Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1867-08-14
HOW FIRST MET MY WIFE.

one month from my desk and went
down with my chum, Horace HYATT,
to his fathers in old Monmouth. the
garden of that unjustly abused State,
New jersey. ] should never have
forgotten that visit, even though ]
| had not there met with an adventure
| that had its influence on the whole fl-
| ture of my life | should remember
it for the real true hos spitality of the
| Hyatts, for the solid old-time comfort
of the farm, and the quiet way in
which within a couple Of davs after
my arrival | was put into possession
| of it. and made TO feel that it belong
ed to me, to do Just what / pleased
with. There were plenty of horses,
and we rode; plenty of fish, and we
I fshed; plenty of woodcock, and we
shot. All this shall be spoken with
proviso. | say we. by which let it be
understoo that | do not mean Hor-
aces two sisters, Carrie and Nettie. as
having participated IN all these sports.
/ They rode, to be sure. and charminglv
they did it; they fshed, and | am
| obliged to confess were much luckier
| than their guest; but they did not
shoot-though | shall not exult over
| their lack of this accomplishment
/ they were charming enough without
| it. | am sure | shall excite no zeal
| ousv by declaring that with one ex-
ception, which | shall not mention
here, Carrie and Nettie HYATT were
the two most charming girls | had
ever seen. and | was Just hesitating
as to which of them | should fall des-
| peratelv in love with when my calcu-
lations were all disturbed bv an acci-
dent, for so | suppose ! must call it.
though really seeming like special
providence. What this was | shall
tell IN the best way | know how.
For some days after nv arrival at
the farm my curiosity had been much
excited by the occasional pancgvric
lavished by the young ladies upon a
| once school-tellow Of their own. Nav
Stevens by name, who was. according
to their high-colored account, the most
perfect thing in the shape of woman
then living. | tried to persuade my
self that nothing in that line could
Z
the repetition Of this May Stevens
haunted me. and came like a shadow
across my newborn passion. formed
at last an imaginary Nav Stevens.
and do what | would the figure was
still with me. a last ! was worked
into an agony Of curiosity, and trem-
bled with some great purpose which
should bring before me the object of
my thought and of the two sisters
continual converse ton. In what this
would have ended it Is impossible for
me at this time to say, had not | heard
one morning as | entered the break
fast-room the startling words from
Ncttie:
" And so she is coming at last. I'm
so glad =
Whether it was that zthe train of
my thought was upon that point at
the moment or what | can not say,
but | knew directly the whole matter.
! saw Carrie with an open letter in
her hand and coupling it with Ncttie' :
words | knew that the hitherto only
heard-of May Stevens was about to
become a reality. | had no need to
ask questions; all the information was
prollered. MAY Stevens, the incom-
parable May, was to spend a month at
Hyatt's, and they were to expect her
at any moment, though, as the letter
read, she might not be down for a
week to come. \ week 1t was an
age. century, and | was in a futtcr
of excitement. My long-standing pas
sion of nearly two weeks duration
for Nettie and Carrie was forgotten in
an instant. and nv whole mind was
absorbed IN making the best figure
possible before the new queen. With
this idea | began to look into my ward
robe | had come down with sufficient
clothes to answer all ordinary pur-
poses. including of course Nettie aud
Carrie, but the new goddess was GER
tainly worthy of new rig on my
part, and certainly should have 1t.
This resolution was made within If
teen minutes after hearing the an
nouncement of her intended coming,
and before two hours had gone by |
was whizzing on my way to town to
carry out that resolve. Ny choicest
morsels of wardrobe should be offered
on the shrine of Nav Stevens.
l had absented myself on tie plea
of sudden memory of business neg
lected and had faithfully promised
Nettie and Carrie that the next dav
should see me down again at :. Hvatt's'
to stay out the month that Nav Ste
vens, the wonderful, was to pass with
them.
The racking Of brain that dav to
create a grand ensemble Of costume,
something beyond all criticism that
should at the first glance strike the
beholder silent with admiration. was.
indeed, terrible The labor of writing
:. Paradise Lost" was nothing TO it.
1t was early in the dav when arrived
at my city rooms. and for SIX hours l
dressed and redressed, com pared, re-
iected. and selected. and at the end Of
that time ] had laid out those portions
of my wearable goods, III which l had
decided TO make nv first appearance
before Nav Stevens. 1t wanted still
several hours to sunset, and having
got safely through the great object Of
nlv visit. | thought it would not be a
had idea for me 10 take the last train