St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-02-03
NUMBER 5.

e son! a kingdom for parson!"
4 And my venerable fathcr-in-law
= skipped across the floor, rang the le,l,
e squeezed my hand, kissed his daugh.
;, ter, rung the bell again, and perform.
! ed various other feats, which were, in
: their effects, of truly legerdemain
; character for, within ten minutes.
/, as if by trick Of magic, I, who thir.
=, ty minutes before, was hcart-free
) bachelor, free of the world and woman,
was standing in wedding group,
= composed of persons, all of them en-
=. a. O., - t-ts-, .-., - -
law, the clergyman, with his book, the
' lady of the house, and some other per.
sons, admitted as witnesses to the
ceremony, about to be married to a
lady whose name l did not actually
, yet know The haste, the hustle, the
extraordinary transition, my hopes,
my apprehensions, my ignorance. all
combined to throw me into whirl Of
confusion, during which the cere.
mony was begun, and conducted very
little to my edification for I cannot
say distinguished one word, until
my ears were suddenly struck by the
important question, "Do you, James
j. Smith, take this woman to be your
welded wife, &c? At that moment
l was struck with the enormous ab.
surdity Of taking such leap in the
dark-of marrying woman who, for
aught could tell, might be- But,
as | was going to bolt, (for, truly,
that was the impulse then on me,) |
caught view of the brides face steal.
ing to me an upturned glance, SO full
OF goodness, purity, affection, and
heaven knows what other divine quail
tiles, that fear changed to rapture,
and l uttered the important "yes"
!, with all the emphasis of resolution.
How quickened into life now, and
pricked up my ears to hear my wifes
name
"Do you, Ellen Brown -"
l felt as if struck by a forty.jar
charge Of electricity. The name con-
founded, without Illuminating me. In
truth, had no time for comparing
facts and making inferences; for, just
as the clergyman breathed the expect.
cd name Of my charmer, the door few
, open, and man rushed in hastily ex.
. claiming, Hold hold l forbid the
, bans !"
, Conceive the confusion Of all pres.
ent at the extraordinary interruption
and conceive my surprise, when,
J.. snatching Ellen into my arms, deter
mined to maintain my right to her
against all mankind but particularly
against Mr.. James j. Smith, the Senu-
ine, who doubted not, was the cause
, of the interruption-conceive my sur
, prise, say, when, turning to this de-
tested parsonage, my eyes fell, not
upon my rcdhcaded namesake, but
my old friend and collegc-mate, Harry
; Brown, of Virginia ! Til he should
be here that he should cause such
dangerous interruption! that he should
turn against me, his old friend, and
ruin me ! / gnashed my teeth at him;
| raised my hand in furious menace;
and, it there had been a pistol in it,
certainly should have blown his brains
out.
" You forbid the bans, you scoun-
drel !" said my fatherin-law, in
rage equal to my own you, you dog,
+ you you forbid the bans !"
: He was approaching my friend ire
y fully. But Harry was looking at me.
His face lighted up with wonder, fol-
lowed by an air of recognition and
:, delight and, smothering, or trying
), to smother, a laugh, and laying his
:, finger significantly along his nose, as
y he looked at me, he repeated, though
in very altered accents-in fact, he
could scarce speak for laughing
E, "Yes, forbid the bans-until Mrs.
d Brown gets up She is on the stairs.
T. What, uncle, do you expect to marry
Nell off, without allowing us to be
il witnesses. Here she is,' Enter Mrs.
- Harry Brown, a iine-looking young
p matron, but not so fine as my Nelly.
!. "You thought to give us the slip, hy
IS taking the morning boat, and changing
+" your boarding-house. You forgot the
is evening train, aud my skill in hunting
down fugitives !"
d "And you don't oppose the match
then, you dog ?" cried my father-in.
q. law, land you don't know anything
,e against cousin Jim, after all ?"
Of "Oh, no nothing at all l ap-
W prove of the match with all my heart
e and soul and pray proceed with it
e as quickly as possible. You, Ellen
D, Brown, do take this man But beg
the reverend gentleman's paidon.'
n, The ceremony was resumed and in
two minutes was married.
c. Victoria !" cried Harry Brown,
~ seizing my hand, and So interruptins
S, the first nuptial embrace, with which,
u according to the fashion, was sa.
st luting my wife. 81 congratulate you.
it cousin James J. Smith, upon having
tn married the finest girl and richest
e heircss in Virginia the very girl |
intended for you Oh you dog, who
could have thought you had the wit
IS and spirit to accomplish the splendid
IS adventure without my assistance ?
re- Know your relations! Don't you see,
id my wife wants to kiss her unknown
Yn cousin? You kiss ter, and I'll k IS
tn Nelly Ha ha ha !"
;r, And here my friend went into such
explosions of laughter and rejoicing as
t !: amazed everybody except me, who be-
y gan to be aware Of the full extent oi
ds my good fortune.
he In the midst of this joyous tumnl'
enter another unexpected visitor
T Death it was the red-headed gentle
st man of the theatre the true James j.
Smith, as my fears told me, and was
DO rendered still more evident by his !i,s;
IN words to my father-in-law. SIR,
said the young gentleman, graspine
him aflectionately by the hand, -
W have, believe, the honor of speaking
: I! to my dear uncle. Thomas Brown, and
I'D of introducing to him his unworthy
nd nephew, James j. Smith,
on BLESS my soul !" criel the old
in gentleman, and could say no more