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' " '. HENRY A. PAE30NS, Jn., Editor and Publisher.
JEZA' COUNTYTHE REPUBLICAN PAJITY.
Two .Dollars pkb Annual
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1871.
NO. 11.
J f
y
MEGRET8.
If wo had but known, If we had but known,
Those summer days together,
That one would stand next year alone,
In the blazing July weather!
Why, we trilled away the golden hours,
VVlth gladness, and beauty, and calm,
Watching the glory ol blossoming flowers,
Breathing the warm air's balm ;
Seeing the children like sunbeams play,
In the glades of the long, cool wood ;
Hearing the wild bird's carol gay,
And the soiie of the murmuring flood.
Rich gems to Time's pitiless river thrown,
If we had but known, if we had but known I
If wo had but known, if we had but known,
Those winter nights together,
How ons would sit by the hearth alone,
In the next December weather ;
Why, we sped those last hours, each for each,
With music, and games, and talk,
The careless, bright, delicious speech,
With no doubt or fear to balk.
Touching en all things, grave and guy,
With the freedom of two lu one,
Tot leaving, as happy people may,
8o much unsaid, undone,
Ah, priceless hours forever flown,
If we had but known, if we had but known t
If we had but known, If we had but known,
While yet we stood together,
How a thoughtless look, a slighting tone,
Would sting and Jar forever !
Cold lies the turf for the burning kiss,
The cross stands deaf to cries.
Dull, as the wall of silence is,
Are the gray, unanswering Bkles 1
We can never unsay a thing we said,
While the weary life drags past,
We never can staunch the wound we bled,
Where a chance stroke struck It last.
Oh, the patient love 'neath the heavy Btonc,
If we had but known, if we had but known I
If we had but known, If we had tout known !
We had climbed the hill together ;
The path before us seemed all our own,
And the glorious Autumn weather.
We had sown ; the harvest was there to reap.
We had worked : lo 1 the wages ready,
Who was to guess that the last long sleep
Was closing round one already.
With never a warning, sharp aud strong,
Came the bitter wrench of doom,
And love, and sorrow, and yearning, long
May wail by the lonely tomb.
Oh, keenest of pangs mid the mourner's
moan,
If we bad but known, if we had but known 1
All the Year Round-
MARRIED FOIt FUX.
May Wharton was a sort of solecism
among women. She was both handsome
and puzzling, winning and reserved, a
romp and yet proud. Pious old ladies
always Bbook their heads when she was
mentioned, and said she was a hoydenish,
daring, reckless coquette, and added,
with a sigh, that " She was in the Lord's
hands," as if it was infinite relief to
clear tluirs of her. To gentlemen she
was fascinating, bewildering, and offish
as a bird.
The girl was an orphan, without "kith
or kin," and boarded in the family of
her guardian. Judge Harmon resided
in one of our towns, which, like the
beautiful, spontaneous fruit of the trop
ics, had sprung up, as it were, in a night,
on our " Western wilds," with all the
elegance and refinement of cultured
energy.
J udge Harmon's home was palatial in
aspect. The lawns were like spread vel
vet England never boasted of softer or
richer aud in all his wide estate gen
erous Nature had been lavish, with her
long kept gifts, as if rejoicing in a re
cipient, imitating her Maker, who urges
Ilis own creatures to accept his love.
Underneath a spreading oak Btood
this girl of whom we are telling. She
was the centre of a merry group, whose
fortunes she was reading ; her dark eyes
Hashing, her dark cheeks brightening
with excitement. Palm after palm was
bared to the young priestess, whilst she
held them spell-bound with her thau
maturgio powers, tracing through the
delicate network of each the striking
incidents which had marked each lite
from its birth ; causing some to grow
pale with fear, and others to blush scar
let with anger and shame ; for, with
characteristic daring, she shielded none
in laying bare the past, and, with mys
tical fascination, Bhe predicted the lead
ing events to come, seasoning each with
a terse, pertinent, funny bit of advice.
Outside the circle stood a young man
a large fellow, with broad shoulders
and splendid figuie bis Panama was in
his hand, his light, curly hair cut close
to his well-shaped head. He had given
rapt attention whilst the prophetess had
fearlessly penetrated the forbidden Ar
cana of the future. As he listened, his
clear blue eyes flashed and sparkled, as
if planning mischief. He waited until
each of the group had his or her peep
into the beyond, then he entered the
circle, and with innate grace knelt at
the girl's feet, baring his large, shapely
hand, with an expression of mock faith
upon his face. The girl flushed as she
touched the hand, for between these two
existed a strange sort of magnetic influ
ence, now attracting, now repulsing.
