The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1913-01-06
Three Old Maids
And a Widow
And the Prize They Set Out
to Capture.
BY c. 3. LEWIS.

maids and widow living on the same
street. but that was the case with
Clifton. Miss Vinton was an old maid
because she never had met with a
man good enough for her. Miss Hop
kins was an old maid because the
young man she would have married at
eighteen was sawed insn'o in saw
mill, and she had vowe % he true to
his memory. Miss Warner was an old
maid because she was determined to
marry none but minister. and all the
ministers who came were already pro-
vided for. The Widow Carter was
widow because part of house had
fallen on her husband.
The old maids and the widow were
on visiting terms-in fact. they rather
liked each other. Where there are no
male candidates for matrimony con-
cerned old maids and widows can sit
down together on the same veranda
without quarreling. After the widow
had solemnly assured the old maids
that nothing on the face of this earth
could induce her to be false to the
memory of her crushed the quartet
loved each other even more.
One day one of the merchants in the
town sold out. and a stranger came to
take his place. If he had been a mar
ried man the dove of peace would have
continued to hover over Rose street.
but as he was single. only thirty and
a ''catch" the dove saw a hot time
ahead
The widow let no grass grow under
her feet in calling at the store and in
cidentally mentioning her name and or
dering four pounds of sugar all at
once. Sherwa one of the Four Hun
dred of the town. and on the part of
the other 800 she babe Mr.. Strong wei
come to their midst. When he had
thanked her she ordered two nutmegS
and paper of starch. in addition to
the sugar, to let him understand that
she wasn't Obliged to pinch pennies.
and then departed.
An hour later her reprehensible con-
duct was known to the three old maids.
and up went three pairs of hands: six
eyes were turned upward in horror and
three mouths opened to exclaim in cho-
rus, How shockingr'
Then. during the next two days. each
of the old maids made an excuse to
call at the store and follow the pro-
gram carried out by the widow. Each
thought she was sly and slick. but they
ba&
moment the bond of friendship snap
ped asunder like an old clothesline left
out in the storms Of year.
When women make war on each 9th
er they don't use fence rails to pound
each other on the head. In most cases
they go right on treating each other as
nicely as they can TO their faces. but
using daggers and the darkness to as
sassinate. The three old maids and the
widow gathered together as of yore.
but the dagger was used whenever
there was the least show.
Mr.. Strong proved a social success
The widow gave a little dinner and
brought him out. but the old maids
really monopolized him for the even
ing Then Miss Warner gave an exhi
bition of her own paintings. which col
sisted of a COW apparently thirty-siN
feet long and of river running mp
stream instead of down. and the wild
ow held Mr. Strongs attention for an
hour while she talked about her crush
ed and departed.
At the end of six weeks the man who
ran the sawmill and had a mortgage
on the mill dam figured it out to his
wife
There are three old maids to one
widow. but if the widow gets left she'll
be the first one | ever heard Of"
Even the small boys around town no
ticed how girly the old maids were be-
coming. They ciggled: they uttered
cute little screams when they turned
corner and found themselves face To
face with a COW; they Uttered when
they asked for gumdrops at the gro
Gerry. AS for the widow. she set her
jaw and walked into the store two or
three times a week to ask the mer-
chant if he thought the Seventy-sev-
enth National bank of Boston was per-
feetly sound and TO sigh with relief
when he assured her of his confidence
in the institution. Sly reports We're
soon af1oat that Mr.. Strong was paying
his attentions to this or that one of the
four. Then the other three would re-
ply as one:
''Well may be he is. but what on
earth he can see in her is more than
can make out. She grows more home
ly and dowdified every day. OF course
I'm telling you this in confidence, and.
of course, it won't go further
One fatal evening tragedy after trag-
edy happened. and the light went out
of several happy households Mr..
Strong boarded with a family living
half a mile from the store. He wanted
the walk. He had to cross the bridge
over the river and ascend. a hill Gov
cred with woods. and there wasn't
house between his boarding place and
the town.
The three old maids and the widow
had had fbair- avaS ON &biS