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VOL. XI.
THE TIMES.
4b Independent Family Newspaper,
is ruBLtsnao bteiit Tuesday rt
T. MOliTlMEtt & CO.
' Subscription Price.
Within the County, $1 2r
" ' ' Hit months 7fi
Out of the County, Ini'tinllnn postage, 1 6(1
- ." " six mouths T' IS
' Invariably In Advance I
ta- Advertising rates furnished upon apuli
eatlon. YAWOOJJ STItATJHS.
, . I1T CHARLES r. ADAMS,
I baf von faany leodle poy,
Not gomes schust to mlno knee ;
Der queerest s chap, der Greatest rogue
As efer you dtt see ;
Be runs, und sehnmps, und scbmashea dings
In all barts of der house
But tot off dot t be vas mine son, '
Mine leedle Tawcob Strauss.
He get der measles und der mumbs,
Und eferyding dot's oudt
He spills mine glass of larger bier,
Foot scbnnff indo mine kraut
He fills mine pipe mit Limburg cheese
Dot vas der roughest chouse;
I'd dake dot rrom no Oder poy
But leedle Tawcob Strauss.
He dakes der milk ban for a durum,
Und cuts mine cane in dwo,
To make der scbtlcks to beat It mlt
Mine eraclous, dot vas drue t
I dinks mine bed vas scbpllt abart,
He kicks oup soocb a touse
But nefer mind, der poys vas few
Like dot young Yawcob Strauss.
lie asks me questions sooch ss dose t
Who baints mine nose so red t
Who vas it cuts dot schmoodth blace oudt
Vrom der balr upon mine bed I
Und There der plate goes rrom der lamp
Veae'er der glim 1 douse
How (an I all dose dings eggsblaln
To dot scbmall Tawcob Strauss,
N3SW BLOOMFIISLID, IJA.., TUESDAY, MTYItCII 27, 1877.
I somedlmns dink I schall go vlld
Mlt sooch a grazy poy,
Und visa Tonce more I gould haf rest
Und beaceful dimes enshoy ,
But Ten he vas ashleep In ped,
So guiet as a mouse,
I prays der Lord, "dake anydlngs'
But leaf dot Tawcob Btrauss."
A WOMAN'S VOW.
A LAWYER'S STORY.
ONE OF THE MOST CUIUOL'S
case that ever came under my no
tice Id a long course of criminal practice
was tiot brought Into any court, and, as
I believe, baa never been published until
now. The details of the aflUlr came
under my personal cognizance In the
following manner:
In 1868 I went down into the Shenan
doah volley to Bpend my summer vaca
tion among the innumerable Pages,
Marshalls, and Cookes, who all hailed
me as cousin, by right of tradlonal in
termarriages generations back. My first
visit was to the house of McCormack
Beardsley, n kinsman and school-fellow
whom I had not seen since we parted at
the university twenty years ago. ,
We were both gray-haired old fellows
now, but I had grown thin and sharp in
the courts of Baltimore and Washing
ton, while he had lived quietly on his
plantation, growing more fat and jovial
and genial with ever.y year.
Beardsley posseted large means then,
and maintained the unlimited hospitali
ty usual among large Virginia planters
before the war. The house was crowded
during my stay with old friends from
the valley and southern counties. His
daughter, too, was not only a beauty, but
a favorite among the young people, and
brought many attractive, well bred girls
about her, and young men who M ere
not so attractive and well bred. Lack of
occupation and a definite career had
reduced the sons of too many Virginia
families at that time to cards and horses
as their sole pursuits ; the war, while it
left them penniless, was in one sense
their salvation.
One evening, sitting on the veranduh
with Beardsley, smoking, and looking
in the open windows of the parlor, I
noticed a woman who sat apart, and
who, as I fancied, was avoided by the
younger girls. In a Virginia country
party there are always two or three
unmarried women, past their first
youth, with merry blue eyes, brown
holr.and delicate features women "with
a history," but who are none' the less
good dancers, riders, and able to put all
their cleverness into the making of a
pie or a match for their cousins. This
woman was blue-eyed and brown haired
but she had none of the neat, wide
awake self possession of her class. She
had a more childish expression, and
spoke with a more timid uncertainty,
than even Lottie' Beardsley,' who was
still In the school room: I called my
host's attention to her, rind asked who
she was. ; ' ' '
" It is the daughter of my cousIn.Oert
eral George Waring. - You remember
him, surely of the Henrico branch of
Warlngs?"' ! . .
