Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1865-12-14
common one of bounce and brag-

gadocia. He gave out that hi
property considerably exceeded
that of Mistress Hobson; and ht
Indignantly warned her that i
would he a rash and ruinous stel
on her part to reject the homes
suit of a man of respectability
and substance in favor of that fel
low, the labor of whose hands
barely sufficed for his own meagre
maintenance. Mistress Hobsof
was not unmoved by these common
sense considerations; but the effect
was temporary only, being sure tc
presently evaporate in the sun
shine of Carver's good looking
good humored countenance, not
the less readily, we may be sure
thatit began to be whispered about
quite loud enough to reach Mis-
trcss Hobson's sharp ears, that
Nathaniel Betteridge was in by nc
means such prosperous circumstan-
ces as he pretended--so far from
it, in truth, that it was doubtful
whether, without the nuptial trans
fer of the widows cash to his own
gaping pockets, he would be long
ale to keep himself ont of the
dreaded clutch of sheriff. 5 officers.
Unsucces ful upon his first tack,
and still confident that at the worst
be stood second in the Lamb land
lady's favor, Betteridge fell upon
another scheme for comprising his
end. He had not failed'to remark
certain defects of character in
Carver, which, judiciously brought
into play. could not, he thought,
fail to sink Carver in the esteem
of Mistress Hobson. AS the first
move in his new game, Betteridge
formally Withdrew his pretensions
to the widows hand, in a hattering,
regretfully gallant way, of course;
and forthwith set himself to cul
tivate Charles Carver's facile
friendship. So readily did he sue
ceed, that the whilom rivals soon
became intimate companions
simple, forgiving Nathaniel Bet
teridge opening his purse and
house to his new and far from too
industriously inclined crony, with
the most delightful generosity and
unreserve, besides introducing him
to various haunts of enticing dis
sipation, which Carver, compara-
lively a stranger i'll London, had
till then been happily ignorant of.
The calculated result Of this evil
companionship was that Carver
frequently absented himself of an
evening from the Lamb; and when
he did appear there it was gener-
ally late and he often fustered
with drink. He was, it seems, too
generous or too silly to betray his
temper; but Mistress Hobson's
widow-wit was of too keen quail
ity not to easily discern the true
bearing of the case. In sooth,
she had never believed in the sim
cerity of Betteridges's voluntary
abandonment of his suitorship-a
natural vanity, probably, refusing
to believe that her charms, not
links of love alone but of all con-
straining gold, could be SO easily
cast off; and though exceedingly
wroth with Carver, she neverthe-
less permitted herself to forgive
him. Marriage would no doubt,
as he himself constantly insisted,
prove cure for such irregulari-
ties; and Betteridge, to his great
dismay, heard, whilst discussing
some excellent ale and cold beef,
one morning in January, 1911,
that the union, for better for worse,
of Charles Carver and Rebecca
Hobsen, was definitely fixed to
take place on St. Valentines Day
in the ensuing month.
There was no time for further
shilly-shallyings. So utterly des-
perate were his affairs, that if he
would avoid incarceration, perhaps
for life, decisive blow must be
struck without delay; and after
brief communing with the devil,
thereby his own evil |
thoughts and reckless PASSIONS, the |
insolvent jeweller hit upon a tru
ly Internal scheme, supposing that,
as intimated, his subsequent and
browning deed was from that mo-
ment contemplated and resolved
upon, which lean hardly believe,
his path in crime being, it strikes