The Widow To Say Nothing of the Man   By: Helen Rowland (1876-)

[Illustration: "OH well, I was only showing you the sugar bowl." Frontispiece ]

THE WIDOW

[TO SAY NOTHING OF THE MAN]

BY HELEN ROWLAND

ILLUSTRATED BY ESTHER P. HILL

[Illustration]

DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY 220 EAST 23D STREET, NEW YORK

Copyright, 1908, by Dodge Publishing Co.

[THE WIDOW. 3]

CONTENTS

PAGE

I THE WIDOW 5

II THE WINNING CARD? 18

III WHY? 32

IV THE WIDOW'S RIVAL 47

V MONEY AND MATRIMONY 60

VI SIGNS AND COUNTERSIGNS OF LOVE 73

VII A SHORT CUT 86

VIII AFTER LOVE (?) 101

IX HER WAY 118

X MARRIAGE 135

XI THE WIDOW'S DEAL 151

XII NEW YEAR'S IRRESOLUTIONS 165

I

THE WIDOW.

"WHAT would you say," asked the widow, tucking her skirts cautiously about her patent leather toes and leaning back luxuriously against the variegated pillows, "if I should tell you that I have found the very girl who would make you a model wife?"

The bachelor glanced up indifferently and dipped the paddle lazily into the water.

"What model?" he asked, suspiciously. "Women are like automobiles, you know. There are so many models. And even after you have selected one most carefully you never can tell what it is going to do."

"They are more like horses," declared the widow, "if you know how to handle them, and are gentle and kind "

"And let them see you're master "

"And don't jab them with spiteful little spurs "

"And know when to pull on the curb "

"And when to coax them with sugar "

"And when to beat 'em and even then you can't tell what they're going to shy at or balk at any more than you can tell when an automobile is going to break down or run away or blow up. But this 'model' is she pretty and fetching and warranted to run smoothly over rough roads and to climb all the matrimonial hills and not puncture a tire in the finances and to be just as good for a long run as for a spurt? Is she smart looking and substantial and "

The widow sat up so quickly that the canoe swayed unsteadily beneath them.

"She's not a harem, Mr. Travers!" she cried. "Oh, dear!" she sighed hopelessly, leaning back again, "why is it that every man expects to get a harem of virtues combined in one wife? I don't believe any man but Solomon was ever perfectly satisfied with domestic life."

"Solomon," remarked the bachelor, giving the paddle an emphatic shove, "understood the necessity for variety in wives. But if Solomon had lived in the twentieth century he wouldn't have needed so many er annexations. He would have got it all in one modern woman. Now, you, for instance "

"Speaking impersonally," interrupted the widow, trying to look austere and at the same time to blow a chiffon veil out of her mouth, "when a man buys an automobile he selects a runabout or a victoria or a touring car or a racing machine, according to his needs, and is satisfied."

"Not at all," protested the bachelor. "The moment he has one automobile he is sighing for another, and he is never happy until he has a garage full "

"And it is the same about a coat or a hat," persisted the widow, ignoring the interruption; "he picks out what suits him best; but he doesn't expect his top hat to do him for picnics nor his swallow tail to serve for lawn tennis nor his yachting cap to look well in church nor "

"A derby," interrupted the bachelor, "will do almost anywhere."

"They're hideous, Mr. Travers! and stiff and commonplace and uncomfortable and "