Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-10-20
EVENING STAR.
SMUGGLED RELATIONS.
A Beautiful and Truthful Sketch,

certain ornamental object on the table which
was covered with marbled-paper, 'swasn mar
| bic. Years OF reflection upon this injury
| have fully satisfied me that the honest object
| In question never imposed upon any body far.
ther, that my honored parents though both of
sanguine temperament, never can have
conceived it possible that il might could.
would, or dad impose upon any body. Yet
have no doubt that had my ears boxed for
violating tacit compact in the family and
among the family Visters, 10 blink the stubborn
fact of the marbled paper, and agree upon
| fiction Of real marble.
| Long after this, when my eaIs had been past
boxing for quarter of q century, knew n
man with cork leg. That he had a cork leg
or, at all events, that he was at immense
| pains TO take about with him IA leg which was
not his own leg, or a real leg-was 50 plain
| ana obvious circumstance, that the whole
universe might have made affidavit of it. Still
1t was always understood that this cork leg
| was TO be regarded as a leg of flesh and blood.
| and even that the very subject Of cork in the
| abstract was 10 be avoided in the wearer's 80.
| ciety.
| l have had ny share of going about the
world wherever have been have found the
marbled paper and the cork leg. L have found
| them in many forms; but, of all their Protean
| shapes, at once the cOmmonost and strangest
has been-Smuggied Relations.
L was on intimate terms for many, many
years, with my late lamented friend, Cogsford,
| of the great Greek house of Cogsford, Brothers
| 4 COgsford. I waf his executor / believe
be had no secrets from me but one-his mother
| That the agreeable old lady who kept his
house for him was his mother, must be his mo-
ther, couldn't possibly be anybody but his
mother, was evident not to me alone. but 10
everybody who knew him. She was not a
refugee, she was not prescribed, she was not in
hiding, there was no price put upon her ven
| erable head; she was invariably liked and
respected as good -humored, sensible, cheer
| ful old soul. Then why did Cogsford smusgle
his mother all the days Of her life I have
not the slightest idea why. cannot so much
as say whether she had ever contracted sc :
| cOnd marriage, and her name was really Mrs.
Bean; or whether that name was bestowed
| upon her as part Of the smuggling transaction.
L only know that there she used 10 ait at one
end OF the hospitable table, the living i'm age in
CAP of CogsfOrd at the other end, end that
Cogsford knew that L knew who she was
| Yet, If L had been a Custom house officer at
Folkestone, and Mrs. Bean a French clock
that Cossford was furtively bringing from Paris
in hat-6ox, he could not have made her the
subject of a more determined and d .liberat
pretence: 1t was prolonged for years upon
years. Ii survived the good old lady herself.
One day, l received an agitated note from
CogsfOrd, entreating me TO 90 to him immedi-
ately; went, and found him weeping. and in
the greatest affiction. MY dear friend -
said he, pressing my hand, &" l lost Mrs Bean
She is no more" / went to tie funeral with
him: He was in the deepest grief lie spoke
OF Mrs. Bean, on the way back, as the best of
women. But, even then he never limited that
| Mrs. Bean was his mother; and the first and
last acknowledgment Of the fact that ever
had from him was in his last will, wherein he
entreated ''his said dear friend and executor
| TO observe that he requested 10 be buried be-
| side his mother-whom he didn't even name
he was so perfectly confident that had detect
/ ed Mrs. Bean.
Was once acquainted with another man
! who smuggied "a brother. This coutrabaud
relative made mysterious appearances and d is.
| appearances, and knew strange things. lie
was called John-simply John. have got
into habit OF believing that he must have
been under a penalty to forfeit some weekly
/ allowance II he ever claimed q surname He
came to light in this way Il wanted some in.
formation respecting the remctest of the
| Hlmalaya range of mountains, and applied
10 my friend benting Q member Of the Geo.
| graphical Society, and learned Oh such points !
| 10 advise Inc After some consideration, Ben.
ting said, IL a half-reluctant, and constrained
| way; very unlike his usual frank manner.
that he ''thought he knew man; who conld
tell ne, CT his own experience, what wanted
to learn. An appointment was made for q
certain evening, at Benting' house 1 arrived
first, and had not Obser7ed for more than five
| minutes, that Bentlng was under 9 curious
cloud, when his servant announeed-in a
| hushed, and 1 may say unearthly manner
| "M Mr. John a rather stiff and shabby per.
son appeared, who called Benting by no name
whatever IA singularity that always observed
whenever L saw them together afterwards) and
whose manner was curiously divided familari-
| ty and distance L found this msn to have
b,en all over Indies, and to possess an extra-
ordinary fund Of travellers experience. III
came IRON him dryly at first but he warmed.
ana n flowed freely until he happened to meet
Benting's eye. Then, he subsided again, and
/ Gt appeared 10 me) felt himself, for some un-
known reason, in danger of losing that weekly
allowance. This happened dozen times in a
| couple of hours, and not the leas. curious part
| of the matter was, that Benting himself wa a
| always as much disconnected as the other man.
| 1t did not occur TO me that night that this vas
| Benting's brother, for had known him very
| well indeed for years, and had always under
stood him 70 have none. Neither can now
recall, nor, if / could, would il matter. by
what degrees and stages L arrived at the
| knowledge. However this may be I knew il
and Benting knew that knew it. But we
always preserved the fiction that could have
no suspicion that there was any sort of kindred
or affinity between them. He went to Mexico,
this JOhn-and he went to Australia-and he
went to China-and he died somewhere in
Persia one day, when we went down 10
dinner at Benting's, L would find him in the
dining room, always seated, (as if he had Just
been counting the allowance on the table
cloth,) and another day would hear him as
being among scarlet parrots in the tropics but
[ never knew whether he had ever done any
thing wrong, or whether he had done anything
right, or why he went about the world, or how.
AS l have already signifed, get into habit
Of believing that Mr.. John had something ~
do with the dip of the magnetic needle-he is
all vague and shadowy to me, however, and L
only know him for certain to have been a
smuggled relation.
Other people again put these contraband
commodities entirely away from the light, as
sInugglers of wine and brandy bury tubs /
have heard of a man who never impaired 10
his most intimate friend the terrific secret that
he had a relation in the world, except when
he lost one by death and then he would be
weighed down by the greatness Of the calamity,
and would refer to his bereavement as if be
had Lost the very shadow of himself from uho,,,