The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-14

bachelor Observation-Disclosures apart
ments for men. This distinction Is
drawn in the beginning. as t~here|seve
grown up in this generation. along
with the Cubists. Holy Jumpers Suf- |
fragcttes, and Socialists, a new sect
who call themselves bachelor maids.
Ard with these Miss Matilda woul
positively not consort.
In the bottom Of her trunk is a
dotted swiss dress, musty and yellow.
and or the top shelf OF q anal closet
In Re. bedroom sits a picture hat, us
4iumeS faded. dropping. and dust-coV,
cred. The only two persons VINO couio
cxp'&in the connection between tni9
abandoned finery Of earlier years ana
the bachelor APARTMENTS are Miss Ma
ti:da herself and a gentle man you VIII
meet in the story.
At all events, Mr.. Doom should be
able to explain. But Mr.. DOOR was
one OF those stolid brute men or a
kindly, child-like nature who never
understood IN never dreamed
that there was really anything about
them to understand; n when he
reads this he will be astOnished and
wounded to learn hat he was the de-
terminipg influence in the destiny OF
the dotted swiss, the beplumed hat.
and even of Miss Matilda.
On tho day when Miss Matilda had
last worn the white frOck and the
magnificent hat she had smiled upon
the world from the digging pinnacle
of Hope and Opportunity made radi-
ant by thirty4eight years Of waiting
and inexperience. Thirty-eight does
not mean that she was old. On such
a day Time pauses and event turns
back in his race; Cupid gives COM
mands, as did Joshua, and the sun and
moon sit fixedly in the sky; Love
wipes out all memories. BY virtue of
this family Bible, preserved in the
ancestral home at Stamford. Miss Ma
tilda was thirty-eight. But on that
day she was eighteen. She was less.
She was sweet sixteen, and the rest
Of it.
Leaving Miss Matilda on the pin
nacle Of the above description. we re-
turn to the bachelor apartments which
occupied the fourth floor Of a walk
up flat, just of Morningside Heights.
The entrance to this charming home
was studded with electric buttons, be-
low which were smudgy cards bearing
the names OF the mate The
shadowy recesses of the ground floor
Of this fiat were smudgy cards bear
ing the names OF the inmates. The
shadowy recesses Of the ground floor
OF this flat we're haunted by a drowsy
attendant who replied to inquire:
with a dignified and impressive air o,
WboAOAAA AA 80 -
the right" Or six flights to the. left.
as the case might be.
Two Of the fourth-floor rooms Mis-
Matilda occupied personally with he
Pekinese spaniel and gas range PHI
others were sublet at a profit which
promptly n to sen a pittapce t
the bank and q mite to the church.
It would - unjust to speak Of Mis-
Matilda and not say something 70
Fin. the Pekinese spaniel. Fiji ha
limp ears. l%ustrous brown eyes. a mil
coat. When her mistress drank te
she would sit up on her hind legs an
wait for q lump OF sugar. Fiji ha
performed this n trick steadily fo
nine years and had consumed MOI
than 3.286 Jumps of sugar-enough I
sweeten lemonade for several sunda,
school ptcnicS. Miss Matilda though
her h smartest and dearest dog
the world. and didn't hesitate to te
her so. h had been presented
Miss Matilda by James Scott. Abing,
Commons. Surrey, England, secor
mate on the British s. s. Kingston, G
the day before the vessel cleared (,
Liverpool with a cargo Of lumber.
II you could talk confdentially wit
James Scott during his night watch {
the bridge. he would tell you that
sailors life was q dogs life, that
was going 10 settle In America art
the next voyage and buy a home al
get married. But you never kne
q sailor who didn't say this and "
never heard Of one who did 1t.
Fiji was all that remained to MI
Matilda Of James Scott: besides tn
Is Dooin's n not Scott's story.
One morning in March a gentlem,
came to the fourth-flood flat in scar,
OF a room. The heels Of his sho
were run down and his clothes we
slick n patched. The gentlema
nevertheless. was neat and clean. ]
took Of his hat as Miss Matilda ope
cd the door
Have you got a room to rent ?"
The question always evoked I
l~andlady's most pleasing smile.
covered her face Immediately.
Yes: would you are to come
and look at them?"
The gentleman aSsented with a n
and the two edged down a narr