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VOL. XI.
NEW BLOOMFIELD, !P.A., TUESDAY, OCTOBER SO, 1877.
NO. 43.
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THE TIMES.
An Independent Family Newspaper,
18 PUBLISHED SVEIIT TUESDAY BY
F. MORTIMER & CO.
Subscription Price.
Within Hie County II 25
dia iiit'iiiiin, . , . .
Out of the County, Including postage,
" " " six mouths '
mix mourns, to
1 M
85
Invariably in Advance I
J-Advertising rates furnished upon appli
cation. elec(t Poetry.
LIFE AND DEATH.
" What la Life, futher ?" " A battle, my child,
Where tlm strongest lance may fall,
Where the wariest eyes may be begu lied,
And the stoutest heart may quail;
Where the foes are gathered on every band,
And rest not, day nor night,
And the feeble little ones must stand
In the thickest of the fight."
What Is Death, father J" The rest, my
child,
When the strife and toll are o'er;
The Angel of God, who, calm and mild,
Bays we need fight no more ;
Who drlveth away the demon band,
Bids the din of battle cease ;
Takes the banner and spear from the falling
hand,
And proclaims an eternal peace."
OLD MEMORIES.
W ho hath not treasured something of the past
The lost, the burled, or the far away 1
Twined with those heart-affections which out
last All save their memories these outlive decay !
A broken relic of our chllhood's play,
A faded flower, that long ago was fair
Mute token of a love that died untold !
Or silken curl, or lock of silvery hair
The brows that bare them long since in the
mould I
Though these may call np griefs that else had
slept,
Their twilight sadness o'er the soul to bring;
Not every tear In bitterness is wept,
While they revive the drooping flowers that
spring
Within the heart, and round its ruined tcmplcB
cling.
For The Times.
HIS WIFE'S RELATIONS.
COPELY was a quiet but pretty vil
lage, and was honored by Its being
the residence of Mr. Orville Westcut.
He was rather a singular and quiet
sort of a man. He, however, had the
habit of dropping into the Copely Hotel
nearly every day to look over the reg
ister as though expecting to find familiar
names among the list of arrivals.
Mr. Westcut may have designed giv
ing such an impression to his village ac
quaintance ; but I should judge his ap
plication to the leaves of the hotel book
was rather the result of innate curiosity
a broad seam of which ran through
the fine timber of the Westcut family
tree. Copely is a village somewhat
famous for Its mineral springs and
romantio scenery, which draw crowds
of strangers in that direction, in the
" watering season ;" and Mr. Westcut's
humanity inspired him with Interest to
know the names, and learn some facts
concerning every individual who visited
the village.
At all events, Mr. Westcut was never
more astonished in his life, than on one
fine summer morning, when examining
the travelling records, as usual, he met
with three names as familiar to his ears
as household words. In large, heavy
characters, there was written : " Mr. and
Mrs. F. Tinklngham Towell."' Then
followed,in fine.precise lines: " Mariana
Theresa Elroy."
Mr. Orville Westcut turned pale!
Then a flush suffused his fuoe, and per
spiration started from his brows. He
looked up at the landlord, with a guilty,
fearful expression, and perceiving that
he was not observed, glanced timidly
around. The " coast1' to use a nautical
idiom" was clear." Mr. Westcut fixed
his eyes upon the end of his nose, drop
ped his head, and glided into the street,
like a thief afraid of detection.
I am not aware that Mr. Westcut
who was a highly respectable citizen
had done anything for which he had
reason to feel either fear or shame. Now
I can say, more positively, thnt no one
has reason to be afraid of ghosts. Those
three names were like ghosts to Mr.
Westcut; he was afraid of them.
"Good heavens!" he murmured,
wiping the perspiration from his brow
In the open air, " Mrs. Westcut's rela
tions! Mrs. ririklnghain Powell Miss
Mariana Theresa Elroy ! Bless me, if
they should condescend to visit my
wife! What on earth should we do?"
I have said these names were like
ghosts to Mr. Westcut. They were
worse. No ghost ever haunted an un
happy mortal as these names had, for
fifteen summers and winters, haunted
him. Let us glance at his matrimonial
history for an explanation.
Mrs. Westcut was an Elroy Mariana
Theresa was her cousin. Mrs. F. Pink
lngham Powell was Mariana Theresa's
Bister. Now the Elroys as Mr. West
cut piously believed were an ancient,
aristocratic race. Mr. Westcut was also
conscious of everlasting obligations to
Mrs. Westcut who, as said before, was
an Elroy for honoring his family by
a union with him. But there was one
unpleasant circumstance, which caused
Mr. Westcut frequently to regret that
Mrs. Westcut was an Elroy. The con
nection had failed to elevate him to a
level with that aristocratic race, and
Mrs. Westcut had never been able
wholly to forgive herself, for suffering
love to bring her an Elroy down to
a plane with the Westcuts. And from
the day of their marriage nay, from
the earliest period of their acquaintance,
when Virginia Elroy, appearing as a
stranger in Copely, won Orville West
cut's affection she had never ceased to
dwell upon the wide distinction between
their families.