Oftenest they were at variance, disagree
ing on all subjects, and occasionally
trenching on open quarrel. But some
times a single glance from those teazing
blue eyes would send the blood surging
up to the girl's dark cheeks, aud the ac
cidental touch of her small hand would
thrill the man's strong frame like a pow
erful electric shock. This mysterious
influence, whilst it puzzled, had its fasci
nation to each. To cover the sudden
blush, the girl looked fearlessly into his
eyes, exclaiming :
" Am I the subject of a mental hallu
cination, or do I really behold Park
Lloyd, the acknowledged skeptio of all
hidden, unexplainable things, coming to
question occult lore '("
His only reply was to raise his hand
a trifle toward her bending face. After
that ha never glanced at his, upturned
and teazing, but served his hand as she
had done the others.
You are both better and worse than
people think you. Your nature is posi
tive, not negative. You are genial, gen
erous, sometimes gentle. To counter
balance these virtues, you are tyrannical
and exacting, and require as much and
tnort than you give. If you ever have a
wife, she will have a stormy time of it.
Xour will is inflexible and unrelenting,
In your past life you have bad no great
trouble, and have committed no glaring
sin; not that you have resisted from
principle or conscience, but because you
are not open to influence. Temptations
will not mix with your nature, any more
than water will mingle with oiL Yon
owe your freeness from taint, not to any
self-fought battles, but to the fact that
you were born morally, as you are phy
sically, strong ; bo may thank your God,
and not yourself. You have imagined
yourself in love e ver since you were in
pinafores, but the great passion has never
yet "swayed you Suddenly she
Btopped, with a little, low, riDging
laugh. They all drew nearer, with
breathless curiosity, exclaiming :
" hy, May, what do you see r
The eirl only laughed the longer.
dropping his hand to bring her own to
gether, a habit she had. Merriment is
contagious. The whole group became
convulsed, laughing until they could
not stop, simply because she did. Park
Lloyd caught the clasped hands in his ;
and, looking up into the irresistible f ace,
said, with that determination and will
that she had told him was a part of his
being :
" May, what do you see in my hand
to evoke such laughter ' Tell me, in
stantly 1''
At once she obeyed, controlling her
lips, and answering comically in tho
sudden silence :
" Why, Park, your hand says that you
will marry for J'un."
A sudden determination, sealed as
soon as conceived, flashed across bis
teazing face. He sprang suddenly to
his feet, keeping her hand in his, and,
opening her small, white hand, spread it
quite before her lace, demanding :
" And what will you marry for i"
It is when the castle is stormed through
quick strategy that it falls. The unex
pected attack found her unarmed. She
was surprised into reading the riddle of
her own life :
" I I shall marry in terrible earnest."
He retained the hand firmly, his blue
eyes full of inexplicable lights.
" l.et us cheat fate into refuting her
own decrees, May. Dominie Bowen has
just gone into the house with Lncle
Harmon. Marry me now, Jor Jun, will
you'r1" and hiB blue eyes, with their
strong, unbending will, looked down
into hers.
The blood rushed to her very brow,
then ebbed, leaving her pale as death ;
while those around, not seeing the swift
current beneath the surface, and think
ing it all a farce, laughed long and loud.
Tho blue eyes never moved from hers,
with their subtle, fascinating will power.
" May, this is an age of progress you
are a type of the age, brave and cour
ageous let us show ourselves two moral
empirics, and declare all such conven
tionalities as engagements effete."
His tone was low, though so clear
that all heard, and the merry laughter
continued to ring round the circle at
what they deemed his perfect acting.
We have said this girl was a solecism
dariiig, reckless, and self-sustained, hav
ing been used to making her own de
cisions from her birth. Never had the
magnetic forces existing between these
two been stronger. It drew them to
gether with a force utterly irresistible.
Neither loved the other, yet each de
manded the other as his own. The
power was that of mind and will, not of
heart, a sort of mental and nervous
magnetism. The smothered fire in her
dark eyes blazed and sparkled. In
stantly he caught the flash. He bowed
his head so low none other ears than hers
caught the words :
" May, shall I seal it ?"
iler head was neither raised nor
drooped. With bright, triumphant eyes
he stooped ; bis lips touched hers. It
was but for an instant, but lips never
touch without hearts pulsing. A kiss
upon brow or cheek is simply a kiss, but
the meeting of lips is the touching of
souls. At that sudden, unexpected kiss
the merry circle looked at each other in
startled surprise, then greeted with a
round of applause what they considered
the very consummation of fine acting ;
while Park Lloyd took the girl's hand,
and led her into the house, the others
following with laughing curiosity.
