Susan Clegg and a Man in the House Part 15

"I won't say as it wa'n't a little tryin' gettin' him off to-day an' I did feel to feel real sober while I was hangin' his mattress back to the rafters in the attic, but when I remembered as I'd never see them bedclothes kicked out at the foot again I cheered up amazin'. Mrs. Brown come in just afore supper an' she seemed to think it was some queer as I was n't goin' to miss Elijah, but I told her she did n't know me. 'Mrs.

Brown,' I says, 'your son was a doctor an' you can't be expected to know what it is to board a editor, so once bit, soonest mended. She's mournin' over her burnt house yet, so she could n't really feel to sympathize with me, but I had n't time to stop an' mourn with her,--I was too busy packin' away Elijah's toilet set.

"He got a good deal of ink around the room, Mrs. Lathrop, an' I shall make Mr. Kimball give me a bottle of ink-remover free, seein' as he's his nephew; but I don't see as he done any other real damage. I looked the room over pretty sharp an' I can't find nothin' wrong with it. I shall burn a sulphur candle in there to-morrow an' then wash out the bureau drawers an' I guess then as the taste of Elijah'll be pretty well out of my mouth.

"I'm sure I don't know what we're comin' to as to men, Mrs. Lathrop, for I must say they seem more extra in the world every day. Most everythin'

as they do the women is able to do better now, an' women is so willin'

to be pleasant about it, too. Not as Elijah was n't pleasant--I never see a more pleasant young man, but he had a way of comin' in with muddy boots an' a smile on his face as makes me nothin' but glad as he's left my house an' gone to Polly White's."

"Won't you--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

"No, I won't,--not if I know myself. I ain't never been lonesome afore in my life an' I ain't goin' to begin now. Bein' lonesome is very fine for them as keeps a girl to do their work, but I have to slave all day long if there's anybody but me around the house, an' I don't like to slave. I guess Elijah's expectin' to be lonesome though, for he asked me if I'd mind his comin' up an' talkin' over the Personal column with me sometimes. I could see as he was more'n a little worried over how under the sun he was goin' to run the paper without me. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Lathrop, I've been the main stay of that paper right from the first. Not to speak o' boardin' the editor, I've supplied most o' the brains as run it. You know as I never am much of a talker, but I did try to keep Elijah posted as to how things was goin' on an' the feelin'

as no matter what I said, it was him an' not me as would be blamed if there was trouble, always kept up my courage. There's a many nights as I've kept him at his work an' a many others as I've held him down to it.

Elijah has n't been a easy young man to manage, I can tell you."

Susan stopped and sighed.

"I like to think how he's goin' to miss me now," she said, "I made him awful comfortable. Polly'll never do all the little things as I did.

It's a great satisfaction when a man leaves your house, Mrs. Lathrop, to know as he'll be bound to wish himself back there many an' many time."

"What--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

"Oh, I'll find plenty to do," said Susan Clegg, "it ain't made a mite of difference in my life. I shall go on livin' just the same as ever.

Nothin's changed for me just because for three months I had a man in the house. I ain't even altered my general views o' men any, for land knows Elijah wa'n't so different from the rest of them that he could teach me much as is new. I ain't never intended to get married anyway, so he ain't destroyed my ideals none, an' I told Mr. Kimball when I took him as I'd agree to keep him three months an' I would n't agree for love or money to keep him any longer, an' I've kept him for three months an'

no love or money could of made me keep him a day longer."

"Did n't you--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.

"Why, yes, I liked him," said Susan, "there were spots durin' the time when I felt to be real fond of him, but laws, that did n't make me want to have him around any more than I had to. But you know as well as I do that a woman can like a man very much an' still be happiest when she ain't got him on her hands to fuss with. I was n't built to fuss, Mrs.

Lathrop, as you know to your cost, for if I had been I'd of been over here two days a week tidyin' up out of pure friendship, for the last twenty years. But no, I ain't like that--never was an' never will be--an' I ain't one to go pitchin' my life hither an' yon an' dancin'

wildly first on one leg an' then the other from dawn to dusk for other people. Elijah's come an' Elijah's gone an' his mattress is hung back to the rafter in the attic an' his sulphur candle is all bought to burn to-morrow an' when that's over an' the smell's over too I shall look to settle down an' not have nothin' more to upset my days an' nights till your time comes, Mrs. Lathrop, an' I hope to goodness as it won't come in the night, for boardin' a editor has put me all at outs with night work."

"I--" said Mrs. Lathrop.

"Well, if you say so, I'll believe it," said Miss Clegg; "for I will say this for you, Mrs. Lathrop, an' that is as with all your faults you've never yet told me nothin' as I've found out from others afterwards was n't true."

_A Masterpiece of Native Humor_

SUSAN CLEGG AND HER

FRIEND MRS. LATHROP

By ANNE WARNER

Author of "A Woman's Will," etc.

It is seldom a book so full of delightful humor comes before the reader.

Anne Warner takes her place in the circle of American woman humorists, who have achieved distinction so rapidly within recent years.--_Brooklyn Eagle_.

Nothing better in the new homely philosophy style of fiction has been written.--_San Francis...o...b..lletin_.

Anne Warner has given us the rare delight of a book that is extremely funny. Hearty laughter is in store for every reader.--_Philadelphia Public Ledger_.

Susan is a positive contribution to the American characters in fiction.--_Brooklyn Times_.

Susan Clegg is a living creature, quite as amusing and even more plausible than Mrs. Wiggs. Susan's human weaknesses are endearing, and we find ourselves in sympathy with her.--_New York Evening Post_.

No more original or quaint person than she has ever lived in fiction.--_Newark Advertiser_.

LITTLE, BROWN, & CO., Publishers, BOSTON

_At all Booksellers'_

_Another Popular "Susan Clegg" Book_

SUSAN CLEGG AND

HER NEIGHBORS' AFFAIRS

_By_ ANNE WARNER

All the stories brim over with quaint humor, caustic sarcasm, and concealed contempt for male folk and matrimonial chains.--_Philadelphia Ledger_.

Anything more humorous than the "Susan Clegg" stories would be hard to find.--Jeannette L. Gilder, Editor of _Putnam's Magazine_.

The best work that Anne Warner has published. Miss Clegg has become an inst.i.tution in the humor of America.--_Baltimore Sun_.

Her "Susan Clegg" stories, rich in pungent humor and extremely clever in their portrayal of quaint and amusing character, deserve a place among the choice specimens of American humorous literature--which means the best humorous literature in the world.--_New York Times_.

Sure to be welcomed by that large cla.s.s of readers who found in "Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop" one of the most genuinely humorous books ever written by a woman on this side of the Atlantic.--_St. Louis Globe-Democrat_.

LITTLE, BROWN, & CO., Publishers

254 Washington Street. Boston