858 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 25, 
A Thanksgiving Matchmaking. 
I suppose every woman that ever was 
born is at heart a matchmaker, only in 
some of them it is latent, as the phrenolo¬ 
gists say when they find some one that 
ought to be very remarkable in some line, 
only isn't. And old maids are no excep¬ 
tion in this respect, unless they are soured, 
and I’m not sour, thank Heaven! 
Being an old maid of some forty years 
standing—for they tell me I showed signs 
of old maidishness when 1 was a baby— 
and having had this matchmaking pro¬ 
pensity latent all that time, is it any won¬ 
der that it sprang into activity the minute 
1 got Silas Dale’s letter asking me if he 
might come and eat his Thanksgiving 
dinner with me? 
Before I answered him I put on my 
things and took the electrics to Vernon 
Centre and went to see Alicia Dean. I 
asked her if she’d take dinner with me on 
Thanksgiving day, and when she accepted 
my invitation I could actually almost see 
her wedding invitations, and I went home 
and wrote Silas that he might come. 
Now if Alicia had refused, I really be¬ 
lieve I’d have told Silas that I had a pre¬ 
vious engagement, and then things 
wouldn’t have happened the way they did, 
though of course I might have hunted 
around among my acquaintances and 
found a second best match for him. And 
even then things wouldn’t have happened 
as they did, either. You see I’d always 
thought an awful sight of Silas, and when 
he went off West to practice law, I sup¬ 
pose I felt as bad as anybody did to have 
him go,—in an old-maidish way, of course. 
We’d written to each other once a vear, 
telling all the news that was interesting, 
and of course I knew how well he’d pros¬ 
pered, and how he wa’n’t married yet. It 
has always struck me as being an awful 
waste of good material for a Ijkely man 
that would make a good husband and 
could give a woman a nice home, to stay 
single, and I hate waste. And thinking 
so much of Silas, I’d felt as if he wa’n’t 
living up to his opportunities off West 
there, and it was kind of a disappoint¬ 
ment to me, his falling short of what he 
ought to be, so. Rut now he was coming 
East, I saw how 1 could put him in the 
way of making up for his past deficiencies. 
Alicia Dean was and is my best friend. 
She’s about my age. but she’s a widow. 
Everybody knows that the reason old 
maids are such is because they’ve never 
had a chance to be anything else, but with 
widows it’s different. You’ve seen these 
women with charm,—the thing they de¬ 
scribe in the newspapers. It is indescrib¬ 
able, and every woman must cultivate it if 
she expects to win a husband or keep him 
after he is won. but it is something no 
woman can cultivate if it isn’t born in her. 
Well, Alicia had it, as near as I can figure 
it out. You had a feeling that if she 
didn’t marry any marriageable man in 
town, it wasn’t because she hadn’t been 
asked. That’s the difference between old 
maids and widows. 
Besides having this ‘‘indescribable thing 
called charm,”—which as a general thing I 
don’t take much stock in,—Alicia was an 
awful good, sensible woman. She’d had 
a pretty tough time with her husband, 
which I took it was the reason she hadn’t 
made a second venture, but I had a feel¬ 
ing that Silas would find it easy to over¬ 
come all her fears and objections. I was 
so pleased when I thought of how happy 
I was going to make them both that I 
fairly hugged myself. There’s no use 
talking; it’s easy to see how some folks 
gets into the matchmaking habit. It's 
like strong drink and goes to the head. 
But of course I knew I’d got to have a 
fourth one in my Thanksgiving party, for 
three’s a crowd and I never like to be the 
one that isn’t wanted. So after I’d got 
Silas and Alicia off my mind, I called up 
Philip Alden on the telephone. Philip is 
my nearest neighbor, and being a lone 
woman I’d thought it advisable to fix 
things so I could call on a good strong 
man in case of need, so I’d put in a tele¬ 
phone over to his house. I never'd used 
it much, though in Winter evenings we’d 
often have long talks together when it got 
a little lonesome. He lived by himself, 
too. It’s surprising how many men and 
women there are in this town that live 
that way; I’m going to count ’em up some 
day. 
Philip and I were good friends, and 
having the telephone was a great tconveni¬ 
ence when we wanted to talk together, for 
it saved worrying the neighbors, and I 
hate to have the neighbors fretting about 
my affairs. Philip was another case of 
the waste of good material, but I never 
thought of trying my matchmaking hand 
on him, for he did not seem to have, as 
far as I could see, any more sentiment 
than a clothespin. Well, when he said 
he’d come over Thanksgiving day. I felt 
that the first part of my programme was 
arranged and I could give my mind to the 
other part. 
Thanksgiving day was clear and cold, 
and I was glad of that. I expected Silas 
at about 10, and by that time I had every¬ 
thing ready for my company. I’m not one 
to get nervous about my work and I never 
let it drive me. My house was full of 
sunshine and good smells that day. In 
the kitchen there was the flavor of sage 
and onions and cooking meat. I had a 
pudding baking in the northeast corner of 
my oven, a spare-rib in the southeast cor¬ 
ner, and in front of them two fowls were 
roasting, for I knew Silas preferred chick¬ 
en to turkey, and besides, turkey was ex¬ 
tra dear at that time. In the dining room 
the table was all set, with my best table¬ 
cloth that shone like satin, and some of 
Grandmother’s old dishes and her thin 
silver spoons. There was the smell of 
celery there. Then in the sitting room 
I had a fire in the open fireplace. I’d had 
Philip come over and put in the biggest 
backlog he could get in, and the fire I’d 
started made the room warm and cheerful. 
