Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-11-08
THE
COMPROMISE
b. NJ QUAD
B. n QUAD
Copyright. ls1l. by Associated Llt-
erary Press.

II may be the Widow Sharon imag-
med good deal Of It, but when shs
moved over to the village Of Valley
Stream 1t seemed to her that the peo-
pls thereof greeted her In an ofish
manner.
All villages have their customs The
custom In Valley Stream, and ono that
had prevailed for q quarter Of CEN
tury. was for . newcomer to at once
state certain facts to Deacon Hornee.
II II was Z widow she was expected
to state her age. her income. her inten-
lions regarding Q second marriage,
whether or not her late husband diel
happy, to what church she belonged.
her attitude In regard to church At
fairs and picnics. II she attended the
circus and whether she was going to
live extravagantly or economically.
The deacon had always taken II upon
himself to act a. inquisitor and thsn
60 from house to house and spread The
news. He gave the Widow sharon
three days TO ct settled and then
called.
Then and there the good man ~
ceived the surprise Of his life. He had
scarcely propounded question Ne. I
when tho widow replied:
"Hir, It u none Of your businessr
Deacon Homer had never ben
baked before. and It vexed him.
The widow had brought four hogs
with her. having been = farmers wife.
and two days after the deacon's cali
one Of those hogs came and rubbed
against his front gate.
Deacon Horner lifted up Z rock and
batted that hog. The hog was hurt
and ran away squealing. A boy told the
Widow Sharon Of It, and she put on
her hat and went straight to justice
Of the peace and got out summons
for malicious cruelty to animals.
There was a state law GOV sring the
case. and the deacon was fined $40 and
costs.
It may be remarked again that Dea-
con Horner was good man. but there
Is limit to goodness. Not that same
hog. but another Of the widows dock.
got into the deacon's COW lot There
was nothing for him to damage. but
the widow was sued for trespass and
had to pay s. damages. She paid II
and waited. II you will wait long
enough COW win get into your garden
and devour your cabbages. In this In
stance 1t was the deacon's cow. and
there was another suit for trespass.
and the deacon was mulcted. Did he
forgive the widow and promise that
his cow should be good in futuref He
didn't. He said to himself that ho
would bring that defiant widow low.
All Of a sudden the village Of Valley
Stream began asking about the last
hours Of the defunct Farmer Sharon.
| II was said that he died Of heart dis
ease after q quarrel with his wife
about another man. Perhaps the Wild
ow was not actually q murderess. but
she was very close to It She heard
the story. and she set out with IN iron
Jaw ON her to run 1t down. In TWEEN
ty-four hours she had 1t fastened on
the good deacon and had begun suit
for Islander. Deacon Horner made out
not to care. but when his lawyer came
to investigate he was more than will
ing to settle for 800. Mr.. Sharon
had not died from heart disease. but
from the kick Of horse.
Then the fighting widow had to 60
and put her foot in 1t. In some way
she learned that Deacon Homer hadn't
paid his pew rent for fourteen years
and that he had passed bad two dol
lar bill on a windmill man. She was
indiscreet enough to repeat this. and
| the first thing she knew the deacon
was after her. Az matter Of fact.
his pew rent was all paid mp, and he
had the receipts to show. And AZ for
the bad bill. It was windmill man
who had stuck him The widow had to
give back that 500 to settle the case
BY this time there wasn't family In
the village. nor for i've miles around.
that wasn't taking sides. and society
was upset and the churches suffering.
Would be mediaton had been to the
deacon and his reply was:
I'm sorry there b any trouble. but
can't let no widow run over ma
And when they had gone to the
widow. she said:
II you think am going to let any
old widower boss me around you are
sadly mistaken"
Both sides were waiting for ths nsxt
move. when the village was visitsd By
peddler Of rat and mouse traps. He
had whole wagon load Al he passed
from house to house be heard Of the
quarrel. and when he had got to the
Widow Sharon's and sold her two
traps, he sat down and said:
I'm going to stop this rumpus BE-
tween you and Deacon Horner. It
isn't right and 1t isn't nice. You and
he ought to marry"
"W-h-a-tr'
And the rat trap man called on the