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to understand."

He added, "I can tell by your dress and fine manners that you think you're above us. You think you have all the answers when you don't even have the questions."

The stranger pulled out his money and laid it on the counter. "I do have one question that perhaps you can answer," he replied coldly.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Where does Miss Whitman live and how may I find her?"

Dolan looked at him like he'd lost his mind, and shrugged. "Ask anyone in town."

Late that afternoon, the stranger knocked on Miss Whitman's door with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

When, she opened the door, she gasped and stepped back two steps.

"Hello," the stranger said smiling.

She let him in and he didn't emerge for several hours.

The town went wild with gossip.

For the next few days, the stranger, whom they learned was a man by the name of Karl, visited Miss Whitman every day and stayed for hours. They were seen walking along the riverbank at twilight laughing and holding hands.

Mr. James, the baker remarked. "He looks like a gentleman, so what on earth does he see in her?"

A few of the townspeople offered crass remarks to that question. Soon, the story got around that they had become lovers. The scandal grew daily. Some said she placed a spell on him.

Business was brisk at Dolan's Pub. He told his story again and again of how the stranger saw Miss Whitman walking in the market place and asked her name.

Men and womenfolk gathered at Dolan's Pub to hear him tell the story of how the stranger rode into town and fell passionately in love with Miss Whitman the first time he laid eyes on her. Each time he told the story he embellished it a bit and the townspeople kept coming back for more.

The citizens shook their heads in bewilderment, and laughed uproariously as the stories got more risque with each telling. You might wonder how they occupied their time before the stranger came to town? I've wondered about that too.

Anna Whitman strode in to town alone, a week later, and went to straight to Tony's tailor shop. She asked him to make a wedding gown for her. He was only too happy to make her gown; he had always admired the way she faced up to the "good citizens" of the town.

Tony had never joined in the gossip in Dolan's Pub, but tonight after he ordered the material for the dress, he walked over to Dolan's and let it slip that he had received an order for a wedding gown from Miss Whitman. He watched their mouths fall open, and he smiled inside.

The crowd went mad with jealousy. They said the

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