Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1867-03-02
SELECTED STORIES.
LET THOSE LAUGH WHO WIN.
BY BY SAMUEL ". FUTILE.
From 'SOrthsrn Liehts." for January

From ''Northern Lis hts." for January
Mr., Pcntifex Pompadour was a gen.
tleman whose family record testified to
his having bTeathed the breath of life
sixty years, and yet his appearance
bore witness to not more than forty
Appearances, however, though they
are deceitful, result from causes more
or less palpable; and, in this case, they
could be naturally accounted for.
hccs feSfeHly -t1s
Mr.. PompadOur's complexion was
clear and transparent,-but it was not
his own. His teeth were white and re-
gular,-but they were artificial. His
hair was black and glossy, -but it was
dyed. His whiskers were ibid but
they were ditto. His dress was the per-
lection of fashion and taste, though
rather youthful; and withal he car, led
himself with jaunty air, and light
and springing step, smiling blandly on
ali be met, as if smiles were dollars
and he were dispensing them right roy
ally, 1900.
He had an only son, Augustus Fitz
Clarence Pompadour, who was heir
apparent to the v, ny considerable pro-
perry supposed to belong to the ''said
aforesaid" This son was twenty-three,
aud had graduated at college with some
knowledge of some things, if not of
some others. He was modern NTH
ridates in b spower to withstand strych-
nine and nicotine; and he had devoted
much attention to that branch of geo
metry which treats of the angie of balls
on a cushion. One beautiful trait in
his character, however, was his tender
affection for his father, which showed
itself most Observation-Disclosures he
was in need of money.
In person be was prepossessing, hav-
ing hght-blue eyes, dark brown hair,
and dropping moustach. Nor will
allow that he was a vicious lad. In
dolent and useless he certainly was, =
an Insignificant mineral in the great
sum of humanity, but a rOsse he certain
ly was not. The worst thing about him
was his name, and that he received from
a veal, silly novel reading mother, who
gave her life for his, and, with her dy-
ing breath, charged his father to paw
this homage to the yellow-covered world
in which she bad lived.
If there was anything wanting In the
comfortable mansion, where the Pom
padours, father and son, kept bach
elor's hall. it was the refining and soft
ening influence of woman. And this
brings us to the consideration of the
skeleton which abode in the closets of
Pompadour and son.
The late Mrs. Pompadour had pos
sessed some property which she had
oft I.
death she made viii, leaving to August
us the fee, and tn his father the in
come of the estate. In case, however,
Augustus should marry before his faith
er died, he was 60 enter into full possess
sion of the property. Wives, in diving.
do not generally offer their husbands a
premium for replacing them; and so
the Judges inferred that the real mean
ing of the testatri1 wculd be arrived at
by inserting the letter ein the word
did" thus making the contingency
turn upon Augustus marrying before
his father died. However. the LAWYER
who drew the will This ancestor was Inn
ned by Esop in the fable of the ASS in
the lions skim swore positively to this
rendering being In accordance with the
wish of the deceased, and so the courts
decided that in the event of Mr.. Pom
padour's marrying before his son, he
should retain his interest during life.
Now Mr. PompadOur, aside from
mercenary motives, was very uxorious-
IN inclined; and would doubtless have
married years before, had he not set
too high an estimation on himself,
His condition of mind at the begin
ming of his history might be expressed
logically somewhat as follows:
First, he must get married.
Second, Augustus must not.
And Augustus, by analogous reason
ing on identical premises, p1Utantis
glufaBdis. had arrived alta dual con-
clusion. ..,-1 A..
First, he must get married.
Second, his father must not.
A vigorous system of espionage had
been instituted by father and son, on
she actions of each other. Skirmishes
had been frequent; and if neither
gained any decided advantage, neither
lost. But the great battle of the wal
was yet to be fought, and it has been
reserved for my pen to inscribe Its his
tory. So
In the SuDHlDan NluhSo where mr..
Pompadour resided was handsome
residence; and its owner, visiting En
rope,' offered it for rent. The house
YES elegant and the grounds especially
fine. They were fianked by two shady
streets and fronted on third. A
widow lady with one daughter became
the tenant; and, as is usual in such cases,
the whole village called upon her,
three persons prompted by pohteness,
and three hundred by curiosity. The
cards which did duty for the lady IN
returning these calls announced her to
be s.Mrs. TeIluria Taragon, nee Trela'
whey" By the same token her daugh-
ter was discovered to be "Miss Ter
psichore Taragon."
Mrs. Taragon was one OF the most
bewitching of widows. About forty
(she acknowledged to thirty-three,l she
was the very incarnation of matronly
beauty. She was just tall enough to
be graceful, and just plump enough not