The daily Alaskan., 1914-05-15
ANANTAS
 ELOPES
His Tale of Woe
By cLARIssA r1ACKIB

F* ttf t
 Ananias Slime had at last made up
 his mind. Of all the desirable widows and spinstcrs In Quince HarbOr none seemed so attractive as Mrs. Em BeviR
 who was the proprietor of the Quinca ! uarbor dry goods store. If any one l had remotely suggested to Ananias that
 the profitable little business had en- hauced tue charms of the Widow Be- pis in his middle aged eyes he would ! have laughed one to scOrn. StIll, being haIt proprietor of Q dry goods busi- mess was infinitely better than being
 porter in a village bank. Any one
 would admit that!
 When he put the question to Mrs. 1 Rcyis it was uO0ntme and her two rosy checked clerks had gone home to din ncr. Auauias had assured himself that
 they two were alone, and he had . promptly possessed himself Of the wid- Ow's generous hand and told her the
 story of his lonely life and his longing
 for a home, provided she would pre-
 side over iG
 "Oh. Auanias," she si pered. 'I neY-
 or dreamcd-I never th5ught-ohT' she shrfaEod as AnaDias imprinted a kiss lon her work worn hand.
 wnat evening Anauias called upon . her and discussed their early marriage
 "Tharrs only one obstacle to a fancy . weGIlug." said Auauias when Em Be- . v.s had outlined a plan for the cere- . mouy to uGc place in the Baptist church. win her little niece as flower 1 girl and white satin ribbons festoOned
 from the tops of the pews.
 And that is?' asked Elm ln a dis . appointed tone.
 My I1udlady."
 . "uat5y Rowcu? My land, you ain't . cn-agef to her, be youT inquired the . widow sharply.
 Not ifI know it. said Ananias eau tIolsly. "but somehow l never know where ] stand with Widow Rowall, . Em, I swan I never proposed mar . r.rge to her in my life, but half the . time she talks like she was engaged to mo. l wish We could be married in a few days" added Auunias.
 But what's your huUryi" protested . Em. I'd like a chance to make some . wedding clothes and get ready"
 "I know it. my love-" COOed Ananias ]. in her aar, "but I am afraid of the . Widow Howel. Great blizzaCds, am! . ! talk in my sleep, you know. What Ii. she should hear me saying some thing about you! 1t would be all up in the gir,'
 By the time Auanlas went home he
 had persuaded his fanCee that she could select a very preSentable trOus- sC1u from the stock of her own de .uartmeut store; so. relieved of this D mgweutous question, Elm agreed t0 p-gae with Ananias on the following Thursday. and Anauias wrote a note to ! the Rev Josiah Twigg apprislng him of the coming event and asking him ! Go consider the matter as entirely con . GGnutiGn
 That night Auanias let himself into his boarding place and tiptOed up to his room with unusual caution. One never knew when the Widow Powell 1 w0ul bounce out And one never 1 knew in what part of the house she was seeking a nights repOse. She had pleasantly careless custom of taking prospective guests through her spa ri.us old house and permitting them to choose whatever room suited the mo- mnurs fancy. provided 1t was disen- gagged As for herself, she slept around - las fancy dlctated-one night the west
 front chamber appealed to her, for Bhe loved to hear the roar of the waves on the beach; the next night it might be
 small h0I room for the moment unOc-
 pied that would tickle her restless i'm .ru.sn.
 What Auauias dId not know was
 that on this particular evening the
 widow h1d been approached by the .rrorrl,t0r of the QuinCa HarbOr hotel and asked to accommodate a half dOz- 1 au guests for whom he could find no room until the following day. Mrs Powell sweetly assented ard gathered .un her own belongings and carried
 them into a tiny room next to the room .yr Ananfas slime. Here she dropped her weary limbs upon a most unCOm- ifort1l'e cot aud slept
 The sound of the softly closed front |d8ar aroused her. If that was AnanIas Slime tfptocing in at such a late hour
 she would have a serious talk with him m the morning. Either he had - been cCurtiug-and that was not to be . |a'lowed. for Hetty Powell felt that she 1 had prior right to the affections of M. Sllue-or he had been to lodge - meeting. and as it wasn't lodge night s why. he must have been CourHngl So , there the widows logical mind calCu- . lated the matter, as we know, quite {. correctly.
 !, She dCzed off to sleep Rgaln and 1. awoEe to the resounding snOres of MT. . Sine in the next room.
 "Drat himw she muttered, turning < over. But she could not sleep again. < She got t0 thinking about AnaniRs and