Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-05-05

damseIs who thought RokewoOd charm
ing, were wondering what could have
become of him, when Biddy, the wait.
Tess, mysteriously beckOned her mis-.
tress into the hal, and informed her il
an awful whisper, that ''more spoon;
were naded for crame.n
"Of course there must be, said Mrs
Armstrong. "WheTe was my head, tC
forget it? I'll get poor Aunt MaTtha's
set from my upstairs china-clOset.-
Wait on the stairs until | come to YOU
And away ran Mrs. Armstrong to the
second floor, where She plunged into q
long, Old-fashiOned closet and brought
forth a legacy of silveTwaTe, left hel
years before by a maiden aunt. Count,
ing the spoons over, mUTmur of voice;
from the next room fell upon her ear
At the same moment she caught the
perfume of Il cigar. She knew that
Charley had the richest voice and smOB-
ed the best cigars of any man of her set
You dear old fellow" she whispered
to herself "Tve been so cross to YOU
tO-night-but some day III be as kind to
you as | can, TO make up for it,
Then, with Il loving WOman's wish to
see the face that is dear to her, shO stOOp-
ed forward and peeped through crack
in the door of the china-closet which
opened into the little sewing-room, de-
voted for this evening to the gentlemen's
toilets. Every word was plainly audi
bic, when her pretty ear approached 50
closely to the Crevice, and the first word
rlyeted her attention. The men were
talking of matTimOny.
ITS deUced bore" said the friend ;
lyon are tied to a wOman's apron
strings for life. You can't say your soul
IS your own. Take my advice and keep
out of it altogether, Charles"
"LOOk here, old fellow" said Charles,
taking his cigar from between his lips,
that sort Of things is all q mans own
fault. Now when I marry, my first
step will be to prove myself master. As
you begin 50 you go on, and before the
honeymoon is over the woman who
takes my name shall know that mywiII
is law, and hers must Weld to it.U
The spoons in Mrs. Armstrong; hands
tinkled together just then. Charles went
on:
"My wife, if I have one, shall have no
chance to show her temper. If she
doesn't like my orders, she must obey
without liking. I'll break her in Just as
l would a hOTse-bring her down at once
to the frame of mind l mean to keep her
in; pUrpOsely thwart her for a while :;
contradict her; object to her STYLE of
dress make her alter her way Of doing
up her hair; refuse to dance, attendance
at church, and make her send regrets to
party invitations when she wants to ac-
cept them. Show her at once what she
must expect. After a while I might
yield little more; but because l choose,
you Understandable to please her.D
" H-e-e-s," said the friend dOubtfuIIy;
" but you can't think how hard you'd
find it; and if you stay out late they
make such rOw-sit up for YOU in a
night-cap and cry when YOU come in. -
"pd manage Hdt," said Mr.. ROke-
wood, "by staying out every night un-
til day break. The one rule | should put
in practice would be-never let woman
have her own way ~
The spoons tinlIled a little more, and
Mrs. Armstrong; face was terribly flush
ed, but she listened still.
''Of course, you yield a great deal to
the woman you are in love with,U said
Mr.. ROkeWOOd, evidently brushing the
ashes from his cigar; but that's because
of the romance and all that sort of nom
sense, which dies out with the honey
moon. You can find women enough to
write poetry to, and to talk sentiment
with married or single. As for your wife,
she's the woman who keeps house for
you, and the sooner you make her aware
OF the fact the better. When I marry,
Jones, my dear fellow, it will be with
no idlotic ideas Of perpetual courtship in
my mind. Pll begin as ! intend to go
on, and be master, depend upon it,
"But not n1y MASTER - whispered pret-
ty Mrs. ArmStrOn-'nOtm mine'
"Misthress Armstrong" whispered
Biddy, at the stair-head, Just then, them
spoons, plaze.'
Hetty Armstrong gathered up the
spoons, which slipped loosely down into
her lap. She looked at them as she did
so. They were solid and elegant, as was
all the silver. Her eyes glanced about
the room, which wealth and taste had
made the perfection of elegance and
comfort. Her room She heard a-dOwn
the stairs the merry chat of her guests,
the sound of music and dancing. She
that in the kitchen her SER
wants were making ready a supper fit
for kings. She turned to the mirror: a
handsome weman, still young, and eIe-
gantly dressed, glanced proudly back at
her. An hour before, all this, the wO-
man included, she would have given
7LNNlf " N1ltlIlGS IeOheNOOQ, la0 ne
been beggar. Just a twinge of pain
went through her heart. One tear stole
down her cheek. Then she gave a little,
bitter laugh.
" alone am queen of meW she mis-
quoted and ran out to give the spoons
to Biddy.
1t was hard to find them,u she said,
u but here they are at lastu
And she laughed little louder than
usual, and not quite naturally.
1t was the meTiest Christmas-eve par
ty of them all, said every one of her
guests, and Hetty Armstrong seemed
the merriest there. But no one saw her
when the door closed upon them all and
she was alone in her chamber. No mat
ter how brief love dream has been, the |
awakening is always hard, especially if !
it is sudden.
Hetty Armstrong refused Charles Roke- |
wood, the next day; and people who
guessed it blamed her bitterly. As for !
Charles himself, he was amazed and in |
Ured and deeply grieved, for he never |
guessed that his lecture on married life, |
lad had a second auditor; or that Hetty |
would have said Yes instead of No, but |
or the crack in the door of the china
.lOset.