Show I t I I MRS EMORYS BOARDER BY C MARIE MOTT copyright by Bhorutory Pub Co I saw him pass every da > not that f watched for him but Its against human hu-man nature that a woman should sit at a window all day and never look Dili Hesldes It was winter and I was I watching the passersby creep over any slippery sidewalk with all a prop I rtyholders anxious solicitude for heir safety I I was turning away when ho np seat Hi and sped over tho Ice without ho slightest fear How we women ovo courage And ho was not only earless but handsome and well built I A lib Just such broad shoulders and i inch an assured carriage as a frail I Ittlo spinster with her own way to iinko in tho world most admires Im sure a dressmaker ought to np II ireclato II flute figure If any one can Today sitting there watching the fa I mlllir figure disappear In the din I mice I felt my heart flutter like a i jlils Well well tho sensation was itrange and new It was late too late perhaps in coming and yet It was not all unpleasant As I took up my work I sighed forty yearn I had spent beneath this roof never leplning at rny lot dull I ind cheerless though It was content to pass all nay life tendering others charming that they might tho more I teadllv gain the love It was my fate alwis to have missed I had never hoped to possess happiness Why should I I am no Imbecile No ono pauses III a garden undecided whether wheth-er to pluck the glowing half open rosebud rose-bud or the homely mignonette Hitherto I had been happy enough In my cozy homo content to have my life history written In the words Stitch stitch stitch Hut today all my womans nature rose In passionate protest against my loveless unloving life 1 shuddeied as I thought of the long lonely future With him I thought life would be worth tho living True he was considerably younger than I but what matter years when the heart Is fresh Hut how could I win him I am not what Is called a strong minded woman I have no longing to approach tho polls But I do think there ought to be an amendment to tho constitution giving women the right not to vote but to propose There are so many fine men declining Into forlorn crabbed old bncbelorhood simply because they do not know enough to ask seine sweet women to make them comfortable In homes of their own Now a woman knows by Instinct when her Ideal presents himself him-self and wouldnt waste half a lifetime life-time In coming to the point My Ideal was late In coming but now that he had come I would let no foolish timidity timid-ity on my part blight the happiness that might be ours By a few discreet questions I discovered that he lived with my next door neighbor Mrs Emory Em-ory and I felt quite conscience smitten smit-ten when I remembered that I had not called on her since she moved hero a i fortnight ago That very night I ran I in and was glad that she Insisted on my staying to tea All tho time that i no talked I watched him furtively Ho vas the only one of the hoarders horn she treated like a member of he family He sat on a lounge before he fire and I saw that he was even handsomer than I had thought His argo eyes were full of tender melan holy Ills hair was dark and silky und though he had no mustache his vhlhkcrs gave character to a face that Uherwlse might have seemed almost jffpmlnate In Its beauty Even his si once prepossessed me In his favor I nyself am fonder of talking than of latenlng So my love grow Before caving I pressed Mrs Emory to call lOon and bring Tom with her Sho saw ny deep interest and as I said good iy In the doorway told mo his full his ory After his family had been killed I n that dreadful river accident he had I made his homo with her Ho was per ectly Independent hut I mild not care or that niches have no weight with lie or any woman trimly In love Next day as he passed my window jo smiled such a pleased recognition hat I sang over my work all tho after loon That very afternoon Mrs Drown told mo they would drop in t to ea I made great pieparations A > lounger woman would have spent all the time before lie mirror I did not I thought 1 knew the effect of good ookery on the affections of the other sex Well I dont think there was a ozler room or a better tablo than mine In tho United States We had a delightful time the first of a pleas ant series Soon Tom got Into the habit of coming alone Never shall I forget tho night when he first kissed I me goodby or the hours when he would sit with his head on m > shoul dor In tho soft firelight Dont ho shocked he know nothing about so cletvs cold formalities At length he became mine I use the expression advisedly because he seemed BO help ells and confiding and I vowed to eve protect and cheilsh him The jbojlng I meant should bo furnished 3y tho other partner I did make him nappy Now I love to linger brief period when we were over all that the world to each other Alas Hut 1 must go on even though my heart bleeds afresh at each remembrance There was a snake In my Eden Is It that Why every member of the other sex Is born with a propensity for Ing out nights No ono can stay appreci ate more truly than I the good quail J 1 ties of the socalled stronger sex But when my Tom took to keeping late hours I confess that I became eriiblt toned and made angry speeches that now I would give the world to recall If only he had talked back at mo wo might have made up and I would have retracted my hitter angry words Hut ho only sat gazing at me with those melancholy poetic eyes his very silence adding fuel to the flames of my indignation It was during this period of estrangement es-trangement that ono night he stayed out so late that I went to my room without waiting for his return I dont know how long I slept when suddenly sudden-ly I was awakened from troubled dreams by a most appalling noise It seemed us If all the toothorns over manufactured had joined partnership with countless steam whistles for tho production of this well there aro times when tho privilege of profanity would bo beyond the price of rubles I listened All was silent Pshawl It was a nightmare No a long low I moaning tone then a gradual swell and It burst on tho night air As nil tho fiends from leaven that fell Hail pealed the banner cry of hell I threw up the window Ah how mistaken mis-taken I had been Dear Tom with a few companions was giving me a pleasant surprise Two of them were In tho middle of a duct At least ono began the theme and then another took It up after which all joined in a grand chorus which sounded just like a Wagner opera I never did caro for midnight serenades ser-enades and I fear my voice was nono too pleasant when I begged them to desist At any rate they went off in high dudgeon and Tom with them A womans patience Isnt always elastic and I banged down the window and got Into bed and pulled the blanket over my ears When I found ho was still absent the next morning my resentment changed to alarm I was just doing up my hair when Mrs Emory rushed I r l II + m 7d4 II 4 b 4 01 > J y H Y Arj j n ly J I Threw Up J the Window I I In A glance at her face was enough and I fainted When I revived sho told me tho horrible truth The life less body of my beloved Tom had been found in her garden early that morning There was a bullet hole In his forehead and his dark silky hair was stained with blood Ho had been ruthlessly hlaln cut oft In his prime by the hand of a midnight assassin When I grew calm I 1 tried to assuage mj grief by attending to the last sad I obsequies Today a little mound un der a locust tree on the edge of my garden marks tho spot whore tho for moor companion of my joys and sor rows HOB at rest And every evening as I stand beside hip grave or sit watching the sunset light tinge the white tombstone on which Tom is carved in huge letters I vow anew that I will never keep a second pet I No other cat shall enter tho templo sacred to his memory |