The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-11-22

him second time after he has been ono,
refused''
but, liz
"There are no butts in the case"
"Love makes men bold, and sometime!
reckless. You must think of that
Glove never does no such thing" sale
| Liz, who was never known to be gram
NAUTICAL, save in the moments of excite
ment.
The trembling girl, commenced again
"Dear friend Harm Now, don't speak
| again, please, Liz, till | finish," as the
. strange woman gave unmistakable indica,
/ tions of inward rebellion. 1T is the wish
OF my parents that l write you, and say
that it is their desire l should accept you
as my future husband. don't love you
one single bit, and am sure never shall;
but if you want me under those circum
stances, l have nothing more to say, save
that utterly refuse to receive any special
attention from you preceding our mar
rage"
"Wall, now, l vow, Flory Avery, l
should laugh if anybody in the house was
lying dead. Tell man you've made up
your mind to marry him, and at the same
time inform him that all counting has got
to be postponed until after the wedding.
Do you suppose because minister has
mumbled over few words nothing in the
least disrespectful to the minister intended
that on this account kisses and counting
will be any more welcomed than now -
"No, Liz, no The thought of 1t drives
me wild; but there is nothing left for me
to do. Mother is crying up stairs now, and
father has hardly spoken to me for whole
week, because of my willfulness. l have
been reading the Bible for an hour Liz,
dear, and that is what has decided me.
The command is: Children obey your
parents!' and there is no way I can dodge
it,
"Just like the rest of dedicated folks,
you have choked yourself to death with
the letter and thrown the spirit overheard.
Now, my common sense tells me you don't
understand the meaning of what you've
been reading. 1t is, wives, obey your
husbands in the Lord and it is, 'Chil-
dren, obey your parents in the Lord
Now, the Lord is love, Flory dear, and he
gives you these very feelings of like and
dislke-this liking to be with a person or
hating to be with person to guide you
through life. They are weapons that the
poor. carnal flesh couldn't get along with
out. Now, if you take the pistol that God
puts into your hands to keep the wild ami
mails away, and lay it down side of you,
and let the critters come in and devour
You, who's to blame, l wonder? You
mustn't think that your Father in Heaven
didn't know what kind of timber he was
putting into you when he got you up. AS
far as I've observed-and l haven't lived
to be 30 years old without Farming some
things-there is nothing that brings SO
much misery with it as marriage without
love. Don't you do it, Flory dear-don't
you do it,
"But, Liz, you know that l shall never
love anybody. Oh why did he 60 and
get married?' And again the beautiful
head was bowed upon the faithful bosom
of the servant and companion.
"Why did you cut up so with him,
Flory9 Why did you grieve him by flirt-
ing with fellow you could hardly bear in
your sight9 How long do You suppose a
man with ordinary self-respect is going to
stand that sort of work. Sow the wind
and reap the whirlwind p There is moth.
ing truer than this between the covers of
the Bible. If he has married without love.
he'll have the same kind of a CROP"
What shall do with this letter, Liz
"Burn it up"
"WLat shall do with father and moth
err"
"Let 'em quit
"What shall 1 do with my aching
heart?"
I" Put rousing big poultice of faith and
love on it, and then make yourself as USE
full as you can to other folks. There's
nothing like the helping another to forget
You have made mistake that
is, if there are any such things as mis-
takes-sometimes l amt quite clear on
that pint-but anyhow, it won't help that
to put your foot into it again, so long as
you know better, you see. There can't be
no real sin, | suppose, until after knowl-
edge is born. Give me that letter ~
Flory, with wistful look in her brown
eyes, passed over the document, and in a
moment more it was a blaze under the
boiler.
1t was very plain to the watchfnl Liz
that storm was brewing, which threat
ened to bring things to crisis without
loss of time. Never was "work got OUT
with such speed. The day passed on, din
ner and tea were over. LIS clothes had
been brought in and nicely folded down,
when Flory ran hastily into the kitchen,
saying:
"Liz, father has sent for me in the sit
ting room, and l do wish you could come
in some way. Pm so fraid l shall give in
if you are not there to strengthen me.''
"Fll dodge in after a WHILE" said Liz
" Keep stiff upper lip and make good
fight No father or mother has any right
to command girl to marry a man she
don't love. The Lord God Almighty is on
your side, Flory Avery! Now 60 along
and behave yourself"
Ay, that was stormy scene. Farmer
Avery, who had firmly decided that his
daughter should marry the man he had
selected, was as hard and cold as a stone
Bitter words fell from his lips-words that
Flory never supposed he could utter.
"Do you think" said she, "that am
going to permit you to 60 pulling around
the house like sick kitten, because you
are wicked enough, mean enough, to be in
love with married man?"
elbow do you know he is a married
man." inquired Liz, with such strange
in her voice that Flory caught
her breathe, and grew pale and crimson by
turns.
81 saw it in the newspaper with my own