The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-04-18
A Village Enigma
3, N. QUAD
Copyright. III. BY Associated Lit
ssary Pre-.

~ Wa S0tSV yS0s SASSs
drew wakefield became Z widow that
things began to happen to disturb the
peace Of mind Of the town Of Hooper
vile. Mr.. Wakefield had been Q man
without ambition or energy and addict
ed to intoxicsnts. and the main sup
port Of the couple had been the earn
ings Of the wife with her needle.
Mr.. Wakefield sometimes complained
because no was not met on even terms
BY the the best citizens. but the wife
never complained Of her lot. II she
expected a merchants wife to associ-
ate with her dressmaker on terms Of;
equality she never gave utterance to:
that fact. And never. that any q
could recall. did she ask to be consider
ed a martyr or 6pd fault with her
husband. When other wives told her
what they would do in such a case
she sometimes smiled. but never CONF
planned. After trying for years to
make her out people decided that she
was an enigma.
"And what in the name Of cats 70
that?" asked good old Deacon Peters
Of his wife when she applied the term.
why Moses. don't you know what
an enigma isl" Is. !
They've invented no many darned'
things In the last few years that I'm
all mixed up"
..An enigma 10 a thing you don't IN
derstand.:: !
.waal. Is Mrs. Wakendd an enigma7"
Folks say 90"
"Mehhe she u. She strikes me AZ 4.
woman VINO 10 waiting for something
to happen"
Something finally happened. 1t wasn't
anything Of great importance-just the
death Of MI. Wakefield. I.
Later the Widow Wakefield was left
a great sum Of money by English rela:
lives. II. was ali In the papers. and
her lawyer confirmed It. She became
the richest woman in the state almost
In a day. And Of course the query,
with everybody was:
What will she do with it?"
There were events in the history Of
the widow that Hooperville had not
taken %cognizance Of. She came from
an aristocratic family. At eighteen
she had fallen in love and eloped. with
and wed q young man who made 9
worthless husband, Her father had
cast her of, and she had been living
hundreds Of miles from him. She had
felt the bitterness of the Sights put
upon her. but had realized that the sit
uation could not be changed for the
better by open resentment. She hadn't
lived her real life. but.a false one. and
had thus come to- be an enigma to such
as were interested enough to discuss
heIs: 9sa,S 1T III 5
When the money came the widow 1T
about getting even with. Hooperville.
There was q o malice. q It. but just q
sense Of satisfaction. "a bridge over
the river had long been unsafe. but the
taxpayers had hung on about repairing
it, trusting that the Lord would divert
all the accidents to other bridges.
The widow. hired; a lawyer tostake
the matter up. and the, bridge was con-
demned and replacedsby q $1,000 struc-
ture. The taxpayers howled.
She hired q surveyor to 60 over the
lines Of the streets, and It was discov-.
cred that all the store fronts e%ncroacn-
ed and that hardly a fence occupied its
legal position. All entertainments were
ordered removed.
The sptre Of the l,odist church
edifce had. a. decided 5aning toward
Esunr4se. The widow VI th1ssIaW at
work. Il Cot the edngrsSauohF3 500
Etosbracesu p tssspire. :ss
There was an old ordinance against
hitching horses to shade treea That
was also suddenly enforced and $50 in
lines collected the first day.
There wal another about chtmneys.
being cleaned every year. Nearly 100
house owners were brought to court
and lined IS on their admissions that
their chimneys. had not been cleaned
for ten years. n
There was Q dead ordinance about
the use Of profane language n public.
The Widow Wakefield revlvedFit and
had sixty men nned4,sthe 1rst day.
Among them were the mayor. an the.
aldermen ma TIA judge who indicted
the fines. n i. & !, !: 5s
Moses. what . earth 4 the woman
at7' the good wife Of Deacon Peters
would ask after each new move.
n ..she,s paying ~ back, ! ignsss.".
s.But 4 don't Sseem g 4 shesicould do,
much more" sas n st#sE !. Y 50
s.Y0n9S wait and go. what ~ IL Won
called herr s8% sF 5~s n i#ssSss
An enigma HIGH Il 4
80 twas Waal, youIl llsarD that
they've sgor claws. She'll windssnp herr.
with, u grand Wihoop.s,
WhenS tn day finally eams4thatS the
llaWyer could sugeest nothings moro %.
upsSk thinsssshsSwsljsy immlshuctedssto rent.
lths EErrtsltInill,. o. MILL eStayern
and stNo$stosssEandsn yo AWllttnGl Tor
tannss sandsSsheeoops
1a1telgstp&bs eoantsd ~ ma sheys,
Wss1iaeceotnlmlodsts ThSSgsntW $50
plala Adsaneess tleAs tbsnildin0s
deke1ssrlp#an6th ohdnslH0G4eIoaedd
A.1viGSIs@2aEHS aSaasSgE MSSssSN ssdss ySssss III gsSShss