" Yes," said she, with a sigh, when
brought to consent to become his wife,
" yes, it is fate. I must sacrifice family
to love!" And .Orville was grateful.
When they were married, she sighed
again, and said :
" I should like to visit my family, if I
thought they would forgive nic; but
they are proud proud!"
And when the " happy pair" had be
come domesticated in the respectable,
but by no means ancient, mansion of
the Westcuts, Orville was forever
haunted by the ghosts of the Elroys.
Night and morning.they were ever pres
ent. If he had the nightmare, they
were, in some manner, concerned in It ;
if he was troubled with hypochondria,
they were responsible. They stalked in
upon him at breakfast they over
shadowed the dinner table they were
served up by Mrs. Westcut (late Elroy)
at tea. He grew thin upon them. Had
he been a man of weak intellect, he
must inevitably have become Insane.
Whenever Mrs. Westcut desired a new
dress, she had only to say in presence of
her husband :
" O, dear ! what would Mrs. Pinklng
ham Powell say, if she should see an
Elroy in such frightful duds as I am
obliged to wear?" And Orville's purse
was opened. If the poor man was so
unfortunate as to do anything displeas
ing to Virginia, she had only to say :
" O, dear! if you was a little more
like Mr. Frederick Finkingharu Powell.
But it is useless to talk!" And Orville
exerted himself at once to conform to
her beau ideal of a husband ; feeling
guilty, I suppose, on account of his pre
sumption when he aspired to unite him
selfa Westcut with one of the race Sf
Elroy.
On one occasion, Virginia, becoming
disgusted with the ancient fashion of
the vehicle in which the family rode to
church, desired a carriage of modern
style; and delicately hinting that never
before had one of the name of Elroy
stooped to appear in such a box, and
that she felt remorse for the disgrace
brought upon the family, through her,
she -succeeded in touching Orville's
heart. A fashionable vehicle was bought
the shades of the Elroys were ap
peased. After being haunted by the names of
Virginia's relations for fifteen winters
and summers, as said before, it is barely
possible to conceive of Mr. Westcut's
agitation in seeing three of them writ
ten in full in the book of the Copely
Hotel ! It struck Orville that he could
never bear up under the indignation of
these outraged relations of Mrs. West
cut. On his way home, he was driven
almost to the verge of distraction with
lninglnary fears of a descent upon Vir
ginia by these stately representatives of
the dignity of her family name. More
over, In his tender regard for her feel
ings, he dreaded to acquaint her with
the danger; he shuddered to think of
her humiliation, knowing that the per
sonages she had degraded by her plebeian
connection were so near, and might con
descend to look in upon her, in the
humble home she had chosen.
Orville crossed the threshold with a
dfjected air, and paused to observe Mrs.
Westcut late Elroy frying doughnuts
over the kitchen fire. Belinda, the
" help," was shelling peas In a corner,
and laboring faithfully to pursue her
work, and at the same time to keep
Master Orville Elroy's mischievous
hands out of the dish. Mariana Elroy
was rocking Theresa Elroy all the
children were Elroys in the cradle.
Mrs. Westcut turned to place a pan of
freshly fried doughnuts on the table,
and saw her husband standing in the
doorway. Bhe drew herself to her full
height and gave him the look of an of
fended queen.
" Mr. Westcut," said she, " if you
stand there watching nie, to exult in the
thought that one of the name of Elroy
has finally been brought so low as to fry
her own doughnuts, you'd better be
somewhere else !"
" My dear, I I do not exult"
" No ! you pity me ! Well, there is
nobody to blame but myself, so I will
not complain. I might have done as
well as my cousin, who married Mr.
Frederick Pinkingham Powell but
what's done can't be helped. I don't
say I wish I had kept up the dignity of
my family, like her, or like Mariana
Theresa, who never married, because
she could not marry beneath her
self, even though she has had as good
offers as her sister."
" I sometimes almost make the wish
for you," murmured Orville, desper
ately. Virginia sat down the doughnuts and
looked at her huaband. Her face was
very much flushed, either with anger or
shame, or the heat incident to the fry
ing operation. Her lips quivered, and
her voice trembled as she spoke.