Judge Harmon and Dominie Bowen
were iu the bay-window in the drawing
room, the judge displaying some rare
exotics that tilled the apartment with
their exquisite perfume. They went
quite in front of the minister, the others
grouped about with all the graceful
effect of an impromptu tableau. The
dominie and judge looked on in mute
surprise. I'ark explained in his clear,
coherent way :
" Dominie, will you please speak the
werds that shall make Mav and I hus
band and wife r"'
In an instant there was great excite
ment, all, at length, catching the deep
meaning of the seeming farce. The
dominie exclaimed, the judge laughed
heartily. Park was his nephew, and he
had long desired the match. The con
fusion increased. Park Lloyd raised his
band with an impatient gesture, his face
demanding silence, with that expression
seldom disobeyed, lie said, quietly :
" Dominie, there is nothing to keep us
apart ; marry us at once.
1 he aominie, tnougn a good, was a
weak man, and Park Lloyd's will was
iron. He yielded instantly, drew his
prayer-boon from nis pocket, and pro
ceeded with the impressive service of
the Episcopal church. The hand that
the bridegroom held had grown cold as
ice. At its increasing chill, his lips had
for one moment set themselves, then re
laxed with a smile of triumph at the
words " I pronounce thee man and wife."
When they arose Iroui this blessing,
they were met wita laughing congratu
lations. In the dining-room a feast had been
spread for the benefit of the little com
pany. Judge Harmon invited them to
partake, and make it a symposium in
deed. At the dining-room door Park
left the weddinc guests to enter alone :
be, by a sudden . turn, leading his bride
away from them, out upon an adjacent
veranda. - When there, he raised the
little cold hand to bis lips ; the blood
tingled to its very finger ends. He
looked into her face teazingly. She
flushed painfully, and snatched her hand
away; then, leBt he should poasit
think she had mistaken the caress as
given in earnest, Bhe returned it gayly,
touching his hand with her lips, aud
saying with a laugh, from which all
merriment had fled :
' For fun."
The set look stole stole about his lips
. i ,11 V 1- A It.
again ; instantly ne iea ner obck vo vue
dining-room. After that the bride and
goom led the feast with their gayety:
A little later, in trie arawing-room,
there was musio and dancing. The
bride's hand rested on the bridegroom's
n. They were conversing merrily
with those about them. The dreamy
strains of a waltz floated through the
room. He bent his head to hers.
Will you walt P"
They had waltzed together many a
time, and did it to perfection. Now,
the girl drew back. He bent his head
still lower, and said : " For fun.-' She
yielded instantly. Always before, he
had laid his hand lightly upon her
waist : to-nieht he quite encircled her
in his arms, yet never hod they seemed
so far apart, even in their quarrelling
days. The girl shivered ; the man set
his hps. They were married oetore ever
they were lovers. Of old they were the
Jast to tire ; now they made but one
round of the room. After that dance ha
left her for a moment. When he re
turned, she was standing by the judge's
wife ; he came quite beside her, and said,
in a low tone :
" There is a train starts for the East
it . i nr
in an hour. Uan you De ready, iurs.
Lloyd '"
She bowed assent, ana instantly leit
the room with Mrs. Harmon to make
preparations, whilst Park called his
vouusrer brother liov to one siae, sena-
ing him home to pack his trunk, and ask
his friends to meet them at the depot.
An hour later the good-byes were spoken ;
tbe engine shrieked its shrill whistlo,
and the train whizzed out into tho
night.
Park Lloyd and his bride sat side by
side. She, with pale, still face resting
in her hand ; he, with set lips and folded
arms. Yet these two had married " for
fun."
Fate is not to be hood-winked. She is
like a weasel, you cannot catch her
asleep. Her fiats are unchangeable.
They had " married in fun," and found
it in " terrible earnest." The relation in
which they were, henceforth, to stand to
each other was settled in a lew words,
They were spoken in a tone so still, so
bitter, so poignant, you would never
have recognized it tor l'ark ioyd s gen
ial. heartsome voice.
" May we understand each other.
The farce has proved a tragedy. It has
made but one change in your lite, 10
the world only, you are Mary Lloyd, in
stead ot Mary W harton.
And yet in the heart ot eacu at tnat
moment the love, which was born in a
kiss 'neath the oak tree, grew strong,
wild, wrestling. But neither under
standing the other, each sought to crush
this thing, with its Titanic proportions,
and bury it deep, carving upon its settl
ing stone " t or tun.
This man said bitterly to himself,
what the patriarch, Abraham of old,
said ot his wito "bhe is my sister.
His blue eyes grew cynical and unbe
lieving, his fine mouth set and cold ;
whilst in this journeying, though this
modern barai grew pale and apathetic,
" the Egyptians beheld the woman, that
she was very fair." Everywhere this
man heard and saw the suppressed ad
miration his beautiful wife elicited
heard and saw, writhing with jealousy
even of the eyes resting upon her, and
with a bitter, exultant triumph that she
was his.