My old “calico” cat sat purring on the 
arm of my favorite chair. "File canary 
in one south window sang softly, There 
was holly and ground pine about the 
room, and the hemlock I’d gone and got 
that morning smelled sweet, as did the 
heliotrope in the other south window. 
Well, it wasn’t long before I saw Silas 
coming, a-nd I went to the door to meet 
him. He’d changed some, and I had too, 
I suppose, but after we’d shaken hands 
and had come in and sat down by the fire 
we forgot all about that. It did seem 
good to see him again, and we both talked 
fast, - as we used to do. Then, pretty soon, 
I saw Alicia coming. I was glad, foi¬ 
l’d got to go to the kitchen pretty soon, 
and I wanted to leave them alone some. 
She looked awfully pretty when she came 
in. Her cheeks were pink, but her nose 
never turns red the way mine does in cold 
weather. I got my two visitors to talking 
and then I went off and left them, and 
when I got hack Philip was just knock¬ 
ing at the door. We four sat together for 
c ome time, till I had to go and get the 
dinner on to the table. It made me un¬ 
easy to leave Philip there making the 
third that's a crowd, and besides 1 needed 
some one to help me a little. So I called 
to him. A minute late who should come 
walking out hut Silas. 
“I called Philip,” I said. “I wanted 
him to help me a little.” 
“Did you ?” he said. “I must have mis¬ 
understood. But 1 can help you just as 
well as he can.” 
He couldn’t, but I saw he was deter¬ 
mined to stay, and he was so good-natured 
and cheerful about hindering me that I 
couldn’t send him back into the other 
room. So I hurried things on to the table 
and called Philip and Alicia out to sit 
dov'n to dinner. 
It was a great success in every way, if 
I do say it. The chickens—I'd raised 
them myself—were tender, and the rib 
roast was delicious. The gravies and 
stuffings were just right, and the onions 
and squash and turnip and potatoes were 
cooked and seasoned as they ought to be. 
As for the pudding and pies and the nuts 
ideal Sport 
A Fine Day 
A Good Dog 
and 
I r*. 
arms 
It’s just as natural for r 
a girl to want to shoot ‘ 
as for a boy. It does her 
just as much good. Gives 
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Catalog Free 
describing“Stevens" 
guns of every sort / 
and style, for hunter, j 
marksman, girl or boy. 140 || 
pages. Sent free to 
any one interested 
in guns, sending 4 cents in stamps to 
) Cover postage. 
If your dealer cannot supply you, 
write to us. 
J. STEVENS ARMS & TOOL CO. 
200 High Street 
Chlcopea Falls, Mass., tJ. S.A. 
n 
IEDDystoNE 
PRINTS 
Above all things 
children’s dresses should be made of material 
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As for your own clothes—can you get goods 
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The Eddystone Mfg Co (Sole Makers) Philadelphia 
■ in iii 111 iiiairMWMBaw—————————f 
FURNITURE from fhe ST. LOUIS'WORLD’S FAIR 
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Chicago House Wrecking Co., 36th A Iron Sts., Chicago 
YOUNG MEN WANTED —To learn the 
Veterinary Profession. Catalogue sent 
free. Address VETERINARY COLLEGE, 
Grand Rapids, Mich. L. L. Oonkey. Prin. 
AGENTS WANTED 
FOR 
THE STANDARD 
Self-filling, Self-cleaning 
Foixntain Pen. 
ACTIVE, NOW, for CHRISTMAS 
Manufacturer’s Agent, 
255 W. 104th Street and Broadway. 
Room 1, New York. 
$ 
QR for this large 
handsome 
steel range 
without high closet or reservoir. With 
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shown in cut, SI 3.95. Roaervolr is 
porcelain lined. 1 Icavy cast top with 6 full 
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8-18 size. The body is made of cold 
rolled steel, top and all castings of best 
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orcoal. Nickel band 
on front of main top; brack¬ 
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band and ornament on reser¬ 
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OUR TERMS’ 
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Oak 
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just as illustrated. Burns 
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heavy cast base, large cast 
feed door, ash pit door and 
ash pan, swing top, screw 
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urn, nickel top ring, name 
plate, foot rails, etc. 
We have heating 
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Hot l>last, air tights, the 
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for 80c. Base burners 
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•re the most liberal ever 
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Winchester 
“NEW RIVAL” 
BLACK POWDER SHELLS 
The most successful hunters shoot Win¬ 
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NEmSoDEtNBI7 
• li the cheapest good gun yet niade. By theomlssion of the take down feature we have 
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77ze firear ms filisTwaw Street, New Haven, Ct. 
BUILD UP yo s u t Ten;,h with d 
JAYNE S TONIC VERMIFUGE. 
a pleasant, potent, and permanent invig orator 
SST for WOMEN, CHILDREN and MEN, 
DRUGGISTS ALL SELL IT. 
r 