" Mr. Westcut ! This after the sac
rifice of family I have made ! You are
you are ungrateful !"
" My dear," said Orville, softening,
" I meant no reproach. It is only for
your sake, I sometimes think it would
have been better If we had never been
married. It is not pleasant for you to
reflect that you have married beneath
you"
" O, I don't regret it really I" replied
Virginia, earnestly, for she had an affec
tion for her husband ; and with all her
faults, she possessed considerable feeling.
" No, I do not ; I never did regret lt,and
I trust I never shall. But I can't help
thinking of what Mrs. F. Pinkingham
Powell and Maria Theresa would say."
Orville sighed, and with perceptible
agitation, led Virginia mysteriously into
an adjoining room.
" My dear," said he, " prepare your
self for a surprise."
" O, for mercy's sake, don't frighten
me I What has happened V"
" Your relatives"
" My aristocratic cousins V"
"Yes; Mr. F. rinkingham Powell
and lady, and Miss Mariana Theresa
Elroy"
"What of them?" asked Virginia,
with apprehension.
" They are at the Copely Hotel !"
Mrs. Westcut uttered a faint cry, and
fell, fanning herself, upon a chair.
" At the Copely Hotel V" she gasped.
"Are you sure? the Powells,and Mariana
Thersea?"
Orville confessed the truth with a sort
of timidity, which would have given a
stranger to suppose it was something he
was to blame about.
"Mercy on us?" cried the discon
certed Virginia. " But you didn't see
them ?"
"No; but"
What can have brought them here?
They know I am settled here, and If It
should be that they have come to visit
me "
"You need not be at home, you
know !" said the sympathizing Orville.
" I knew it would be a mortification for
you to meet them."
" Dear me, I never thought of their
coming to Copely !" fullered Virginia.
" Shall we 9hut up the house V"
"No, no! I think I could face them,
for I have the pride of an Elroy to sus
tain me. But I would rather they
would not see you."
"Bo would II" exclaimed Orville,
from his heart.
" And If you could only manage not
to be about"
" I will go anywhere you please. For,
really, I am not anxious to meet the
Elroys."
This announcement gave Mrs. West
cut, late Elroy, great satisfaction ; and
In a short time Orville had stolen away
from the house by the back door, re
solving to avoid his own hearth, until
all danger of facing the Elroys was
past.
As I have said before, or, as I should
have said before, if I have not, it was a
fine morning, in the summer time ; and
Mr. Westcut, having no work of Im
portance to perform, took his gun and
went into the woods, which were shady
and extensive In Copely, thinking he
could do nothing better during the day
than to shoot a few squirrels for the
children. The weather was warm, how
ever, In a little while Orville, becoming
tired of his search for game, sat down on
a log, near what was called by the in
habitants of Copely, the Spring Itoad.
He had been but a short time in this
position, meditating, I suppose, on the
dignity of Mrs. Westcut's relations,
when, hearing voices and looking
through a thicket of hazel bushes that
grew by the road, he saw some persons
entering the woods on foot. Orville sat
still, waiting for them to pass; but
instead of passing, they paused on the
edge of a thicket, at the Instance of a
female, who complained, in feeble voice,
of being 'completely tuckered out."
" Why, can't you be a little more re
fined in your expressions ?" asked an
other voice, in a shrill treble, peev
ishly. "People can't always stop to pick
their words," replied the voice that had
first spoken ; " 'specially arter coming
up slch a mighty hill as this ere I"
"But it is just as easy to say you are
excessively fatigued, as to use the vulgar
expression and tuckered," insisted the
shrill voice; " and at this time in par
ticular, when we are going to visit
Jenny's relations, who are so genteel
i
" I don't know 'bout their being so
very genteel, after all," Interrupted a
heavy bass. "The landlord didn't seem
to be the least might struck when I told
him we was connections of the West
cuts ; so on the hull, I felt kinder sorry
we didn't go straight to Jennie's house
last night, instead of being to the ex
pense of putting up at the tavern jes' for
sake of being gentell."
By this time, the strangers had seated
themselves on the further extremity of
the same log which afforded Orville a
resting-place the hazel bushes pre
venting his discovery and he now, .as
may be supposed, had become somewhat
interested in this conversation.
"I don't care what the landlord
thought, or didn't think," said the
shrill voice. " Jennie has always been
writing about her aristocratic husband,
telling how well she has done, getting
married off here in Copely, and why
shouldn't we believe her V"
"Aristocratic husband !" thought Or
ville, overwhelmed with astonishment.
" Goodness! that's me, I suppose, and I
suppose these are the Elroys."
Yet Orville could not realize the fact.