There was no more of the old quar
relling ; everything, antagonistic and
polemic, seemed to have forsaken their
characters ; they treated each, other
with studied politeness. The world
could have found nothing at which to
cavil; would have pronounced them
elegant in their etiquette and dignity,
They had travelled thus for weeks, visit
ing the several watering-places, and
every point of interest in our Eastern
States.
One day Tark Lloyd entered their
private parlor in the hotel at Newport,
A book lay open on the table, ins wife
had evidently left it suddenly, perhaps
hearing his approach. Ho picked it up,
and kissed the leaves, where but a few
miuutes before her fingers had rested,
then glanced at tbe page. It was one
of Emerson's works, open on travelling.
He read these words " Travelling is a
fool's paradise. We owe to our first
journeys the discovery that place is
nothing. At home l dream that at JN a
pies, at Home. I can be intoxicated with
beauty and lose my sadness. I pack my
trunk, embrace my friends, embark on
the sea, and at last wake up at Naples,
and there beside me is the stern fact, the
sad, self, unrelenting, identical, that
fled from. I seek the Vatican and the
palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with
sights and suggestions; but I am not
intoxicated. My giant goes with me
wherever I go."
He smiled bitterly. He was her stern
sad, unrelenting fact ; her hated, ever
present giant.
Through the agency of his brother
Roy Park had prepared a beautiful home
for his bride. All that culture and ele
gance could suggest, had been garnered
with lavish haud, for Park Lloyd was
wealthy. A splendid jeU in the new
home celebrated their arrival. For the
first week or two after their return they
were in a constant whirl ot excitement,
The little world in which they moved,
curious to see the result of this daring
experiment, mis infringement of an ts.
tablished rule of society, were on the
alert. Woman is more apt at a part
than man. inus may succeeded in mis
leading them more readily. Never had
she been more brilliant ; whilst Park's
even disposition seemed to have under
gone an entire change. Sometimes he
was unnaturally gay ; but oftenest mo
rose and taciturn. In company he
watched his wife with jealous stealth,
aud, when she was tbe centre of an ad'
miring circle, his blue eves grew firrav
and sharp as steel, his fine mouth set to
fierceness.
All this escaped not the Argus-eyed
world. Gossip ' rolled this dainty mor
sel under her tongue with infinite rel
ish. Nice old ladies, of the " I told you
so " school, said : " They always knew if
Park Lloyd and May Wharton married,
there would be lawyers' fees to pay,"
though the most far-seeing croaker of
them all would have found it utterly
impossible to predict results from a thing
whose immediate existence was its con
summation. They found great delight
in it, however, like
" The juggling fiend, who never spoke before,
nut erica : i niarnca tnec !' when the UeeU
was o'er."
Tho younger people shrugged their
shoulders ; some pitying May Wharton
in the stormy lite she had herself pre
dicted for Park Lloyd's wife; others
spending their sympathy on him, rea
soning that, since he was the more
changed, he must necessarily bo the
greater sufferer of the two.
But all the excitement and dissipa
tion incident to their return had to come
to an end. Tho result was inevitable.
The quiet routine of daily life was be
fore them, and they were forced to meet
it. Park plunged deep into business,
May into books, renewing her long for
saken lessons, her French and German.
Etch sought as much as possible to
avoid the other; but their contact was
constant, and the very suffering it in
flicted was filled with an intense fasci
nation. If they but met in the halls.
and exchanged a common-place remark,
or came upon each other suddenly in
the garden walks,- the presence would
cling to each for hours. Their very de
sire to avoid each other constantly had
diametrically opposite eltect. May,
walking in the garden, would catch a
glimpse of her husband under the trees,
and turn suddenly to go into the house ;
and he, having simultaneously seen the
flutter of her dress, and not wishing to
obtrude his presence, would seek to ac
complish the same object by another
route, thus bringing them face to face
at the door step, when, with his courtly
grace, he would touch his hat, and say :
Do not let me prevent your walk
ing, madam, and she would return to
the garden without speaking. Thus
each, in their strong effort to conceal their
heart's secret, confirmed the other in their
cruel conviction.
One evening May was in the drawing
room, playing the piano by moonlight.
Quite unknown to her, Park sat on the
closely-shaded piazza, a little to one Bide
of tho French window, listening. His
blue eyes were full of such longing de
spair as we would imagine an artist
would paint in the eyes ot Tantalus.
After a while she ceased, and, driven by
her restless spirit, stepped out on the
piazza, intending to go into the garden.
It was so dark she put out her hand to
grope her way, and laid it directly on
his cheek. Bhe started, with a little cry
of joyful alarm, which he mistook for
horror and repulsion. He arose in
stantly, saying, in a low tone :
" Your pardon, madam !
