana when all was
ready she spent an hour showing her
| lHndlord the machinery ana explaining
J Its operations. lie knew nothing what
ever about mi. part OF 1t, but lie did
know n copper wire from IL telegraph
pole, and he expressed his satisfaction
and left the place. II was 10 call
again, however. III fact, 1t was 10 call
almost every day for the next six
weeks. While the widow was always
In her little front office after . o'clock
In the afternoon II was understood
That most of the work In the cellar
and shops was done ut night
III my one had told the banker that
he was falling In love, he would have
scorned the ldca. and yet the other fell
low would have been right. Ills I'D
miratlon was growing day 10y day. aud
nil knINv thut ~ l,.
first step In love. When lie was In his
room in the hank making lonns or In
specting securities he decided TO re-
main faithful 10 the memory of his
dead wife. When he was In the shop
next door listening to the widows
talk about fuses and short circuits AMI
= crossed wires lie could hardly hold
himself bncli from making PROPOSE
ton OF matrimony. After two weeks
men began to smile ut each other.
After four they began TO wink 1t
would have hurt the bankers feelings
had lie known 1t, but the smiling and
the wnliing We're done behind his
back.
Pardon's bank was an old fashioned
building. AS lis outer walls were
three feet thick, Pardon, the elder. had
considered that n pretty good safe
guard against robbers. Therefore when
he erected his money vaults down Gel
lar he used brick only--brick walls and
an Iron door. There wns no watch
man O nights. WHO could make HIS
way into the bank past the iron barred
windows and bolt studded doors? And
even II once In there were more doors
and bars 10 he overcome. With Il
wide awake and vlgilant policeman in
front the place was as safe as safe
could be.
Two months had gone by since the
Widow Bliss fitted up the shop and
began solving the great problem. The
banker hadn't demanded the second
months rent at daylight OH the morn
ing OF the first. when IT was actually
due and overdue, but had waited Till
nooH when II was sent In. The wild
ow had won his confidence and ad-
miratlon to such an extent that had
she wanted n loan OF sos he would
have accommodated her without the
customary two securities. Beyond nd
miration and confidence he didn't quite
know his feelings. He was rather
afraid of himself. He was afraid that
I IL he proposed marriage she would re-
fuse him and afraid that IL he didn't
he would miss II good thing and regret
1t ever nfterward.
| When he called on certain after
noon he was Informed that the heat
problem wonld probably be solved that
very night. He went to bed that night
to kick around and wonder and ponder
and make up and unmakc his nind