Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-09-06
Romance.
Making a Foe.

our ueacOlS. HOW ne Keeps MS DOoJS -
shining, his white-waisted coat so yer,
white his lavender gloves so spotless
the rare botanical specimen in his hut
tOn-bole 50 fresh, often engage my spec
ulbtion during the sermon.
Mrs Mildmay, whn sits beside him, il
indeed. richly attired, and in perfec
taste; but what male brain dare specu
late upon the mysteries of. female dress
She is a brunette, and makes great use o
black and yellow; that is all can say
Of her toilet. For herself, she is still Z
handsome woman, and must have beer
lovely; something likh her daughter
who sits on the other side of her, l should
say, and who is exquisite. How the
! preacher can go steadily through his
! discourse with those large dark eye fix,
ed upon him all the time botherS me en-.
tirely. Her father's respectability eul-
inmates when he goes round with the
bag; his look Of severity when very
I faint tinkle betrays the penny contribu-
tiOn makes the small almsgiver nervous;
while the approving expression of face
with which he greets the twenty-five
cent stamp causes the generous drOpper
to feel good all over.
Now, that family has been haunted. -
It Isl fact; Mildmay told me all about it
over a cigar one evening.
Il suppose be began, that San Fran
cisco is AS safe and pleasant capital to
reside in as any in the world now; but
it was not so when l first went there
some twenty years ago. 1t had sprung
up like Aladdin's palace on the discov-
cry OF gold in California, and as the
thousands who hocked thither were too
delirious with the yellow fever-too
wild to get up 10 the beds Of wealth, to
think about laws, regulations, or police,
every one did what was right in his own
eyes. When the AnglO-SaxOn law Of
order began to resume it's sway matters
grew worse, for the vilest criminals
managed to assume the chief authority,
and carried on wholesale murder and
pilIage under the guise of protecting the
citizens. This kind Of thing could not
last long; self-prOtection necesSitated
the establishment of lynch law, carried
out by a vigilance committee, of which
WAS one of the most active numbers
was very young; but my poor father
took a very harsh view of little pecca-
ref1go I NJ int !, tnrol1
was young, ] repeat, but knocking
about the world natures a man rapidly, /
and somehow took lead, and it was
considered that I was the
principal agent in bringing certain
members of the most dangerous eOnfed- /
eFatiOns in the town to rough justice. |
There was band of desperadoes, headed !
by clever, daring, enterprising william,
known as Tom BlOOd-probably a SOU
briquet, aud ifso, one as appropriate as
We could not catch this lead
er, but we hung up his four most reck-
less followers. Mr.. Blood was aware to
whom he was indebted for this spelling
Of his game, and hOnored me with an
letter, in which he consessed
that it was my hour of triumph just
then, but promised To be even with me
one day. And he confirmed this asser-
tiOn with oaths which might make the
blood Of Brethsrte heroes run cold.
Some time after that joined an ex-
peditiOn to Nicaragua, where happen
ed to become very intimate with Span
ish family. I played chess with the
father, the sons taught me how to use
the lasso, and the daughter lassoed me
herself So married and settled; SET
tied literally, nOtin your sense. thought
land, and sheep; and oxen, and built
house, and led the life of the early col
1nist, who has to clear away the forest
before he can plant his crops. 1t was
rather lonely, when one had time to
think about it, for our nearest neighbor
lived ten miles off, and he was deadly
enemy. The fact was that he and I had
both wanted the same land-a fertile
ract on the inland slope of the noun
aims rising to the south of the Great
Lake; and believe that was unduly
avOred in the allotment through the I
influence Of my father-in-law, which
vas considerable At all events, the
,ther follow, EnricO, thought so, and
owed me accordingly. Indeed, I hap
,ened to be the only Yankee as was
in the immediate district,
md my matrimonial success had excit-
ID some jealousy in Grenada.
Another matter affected me much l
more. Ioften had to make the journey
O GreytOwn on business, and on one Of 6
hese occasions went into the bar of
he principal hotel, and suddenly found |
myself face to face with Tom Blood. I
aught hold of my pistol, expecting
him to shoot, but he didn't. He only
miled, if you can call the grimace the /
elIow made by that name, and said that J
le was glad to see me.
4 can't jest pay that little account we {
lev together OH the uail,' he said, but q
won't keep yer waiting long; noH
Take your time; l have a receipt in c
ull ready for you at any moment, I re- l
lied, as defiantly as possible. But | |
vas startled; I had wife and child l
low. The course of events did not tend t
o reassure me; the country was in a t
'ery disturbed state, and Tom Blood, 8
whose name soon began to grow a ter
or, espoused the political cause which 6
vas favored by Enrico, and the two a
we're seen together by one of my broth q
rs-in-law.
One day had been out Telling trees {
It a distance, and was returning in the t