' " Certainly. But he had only one
child Louisa ; and I remember receiv
ing an invitation to her wedding yeurs
ago." ' '
"Yes. This Is Louisa; The wedding
never took place. It's an old story," he
said, after a pause, " and the truth is,
Floyd, I brought the girl here while you
were with us in the hope that you, with
your legal acumen, could solve the mys
tery that surrounds her. I'll give you
the facts to-morrow it's impossible to
do it now. But tell me, in the mean
time, how she impresses you, looking
at her as a lawyer would at a client, or
a a prisoner on trial. Do you observe
any thing peculiar in her face or man
ner?"
" I observed a very peculiar manner
lu all those alM)ut her an ellbrt at cor
diality in which they did not succeed ; a
certain constraint in look and tone
M-hlle speaking to her. I even saw it in
yourself Just now as you mentioned her
name."
"You did? I'm sorry for that ex
ceedingly sorry I" anxiously. "I be
lieve in Louisa Warlug's innocence us I
do in that of my own child; and if I
thought she was hurt or neglected in
this bouse But there's u cloud on
the girl, Floyd that's a fact. It don't
amount even to suspicion. If It dld.one
could argue it down. But- Well,
What do you make of her her face
now?"
" It is not an especially clever face,nor
one that Indicates power of any kind ;
not the face of a woman who of her own
will would be the heroine of any remark
able story. I should Judge her to have
been a few years ago one of the sensible,
light hearted, sweet tempered girls of
whom there are so many in Virginia ; a
nice housekeeper, and one who would
have made a tender wife and mother."
" Well, well ? Nothing more ?" .
"Yes. She has not matured into
womanhood as such girls do. She looks
as if her growth In everyday experience
had stopped years ago ; that while her
body grew older her mind had halted,
Immature, incomplete. A grief .might
have had that effect, or the absorption
of all her faculties by one sudden . mas
tering idea."
" You are a little too metaphysical for
me," said Beardsley. "Poor Lou isn't
shrewd by any means, and always gives
me the feeling that she needs care and
protection more than most women, If
that Is what you mean."
" There is a singular expression in her
face at times," I resumed.
"Ahl Now you have it," he mut
tered. " Sitting there in your parlor, where
there is certainly nothing to dread, she
jhas glanced behind and about her again
una again and again, as though she
heard a sound that frightened her. I
observe, too, that when any man speaks
to her,she fixes on him a keen, suspicious
look. She does not have it with women.
It passes quickly, but it is there. It is
precisely the expression of an Insane
person, or a guilty one dreading arrest."
" You are a close observer, Floyd. I
told my wife that we could not do better
than submit the whole case to your
Judgment. We are all Lou's friends In
the neighborhood ; but we cannot look
at the matter with your legal experience
and unprejudiced eyes. Come, let us go
In to supper now."
The next morning I was summoned
to Beardsley's "study," (so called proba
bly from the total absence of either book
or newspaper,) and found himself and
his wife awaiting me, and also a Doctor
Scheffer, whom I had previously noticed
among the guests a gaunt, hectic young
man, apparently on the high road to
death, the victim of an ; incurable con
sumption. :
" I asked William Scheffer to meet us
here," said Mr. Beardsley, " as Louisa
Waring was an inmate of his father's
house at the time of the occurrence. She
and William were playmates together. I
believe I am right, William. , You knew
all' the circumstances ' of that terrible
night?" .
; The young man's heavy face changed
painfully, "Yes'; as much as was
known to any one but Louisa, and the
guilty man, whoever he Mas. But why
are you dragging ' out ' that wretched
affair?" turning angrily ' on 'Mrs.
Beardsley.' " Surely, any friend of Miss
Waring's Mould try to bury the past for
her.", . . .
