Susan Clegg
and
Her Neighbors' Affairs
By Anne Warner
Author of "Susan Clegg and her Friend Mrs. Lathrop," "The Rejuvenationof Aunt Mary," "A Woman's Will," etc.
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1906
Copyright, 1904,
By The Red Book Corporation.
Copyright, 1905,
By The Century Company.
Copyright, 1905,
By The Bobbs Merrill Company.
Copyright, 1906,
By Little, Brown, and Company.
All rights reserved
Published June, 1906
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
"It's a brand-new one, fer the price-tag's still hangin' on the back."
PREFATORY NOTE
"Mrs. Lathrop's Love Affair" appeared in "The Century Magazine" in1905. "The Wolf at Susan's Door" was published in "The Reader'sMagazine" in the early part of the present year, and "Old Man Ely'sProposal" is printed for the first time in this volume. The originalversion of "A Very Superior Man" appeared in "The Red Book."
CONTENTS
MRS. LATHROP'S LOVE AFFAIR
Part First. The Deacon's Dilemma
Part Second. The Automobile
OLD MAN ELY'S PROPOSAL
THE WOLF AT SUSAN'S DOOR
Part First. Miss Clegg's Speculations
Part Second. Gran'ma Mullins's Woe
Part Third. Lucy Dill's Wedding
Part Fourth. Mr. Jilkins's Hat
A VERY SUPERIOR MAN
Other books by Anne Warner
MRS. LATHROP'S LOVE AFFAIR
PART FIRST
THE DEACON'S DILEMMA
Miss Clegg was getting her own favorite tea. This always consisted ofitself, toast, and a slice of bacon; and she apparently took as muchpleasure in the preparation of the meal as if it were not the tenthousandth of its kind which she had cooked and eaten. As she hustledand bustled here and there, her manner seemed even more sprightly thanusual; and it was only occasionally, when her glance fell upon the lightshining across from her friend's kitchen window opposite, that hercheerfulness knew any diminution. But there seemed to be some sadinfluence in the effect of the rays of Mrs. Lathrop's lamp on thisparticular night; and even if its effect on Susan was merely transitory,it was not the less marke