The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-10-09
MOST MYSTERIOUS.

WIS 1OuI Weeks III EO6Db6nD0E--dlu lay
good many plans about spending it
pleasantly. OF course an invitation to
some nice place was very acceptable,
for a junior clerks income Is not often
large and this year, 18-no matter for
the last fgures-eT was very much in
hopes of two, one from my maternal
grandmother in Virginia. another from
my old friend Charlie Pell, who had
some months before promised 10 ask me
to his mothers residence near Boston.
| Now my grandmother was a rich woman
who had been a beauty, and was very
/ much of the opinion that she would
always remain one. She had plenty of
| company, and her house was very pleas
ant indeed, and 1 knew that Mrs. PelI,
| though an excellent woman, was very
! formal, and seldom opened the cold,
! best parlor, where the piano was kept
| in solitary confinement, except for q
prayer-meeting.
! If my grandmother invited mo, 1
| should excuse myself to Charlie and go
| to her, and fiirt with tie girls and play
whist, and enjoy myself generally; but
if she cheated me, as she sometimes
did, Why then I'd accept the Pells' in
vitation. Charlie was a pleasant fell
! low, and was a very little IN love with
his sister, who would surely be home
from boarding school. These were my
plans, but as time passed on and
! brought no letter from either of the
parties whom I had supposed to be my
expectant hosts, my spirits sank, and
looked forward drearlly to the hottest
room in a cheap country boarding
house, or the alternative of staying at
home at Mrs. Ferguson's and hearing
how all the absent boarders were enjoy
ing themselves at the sea side.
Just as had quite begun to despair,
however-indeed it was the twenty
eighth of July-the earliest post brought
me two letters, one pale blue envel-
ope, on which I recognized my grand
mothers fine running hand the other a
white, business looking affair, bearing
Charlie Pell's wild scrawl.
Two invitation at once. I chuckled
with delight, and having hurried up 10
my own hall bedroom quite forgetfuI of
my breakfast, I tore open the blue en-
velope, out of which tumbled some
thing crisp and green, which, on exami-
nation, proved to be a banknote for
one hundred dollars, and which aston
ished me very much, for my grand
mother had never made me any pres
ents of more value than a fiat pincush-
ion and pen-Eiper at Christmas time,
and read these mysterious words
DEAR RICHMOND-I know you expect an in
! vitatiOn, and / meant to ask you, but Circum-
s,ances have occurred that prevent me from
having the pleasure. 1 am more your friend
than ever, but fear I can never ask yOu to
visit me again. If I do not, you must only lose
my poor company, for l shall send you what
you find enclosed every month, and will always
be, Yours devo!edly,
c. RICHMOND.
p. S. will explain in my next.
''SingularI' 1 said. And quite IN
able to suggest q reason for my grand
mothers singular conduct, L pocketed
her present and opened the other note.
1t was equally mysterious
DEAR R1cH-You promised to come to me
for the vacation, and you must, but not to
mothers house. am at --, at the hotel
there, and have arranged matters that we
may have guest. Come at once. You will
be very much surprised by something which ]
'--''-- Yours You SS ever sit0- CHARLES PELL.
emo use trying to solve this problem
either" said to myself. Well, I'll
go to Charlie. He seems to want me.
The hotel will be jollier than the old
homestead.
And then I went down stairs to break,
fast, and ate cold hash and drank fiat
coffee without complaint. There were
but three days more of it, and then came
a month of lounging, smoking and en-,
joyment. At least I was young enough
to hope so.
It was night when I left the train,
and, portmanteau in hand, entered
-. Just at the depot stood light
carriage.
erich, old fellow" cried a voice.
and hurried forward to grasp Charlie
PeIIs hand.
"I'm so glad to see you" said he
"and I've so much to tell you-jumI
in. Let me take your traps. Now
shake hands again and congratulate me
Pm married"
married p I almost shouted. :'Why
bless your heart, Charlie, accept my
= very warmest congratulations And
: how did it come about? And what does
your mamma think about it, and
and"
"My dear Rich" said Charley
"there's the unhappy part of the story
, they are furious. They have said and
| done the most dreadful things. I think
they wanted me to live and die an old
bachelor; but at one-and-twenty, my
dear fellow, a man must think of set
thing, you know, and it's absurd fol
them to be so implacable. And my
lady is, perhaps, year or two Older
! than I am and very ively-a gay Young
widow, YOU know-and that they find
fault with.
, "'Don't bring her to my house, says
mamma-indeed she did; but you-you,
I know, have sympathy with me. You
comprehend that I could net forget one
adored, because an old lady and lit
tie girl told me to do so. You'll under
stand that no one in my place could,
when you are introduced to Lofty.
met her while on a business trip for the
house. but here we are. We sup
in our own little parlor. Lofty has
quite fortune, you know, and lives IN
style at home. shall manage the
place for her hereafter. The waiter will
show you to your own room, and to
our CarlOr when you are ready for our
society. Number twenty-four, John. :"
And away he flew, while 1 fastened
to number twenty-foUr, made a careful
toilet, and FASTENED down stairs, con-
ming a pretty speech which I intended
to make to my friends bride. When I
knocked at he door heard a suspicious
fiutter, and doubted not that some of
the hilli0g and cooling necessary to the
situation had been going on, but
Charles opened the door for me, and I
saw a LADY in lilac silk and plenty of
lace sitting near the window. Being
very near-sighted sa no more, except
that she had fan in her hand, and was
! trifing with it.
"COme in, Richmond" said Charlie.
/ q NY dear Iiottie, this is my old friend
Richmond Walters. My wife, Rich"
| I advanced. The lady arose. She
was stout and blonde. I saw her face.
She saw mine. For one moment we
stood perfectlY silent then she put out