Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1845-05-30
THE HERRING PIE.
FROM Moons MAGAzlNE.


banker Brounker had drawn his easy chair
close into the corner of the stove. and sat
smoking his long clay pipe with great compla-
cehcy, while his intimate friend Van Grote,
employed IN exactly the same manner, occu-
pied the opposite corner. All was quiet i'm the
house, Tor Brounker's wife and children were
gone to masked ball and. secure from fear of
Interruption, the two friends INDUCED in a
confidential conversation.
81 cannot think" said Van Grote, ''why
you should refuse your consent TO the marriage.
berkenrode can give his daughter good Tor
tune, and you say that your SON is desperately
in love with her.
Il don't object to it," said Brounker. at
Is my wife who will not hear of it."
And what reason has she for refl,sing?"
"One which cannot tell YOU" said his
friend, sinking his voice
''Oh a mystery Come. out with il. You
know | have always been frank and open with
YOU, even to giving YOU my opinion of your
absurd jealousy of your wife"
Jealous of my wife nonsense Have
not Just sent her TO a masked ball 2"
Il don't wonder YOU boast of il. | should
like to have seen you do as much when you
were first married. To be sure, YOU had rea-
son to look sharply after her, for she was the
prettiest woman in Amsterdam. Unfortu-
lately, she has taken such advantage Of your
love, that the grey mare has become the better
horse, and you refuse AN advantageous match
Tor your son, TO crafty her caprice"
You are quite wrong, my good friend.
never allow any one to be master here but my
self; and in the present instance | cannot
blame Clotilda. The secret of her refusal lies
i'll herring pie"
"a herring pie" exclaimed Van Grote.
eyes, herring pie. You may remember
ii was a favorite dainty of mine, and that nv
wife could not endure even the smell of it
wen, during the first years of my marriage,
must confess, / was a little-a very little
Jealous OF Clotilda. My situation obliged me
To keep open house, and among the Young
sparks who visited us, none gave me so much
uneasiness as the handsome Colonel Berken-
rode. The reputation that he had already ac-
CURED Tor gallantry was enough to create
alarm, and the marked attention he paid my
wife convinced me il was well founded. What
/ could do? 1t was impossible to forbid him
the house; for he had it in his power to deprive
me OF the government contracts: in other
words, to ruin me. After bordering deeply
on the subject, l decided on doing nothing,
until the danger should become imminent; all
! that was necessary was To know how things
really stood. Having just purchased this
house, caused a secret closet TO be made be-
hind the stove here. 1t communicates with
my private room, and from it could overhear
every thing that passed in this apartment
without risk of being discovered. Thank God
have had no Use for il for the last twenty
years, and, indeed do not even know what
has become OF the key. Satisfied with this
precaution, did not hesitate to leave Clotilda
when any of her admirers paid her visit,
though promise YOU that some of the colo
nels gallant speeches made me VINCE"
Upon my word" interrupted his friend,
you showed most commendable patience
In your place | should have contented myself
with iorbidding my wife from receiving his
visits
There spoke the old bachelor But as
did not want to drive her headlong into his
| arms, went different way to work. Day
alter day was forced TO listen to the insidious
arguments vf the scduccr. NV wife-I must
own she made a stout dcfence-at one time
tired rldicule, at another entreaty, to deter him
from his pursuit of her. He began to lose hone
in proportion as Igained it, till one day he be-
thought himself of threatening to blow out his
brains II she would not show him som, COM
passion. Moved at this proof of the strength
oil his passion, she burst into tears and pleaded
that she was not free-in short she gave him
To understand that | was the obstacle TO his
happiness. Berkenrode was too well skilled
| III the art of seduction not to see that he had
gained point. He raved, cursed me as the
cause OF his misery, and tried to obtain prom
Use from her in case she should become a wild
ow. She stopped him peremptorily but
never closed an eye that night, and Clotilda,
though she did not know that l watched her
was as uneasy as myself. On the following
day a circumstance occurred that increased her
agitation. While at breakfast, a'message came
from the cook asking to see me alone. de-
sired him to come in (as was not i'm the habi
N IN a. IL A
nlcatc his business in my wife's presence -
When the man entered he was as pale as a
ghost, and scarcely seemed to know what Inc
was about. At last he told me that he had
| received packet containing small bottle,
three hundred guldens, and a note, i'm which
he was requested to put the contents of the
former into the first herring pie he prepared
for me. He was assured that he might do so
without fear, as the contents of the bottle were
quite harmless, and would give delicious fla
vor to the pie. An additional reward was
promised if he complied with the request and
kept his own counsel. The honest fellow.
who was much attached to me. said he was
convinced there must b. something wrong i'm
the affair, and should not be happy until bottle
and money were both out of his hands /
poured few drops of the liquid on a lump of
sugar, and gave ii TO my wfe's lap-dog. It'fell
into commissions and died i'm few minutes.
The case was now plain; there had been an
attempt to poison me. Never shall forget
Clotlida's pale face as she threw herself weep
ing into my arms Poison A murderer
She exclaimed, clasping me as if to shield me
rom danger; Merciful Heaven, protect us
pom lconsoled her with the assurance that
was thankful to my unknown enemy, who
was ,he means oil showing me how much she
loved me. That day Berkenrode came al the
usual hour; but in vain did | take my seat i'm
my hiding place. he was not admitted. | af-
forwards found that she had sent him letter.
threatening II ever he came again that her hns-
band should b. informed of all that had passed.
lie made many attempts To soften her resolu-
,ion, but TO no purpose, and a year afterwards
ne married. Noacquaintance has ever existed
between the two families and now you know
why my wife refuses her consent to our sons
marriage with Berkenrode's daughter"