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MORE GOSSIP 161years ago and the Douglases never liked to put up withsecond best.""Who was the woman he did want""Ellen West. They weren't engaged exactly, I believe,but they went about together for two years.Andthen they just broke off nobody ever knew why.Just some silly quarrel, I suppose. And Norman wentand married Hester Reese before his temper had timeto cool married her just to spite Ellen, I haven't adoubt. So like a man ! Hester was a nice little thing,but she never had much spirit and he broke what littleshe had. She was too meek for Norman. He neededa woman who could stand uporder and he would have likedhave kept him in fineto him. Ellen wouldher all the better for it. He despised Hester, that isthe truth, just because she always gave in to him. Iused to hear him say many a time, long ago when hewas a young fellow, 'Give me a spunky womanAnd then he went and mar-spunk for me every time/man-like.ried a girl who couldn't say bo to a gooseThat family of Reeses were just vegetables. Theywent through the motions of living, but they didn'tlive.""Russell Reese used his first wife's wedding ringto marry his second," said Susan reminiscently. "Thatwas too economical in my opinion,Mrs. Dr. dear. Andhis brother John has his own tombstone put upin theover-harbour graveyard, with everything on it but thedate of death, and he goes and looks at itevery Sun-