Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-01-16

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to her III his ma &c, telling her that [ have
altered my min and will 60 just at dark
tomorrow night. She won't suspect any
thing until the knotis tied, and then what
laugh we shall have"
Squire Markham did not considcf that
1T might make d little difference with tho
| bride expcctant. lie considered it capi-
tai joke on his son, and looked no fttrtlier
lie accordingly drew his writing materials
towards him, and indited the following
epistle;
DEAREST FLORENCE: l find the day fix
ed for our elopcment, on some accounts OBJ
jectiouable, and would like, with your per
mission, to substitute tomorrow evening.
If hear nothing from you, / shall infer
that you assent to this arrangement |
shall have carriage in readiness under the
old oak tree, at half-past eight o'clock--
You can walk there without attracting sus-
picion, and, as there will be no moon, we
shall beable to carry out our plans without
fear of discovery. am happy to say that
the governor doesn't suspect in the least
that daughter-in-law is in store for him.
Won't he be slammed? Your devoted
CHARLEY.
"Egod" said Squire Markham, laugh
ing heartily, Chat isn't bad; especially
about humbugSing me. Charley couldn't
have done it better himself
So saying, he sealed it up and sent it
over by little Irish boy in his employment,
having first marked private in the corner.
"l3e careful, Mike, to give it to Miss
Benson, and don't let any one else see it"
was the parting injunction.
Mrs. Benson was sitting in her quiet
parlor, casting her eyes over a late number
of llarper's Magazine. Florence being
absent on shopping excursion She was
left alone. The ringing of the bell brought
her to the door. With some surprise she
saw that the person who rung the bell was
Mike, Squire Markh hams boy of all work.
''Pleasc, ma'am," said he, holding out
the missive, ga letter for Miss Benson, an
its very particklcr that nobody else should
see it.
The air of mystery conveyed in this char
acteristic address, aroused Mrs. Benson's
curiosity, especially when she observed
that it was addressed to her daughter and
not to herself as she first 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 tho't,
''that they should be so secret al>~"e!t!
Can Florence be 'carrvi1,t--ou a clandestlnc
correspondo,,~~f-- 1t may be something
-.l-..V-r ought to know"
Stimulated by her feminine curiosity,
Mrs B. speedily concluded that she would
be false to the responsibilities of q parent,
If she did not unravcl the mystery
81 think" said she, 'I will open it, and
if it shouldn't be anything particular, can
easily re-scal it, and Florence will still be
none the wiser"
This she accordingly did What was
her astonishment when the plan of elope-
mcnt was discovered to her
"lIerc's pretty doings ~ she exclaimed,
as soon as she could recover breath. $50
Florence was going to run away and get
married to that Charles Markham, without
so much as limiting word to me.
She leaned her head upon her hand and
began to consider. She was naturally led
to think of her own marriage with the late
Mr. Benson, and the happiness of her we'd
dcd life, and she could not help heaving a
sigh at the recollection.
cam always to remain thus solitary ?"
she thought. "Ive half mind not to
show this letter to Florence, but to run away
with Charles tomorrow night on my own
account. It's odd if can't persuade him
that the motheris is as good as the daughter"
and she glanced complacently at the still
attractive face and form reflected from the
mirror.
just then she heard the door open, and
Florence entered She quickly crumpled
up the letter and thrust it into her pocket.
Florence and Charles did not meet dur.
ing the succeeding day, chiefly in pursuance
of the plan they had agreed to, in order to
avoid suspicion.
Squire Markham acted in an exccedinr-
lly strange manner to his son thinking
Occasionally he would burst into hearty
laugh, which lie would cndeavor to reprcss,
and pace up and down the room, as # 70
walk off some of his superabundant hilarity.
"What's in the wind ?" thought Charles
to himself at can't be the governors
getting crazy Something was the matter
beyond doubt" But what it really was,
he had not the faintest conjecture.
At the hour specified the Squire had
his carriage drawn up at the appointed rem
devious. EIe began to peer anxiousIy in
the dark FOR Florence At length female
form well nutfed up, made its appearance.
YhAnking her in II very low whisper, lest
it mightbe suspected that he was the wrong
person, h. helped her into the carriage and
drove off Their destination was the house
of the Justice of the Peace, residing at the
distance of somo eight miles
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