Middletown transcript., 1868-02-29

man, taking up the pistol. 81 will not
shoot you, but will compel you to take
off my leg What you will not do out Of
Kindness, nor for the love Of the reward,
nor from fear Of the bullet, you must do
out.of pity" eh'a.sin' 'a ~ t'Aa'iF'i a'
How SO, sir ~ ~ a"fiiYfDnn1 ~
go" will break my own leg with a bullet
here before youreyes" ," The Englishman
sat down and put the muzzle, of the pistol
to his knee. q Thevent was about to spring
forward and take the pistol from him.
Don't move,' p said the Englishman, SAN
swer me one question, will you needlessly
increase and lengthen my pain ?" ','s''
e" You are fool sir, but all right, l will
take off your cursed leg. '''''.' ''.'' ,a
All was prepared for the operation. As
soon as the Doctor was ready to begin,
the Englishman lit his pipe and swore it
should not 60 out. He kept his word !;
the leg lay on the floor, the Englishman
was still smoking. '' Iafa.'F '1
Thevcnt did work like master. By
his skill the patient was cured in tolera-
BILE short time. He paid the surgeon,
whom he priced more highly every day,
thanked him with tears of joy for the loss
Of his limb, and sailed back to England
with wooden leg. - N'"t
About eighteen weeks after his depar-
ture, Thevent received letter from Eng
land, running about as follows:
:" You will find enclosed, as a mark of
my gratitude, a check for two hundred
guineas, on Messrs. Panchaud, Bankers,
in Paris. You have made me the hap
piest of mortals in dcpriving me of limb
which alone stood in the way of my COM
plete felicity. "' 'R 2'
l"" Now you can learn the cause of my
foolish whim as you call it. You MAIN
tanned then that there could be no reason
able ground for thus erippling oneself |
offered to bet witlfyo you acted wisely
and declined the bet a Glp- Ht aa7
:" After my return from the East Indies,
became acquainted with Emily Harley,
the most beautiful of women Her wealth
and family connections delighted my re-
lations. l saw only her beauty, her heav-
enly grace. L joined the crowd of her
admirers; and was fortunate enough to be-
come the most fortunate of her suitors.--
She loved me, me alone of all men. She
did not deny it, and for that very reason
rejected me. aa 81 w gri tft .trr
g In vain / sought her hand. In vain
her parents her friends all begged for me
She remained inexorable. b,a i.8 4 -
III was unable for long time to find
the reason for her declination to marri-
age with me whom, as she herself confes.
ed, she loved to distraction. One of hel
sisters at last told me the secret. Miss
Harley was wonder of beauty, but hat
one defect, she was lame; and on accouni
of this deformity, she feared to become my
wife. She thought that my feeling would
change entirely when l discovered this
My resolution was Immediately taken
! There should be no difference between US
Thanks to you, my dear Thevent, there il
none
II came back to London with my wood
. en- leg, and my first act was to visit Mis-
Harley. They had heard already, in fac
l had broken my leg by falling from m,
horse, and had had it amputated. Every
body pitied me, Emily tainted when sh,
saw me for the first time, but she married
me. On the day after the marriage,
/ for the first time impaired to her my Sc
cret; what sacrifice had made in orde
to obtain her. She loves me more tenderly
, My dear Thevent, if had ten legs to lose
: would give them without hesitation 70
my Emily. All my life will thank you
a come to London; visit us see my nobl
: wife and then say, if you can, that I an
0 fool. CHARLES TEMPLE"
4 Thevent told the story and showed tn
Il letter to his friends laughing till he wa
3 red in the face each time he told it,
D 3" And he still remains fool" he said.
e This was his answer.
e "SIR 81 thank you for your valuabl
5 present, for such l must call it since
cannot consider it a reward for my sligh
: trouble. congratulate you on your mar
riage with the most lovely of your coun
it try-women, 1t is true leg is much t
give even for beautiful, virtuous and ten
der wife, but not too much if you are no
d cheated in the bargain. Adam had t
!, give rib for his wife. Others of us, too
u pay for their wives with a rib, some wit
C d head. Nevertheless, permit me to re
? main obstinately of my old opinion. True
> for the present, you are right. You ar
living now in the paradise Of the honey
:. moon. But l, too, am right only wit
this difference, that the truth Of what
i say comes to light slowly, as those fact
which men hesitate a long while to re
it ceive. / am afraid that in two years yo
will regret having had your leg amputate
i. above the knee below the knee woul
II have done as well. In three years yo
will be convinced that the loss of foo
:. would have been enough. In four year
you will consider the sacrifice of the grea
lie toe too much, and in six years you wi
agree with me that the pairing of the ma
: would have been sufficient. All this with
il ont disparaging the worth of your amiabl
Il wife. The ladies may preserve their beau
i ty and their virtues as men do thei
opinions. In my youth / would at an
,t time have given my life for my iady-love
i but not my leg. The former worl
never have regretted; the latter wenl