The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-06-06


one hut himself aid :iucgins had access to .
TIE books. IS fcr Ms. \iuggins she was
also reg happy, She spent her time princi-
rall: ii wo-nairs from him, i'll what she
.ice,ned tie most Ingenious nlan,er,wi,at dish
IS J., was most fond Of. and then having
:i:e:n ;or dinner: il pertinac;ously insisting
upcn wing his cravat iii warming his slip
pers, which nc accomplished SO thoroughly
that she burn. the soies Of Several new pairs;
il rushing 70 the door when he came, and
CRYING. Is ti,at YOU. dear" and in reading
-tdr;ce to Ioany ,NGrjiei Ijomnl-a work
written by ar old maid No matter what she
did. It was perfection itself in the eyes of her
dear Mug-ins He would have Il ring in his
nose il HI, darling .irabclI;' had only insisted
On i. Oh, they were happy:
BIT change was approaching. Muggins
tei: quite sure that something, he could not
tell what. was going to happen. He had
dreame; three nights in succession the most
singular dreams, in which the figure of
gcIitlemanly dressed Young man hadappeared
TO be laughing at him. He did not know
that Mrs Musgins was not quite so happy as
s:le had becn I shade Of thoushtfulness. or
pensivencss, or melancholy. (Muggins could
not exactly tell WHAT appeared to rest upon
her Parian brow, and creep nand out among
her raven curls. Could it bc--the thought
.itted across Muggin,' brain-that vision of
tho gcntecl!y dressed Young man had any
thing 20 do with it. "Fic impossible"
though: higgins I've never told he: that
odd dream how could she know ANYTHING
about il :" This was sensible conclusion
Oh tn. p1:t Of Muggins vet it must not be
disguised that he had already experienced
slight visit from {: certain "grecii-cyed mon
s;er," 50 much talked about. In fact jealousy
that yellow orb. whose beams. like those of
I;.har.s sun, wither whatever they fall upon
vas about to step in and dissolve Mugsirs
"gay frost-work ofhli>s."
MusCirs wcs proceeding ilamcward one
day, and thinking what Mrs Mugyins would
probably hav" for dinner when he hehcld a
person emerge from his own gate and walk
rapidly away III the opposite dircction.-
Mucsins was d-thunderstrucl-
for h. was wiling TO swear that form was
the identical counterpart OF the one he lad
seen il his dream. TIE terrible thought at
once came upon him that Mrs Musgns was
untruc-th;:t she had 10. er What should
he done ): Nugsins was seldom prcciIitatc.
lie usually considered his plans carefully be-
fore he put them lii execution. In marrying
NJ. Mug=i3s We have seen that he took the
trouble beforehand to satisfy himself in re-
gard to certain doubts which the remark of
friend rad raised SO now he resolved to
he satisfied. and if his suspicious should
prove correct. then he would take revenge
terrible rcvc:s &c. Having settled IL his mind
~liat course 20 pursue he proceeded! home 10
dinner.
lie found Mrs Muy5ins looking. ii possible.
more beautiful than ever She was elaborate
iy dressed. and her shining c,.ls. set off Nv a
hazd-coiGar:, looked even more glossy t!::an
ever. These things. however only tended to
confirm. in lie mind CT NuSgins. his dircful
suspicious. The mink" though: he, ITO
put ca all this tin2ry 20 tlcc: lover. and
then attempt. BY her art. to induce III" to
believe II was all intended for nc - Mug
gin. though; MICH and said little: he de-
SIRE! to let Mr. Nusgi,is do the talking. for
ne did moi want her to know that he suspcc-
table. he passed carrless! into Ms Muggins'
houdoir. the door q: witch >;ood partly Omen.
Suddenly his face earned pale. an,! his rvrs
MASHED ire. Jroa Ms ,Iu--ills' dressing
table he bchrld a p&:r Of -cntlcmcn'> kid
gloves, which WEE 70. hi, ovn He was a
bon. 10 rush into The presence Of that lady.
ard with the terrible ;}ract o: her guilt in hi>
hand char her Wit. :ntidt lily hu: sudden
y recollcct;ns himself. 70 resolved to de- 10
such tA;0-;. IA2 SlJvcs did not furnish
positive proof. AMI. # course. she would
de-: il; >. il IS gene tone, as he cou.i
commend. H,;2@::.s simply said
M dr.. th,,c c;.n.ot be real .ilexa..;i.r
glo;r'. ~ they wonii not stretch 50 abom-
inab.:. On my word. they're large enough
TO- nle.
Mrs. Muggilis fac turned ali sorts of col
ors As she beheld thc articles alluded TO by
her husband. bat Size did rot lose her prese nee
Of mind.
On II! dear" she replied, those are an
old pair tina; ,onet:m pal Oh when dust
the furniture"
This was very foolish speech ic~ Mrs
tiugSins under such circumstance, to make.
Nu:Sins knew tia; she lied vho would not
haze known ii 1t needed not the tcll-talc
bushes on her face to inform him that there
was Mt q word Of truth in what she said
Here was another circumstance atfordinc. in
connection with the rest, convincing proof of
Mrs Muggins iniidclit,; Nuggins determined
70 wait. He resolved to have occular proof
to discover the guilty parties togcth,r-
and rushing in upon them beth to take ,he,a
by surprise, when denial would be useless:
then one or both should die. This was his
plan, which Of course he did not communicate
TO Mrs NusyinS.
For several days afterwards. on going TO
TO his store in the morning. Mugsins would
give some excuse to his clerks for being all
sent during the remainder of the dav. They
did not know, neither did Mrs MuggnS. that
on these occasions he repaired forthwith to :,
place OF concealmcnt from which he could
have an uninterrupted view of his own front
door. Such. however was the fact For
nearly week did the unhappy Nugg;ns thus
keep watch, without making any discovery.
He VS. beginning to despair of success. when
one ia! about noon. be cspied the same
genteclly-lre>sed Young man proceeding a
long the sidewalk in the direction of his
house. Mugsins' heart beat strangely as he .
behed the individual referred to open the
gate and enter the house. Emerging from
his concea}mcn1. he also passed through the
gate and opening the door as gently as pos
slblc. entered on tiptoe.
All was still no sound of voices or ANY,
thing else could be heard in the hail. Mug
gins applied one ofhis optics to the lcy-hole.
and looked into the drawing-room. No one
was there. He Went in and cautious|v nro-
ceedcd to the door Of Mrs Muggins' boudo;r
Here he again applied one of his optics to
the kcN-Lnl.. LII .h..I.I 49,