Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-04-28
ENOCH ARDEN.
BY "rHE FAT CONTRIBUTOR"

"Tne prett1e6I IltCle QhUScl III Lie pOtts
as Mr.. Tennyson so prettily informs US.
The prettiest little dam-sel in the port
now is the logwood they make it Of; but
that is neither here nor there, though it is
probably more here than anywhere else.
Enoch had rival in the person OF Philip
Raw, whose father run gristmill. This
circumstance, probably, made Philip a lit
tie uaealy -snouthsd about telling his love,
and EnOch being good talker, why
e knocked him clean out OF time.
When little children, the three used to
play at keeping house, in
"a narrow cave, run in beneath the clif,''
Enoch was man of the house one day,
and Philip the next, Annie being mistress
all the time. As there was no other wo-
man in the house for her to quarrel with,
she was entirely happy, or would have
been had it not been for the "men folks"
carving on 80. -Enoch wanted to boss the
house all the time, and Philip thought
thew should boss it by turns. Then they
uuarreled about the rent, and disputed
their gas bills. To make peace In the
family, she said she would be little wife
to BOTH" ignorant, apparently, of the pre-
vailing laws against bigamy. But when
they grew up this tri-an. ular house keep
ing wouldn't do--of course not; and so
Philip never told his love, or anybody
else but Enoch did. and was accepted on
the word CO. And Enc. got to be fish
erman, catching great quantities OF black
bass off Putin Bay, white-ish, Lake SUI
perior trout, ETC., which he sold in the
market and put his money in the bank.
Before he got to have vote in his ward
he owned his own boat, which was q
thimble-rigged schooner with q top-gal-
liant lib poop, clewed abaft the keel to the
mizzen-yard, and very remarkable sailor
it was, too, as we are told. Then Enoch
and Annie were married, all the fishermen
coming to the wedding and dancing
Fishers Hornpipe" until nearly morn
after their nighttime
Happy wears passed away, as the years
will pass away, whether they are happy
ones or not. Then Enoch met with an
accident. In match game of mast climb.
ing, for the championship of the State and
the champion mast (gold mounted and IN I
laid with pearD. he fell and broke his led
During the illness that ensued he wal
offered the position of boatswain on
China bound vessel. He accepted, AMI
recovering sufficiently to climb ma;
with the assistance of a pair of crutchet'
he went first setting Annie up in busine'E'
in small grocery, and that was the .lary
heard of Enoch for many q long yea
Mrs. Arden struggled on against adve1
sity, the only Ray Of hope or happined,
that lighted her dark path being Phili1 n
who very generously sent her children
the select school to be educated at his ow n
expense. When all hopes of Enoch's
turn was relinquished, Philip, whose 10!
was undiminished, proposed to the Wido
Arden, and was accepted. That night 81
had vision. She dreamed she SO
Enoch "under the palm" (like the su
reptitious "bower" in the hand of co
rupt eucher-player), but this did not deli |
preparations for the wedding. They we
married, and for the second time the bel K
they went ringing for Annie. T
But Enoch, what OF him? bis sn
was wrecked and he cast away upon thl
Island of Juan Fernandez, which, how
ever rich in historic associations, having
been the summer resort OF the late II.
Crusoe, was rather lonesome to one OF so
cial habits. There Enoch lived IN soil
tude for fourteen long years. doing his
own cooking. washing, ironing and mend
ing. Occasionally he thought he deserted
4 sail in the distance, but, alas it would
prove to be s0le in (which poor Enoch
was the only article "sold." At length q
vessel did put in at the island for wood
and water, and found "the long haired,
long bearded solitary" for 1t must be re-
membered that there wasn't a barber
shop on the whole island. Him they took
on board ship and brought home.
They found him strangely ignorant re-
sarding what had been goi1g on IN the
world during the past fourteen years. He
knew nothing Of the firing on Sumter,
didn't know there had been war, hadn't
heard of the Fifteenth Amendment, and
wasn't posted on the Bible question. He
was incredulous in regard to the Atlantic
cable, didn't believe word about the Pa.
cifc Railroad, derided Route No g." and
great heavens couldn't sing "Shoo-fy !"
One pleasant afternoon Enoch reached
his native town, where he learned that
his present wife, supposing her late hus-
band to be dead, had married another.
What did Enoch dof Did he get drunk,
20 tearing into the house, stand Philip on
Els head, take gentle Annie under his arm
and walk OF on his cart Did he 60 into
The nos,rfa n, oct nn.naesaiOu OF ~tho chill.