The Sauk Centre herald., 1913-02-13
A Village Enigma
By M QUAD
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright. 1913. by Associated Lit
erary Press.

~ Woo tutcS years oAtcI mIS. Au-
drew Wakefield became a widow that
things began to happen to disturb the
peace of mind of the town of Hooper
Vile. Mr.. Wakefield had been a man
without ambition or energy aud addict
ed to iutoxicants. and the main sup
port of the couple had been the earn
ings of the wife with her needle.
Mr.. Wakefield sometimes complained
because he was not met on even terms
by the the best citizens. but the wife
never complained of her lot. II she
expected merchants wife to assOci-
ate with her dressmaker on terms of
equality she never gave utterance to
that fact. And never. that any one
could recall. did she ask to be consider
ed a martyr or find fault with her
husband. When other wives told her
what they would do in such a case
she sometimes smiled. but never COM
planned. After trying for years to
make her out people decided that she
was an enigma
And what in the name of cats is
that?" asked good old Deacon Peters
Of his wife when she applied the term.
"Why. Moses. don't you know what
an enigma is?"
They've invented so many darned
things in the last few years that I'm
all mixed up
IAN enigma is thing you don't un-
derstand."
'.Waal. is Mrs. Wakefield an enigmaY
Folks say So"
"Mebbe she is. She strikes me as
woman VINO is waiting for something
to happen"
Something finally happened 1t wasn't
anything Of great importance-just the
death of Mr. Wakefield.
Later the Widow Wakefield was left
great sum of money by English rela-
tives. 1t was all in the papers. and
her lawyer confirmed 1t. She became
the richest woman in the state almost
in 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 young man who made
worthless husband. Her father had
cast her of. and she had been Jiving
hundreds of miles from him. She had
felt the bitterness of the sights put
upon her. but had realized that the sit
uatfOn could not be changed for the
better by open resentment. She hadn't
lived her real life. but false one. and
had thus come to be an enigma to such
as were interested enough to discuss
her.
When the money came the widow set
about getting even with Hooperville.
There was no malice in it. but just a
sense of satisfaction. bridge over
the river had long been unsafe. but the
taxpayers had hung off about repairing
it. trusting that the Lord would divert
all the accidents to other bridges.
The widow hired a lawyer to take
the matter up. and the bridge was con-
demned and replaced by a $4,000 struc-
ture. The taxpayers howled.
She hired Il surveyor to go over the
lines Of the streets. and it was discov-
cred that all the store fronts encroach-
ed and that hardly fence occupied it's
legal position. All encroachments were
ordered removed.
The spire of the Methodist church
edifce had a decided leaning toward
sunrise. The widow set the law at
work. and 1t cost the congregation $7OO
to brace up its spire.
There was an old ordinance against
hitching horses to shade trees That
was also suddenly enforced and $50 in
fines collected the first day.
There was another about chimneys
being cleaned every year. Nearly 100
house owners were brought to court
and fined SIS on their admissions that
their chimneys had not been cleaned
for ten years
There was a dead ordinance about
the use of profane language in public.
The Widow Wakefield revived it and
had sixty men fined the first day.
Among them were the mayor. all the
aldermen and the judge who inflicted
the fines.
Moses. what on earth is the woman
att" the good wife Of Deacon Peters
would ask after>each new move
She's paying us back. guess"
'But 1t don't seem as II she could do
much more
"You wait and See What was it you
ca11od hor1''