He peeped through the hazel bushes,
and listened to the conversation of the
strangers, without being able fully to
give credit to his senses. At length the
truth seemed to have come forcibly upon
him. His countenance brightened he
laughed with inward satisfaction.
" So, then, these are the Elroys I Real
flesh and blood, after all I Well, I un
derstand now why Mrs. Westcut didn't
want me to meet them, but thought she
could face their majesties! And only
to think," muttered Orville, his face
darkening with a mingled expression of
anger and shame, " only to think, that
for fifteen years I have entertained such
veneration for these simple people ! for
fifteen years I have trembled to hear
their names! O, I can never forgive
Mrs. Westcut for the deception l But I
will have my revenge !"
Mr, Westcut came out of the thicket
and appeared before the travellers. One
was a tall, bony man, in stiff dicky,
white cravat and new brondcloth, In
which he did not appear to feel at ease.
By his side sat a thin, prim, antique fe
male, in rustling silk and showy rib
bons. ' At her elbow was a smllar speci
men of humanity, who appeared much
more at her ease, however, than the
man ; and much plumper, and less prim
than her sister. Orville, at a glance, de
termined the Identity of Mr. F. Pink
ingham Powell, Mrs. F. Pinkingham
rowell, and Miss Mariana Theresa El
roy. He was saved the trouble of ad
dressing them, as he had resolved to do,
by the prim Miss Elroy, who, the mo
ment she perceived him, Inquired :
" Can you tell us if we are in the
right road to the country house of Mr.
Orville Westcut V"
" Orville Westcut, madam V"
"Yes, sir. We are connections of
Mrs. Orville Westcut. We have come
to Copely Springs for our health we are
taking a little stroll for pleasure, and
understanding that the Westcuts live in
the neighborhood, we thought of mak
ing them a morning call."
" If you are going that way now, I
can conduct you," said Orville. "Mr.
Westcut's house lies just through the
grove."
"Then you know the Westcuts?"
cried Mrs. F. Tinklngham Powell.
" O, perfectly well, madam. And I
have heard Mrs. Westcut speak of you,
I presume, hundreds, nay, thousands of
times."
" And Jenny has married well, hasn't
she V"-
" Some folks think she has, madam ;
but you had better judge for yourself.
At all events, Mr. Westcut will be de
lighted to Bee you In his house."
The Elroys were already on their feet.
Miss Elroy hoped they were not putting
Orville to any trouble ; and being as
sured that their guide undertook his
task with pleasure, the whole party set
out for Mr. Westcut's house.
"Mrs. Westcut,lateElroy,had brought
the frying operation and other domestic
duties to a close, and was on the point of
dressing for the afternoon, when Master
Orville Elroy screamed at the top of his
voice :
" O, look l Papa is coming through
the gate with some country strag
glers!"
Mrs. Westcut looked accordingly.
speechless with dismay. The thin and
prim Miss Mariana Theresa Elroy, she
recognized at a glance. Mariana's The
resa's sister, and Mariana Theresa
Elroy's sister's husband, with their
frightful oddities, could not be mistaken,
although Mrs. Westcut had not seen
them for years. Then the evident satis
faction and pride he took in marshaling
the army of " stragglers" Into his own
house, filled his wife with painful emo
tions. The first thought was to retreat
to her chamber, and fortify herself
against the enemy, but her cruel hus
band cried out : 1 ' 4"'
Mrs. Westcut! here are your own
blood cousins, a branch of the Elroy
family! Mr. F. Pinkingham Powell,
Mrs. Westcut. Mrs. F. Pinkingham
Powell, Miss Mariana Theresa Elroy."
"La, cousin!" said the thin, prim
lady, " how do you do t This gentle
man appears to be pretty familiar with
our names I am so glad to see you,
cousin!"
And the thin and prim lady, with
great precision, shook hands with Vir
ginia, kissed her, and re-introduced her
companions; after which, turning to
thank Orville, she requested to know
his name. Mrs. Westcut, stammering
withconfuslon, introduced Orville.
" I wished to afford you an agreeable
surprise," said Orville, appearing as
awkward as he could.
"La, me!" said Miss Elroy. "This
is Orville ! Who would have thought
it?"
"Mrs. Powell said "Why Jenny!"
and looked incredulous ; while Mr.
Powell, evidently relieved at finding his
wife's cousin's husband an approachable
mortal, after all he had heard, shook
him heartily by the hand.
" So now come in glad to see you !"
said Orville. " Why, I've heard so much
about you" with a sly look at the dis
concerted Mrs. Westcut" that I feel
acquainted with you already. I will
send to the hotel for your baggage Im
mediately, and you shall stop with us a
month."
The Elroys, although suprlsed, did
i