The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1908-12-10
The Tenth Widow.
copyright, 1908. by T. c. McClure.1

The town or Euclid held nine resi-
dent widows and but one widower
who was looked upon as eligible. He
was Deacon Thomas and Il .nan If
forty ii va% .ti, ;,iy $a.,; i'll t4e
| town that those Line widows were On
| the deacon's trail and that nothing
| was surer than that one Of them
would ultimately capture him.
One day new widow arrived in
| town, and the deacon was almost the
| first man to learn Of her advent. The
nine fixtures should not be permitted
| to escape criticism. Any one of them
could have solved the problem in six
months had she gone at it in the prop
er way.
| They were watching each other. For
| instance, if the Widow Barnes was
known to have sent a blackberry pie
| fresh from the oven over to the dea
| con, who kept bachelors hall, the
| Widow Green hustled herself and sent
| a stra wberry shOrtcake, and the Wild
| Ow Black followed it with pair Of
slippers of her own make. If the Wild
ow Sabin saw him sitting on his porch
and smoking his pipe after supper and
stopped at his gate to ask him if he
| thought it paid to raise hogs in town
he would not have time to figure it out
before the Widow Blossom would be
along to ask him what was the best
thing to kill worms on plum trees.
The nine widows congratulated them
selves on their perseverance and
| no :, hi bod
the game in her own hands. but each
one was destined to learn that she had
simply been frittering away her time.
There are widows and widows. There
are widows who have heads on them
and widows who sit and sigh and wait.
The teams transporting No. los house
hold effects had only driven up to the
door Of the house she had rented when
she appeared before Deacon Thomas,
who was working in his garden, to ask
him to come over and settle disputed
point with one of the drivers. He set
| tied 1t In her favor, of course. Then
his advice was sought as to a cow and
other matters, and the seven of the
nine widows that came skulking about
got no show at all.
The deacon went home with a new
thought in his mind. Other new
thoughts were added to 1t next day.
He was hardly through breakfast
when No. 10 came over and asked him
to take care of $4OO in cash for her
until she had time to drive over to the
bank at Grafton. She sent him to the
4 rk1 60 v@~kk ~1 n,Iyn hi fSf
ance to put up window curtains, and
before noon he had hammer in hand
and was repairing the front fence.
Widows from the list of nine came
along and spoke Of doors being out of
| order and pumps choked up and what
a nice thing 1t was to have handy
man around, but the deacon didn't
| take the hints. Next day, with her
own house still unsettled, No. 10 walk
ed over to the deacon's and drove him
| outdoors to whitewash the trunks of
| his apple trees and then put his rooms
to rights. She swept and busted and
rearranged and made his bed, and
when she went home she carried some
of his garments that needed mending
or patching The deacon sat down
with his chin on his hands and
thought. He had to think. Some of
the nine widows passed his gate and
halted to ask him this or that, but he
was so wrapped up in his thoughts
| that he failed to see them. Mrs. Ora
ham sent her little boy over with a
dish Of blackberries for him, but on
| the way he encountered the boy sent
by No. 10 with an angel cake and
was crowded into the ditch and his
| dish emptied.
| The next day the new arrival con-
f1ded to the deacon that she had wash
ed, ironed, baked and put up four gal
Ions of peach pickles in a day; also
that she always got cent pound
more for her paper rags than any
other housekeeper.
| On the next day she exhibited a
railroad bond for $1,000 and said that
it's keeping so worried her that she
sometimes thought of getting married
again.
| On the next day she had the deacon
drive her over to the bank, and he saw
her deposit actual money and get
check book. On the way home she OBJ
served that man of his general intel
ligence, with smart wife to back him,
could be elected q county supervisor
the next fall as easy as rolling off
log.
| On the next day while the nine wild
ows were holding an Indignation meet
ing at the house of one Of the number
and had sent for minister to ask that
the past record of the new widow be
hunted up and laid bare No. 10 entered
the deacon's orchard, where he was
still applying the whitewash brush,
and said:
Deacon, 1 had as good as bought the
house moved into, but got to think
ing last night. Suppose I should meet
a man here that was willing to trust
my future to- He would probably
have a house Of his own. He would
rather I turned money instead Of an
other house over to him, wouldn't he"
Naturally" replied the deacon as
he found his heart beating faster.
| "And therefore I have concluded
not to buy for some time, If at ALL
Don't you think my Judgment sound?"
The deacon did, but as he blushed
and stammered and tried to say SO the
widow laid hand on his arm and
said:
There, there. Let it go-just now
/ - 1~NS