Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 September 1900 — DOUBTFUL FUN. [ARTICLE]

DOUBTFUL FUN.

But the Young Man Hoped He Would Please Her. She was a widow and flu de slecle to the tipa of her fingers. The smart black and white creations that she had worn since her bereavement were al most hilarious in their resignation. In her philosophy, sincerity and seriousness were bracketed along with unbecoming clothes and the cardinal virtues. The lady thought that all these things could be found In the suburban catechism. Personally she knew nothing of the morals of commuters, says the New York Evening World. Sometimes she walked with a young man who had every reason to think himself several lengths ahead of the others In her self-contained affections. The man was poor, so poor that Ke bad to pay his debts—and the widow could scrawl a check for six figures In her bias, angular handwriting. No wonder his desire to succeed as her social jester warped his better judgment. In their walks they sometimes turned Into a side street where there was an undertaker's shop. The undertaker called attention to his lugubrious calling by a baby's coffin in the window—a tiny thing it was, as puffeel and ornate as a jewel box. The widow and the man used to joke about the coffin every time they passed the shop. And the man was so busy scintillating to my lady's bank account that he never knew how near her laughter was to tears. “I’m tired of looking at that particular style,” she said one day. "You’ll have to buy it so they can put something new In the window. I crave spring novelties In Infants’ coffins.” He bought It next day, had It filled with bonbons and sent It to her with a smart note apologizing for the size of the bonbonniere. The woman did not shriek nor cry out when she undid Its wrappings In her own room: neither did she make her way to the bureau drawer where some tiny silken boots lay among withered flowers. It wns the white flame of this sorrow that had burned away the dross from her life. She never made It a subject for private theatricals. But she was never at home agaiu to the young man who wns too poor to Contract debts, and he is still wondering why she did not like his joke. Courtship Is a transport which three passengers greatly overcrowd.