Then, as she, mortified and flushing
leBt he had discovered in her tone what
for weeks she had been seeking to hide,
turned quickly toward the house, he
added :
"Do not let me disturb you. I am
going to the library, ills tone was
cold.
She replied, with well-feigned indif
ference : " I was only on my way to the
garden, sir," and loft him, walking as
tar as the first rustic seat, there crying
as if her heart would break. " The very
touch of my hand is hateful to him," she
thought.
A tew evenings later his mother was
with them. They were in the library.
Park had wheeled a stool to the old la
dy's feet, and laid his head upon her
lap, and she was stroking his hair with
her gentle, motherly hands. May was
seated at some little distance, bending
over her worsted work. They had been
silent for a space, when the dear, unsus
picious old lady said :
" 1'ark, you are just as lond ot petting
fiver. Mav. darling, does niv bov
teaze you most to death with bis loving
ways r
The blood surged to the wife's very
brow. She bent low over her work.
The old lady laughed merrily, saying :
"Why, ycu little bashlul pussl l
thought, by this time, you were so used
to Park you would not mind his moth
er.
Park chanced the subject.
Everything: must have an end. When
things come to the worst they naturally
better themselves. Thus their fate
reached its crisis. In the weeks that
had passed Park had grown careworn
and haggard ; whilst May, through con.
stant excitement, stood on the very
verge ot a nervous tever.
One morning she was wandering
about in her restless way her cheeks
burning, her eyes unnaturally bright,
her pulse bounding at fever rate she
happened to pass Park's room. The
door stood open. Impelled by an irre
sistible impulse, she crossed the threshold,
and stood tor the first time in her hus
band's apartment. The quick, guilty
blush of an interloper dyed her cheeks.
She closed the door softly, and turned
the key. She stood for a moment mo
tionless, looking about with a Bort of
frightened curiosity, in which pain and
pleasure were strangely mingled, then
moved about, touching the artioles he
was wont to handle with a sort of ten
der reverence ; looking into the mirror
that was used to reflecting the face she
had not looked at, save by stealth, for
weeks ; handling the brush that had
pressed the ourlv locks her fingers had
longed but to touch with a sort of bitter
jealousy ; toying with each article of the
toilet, even once peeping into a bureau
3 3 1 l Til- JJ
urawer, auu siaruug uacn wiiu suuueu
fright as if she had been a detected
thief. At length the over-wrought
nerves relaxed. She threw herself into
his easy-chair, and cried as if her heart
would break. Love, with wild, rushing
tide, dashed aside every obstacle, even
Eride. She felt as if she could fling
erself at his feet and implore him to
love her. In the excess of her grief she
arose and hurriedly paced the room. In
her walking she noticed what had be
fore passed unobserved his writing-
desk stood open upon a table. She ap
proached it. with Quick iealousv. as if
he, her husband, had no right to aught
apart from her. Upon the desk lay an
open letter. May Lloyd was an honor
able girl, but the temptation was strong.
She palod in the struggle, and was
turning quickly away, when her own
name caught ht-r eye. It was an unfin
ished letter to herself. She seized it
greedily, her hands trembling so she
scarce could hold it whilst she read. The
contents were in this wise :
" Mav : Neither of us can longer endure
this agony; the tortures of the inquisition
were mlld ln comparison. It is only exceeded
by tbe sufferings of the damned. Since the llrst
time I ever met you, you had a strange, un
earthly attraction for me. It was not love;
sometimes 1 said to myself that tho passlou
you dieted was the perfection of refined ha
tred. To me you we're srarco human. I had
a strange notion that, If I could catch yon in
my hands, I could crush you to an essence,
and then gather your being into mine. Hut
you were so offish, I dure not even so much os
lake your hand in mine. The power you
wielded over me was inexplicable. I think
you were yourself ruled by it, Thero seemed
a cord reaching from your being to mine, which
contracted, drawing us to close contact ; now
relaxed, parting us wldo, yet never broke. I
did not wish to make you my wife ; yet felt
assured if you ever married another man, tho
moment that made him your husband made him
a corpse. That day under the oak-tree 1 was
seized with a strong, irresistible longing to
own you. The idea took possession, of me and
ruled me. I was its slave. Judgment and
reason crouched before my wild demand. I
determined you should be mine, past all reach
save God's. My will trampled yours ; I con
quered. My God I we were ' married for fun.'
the words were sharper than Damascus steel ;
they cut, and hack, aud tear my very soul.
The vow that made us ono rent ns asunder.
The world calls us husband and wife ; the words
are the perfection of poignant sarcasm. Hus
band aud wilfel And bnt ono caress, that
given in the presence of the world 'for fuul
That kiss changed my entire being. From the
timo your bcautilul lips touched mine, my
heart lias pulsed in wild, craving, agonizing
love. Sometimes l think it will drive me maa.
