The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1911-03-31
One Widow
Mistake

dence Of the Widow Bush. That made
"a times, On the 25th he declared his
love and asked for her hand. He was
crushed to earth when told that the
widows heart was not In the affair.
There were reasons-many reasons
why she could not love. Ais d brother.
he might continue to drive over from
P~entville as long as he wished. but
any future conversation must not
touch upon the subject Of love.
Late one afternoon, a week after
the great refusal, the Widow Bush set
out In her auto to 60 to Pentyille. 1t
was not to see Mr.. Ford and hint to
him that, she had changed her mind,
but to visit a relative. AT the same
hour Mr.. Ford set out from Pentviile
to motor over to Gorse Lake. It was
not to submit a new matrimonial pro-
posal, but to see a man on business.
Both motors could have made the trip
before dusk came down but for acci-
dents. Something went wrong with
both machines. Something had to be
tinkered at. There was delay. And
thus 1t happened that an hour after
dark on a moonless night. with rain
threatening at any minute, the two
autos came together on that long hill.
1t is impossible to tell how things
happen, In this case both machines
had their lamps lt--both were rum
ming slowly and carefully--Mr. Ford
was prudent and the widows man ex-
perienced, and yet those autos struck
head on. There was a jar. but nc n
was hurt. 1t would be some hours be-
fore the Widow Bush could reach
Pentyille, or Mr.. Ford could talk bust
ness with that man ia Gorse Lake.
Three Of the four lamps were smash
I'D. The chauffeur took the fourth and
started OF to And a farmer to come
with a team OF horses.
And then 1t began to rain, and the
darkness thickened until Mr.. Ford
could not see the tip Of his nose. The
widow had the shelter OF a tonneau:
he had none. He had to stand out and
take the pour as II came.
After the chauffeur had departed
there was silence between the reflector
and the rejected. 1t didn't last long,
however. At the end Of 10 minutes
the widow opened the door and called
out:
Mr.. Ford, / am sorry that Won are
out In the rain"
you ought to be, 1t is all owing to
that fool-man OF yoursln
mi. Ford. are we In danger Of
bears?"
Yes, we are, and / hope ten or
twelve Of them will come!r
"Mr. Ford. are you smoking?"
"Yes'
Whats that noisef"
ut sounds like the believing OF :
bull"
But Will the animal come here and
attack us?"
He may"
It was a bull. and be had leaped the
pasture fence. He came along down
the hill, believing at every stride and
hoping to find something to demolish,
and the widow began TO scream and
threw the door open to jump out.
Get back there and stop your
noisei" commanded Mr.. Ford. and his
grasp was not gentle as he seized her
arm.
Then he disappeared into the night.
nrh n~r xxtarn nfNnaa ~ h 49,
felt them under his feet and pelted
the bull and started him into a re.
treat. AS he came sloshing back
through the mud and water the widow
asked:
'Mr. Ford. don't you think you
ought to follow William and ascertain
the cause OF this delay?'
mo, ma'am. | DON'T" he promptly
answered.
Then | will follow him myself
'Then you Will stay right where you
are. II William isn't the biggest fool
in the state be has crawled under a
haystack somewhere and won't be
seer until daylight"
iudt sSttiUu ihih6s w q iuuE udll
hour, Then the tonneau door opened
and a soft voice said;
..Mr. Ford, please come nearer. You
loved me. didn't your"
"Y-e-s," he sulkily admitted.
you asked me to marry you, and
I refused. / refused because / had not
read you Alright. j am willing to admit
that | was entirely mistaken in your
character"
"H-how?.
Il took you for a sissy, like my late
Enthusiastically good, hut a sissy. L
didn't know that you were aggressive.
] didn't believe you'd dare face d bel
lowing bull, ven by daylight, with a
six.rail fence between you. L couldnst
have been made to believe that YOU
would dare order me about. Tonight
you have shown me my errors. Oh.
how mistaken I have been!"
Then why don't you say you are
coming in here beside me and order
me to move along? II seems Id me
we ought to have a talk--a new talk.~
And soon after daylight, when the
chauffeur returned with a farmer ana
a team, he saw the Widows sleepy
head resting o. Mr.. Ford's shoulder
and lost his presence Or mind ana
stepped back to exclaim:
We'll, but who'd although it?v