Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-04-02
THE PERSEVERING BACHELOR


and almost forty. Peter had never loved but
once, and the alteration of his heart had been
bestowed upon Miss Lucy Poppleton; but,
alas! Peter had failed to express his passion
at the proper moment or, in other words,
. had failed to come to time, and one day
his heart was lacerated by receiving an en-
velope of cards, announcing that the de-
Iightf1l Lucy was about to become Mrs.
Jimmerson Crooks.
1t was terrible blow to Peter, but he
staggered up from it, and still loved the OBJ
ject of his early passiOns-at distance
Mrs. JimmersOn Crooks revelled i'm the
delights of matrimony, leading fashion, her
husband, and Peter-at distance-by the
nose for five years, at the end of which time,
Mr.. Jimmerson Crooks chose to depart for
another sphere, leaving Mrs. Jimmerson
alone to mourn her duty. 1
Once more Peters heart sprang from dust
and ashes, and looked forward to the time
when the allotted period of mourning
should be over, and he could pour forth the
pent up agonies of five years, and ask COM
rpensation in the hand Of the fair widow
One year, thought Peter, is surely enough
time. win give her one year. Month and
month rolled away, until he could stand it
~ no longer. A sickish misgiving of the evils
Of delay, drove him to precipitate the ask
lug. When the tenth month came, he
sought the widow at her home, and with
all the ardor of long pent up love, poured
forth his tale. The widow heard him.
heard him calmly unto the very end, and
then, with her delicately perfumed hardker-
chief pressed to her blushing cheeks, told
Peter that she had only the week before
promised her hand to DIR. Stickleback, and
oh, why did not her dear friend speak be-
fore? IA s-n.f st-aTi
A second time was Peters heart torn into
minute fragments, second time was he
sent into the world to admire-at dis
tance. -
Time sped on, and once more Peter be-
gan to inspire hope. Perhaps Stickelback
might die; he certainly had an apopleptic
look; and sure enough Peters perhaps
turned out a certainty, and Mrs. DIR. Theo-
dosius Stickelback was once more MOURN
er. Peter had learned too bitterly the dan
gers of delay TO suffer any such cause to
stand between him and success. He would
not give the widow year, nor ten months
nay, not even six; but the third month he
would go to her with his tale of love de-
ferred; and so he did. We will have to de-
scribe the widows own words when the
question was popped. e
"0hl Mr.. Robinson, why did you not
come before? You know my esteem for
youl You know that / would have set all
others aside for you, but oh! how can / tell
you-that only last evening 1 promised
Captain Hawkins? Poor, dear, sweet Haw-
kins! he's your intimate friend, l know;
I've often heard him speak so highly of you!
Oh, why did you not speak befOre?"
And so Mrs. DIR. Theodosus Stickleback
was transformed into Mrs Jonathan Haw-
kins; and Peter was once more left to adj
mire--at distance.
Still Peter waited and hoped. Something
might turn up, he argued, and then he
would not allow himself to be too late
And something did turn up, the something
being nothing more nor less than the re-
d0ubtable Captain who turned up missing,
having fallen overheard from the steamboat
while out on target excursion with his
company, and sunk like stone, owing, un-
doubtedly, to the ponderous nature of his
responsibilities.
The suddenness of this exit as Peter ar
gned, must certainly act with depresing
force on the widow, and he thought he
would give her again time to recover and be
admired; still etiquette demanded little
time to intervene. Accordingly when, upon
the tenth day after the melancholy bereave-
ment. Peter knocked Mt the widows door,
bent upon his errand Of love; he rather
chuckled to himself that he was taking time
by the forelock. The business on which he
came was quietly told, and once more the
widow was in torrent OF tears.
oh, MIR. Bobinson," she exclaimed, hid
ing her blushing face in her cambric, iswhy
are you so unfortunate, and why am I p
You know my esteem for you, but you are
too late. l am already engaged. You
know Counselor Ketcham ?--niy poor, dear,
dead and gone Hawkins most intimate
friend. He.was with him, you know, when
ne was called away, and was the first to
communicate to me the awful Intelligence.
lie was such q comforter, and have prom
ised TO have him this day two months.'
This time poor Peter was crushed. He
had no words to express his broken-heart-
edness, but to rush from the house. and 90
on as before, admiring at distance.
It was months before Peter even offered
t0enc0uragc hope, and even then IL flicker
ed. One day he was walking IN desmond
ent mocd through one of the upper ayen-
ues, when he heard a subdued shout, and
started. From a half-finished building inst
in froE< 81 him, he saw as he raised his
eyes ~ stout Milesian making gyrations In
the air, from height Of three stories. in
company with q coming stone weighing
somewhat less, than half a ton---the two
having slipped together from a scafIolding
at that height. He saw both Milesian and
stone fall on the heads of two gentlemen
passinGf and the whole four were, In an in
f'1nt mixed In an inoxtricable heap. ike
t|| other spectators, Peter rushed 10 the