If you but chauee to meet me, you pale and
shiver; whilst it your skirts but touch me
when you pass, every nerve iu my being thrills
and quivers, with an excess of joy that
trenches on exquisite pain. You have not
looked Into my eyes for weeks. I never "
There it stopped suddenly, as if he had
been called away. The wife bowed her
face, white with this sudden joy ; then,
through very excess, calm and still,
knelt and thanked her Maker. A little
after she replaced the letter, carefully
erased every trace of her presence, and
left the room.
The first sudden burst of joy rendered
her quiet. In its continuance she grew
restless and excited. He thought she
hated him 1 She longed to tell him of
the love that had filled and absorbed her
entire being. It seemed as if the hours
grew to eternities, as it tbe evening
would never come. How should she
correct this mistake V His strong will
had won her ere he had wooed her. Her
pride forbade the revelation. Then,
with the versatility of happiness, Bhe
burst into the old merry laugh, that had
been silent for weeks, at tho remem
brance of those awkward encounters in
tho garden, where each was hiding the
self-same secret from the other. She
made her evening toilet early in the
afternoon, thinking to attract her atten
tion, and thus chase time. She arrayed
herself with exquisite care, hoping to
look beautiful in his eyes. Scarcely was
it completed, when she heard tho clatter
of a horse's hoof in tha broad carriage
road, and reached the window just in
time to see him dismount and enter the
house.
"What had brought him home bo
early ' Was he ill '(" She trembled and
grew pale, longing to assert her wifely
right, and hasten to his side ; but, bash
ful and frightened, she lingered in her
room until she heard him go to his
apartment, and after a little leave it
again ; then with cheeks now brilliant,
now pale, descended the broad staircase.
As Bhe passed the drawing-room she
glanced in. He eat in an easy-chair,
wheeled in one of the windows, his eyes
closed wearily, and an expression of pain
about brow aud lip, as if his head ached
as well as his heart.
She hesitated a moment, then, for the
first time since their marriage, entered
the room where ho sat alone. He moved
slightly, as if to warn her of his pre
sence, bhe blushed painfully, but did
not draw back, as was her wont ; but,
instead, seated herself at the piano, and
began playing. He looked surprised, but
remained seated.
She made countless mistakes, timid
and trembling, iu the presence of this
man, who had been her husband for
weeks aye a long summer, for now it
was early fall yet to-day, for the first
time her acknowledged lover. The po
sition was novel, and full of fascina
tion. A wife yet to be wooed. A Bpice
of her old coquetry returned, a sudden
determination seized ner. bhe turned
on her stool and looked at him. He
was leaning back in his chair, his eyes
closed.
He had acknowledged in that letter
that the very touch of her dress thrilled
him. She would take him unarmed,
and draw a declaration of his love from
his own lips.
She went timidly to his side, with
brilliant cheeks and half veiled eyes.
standing so closely beside his chair that
her sleeve touched his shoulder. The
blood mounted to her very brow ; she
did not glance at him, but said, in a
broken, bashful way :
"You are home early."
He answered : " Yes," shortly, look
ing at her in utter astonishment.
" Is there anything the matter, Park ?"
She had not spoken his name before in
all that summer. The man paled with
the inward struggle. Her close presence
her very sleeve resting on his, aud yet
so far apait.
" Nothing but headache," he answer-
in a voice rendered hard and sharp by
excess of anguish.
" I am sorry," she said, simply, and
bashfully left him, going into the win
dow by which he was seated, and trim
ming some rose-trees that grew in initio
baskets there.
He watched her; she knew it and
grew reBtless and uneasy. How ehouH
they ever understand each other. Our
lives, like rose-trees, may be trimmed in
to beauty and symmetry by very small
pruning knives. This is how fate, by
the hands of May Lloyd, trimmed the
thorns that parted tieo lives which
months before by Divine law had been
declared one. The knifo was sharp. The
mind, utterly absorbed, left its manage
ment entirely to the fingers. They, un
used to freedom, lawlessly dashed it
into the palm of the littlo white hand.
The blood flowed a crimson flood.
Park Lloyd sprang to her side with a
cry of mingled agony and terror. She
turned deathly pale, and reeled at the
p iin. He caught her in his arms, carry
ing her to an adjacent lounge. She
sank back in the cushions sick and faint.
He knelt at her side, and bound up the
wounded hand with his handkerchief,
his own strong hand trembling as he did
it, then hastily brought her a glass of
wine. She did not otter to tana it, tnus
compelling him to place it to her lips.
His hand was unsteady ; Bhe raised hers,
and laid it on his to guide it. At the
light touch the man flushed to his very
brow ; but with fierce setting of the lips,
he drove the color back. She drained
the glass ; then with one quick, bash
ful look thanked hiin.
