St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-02-09
Charles and Martha
AN IN>IENN,E STORY.

Charles WAS il stout Green Mountain
hUy. ho enlisted for the WaI and did
his country good service ful iout years.
in one of the regiments of his native
State. Fortune favored him. and IN
due time he returned home. sound and
unscalrrd. Finally he settled down in
Il town OF western New York. married 4
wife, and went into business aS an in
Suraucc agent. He obtained y. .0trj III
SuIancr on his own life in Il Hartford
company. and for Il time served as it,
agent. In the pursuit of hie "rcupati"lt.
lr WAS accustomed 10 travel about
among the nrighhnlimg towns. riding
Ill his own wagon.
Toward the close ui Il hot attcrunnn
- it WAS the I:rh of August. I,.7ii- hc
left his horse and buggy III the h"lIsr
ui an acquaintance in Ma>sena. y. ! =.
and borrowed his boat with the nNoVrd
intention of crossing the 81. Lawrence
river It" ste Il man. and trtulu the
same evening. Ftum that lime forth.
the place thai ioImcTl, knew him knew
him no more. His wife Wis in >uir dis
trcs~; hi, iathcI-IIlaW went ful the
insurance money, with dINci, and >Ui.-
dry ailidaNit> and ''prooi> of dr1tir.
The evidence WIS mot >uIiicitutl, posi-
tive tn satisfy thc insurance company
and pay mrmt WAS DELAYED until more
satisfactory proofs could be- I,iudIIrr,l.
M"uHV hlie NaiiuiI~ rIimor> got atl"at.
connecting the maine of the missing
Charles with that of 4 Woman not hi
wife. and Il spr,ill went t" look up ih.
matter.
The community had 10 douht Of
Charles death: and Epon the tmtIm-
of the remains of Il mans body. a. few
miles down the river. in NaN. I-1l.
there WAS Il general belief that il was
his body. II WAS e! cn decided that h,
had been murdered. the guilIN paI;ir>
were fixed upon. and arrangements
made to arrest them. But close exam
iudtIon of these remains >hoNcd that
they belonged tn Il grnY-hiircd man.
who must have persisted III the water.
as the clothing WAS Very thick and
WaIm. and Il tightly buttoned oNrIcuat
WAS about the body. Charles was Il
young man of twenty-five. ami di>ap-
pcarcd in the middle of August.
Where was our hero all This time
And where was the woman For il
had become evident that he WAS moi
the ease. The special had IL task tu IN
raNcl the my StcrH. thread hy thread.
hut II all came out ut last.
Martha was Il Young woman from the
same neighhorhood where Charles had
been living. Deserted 10y her husband
among strangers in the west. she lived
IN adventurous life and accumulated
money among the gamblers amd >pccu-
lators who followed the construction Of
the Pacific railroad. Finally she came
home to her native village, her chaIac-
ter and her adventures unknown Ia the
dWcllcrS there. She met Charles and
cnticcd him away from his wife. In
other words. they met and mizzled.
Charles crossed the 1t. Lawrence that
August night. as hc said hc would.
Instead of returning I, left the boat in
such IL position as Ia lead to the belief
that he WAS drowned, and then went
on his way. Weeks aftcrward. after
the excitement was over. Martha went
west again. Exactly where and how
they lived in the ensuing ten months.
this depOnent saith not. Suffice il to
say. that the special, after trIveIsing
Wiscousin and Kansas. came back to
Chicago; and III August, II, 1t year
after the mysterious disappearance.
found Martha keeping cigar store in
that city and the faithful Charles. under
an assumed name, living at GAINESVILLE,
Wis, and hale. healthy and happy.
On being confronted hy the special, he
frankly owned up said he had no in
tention to defrtud the company, but
on account of family troubles. The
fellow even had the check to apply to
the company for an agency, under his
assumed name. For aught We know.
Charles still luxIIIiates "out west" and
mayhap the false and tickle Martha a-
who sold the secret of his hiding place.
regardless of Charles despairing love
letters-his reioined her lover since
her cigar shop was burnt up with twen
ty thousand other shops and dwellings