Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1858-09-25

HOW Two household. became On

tta,a So ~ g 800 --pR--
HOW Two gRousehoids became One
Mrs. Benoni Benson was fat, fair and forty
four, when her husband, soap boiler in yer.
good circumstances. was called from his life
task OF contributing to the general puritica
ton Of mankind. Mrs. Benson took refugs
from her grief in pretty little cottage, stu
ated on the principal street in the town o
c.. is .gf
AT first she was unconsolable; and she us
ed to saw. with solemn emphasis which car
ried conviction to the hearts Of her hearers
THAT nothing but the thoughts of Florence
would have prevent d her from terminating
her existence by the intervention Of poi
son.
Mrs. Benson was 10 no small degree indebt
ed TO her daughter--since in less than three
months she threw aside her mourning, and
became as lively as ever.
Touching Florence, she had now reached
the mature age Of nineteen, and began to
! think herself ma 1riageaele Sac was qnite
pretty and tolerably we'll accomplished, SO
that her wishes in that respect were very like.
~ to be fulfilled.
Just over the way lived Squire Markham
the village lawyer, just verging upon fifty,
with his son Charles, who was about halt his
age. Being young man of agreeable exter-
Tor, the latter was quite iavorite with the
young ladies in the neghborhood, and
considered, in common pariance, quite a
acatch.' -
AS yet, however, his affections had never
been seriously entsngled, and might have re-
NAMED 50, had it not been for the sudden APP
partition, one morning of Florence Benson,
riding by on horse back.
| 1t struck him at once that she was remarka-
bly, graceful really quite pretty. Thereupon, he
cultivated her acquaintance with increased
assiduity, and after while asked the fatal
question. .i8a
Florence answered in the affirmative, and,
instead ofreferring him dutifulIy to her moth
er, limited, (being romantic young lady }
how charming it would be to steal away to
the next town and get married, without any
body being the wiser.
Charles Markham caught at this hint,
which chimed with his own temperament, land
he resolved to adopt it.
In order that it might be carried out with
perfect success it was resolved to seem in
different to each other until the day fixed, in
order to ward off any suspicion which might
| otherwise be aroused.
So well were these arrangements carried
on, that Mrs. Benson had no suspicion OF
what was going on.
Not SO with Squire Markham He had OBJ
tanned clue to the affair in some manner, so
that lie not only discovered the fact OF the
elopemcat, but even the very day on which
it was to occur.
'Sly dog, that Charles" thought he to HIM
self ss he sat down before the fire in bis dres-
sing-gown and smoking cAp,leisnrely putting
away at choice Havana. ''But don't won
der at Il, he only takes after me- Still owe
him something for keeping 1t so secretly from
me. 1t would be good joke, if ] were lit
tie younger, to cut him out and marry her IL
spite of him"
| Squire Markham, who was one Of those jo-
vial widowers who takes life as it comes, mus
ed more and more on this idea, struck out by
chance as it were, till he really began to think
it wo, tn something.
After all" said he, II am not so old eth
er, or at least the ladies say so--and they
ought to be good judges in such matters.
have been a bachelor a good while, and ought
to have found out before this how much moro
comfortable it would be to have pretty wife
to welcome me home, and do The hOnors of my
table, and TO help keep that rascal Charles
in order. Egad have half mind to do
it. +"
Squire Markham took two more whiffs, and
then exclaimed
Il vow, I'll do ito
What this mysterious IT was, we will leave
the reader TO infer from his very next move
ment Ringing the bell, he inquired OF the
servant :
| SIS Charles at home ?n
No, SIR was the reply, she went out this
morning aud will be gone all day."
Humph . that will do. So much the
better for my purposes" thought he, when
alone.
Now shall have the ground laft to my
self. Let me see; the rascal intends running
away next Thursday evening, and to-day is
| Monday. Nothing like striking while the
iron is hot, I'll write to her in his name tel
ling her that | have altered my mind, and
will go just at dark tomorrow night. She
won't expect anything until the knot is tied,
rnd then what laugh we will have"
Sqnire Mark ham did not consider that it
might make little difference with the bride
expectant. He considered it a capital Joke
on his son, but looked no further. He accor-
dinghy drew his writing materials towards him,
and indted the following epistle
! DEAREST FLORENCE - find the day fix
cd for our clopement on some accounts OBJ.
jectonable, aud would like, with your per
mission, to substitute tomorrow evening" If
| hear nothing from you, shall infer that
! you consent to this arrangement. | shall have
a carriage in readiness under the old oak tree,
at half-past eight o'clock. You can walk
there without attracting suspicion, and as
there viii be no moon, we shall be able to
carry out Que plans without fear ofdiscovery
| am happy to say that the Governor doesn't
suspect 10 the least that daughter inlaw
is in store for him. Won't he be ashan-
ed ~
Your devoted. CHARLEY.
Egad = said Squire Markham, laughing
heartily shat isu't bad, especially about
| humbugging me. Charley couldn't have done
any better himself"
! So saying, he sealed it up and sent over by
little Irish boy in his employment, having
first marked 'private" in the conner.
"Be careful, Mike, to give it to Miss Ben
, son, and don't let any one else see it." was
| the parting Injunction.
Mrs. Benson was sitting in her quiet par
Tor, casting her eyes over late number OF
Harpar's Magazine. Florence being absent
ots q stiofphS cACuF>ioo, sue was teft aicne.
The ringing Of the bell brought her to the
door. With surprise she saw that the person
who rang the bell was Mike, Squire Mar
| hams boy of all work
| "Piease, ma'am said he, holding out the
missiye, a letter for Miss Benson, and it is
very particular that nobody else should SEQ
| it,"
The air Of mystery conveyed in this char
acterstic address, aroused Mrs. Bensons curl
osity, especially when she observed that it
was addressed to her daughter and not to her.
self, as she supposed. She returned to the
parlor-not to read Harper's Magazine that
had lost its attractions "
"What in the world can it be-" she thought,
"that they should be so secret about it p