He left her instantly, going over to
the window were the flowers were, and
standing, his back to the room, his arms
folded. The touch, light, frightened,
lingering, of that little hand ; tho look
incomprehensible, which he had never
seen before in those dark eyes, baffled,
bewildered, maddened the man. He
could endure this agony no longer.
Never before had he questioned the dis
like of his wife. Now said he to him
self: "The girl either hates or loves
me. And with white set lips he de
termined to know his doom at once, and
if the former proved true, to leave her
then and forever.
He turned, she had left the lounge,
and sat in an easy-chair, drawn in front
of a window, through which the wind
blew fresh and strong. A slight blush
dyed her pale- cheeks when he stood be
side her.
" May." She could not raise hereyes.
Quiet through every excess ct suspense.
he wheeled an ottoman to her feet and eat
down. Since their marriage he had not
even so much os touched her hand, now
he rested his arms upon her lap, and
leant forward, thus bringing his face di
rectly and closely before hers. She did
not shrink, only the blush deepened.
" May, neither of us can endure this. I
love you bo, that to be longer in your
presence without love will drive me mad,
The relations we have sustained to
each other has rendered indifference ut
terly impossible, you must either hate or
love in return. It the termer, bid me
instantly leave you; if the latter, re
nounce that fearful .'marrying in fur
and show me that now you are my wife
in earnest."
He waited, she paling and flushing
before him. Iler tace drooped, seeking
in vain to hide itself from those search
ing blue eyts. She had not calculated
his close proximity ; he moved a trifle,
their lips met.
A httlo later, the servants looked in
wonder to see so indifferent a couple as
the master and mistress come out to din
ner arm in arm. Her face brilliant with
happiness, his overspread with a proud
deep loy.
That evening a notorious gossip called,
with her husband. They found Park
Lloyd and his wife enjoying the moon
light on their vine-clad veranda. She
on a low rustio settee, he reclining with
a sort of lazy grace at her feet, his head
upon her lap. Her wounded hand was
held in his gentle caressing clasp, whilst
the other toyed with the light closely
cut curls, which she had longed but to
touch.
The gossip made but a brief stay, go
ing away delighted with the happiness
these two were enjoying, though they
had " married tor tun.
Courtesy Towards Women.
It is frequently asked, " why there is
such a decline, in this country, of court
esy toward women." We are not sure
that there is really any such retrograde
on the part of the men of the present
generation. That there is some appa
rent difference in the relations of the
sex is undeniable. Women in society
are now more self-standing than at any
previous period of their history. Some
women claim the right to perfect inde
pendence, and some men are quite will
ing to let them try the experiment,
Uut that is a mistaken sort ot independ
ence which consists in talking slang and
iu advocating immorality on the plat
form. Probably these self-styled "re
formers " may complain, with some
grounds, of not enjoying the considera
tion which we have been taught to ex
tend to the sex. Now, though few wo
men have adopted these extreme no
tions, the influence of these few is no
ticeable. We all observe that there is
some lack of the delicate attention
which used to surround women. It is
hardly possible for us in modern times
to get back to the days of courtly bear
ing and honeyed speech ot our ancestry
it we nave abandoned the arts oi a
' Lovelace," we also laugh in derision at
bir (Jharles Urandison, and pro
nounce him a boor, with his tine speech
es and eternal hand-kissings. Still,
though we laugh at these characters.
there is a pleasant remembrance in the
" old novels of age gone by,
Even the fidelity of woman to mar
riage vows, her obedience to the laws of
(iod, ner duty to her husband, to her
children, and to society, are derided by
some " reformers, it is this class that
receive from men of the present age
cold and formal discourtesy. But to
that other class of women, and they are
in a vast majority iu this and every
other civilized country, who fulfill all
the duties of wives and mothers, men
yield, as they should, most profound re
gard, deference, ana respect, ana cheer
fully accord to them the position of the
"better half of uods creation, recog
nizing woman as man's equal in all the
Eositions which experience and history
ave assigned her as his "helpmeet."
It should be understood that men seek
the society of women, and choose wives
as companions, neither expecting them
to be servants nor to find them adversa
ries. Women bless a home and render
the domestio relations harmonious and amount of money, it is called an irregu
happy, but as platform antagonists they larity, and he is not punished." Was
defeat the purposes of their existence. not the boy right in his answer ?
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
A jury in Indiana, a few days since,
awarded a damsel only nineteen cents
damages for breach of promise, although
she claimed $20,000.
The heathen Chinee is making whis
key in California by fermenting old rioe
and rubber shoes and things, and tbe
revenue people are after John.
