Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1873-07-11
HOW SHE MANAGED 1T.

PETER PENNYwIsE was in deep grief
All the hopes of q lifetime we've to be
frustrated. The fond ambition he had so
long nursed, his pet scheme to make the
name of Pennywise the greatest in the
land, was now no more. His only son.
Launcelot was to be married to plebei-
an-to a girl who had wealth, but no
name, no family, no ancestry, or no coat
Ofarms on the panel of her coach.
Could human misery be greater? Could
the Ossa of grief, piled on the Pelion of
disappointment, make heavier load OF
sorrow? No. The cup of Pennywise
was full to the brim, and he must drain it
to the lees, however bitter the draught.
Such was the tenor of old Pennywise's
musings as he paced the velvet-carpeted
floor of his library on the evening when
our story opens. A conversation his son
had had with him, as they sat together
slipping their wine, after dinner, had been
the cause of this tumult in the breast of
Peter Pennywise.
Launcelot was a weak-eyed and pink
skinned youth, with thin, yellow hair,
which he parted in the center, and little
whisp of saffron whisker on each side Of
his face, the pulling of which with his
nervous little hand constituted the princi-
pal employment of the scion of the house
of Pcnnywise.
Father" said Launcelot, after gulping
down two or three glasses of wine to give
him courage. "Father."
"Well, my son, what do you want?"
asked the pOmpous head OF the house.
"What do you think of marriage?"
"What do think of what?" questioned
the surprised Pennywise.
"Marriage," replied Launcelot. "Mat-
rimony, you know Two hearts with but
single thought, two souls that beat as
one, and all that
II think that every man should marry
and | would be glad to hear that you had
fixed your affections on some lady with
the proper qualifications"
"What are the proper qualifications"
inquired Launcelot.
Family" replied his father, family
whatever else you do, be sure to never dis
grace the name of Pennywise by a plebcian
connection"
"Why, is our family such very great
one?" demanded the young man.
"a great one!" echoed Pennywise;
"why, it's the greatest in the land. Study
carefully the genealogical tree that hangs
in the hall, and which cost me five thou
sand dollars to have properly traced, and
YOU will see that the name of Pennywise
the time of the Norman conquest and
that the coat-of-arms is one of the most
respectable and ancient that ever heraldry
bOasted of"
"Well, of course, that's true, father;
but I've heard some of the fellers at the
club say that grandfather was pawn
Your grandfather was broker and
banker, as | myself am, and was fully
aware of the responsibility of being wor-
thy of his family" said Mr.. Pennywise,
interrupting his son; therefore he began
my education by impressing the value of
family name upon my youthful mind,
and so, when | had grown older, and he
intimated to me that | ought to marry the
highly respectable Miss Poundfoolish, |
went to that lady, proposed, and was ac-
cepted Thus | consolidated the two
great families of Pennywise and Pound
foolish, and you and your two sisters are
the result. But you ask my opinion of
matrimony, and you think of marrying?"
''Ye-es, SIR" gasped Launcelot.
"And whom do you propose honoring
y your name?"
youthful Pennywise.
Petersham-Petersham never heard
of a Petersham Who is she ?" de
manded the old gentleman with darken-
ing brow.
"She is very rich"
And Launce faltered
"Riches are very well, but you do not
need them. Your mother left you all her
fortune, and shall leave you half of mine
if you marry as | wish. Who is this
this Petersham ? What does her father
do ?"
"He keeps large clothing establish
ment."
''What r' roared Pennywise! A tailor.
1t shall not be. The arms of Pennywise
shall never be married with a needle, or
disgraced by a-a-great Heaven!-a
goose! 1t shall never be-
at must bep' said Launcelot going to
the door, "cause I've popped, and she's
accepted me-"
The old man mechanically arose, and
walked to his study where lie began pac-
ing the foor as we found him at the com
mencement of our story.
A gentle knock on the library door
reused Mr.. Pennywise, and bidding the
knocker come IN, he settled himself In his
easy chair, and prepared to receive his
visitor.
The visitor proved to be the governess
of the two Misses Pennywise-aged I've
and fourteen-whose disorderly conduct
and willful destruction of wardrobe and
textbooks occasioned many visit to
the library, after the dinner hour, by the
governess. -
she.w was neat, pretty little body, this
e,overness. and had often attracted the no
fice of the young bloods who came to
visit Launcelot but she paid not the
slightest attention either to their compll
ments or sglances, attending quietly to hel m
pupils, and seeming wholly wrapped W
IN their charge. In fact, Charley 6ush