Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-05-14
A STORY OF MYSTERY AND WOE.

A more honest fellow than Pennington
Smythe never lived. He vas young-say
twenty-five or three-full Of . large as
sortment Of varied enthusiasm. possessed
Of an unlimited belief in the goodness Of
human nature. and absolutely incapable
Of fa'sehood.
And yet. curiously enough. he had q
passion for mysteries. Although practi-
cally commonplace Presbyterian, he
nevertheless affected to believe in the mys-
teries Of Rosicrucianism. He was perpet-
ually striving. with conspicuous want Of
success. to magnetic his friends. and al
though he was too orthodox to believe in
Spirisualism. he lived in constant hopes Of
P'sSdncing his washstsnd TO move and aid
his writing-table to rap. BY tho patient
contact Of tireless hands. AS for secret
societies they were his delight. He be-
longed to nearly every ancient and vencr-
able order Of very modern mechanics and
grocerymen in existence. and kept locked
up in his trunk moro Hariug gilt badges
and fantastic.ny trimmed aprons. and
horse. collars than would have suficed to
pr. chase the sovereignty Of dozen Afri-
| can kingdoms.
Aud there never was . more honest and
straightforward little girl than Mary Nor.
r;s. to whom Smy,he was engaged to be
married. She vas just out Of boarding.
school, and her respectable father-in the
Wholesale lard business-and her equally
respectable mother-in the wholesale fam
lily business-and all her thirteen BROTH
ers and sisters Of assorted sexes. were
ready to swcar-or affirm, a. the case
might be-that Mary was as good a. gold i,
aud many times as valuable.
The engagement Of these two young
persons was with the full appreciation Of
the elder Smythes and Morrises. Young
Pennington was expected to spend three
evenings every week with his betrothed
aud they we're always accommodated with
a convenient back parlor in which to con-
verse after the manner Of their kind. In
these circumstances Pennington Smythe
ought to have been happy. but he was
not. There was no mystery about his
love affair. aud the fact weighed upon bis
spirits.
He did what he could to convince him.
self that the respectable old Mr.. Morris,
who used to say when Pennington made
his appearance. Now. you children. keep
out of that there back parlor. and give
Mary and her young man = thow"-wa,
bitterly opposed to the match. and mus,
be kept from perceiving that his dsug gbte,
was beloved by her young man." Blu,
the only possible way which he could de-
wise to throw an air Of secrecy over the
affair. was to write notes to bis beloved in
4 very crampcd hand. and to deliver them
himself. Usually he had to read them
too, since his handwriting was too mysti.
cal to be readily decipbered. aud when
they we're read they usually contained
nothing but an ampli6cation Of the inocu-
ous idea that he. Pennington Smythe,
proposed to love her. Mary Morris. in
spite Of every obstacle. As there were
J no conceivable obstacles this statemen,
was not one Of tremendous moment. bu,
still! il gave young Smythe no little CON.
fort to make j, in writing aud deliver j,
With an air Of immense secrecy.
One day a happy thought struck him
How delightful it would be to correspond
with his darling in cipher. This ide:
iilled him with a calm. mystical joy ,ha
was really 6rst-class sensation. So be
devised . cipher Of the kiud so much il
vogue among school girls. aud which con
sisted in substituting one letter for anoth
er. aud instantly wrote . brief note 4
Mary. Thi. he carried to her the sam,
J evening. together With key. and attain
ed the seventh heaven Of mystical deligh
in transmitting it TO her.
Poor Mary suffered much from this ci
. pher. Ii vas very hard york for Der 4
. write an Ineligible letter With the ncv
J alphabet. She continually made mistake