The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-10-01

| "BeCsluse-Why-Decd efei pVug elSc
does"
Bat if | wanted to marry ever so much
no one would want me-"
aOh. YES they would" exclaimed he
dozens would want you; hundreds,
yes. thousands" POdsers was becoming
enthused, and would have doubtless in
! cluded in his catalogue the whole unmar-
| ried mankind as aspiring TO the hand of
Miss Fripper, had she not interrupted
! him.
"Well, don't know where any of them
are" said she, with cOquettish air, which
/ implied that she knew all about it.
Now had come the time, POdgers
! thought, to make the important avOwal.
! During the whole Of this interview he had
! been encouraged by the smiles and mean
| ing looks which she had given him, and
now. although scared and nervous and
! trembling, he believed his suit was virtual
! ly won. Without further thought he
! blurted out suddenly:
Il love you, Angelina won't you mar
ry me!' and threw himself down on his
knees before her.
! Miss Fripper uttered tiny shrek. and
made motion toward fainting, but re-
membering that a fainting spell might
/ bring others in, she checked herself, and
/ tremblingly gave utterance to the weak
est and the tamest "Oh, no - that any one
| ever heard Itwould have been plain to
! the merest simpletOn that she meant any
thing else than a negative answer, and
coupled with the action of her body,
which inclined limp and lovingly towards
! Mr.. POdgers, it is strange that even he
could have misunderstood her. But his
nerves were strung up to such tension,
! that a ''yeS" would almost have snapped
them, and when his ears were greeted
with a ''nO'' he was shocked beyond con-
ceptiOn. He had no ears for intOnatiOns,
no eyes for actions, and her answer, what
ever its weakness and evident affirmative
tendency, was simply a fearful mo" to
him. 1t was a knell TO his hopes, and in a
moment all of his baShfulneSs, all of his
self-distrust rushed back upon him. He
fanc;ed himself an object of her pity or
scOrn, and, fearful thought perhaps of
her ridicule. These thoughts possessed
him, and overcame him. 1t was charac
teristic of Mr.. POdgers to act upon all
possible impulses with the least possible
reflection. Only in the matter of declaring
his affection for Miss Fripper had he va
ried in the method of his life. So now,
overcome with the most painful emotions,
he hurriedly left the room before the ado
rable Angelina had an opportunity of CIV
ing him a better insight into her heart.
Before he had left the loom the iron had
entered his soul. and while the now for
lorn Miss Fripper sat discomtited and an
CRY with herself, he stalked out into the
night with the stern resolve that he would
live no longer. Life without Fripper was
worse than death, and the dreadful
thought that she would laugh at him, and
that the bOarderS would become aware of
his humiliation, robbed him of the last
lingering desire to live.
We can not understand the state of Mr..
Podgers'S mind. Even though we smile at
his weakness, we can not doubt that the
gloom and dependency which clOuded his
spirit and the shock which shattered his
nerves, rendered him incapable for time
of acting with reason or right reflection.
And, indeed, we know not what minute
screws. lOoSened in the intricate machinery
of the mind, will so interrupt its normal
workings as to make this desperate re-
solve logical result of such inharmOniOus
action. Ii is said there is but one step from
the sublime TO the ridiculous; it is also
true that there is but one step from wis
dom to folly, from sanity to insanity. AT
any rate, our hero decided upon suicide,
whatever the philosophy of the case might
be: and, although Determined on death,
he had laudable desire TO 90 off easily.
His first thought was of laudanum; so he
went at once to the druggists for that ar
ticle. He had very little idea as to the
amount necessary TO take to destroy life
but. in order to be sure, he ordered an
ounce. The apOthecary was startled by
! his haggard appearance and unnatural
manner. and, before complying with his
urgent request, asked for what purpose he
wished so much of the dangerous medi-
cine.
1--WE got the toothache,' said POdgerS,
| glOOmily. After having in vain tried to
convince his customer that a few drops
would be sufficient for his purpose, and,
! being unwilling to entrust the laudanum
| with so suspicious a character, he finally
gave him an ounce phial of harmless tine
! ture, instructing him TO be very careful
with it as it was deadly poison.
Podgers unsuspectingly pocketed his
purchase. and strobe off to his room. eiatcd
! even i'm his despOndent condition of mind
at the thought of having succ ssfully
warded OFF any suspicion by his rusc OF
/ tOothache.
He had bedmate in the person of Sam
uel Hubbard, a young fellow who officiat-
ed i'm the capacity of help in grocery store
over the way. Sam had been in bed for
some time, and. being sound asleep, was
! blisSfully ignorant of the tragedy abOutto
/ be enacted. Having donned a long night
shirt, our hero, with despair stamped upon
/ his brow, stood before the mirror and
| gaZed long and mOurnfully upon the tea-
lures of the unfortunate POdgers. Then
turning to the bed-pOst, which, for the
/ time. persOnified the adamantine Ange-
| lima, hc thus gave utterance to his feelings:
Behold your doings. But for you the
/ light of hope and happiness would now
| be beaming on this heart" striking him
1 self i'm the region of the stomach. But
/ will not live to endure your scOrn. Well
/ come Death Thy sting Is not so sharp
as unrequited love" ''And you, my hap
DIV bed-fellow," addressing the sleeping
/ Sam. "you know not what il is to hate
/ and dread the world; you have never felt
| the pangs of heart" (another slap on the
stOmach) THAT | now feel. You little
dream that you will wake to find you have
slept with the cold corpse of your miser-
able friend"
! After sundry other apoStrophes equally
pathetic he sat down and wrote letter to
| Miss Fripper, in which he told her he
! couldn't live without her, and closed by
generously forgiving her, signing it
= Your devoted, broken-hearted, lost JO-
seph.'' He addressed it. and, after mood
ilv contemplating it awhile, laid it in
conspicuous place on the table. Then,
with sudden and convulsive effort, he
| swallowed the contents of the phiai.
The fearful step was takenl The die was casti
Farewell Garth, with Its round Of cares and jays!
He put out his lamp, and, with bewil-
dered and uncertain air, lay down by the
side of the unconscious sam. Everything
seemed TO be in sympathy with the occa-
sion. No sound could be heard save the
heavy breathing of his companion. and the
tumultuous throbbing of his own heart.
The moon, just appearing bloodred disc
i'm the East, shOne through the window,
throwing a ghostly glimmer over the walls
and the furniture. The curtain tlapping
nOiselesSly in the breeze seemed, in the
: weird, unearthly light, an angel of death
beckoning him away! A thousand men,
ories crowded upon him, which in their
turn seemed to entreat him vet TO live. A
sense of unutterable loneliness came upon
= him! a terrible weight seemed to crush
J him down! down. DOWN. He could lie
still no longer. He arose. relighted the
lamp and seated himself near the window.
From a strange state of settled, Indifferent
: ] ,1acyoair IA WAS pnprOrino into n oapl;rio,,