The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1861-02-23

six months, and though without any
addition of love between them, and as
much selishncss as ever, yet living in a
suhscrvience to the comforts and inclina-
tons of each other, sometimes to be
found even among couples of sincerer at
fections. There were as many causes for
quarrel as ever, but every day it became
less worth while to quarrel; so letting
by-gones be by-gones, they were indif-
ferent to the present, and thought only of
the future, considering each other Ito
adopt common phrasc) /" as good as
dead
Ten months wore away, and the far
mer's birth day arrived in its turn. The
dame, who had passed an uncomfortable
night, having dreamed, in truth, that
she did not much like herself in mourn.
ing, saluted him as soon as the day
dawned, and with a sigh wished him
many years to come. The farmer repaid
her in kind, the sigh included his own
visions having been of a painful sort, for
he had dreamed Of having headache
from wearing black hat-band, and the
malady still chung to him when awake.
The whole morning was spent in silent
meditation and melancholy, on both sides,
and when dinner came, although the
most favorite dishes were upon the table,
they could not eat. The farmer, resting
his elbows upon the board, with his face
between his hands, gazcd wistfully upon
his wife-scooping her eyes, as it were,
out of their sockets, stripping the flesh
off her cheeks, and in fancy converting
her whole head into mere caput NOR.
taum. The dame, leaning back in her
high armchair, regarded the ycoman
quite as ruefully-by the same process
Of imagination picking his sturdy bones,
aud bleaching His ruddy visage to the
complexion Of a plaster cast. Their
minds, travelling in the same direction,
and at equal rate, arrived together at
the same reflection; but the farmer was
the first to give it utterance.
"1hec'd be missed, dame, if thee were
to die"
The dame started. Although she had
nothing but death ut that moment be.
fore her eyes, she was far from dreaming
of her own exit, and, at this rebound of
her thoughts against herself, she felt as
If an extra cod coilin-plate had been
suddenly nailed on her chest; recover
ing, however, from the first shock, her
thoughts flowed into their old channel,
and she rctortcd i'll the same spirit:
81 wish, Master, thee may live SO
long as L."
he farmer, in his own mind, wished
to live rather longer; for ut the utmost,
he considered that his wife's bill of nor
tality had but two months to run. The
calculation made him sorrowful; during
the last few months she had consulted
his appetite, bent to his humor, and
dovetailed her own inclinations into his,
in Il manner that could never be sup
piled; and he thought of her, if not in
the language, at least in the spirit of
the lady in {" Lalla Roolh -
:" never taught bright gazelle
Towatch me with its bright black eye
But when il came to know me we'll,
And love me, it Was Shire to diet"
His wife, from being at first useful to
him, had become agreeable, and at last
dear to him; and as he contemplated her
approaching fate he could not help think
ing out audibly, "That he should be u
lonesome man when she was gone" The
dame, this time, beard the survivorship
foreboded without starting but she
marveled much at what she thought the
infatuation of a doomed man. So perfect
was her faith iii the infallibilty of St.
Mark, that she had ever seen the symp-
toms of mortal disease as palpable as
plague spots, on the devoted yeoman.-
Giving his body up, therefore, for lost,
strong sense of duty persuaded her
that it was imperative on her as Chris
tian, to warn the unsuspecting farmer Of
his dissolution. Accordingly, with a
solemnity adapted to the subject, ten
dernesa Of recent growth, and a memento
mort face, she lroached the matter in the
following question
Master, how's bcc'st -
GAS hearty, dame, as a buck '-the
dame shook her bead-ss and l wish thee
the like" at which he shook his head
himself.
A dead silence ensucd; the farmer
was as unpreparcd as ever. There is a
great fancy for breaking the truth by
dropping it gently-an experiment which
has never answered ahy tiiore thai with
ironstone china. The dame felt this,
and thinking it better to throw the
news at her husband at once, she told
him, in as many words, that he was q
dead man.
1t was now .he yeoman's turn to be
staggered. BY parallel course of
reasoning, he had just wrought himself
up to similar disclosure, aud the dame 5
death warrant was just ready upon his
tongue, when he met with his own dis
patch, signed, sealed, and delivered
Conscience instantly pointed out the
oracle from which she had derived the
omen, and he turned as pale as "the
pale of society "--the colorless complex
ion of late hours.
St. Martin had numbered his years ;
and the remainder of his days seemed
discounted by St. Thomas. Like GRIM
inal cast to die, he doubted. if the die
was cast, and appealed to his wife
" Thee hast watched, dame, at the
church porch, theuP'