"No," said the lady calmly. "It has
been buried quite too long, in myopinlon;
for she has carried her burden for six
years. It is time now that we should
try to lift It for her. You are sitting In
a draught, William. Sit on this sofa."
Scheffer, coughing frightfully and
complaining with all the testiness of a
long humored invalid, m ob disposed of at
last. Beardsley began : ;
"The story is briefly this. Louisa,
before her father's death', 'was engaged
to be married to Colonel Paul Merrlok'
(Merrlcks of Clarke couuty, you know.)
The wedding was postponed for a year
when General Waring died, and Louisa
went to her uncle's your father, Wil
liam to live during that time. When
the year M'ns over, every preparation
was made for the marriage; Invitations
were sent to all the kinsfolk on both
sides (and that Included three or four
counties on a rough guess,) and we the
immediate family were assembled at
Major Schefler's preparing for the grand
event, when " Beardsley became
now excessively hot and flurried, and
getting up, thumped heavily up and
down the room.
"After all, there Is nothing to tell.
Why should we bring In a famous law
yer to sit in Judgment on her as if the
girl were a criminal ? She only did,
Floyd, what women have done since the
beginning changed her mind without
reason. Paul Merrick was as clever and
lovable a young fellow as you M'ould
find In the State, and Louisa was faith
ful to him she's faithful to him yet ;
but on the night before the wedding she
refused to marry him, and has persisted
in the refusal ever since, without assign
ing a cause."
" Is that all of the story ?" I asked.
Beardsley was silent.
"No," said his wife gently; "that is
not all. I thought McCormack 's courage
would fall before he gave you the facts.
I shall try to tell you "
" Only the facts, If you please,witbout
any inference or opinions of others."
The old lady paused for a moment,and
then began :
" A couple of days before the wedding
we went over to Major Bcheffer's to help
prepare for it. You know we have no
restauranteurs nor confectioners, to de
pend upon, and such occasions are busy
seasons. The gentlemen played whist,
rode about the plantation, or tried the
Major's wines, while indoors we, all of
us married ladles and girls, and a dozen
old aunties were at work with cakes,
creams and pastry. I recollect I took
over our cook, Prue, because Lou fancied
nobody could make such wine jelly as
hers. Then Lou's trousseau was a very
rich one, and she M an ted to try on all of
her pretty dresses that we might see
how "
" My dear,"" Interrupted Mr. Beards
ley, this really appears irrelevant to
the matter "
" Not at all. I wish Mr. Floyd to gain
an idea of Louisa's temper and mood at
that time. The truth is she was passion
ately fond of her lover, and very happy
that her marriage was so near ; and being
a modest little thing, she hid her feeling
under an Incessant, merry chatter about
dresses and jellies. Don't you agree
with me, William?"
The sick man turned on the sofa Mith
a laugh, which looked ghastly enough
on his haggard face. . " I submit, Aunt
Sophh that it is hardly fair to call me
in as witness In this case. I waited on
Lou for two or three years, Mr. Floyd
and she threw me over for Merrick. It
is not likely that I was an unprejudiced
observer of her moods just' then."
" Nonsense, William. I knew that
was but the idlest flirtation between you,
or I should not have brought you here
now," said his aunt. " Well, Mr. Floyd,
the preparations were all completed on
the afternoon before the wedding. Some
of the young people had gathered in the
library Paul Merrick and bis sisters
and you was there, William ?"
"Yes, I was there."
" And they persuaded Lou to put on
her dress and veil to give us a glimpse of
the bride. I think it was Paul who
wished it. He was a hot, eager young
fellow; and he was anxious to taste his
happiness by anticipation. It was a
dull, gusty afternoon in October. I re
member the contrast she made to the
gray, cold day, as she came in shy and
blushing, and her eyes sparkling, in her
haze of white, and stood in front of the
window. She was so lovely and pure
that we were all silent. It seemed as if
she belonged then to her lover alone,and
none of us had a right to utter a word.
He went up to her, but no one heard
what he said, and then took her by the
hand and led her reverentlv to the door.