South Shrewsbury, Mass., has just en
joyed the first house a-fire that has hap
pened there lor ninety-nve years, it is
now proposed to start a fire engine and
an insurance company.
Near Manistee, Michigan, is a well
thirty-one foet deep, in which there is an
abundant supply ot water when tbe wind
blows from the west, but which is dry
when it comes from the east.
It is pleasant to know, upon the au
thority of a veteran statistician, that in
19 j() tbe population ot the united btates
will be 179,000,000. How, then, we will
all look back with contempt upon this
day of small things !
A marble cutter near Lockport re
cently received from a German an order
for a tbmb-Btone, with the following epi
taph : " My vife Susan is ded ; if shed
had life till next Friday she'd been ded
Bhust two weeks. As a tree fall so must
she stand. All things is impossible mit
God."
A man was arrested in Buffalo last
week for stealing a barrel of salt. When
arraigned in the court he pleaded desti
tution. "You couldn't eat salt," said
the judge. "Oh, yes I could, with the
meat I intended to steal." This reply cost
him six months. The judge had no ap
preciation of delicate humor.
They have a new style of temperance
society in North Georgia. The members
may drink anything they pay lor, but
pledge themselves not to invite any one
else to drink, nor accept an invitation
from any one else to drink. The society
has regular officers, and is conducted in
many respects like the Good Templars.
Among the implements found in the
possession of two burglars, when arrested
in Norristown, Pa., was a crowbar,
jointed so as to admit of being folded up
and carried in an ordinary sized satcnei.
When extended to its full length, it was
nearly six feet long, and when the joints
were covered with stout rings, the im
plement was a powerful lever.
A little girl of six years, busily en
gaged with her doll, said " If a police
man should take me, I wouldn't pull
and strike and kick so." " You had bet
ter bo a good girl," replied the mother,
and then they woufdn t come atter you
they never get good people in jail."
Yes they do, was the response; and
as the mother turned upon ner a re
proving look, she added, " Paul and Si
las.
It is a curious fact among our hat and
cap manufacturers, that different locali
ties use different sizes of hats and caps
as standard sizes. Boston and the East-
States use the smallest sizes, New
York and the Middle States use the me
dium to largest sizes, and Chicago and
the Western States require the largest
sizes. Goods manufactured for one mar
ket cannot be sold for the other, only in
exceptional cases. The South use a
shape peculiar to themselves and of large
se.
Hokah is a town in Minnesota, whose
citizens recently took a notion to remove
their cemetery. In digging about among
the bones they came across those of Delia
Parker, which were buried about thir
teen years ago. Hen body was as hard
us a stone. They thumped her arms,
body, and breast with a mallet, and all
sounded as if they were turned to stone.
Then they dug up other bodies and
tound them in the same peculiar state ot
preservation. The La Crosse paper
vouches lor this as a real case ot petre-
fictiou.
" Bridget, what did your mistress say
Bhe would have for dinner Y' " Broil
the lobster !" " Are you sure, Bridget ?"
" Entirely ; get the gridiron." Mary
got the gridiron and placed it on the
fire. She then placed the live lobster on
the fire. Intermission of five minutes,
after which the dialogue was resumed,
as follows : " Did you broil that lobster,
Mary 'f " " Devil the broil I The more
I poked the fire the more he walked off.
The baste's haunted ; I'll try no more.
No good will come from cooking a strad
dle bug like that." " And where is the
lobster " " Divil know I. The last I
saw of him he was going out of the door
,.,;tb v,;. ;i vau ,ouf
A war upon ' carpefc-bagarers " is
threatened in Boston. It appears that
many of the persons employed in the
several departments of the city govern
ment are non-residents, living in the
suburban towns, and going to and fro
daily. The Board of Aldermen think
that this is out out of order that those
who earn their money from the city
treasury should help to pay the city
taxes. As one of the solons expressed it :
" These carpet-baggers, who make their
residence in JN ew Hampshire or on the
sea shore, and yet get their support from
the city, should be required to pay taxes
here." The Board has passed an order
directing the city ' Clerk to report the
names of all non-resident taxpayers
who receive salaries from the city, with
view of taking such further action as
may be deemed necessary,
A few days since at an examination of
the master's class at one of the public
Bchools for boys at the South End, the
lads had been asked several questions re
garding bank discounts, interest and
notes, which they had promptly answer
ed correctly. A member of the school
committee then said: "You seem to
understand all about bank discounts,
Interest, notes, etc. ; now I want to ask
you the meaning of a bank term which
may not be down in your text-books.
What is meant by the term which we
read so often, called . ' bank irregulari
ties Y " To this question one of the boys
immediately replied : " If a poor man
wrongfully takes a small amount of any
thing, it is called stealing, and is punish
ed : if a bank officer ita&li a varr laraa