South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-04-14

THE MARQUIS.
BY cHAUNcEY HICHKoK.

| THE MAE9FYHHSdUF
BY CHAUNCEY HICHKoK.
MRs.- -RveGLEs lived near Crawfish
Creek, CrawfiSh Greek Ian. near Thomp-
SON City. Thomson Cltywss In a West
ern State, but now Is in a middle one. It
Was always in the midst of q great country
ACCEPTING local testimony and a rank
growth of corn and politicians as the test
of greatness. The earth there was mOnot-
onUusly parched in summer, and mOnot-
onously muddy at all other times The
forests were gigantic, the air carbonic, and
when the citizens wished to give Thomp-
son City the highest commentator, they
did SO by saying that "feFernagur was
worse In some other places. Z l.H NJ.
In the parlor Of Mrs. Ruggles, which
was also her kitchen and dining hail. hung
q frame Containing seven by niAs mirror,
which was the frames excuse for being,
although compartment above and
one below held squares of glass cCv-
cred with paint instead of mercury. The
lower one was colOred like the contents of
a washtub after liberal use of indigo;
and In the center was 8 thozisontsl stroke
of red, surmounted by perpendicular
dash of white, intersected- by an oblique
line of black-a1 of Which represented
fed boat with white sail and black spar,
making an endless voyage across the lake
Of indigo. The black crosses in the sky
were birds The black hnes~on the left
were bulrushes. And among these bull
rushes certain gloomy little object was
either Hebrew prophet or a muskrat.
Above the mirror was painted long
tailed coat, from behind which extended
hand holding bell-crowned hat, to
whose scarlet lining the holder seemed in
viting the Spectators particular attention.
There were also. pair of legs and sboots,
heavy shock of hair, labyrinth of
neckcloth, and florid human face. I'm
der the boots were the words:
MARQUIS DE La FAYETTEg
And the beholder was ever in doubt
whether the Marquis was trying to stand
exclusively upon this title, or was un-
consciously trampling it into the ground.
Mrs. Ruggles admired this picture. Her
knowledge of French wasnot great, but her
ear was delicate; and thinking the words
6 sounded handsome, she had deliberately
conferred them on her first-born. When
in good hunor, she was content with call
ing him "Marquis-de" In fact it was
only when chasing him into the street,
with lilac bush in her hand, that she
insisted on addressing him by his full name.
AT such times, between each flourish of
the lilac bush and each yell of the young
nobleman, she pronounced with significant
fullness, and with fearful exactness, the
MISUNDERSTANDING name Of Marquis de
la Fayette Ruggles His playmates, how
ever, had not the delicate ear of the
mother, and, as the son had brown speckles
on his face, he was popularity known as
&C Erpal-x- Va
Mrs. sRaggles and her late husband
were pioneers in Crawfish Valley. Sub |
sequent settlers knew little, and apparently |
cared less, about her. They knew, how
ever, that she had been a Peables,. and |
that Peables blood was still doing duty in
her veins. And, from her independence
and res rye, they argued that the Peableses
must have been. !" high Hpn-atz least in |
the estimation of Mrs. Ruggles. After
Mr.. Ruggles had been-ovefcome by mala-
ria in clearing the creek bottoms, the |
pride Of the Peables had sustained her in |
a long brave tight with circumstances
1t was while he lay one night upon his
death bed, mistaking a watching neighbor
for his wife, that he started up, saying,
BECKY, if l could prove it to you afore l
9 "out2 Of his head" was the quiet re.
mask of Mrs. Ruggles to the watching
neighbor by the bedside. There was no
further sign of delirium. That exclama-
ton of the dying Mr. Ruggles was mys-
tery TO the women Of Crawfish Greek,
and remains SO to this day. -E .lti'l r
- 1t may be that the pride of Mrs. Rug
giles was in excess of her wisdom. 1t may
be, if that pride had been little more re-
speeted by the irreEereat CTaWfish set
III .
to wonder, as they did wonder, how a
heart 50 true, an honesty so steical dis
elimination so acute, could exist with an
independence so absurd, mind SO uncul-
tured, a sense of dignity SO ridiculous, as
were found united in her character. 1t 4
may be that the Peables blood was worthy
of receiving honor as great as the ridicule
it did receive. 1t may be if the world
had known the Peableses it would have
been as proud of them as she was
She was person of scrupulous neat
ness, careful never to be seen by strangers
except ina tidy dress, and with her hair
in Grecian knot, gracefully secured by
leather string and wooden peg. Weak
creepingsp were her main reliance in the
way sf disease. She was also troubled, at
times, with "fullness of the head" In
addition, there were other times when her
right side sfelt separate" But she seldom
complained of ANYTHING belonging to her
self Even her maladies, she took pleas
ure In knowing, were very different from
those enjoyed by certain other women
Unwilling to be too familiar with any one
baser than 8 Ruggles, she usually dined as
she lived, alone with herlnoble SON., -
en- q certain sunmer evening she stirred
her tea long time in silence She stirred
IL vigorously, creating maelstrom inside
her cup, where, very like whale in the
story books, a little crust of bread disap-
peared and reappeared, and sailed round
and round as if very much perplexed
Then she unconsciously reversed the cur
rent of the maelstrcn, sending the baked
and buttered whale to the bottom. ti
7-" I never see that air Miller, no odds
how well be, u she remarked, mechani-
cally, to the teapot, shut what / feel weak
cTeepin's come over me. He puts dye stuff
on his baird An when mans whiskers
is gray an his head keeps black, it's sign
he uses his jaw more'n he does his brains
An that yaller-headed doll-baby o. his'n-
the peert thing II Il lay fifty cents she
never washed dish. To. think o. her
sayin' think like that about Markisdee =
an there's more O. the Peables in him TO-
day: But s,pose she don't know no bet
ter.'b And Mrs. Ruggles rose from the
table, while hecorHer Of her apron made
a sudden journeyto the corner of her eve.
1t was evident her moral nature had re-
ceived q wound that rankled. ar i--r
A year before this time the Marquis and
his playmates had watched several yigor-
Gus fellows plant theodolite on the bank
of Crawfish Creek, very much as the ma
tiyes must have watched the Spaniards
plant their first cross on San Salvador.
The contract for grading the new railway
bed was in the hands of stranger named
Miller, who was said TO have known better
days, and, in the time of his prosperity,
had been thought proper person to be
called Colonel He was a bluff man of 90
years, who appeared to-have known the
ups and downs of life, and whose deter
mination to wear black beard was equaled
only by its determination to be gray.
Rumor said that he had been railroad
president, that he had made and spent vast
sums of money, and that his home was
somewhere in the, Fast . m ffT Lrn