Presently I met her coming out of her
chamber In a cloak. Her maid Abby
was inside, folding the M-hite dress and
veil. 'I am going down to Aunt Hul
dalB,' Lou said to me. ' I promised her
to come again before I was married and
NO. 13.
tell her the arrangements all over one
more." Huldah was an old colored wo
man, Lou's nurse, who lived down on
the creek bank and had long been bed
ridden. I remember that I said to Louisa
that her M'alk would bo long and lonely,
and told her to call Paul to accompany
her. She hesitated a moment, and then
turned to the door, saying Huldah
would probably be In one of her fune
real moods, and that she would not
have Paul troubled on the eve of his
wedding day. She started, running and
looking back with a laugh, down the
hill." Mrs. Beardsley faltered and
stopped.
"Go on," said Dr. Heheffer. "The
Incidents which follow are all that really
affect Louisa's guilt or innocence." '
"Go on, mother," said Beardsley has
tily. " Louisa's innocence is not called
In question. Ilemember that. Tell
everything you know without scruple."
The old lady began again In a lower
voice: " We expected an arrival that
afternoon Houston Simms, a distant
kinsman of Major Bcheffef'B. He was
from Kentucky a large owner of blood
ed stock and was on his way home from
New York, where his horses had just
won the prizes at the fall races. He had
promised to stop for the wedding, and
the carriage had been sent to the station
to meet him. The station as you know,
is five miles up the road. By some
mistake the carriage was late, and Hous-'
ton started, with his valise In his hand,
to walk to the house, making a short
cut through the woods. When the car
riage came back empty, and the driver
told this to usvsome of the young men
started down to meet the old gentleman.
It was then about four o'clock, and
growing dark rapidly. The wind, I
recollect, blew sharply, and a cold rain '
set in. I went out on the long porch,
and walked up and down,feeling uneasy
and annoyed at Louisa's prolonged ab
sense. Colonel Merrick, who had been
looking' for her all through the house,
had just leai ned from me where she had
gone, and was starting with umbrellas
to meet her, when she came suddenly
up to us, crossing the , ploughed field,
not from the direction of Huldah 's cabin
but from the road. We both hurried
toward her; but when she caught sight
of Colonel Merrick she stopped short,
putting out her hands with a look of
terror and misery quite indescribable.
'Take me away from him! Oh, for
God's sake I" she cried. I saw she had
suffered some great shock, and taking
her in my arms, led her in, motioning
him to keep back. She was so weak as
to fall, but did not faint, nor lose con
sciousness for a single moment. All
night she lay, her eyes wandering from
side to side, as in momentary expectancy
of the appearance of some one. No ano
dyne had any effect on her every nerve
seemed strained to its utmost tension.
But she did not speak a word except at
the sound of Colonel Merrick's voice or
step, when she would beg piteously that
he should be kept away from her. To
ward morning she fell into a kind of
stupor, and M-hen she awoke appeared
to be calmer. She beckoned to me, and
asked that her uncle Scheffer and Judge
Grove, her other guardian, should be
sent for. She received them standing,
apparently quite grave and composed.
She asked that several other persons
should be called in, desiring, as she said,
to have as many witnesses as possible t
what she was about to make known.
' You all know,' said she, ' that this was
to have been my wedding day. I wish
you now to bear witness that I refuse to
day or at any future time to marry Paul
Merrick, and that no argument or per
suasion will induce me to do so. And I
wish,' raising her hand to keep silence
' I wish to say publicly that it is no fault
or ill doing of Colonel Merrick's that
has driven me to this ' resolve. I say
this as in the sight of Almighty God.'
Nobody argued, or scarcely, iudeed,
spoke to her. Every one saw that she
was physically u very ill woman ; and
it was commonly believed that she bad
received some Hidden shock which had
unhiuged her mind. An hour afterward
the searching party came in (for the
young men, not finding Houston Kimma
had goue out again to search for him.)
They had found his dead body concealed
In the woods by Mill's spring. You
kuow the place. There was a pistol shot
through the head, and a leathern pocket
book, which had apparently contained
money, was found empty a few feet