The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-08-15

piest Of men by.ridding me OF liml
winch was an obstacle in the, way of my
happiness Learn, then. the re asoh O
what you termed my madhess.Y Yol
assured meithat there could be no iusti
fable motive for so singulari mutila
ltIon. l offered you wager, and think
you were right In refusinnsSitc. After nv
second return from the East Indies,
became acquainted with Susan Black,
the most accOmpl she'd and fascinating OF
women. sought her hand in, marriage.
lie fortune anu family were SUCH as met
with tue entire appreciation of my
parents. AS fer me, thought only o!
| her charms. l was soon happy enough
| to gain her affections-a fact which sue
did not attempt to deny; but she, at the
same time, firmly refused to become my
| wlle. ln vain did l beseech her to DO SO;
in vain did her relations all second my
desile. Sne was lnfleXible. For a long
| Lime l could not discover The reason oil
| her opposition to marriage winch she
herself confessed would make her hap
| py; until, al last, one OF her sisLers re-
Vealed the fatal secret o me. Susan
was marvel Uf beauty, Luv sue was 80
| unfortunate as to have lost u leg, and
sne had consequently condemned herself
| TO eternal ceilUacy. My resolution was
quickly formed, and determined to be-
come like her. Thanks TO you, my dear
LeiebVre, my wishes were soon accom-.
plished. l returned with my wOeden
| leg to London, L hasGened 10 gain in
formation OF Miss Black. The report
had been spread, and yselt had taken
care to write to my friends IN England
to the same effect, that l had had the
misfortune 10 fracture my leg, and
| that amputatiOn had been found
| absolutely necessary. Every one
expressed the greatest concern at my
misfortune. Susan tainted on the first
occasion of my presenting myself. She
was at first incOnsolable, but at length
she consented to become my wife. Ii
was only on the morning alter our mar
riage that l confessed to her the
sacrifice by means of which [ had al
length been enabled to gain her consent
to be mine. The avowal increased her
love. Oh! my excellent friend, had
ten legs to lose, would give Them all up
for the sake OF my beloved Susan. So
long as l live, rely on my gratitude. ii
ever you yisiB England, do not fail to
come here, so that may make you ac-
quainted with my WlIe; and then tell
me whether or not l was out of my
senses, Yours faithfully.
| Ahld UR OALE1."
| Monsieur Lefebvre answered the letter
of his English friend in tue following
| terms: ........
"SIR-Accept my best thanks for your
very generous present-lOr SO / must
term Wnat you have sent me, having
been previously magniticently remuher-
ated Tor my trouble, as you were pleased
to term it, WISH 1or you, as we'll as
your charming wife, all imaginable
happiness. True it is that to give a leg
In exchange for u DeauJllul, tender, ana
virtuous wife Is not too much, provided
The happiness endures. Adam sacrificed
one OF MS ribs to become possessed OF
our common mother Eve, ana more than
one man has lald down his lie for the
sake of his beloved. Notwithstanding
| all tniS, allow me to adhere to my former
opinion. For the present you are doubt
| less right, for you are now i'll the honey
moon; but at some luture time you Will
| acknowledge the truth OF what | al.
vanced. beg your attention to what
| am about to say. l fear that i'll two
years you will repent Of having had your
leg amputaLed above the knee jOint.
| You will think that TO have it cut of
lower down would have been quite
sufficient. In three years you will be
persuaded that the sacrihce OF a foot
would have answered all purposes; in
four, that of The big toe; in i've tle little
one; and, at last, you Will have confessed
! that to nave parted with nail, without
necessity, would have been a piece OF
| egregIous folly. All this L assert with
out in the slightest degree impugning
the merit OF your admirable heipmate.
In my own youthful days would have,
at any time, given my lie for my
mistress, but never my leg, for | should
have feared repentance tor the rest OF
my days. Had lreally doneso, should
have every moment said 10 myself,
'Lefebvre. you are a madman.' With
highest consideration, yours very obedi-
emily, ETIENNE LEFEBvRE."
| In the year 1913, during the Reign of
| Terror, the surgeon OF B0logne, having
been accused OF being an arlstucrat by
one OF his younger professional brethren
who enVied hIm his practice, was obliged
to take refuge i'll London, in order to
save his neck from the guillotine. Being
without employment or acquaintances,
he inquired for the resiuenee OF his
former patient, MIR. 0xley. He was di.
rected to IL, and, on arriving at the
house, he sent up his name, and was i'm
mediately admitted. In huge arm
cnair, seated before the IRE, with bot
Cle OF wine Deslue nlm, sat pOrtIy per-
sonage, whose size was so great that it
was with difficulty that he could rise to
welcome his visitor. "Welcome, Mon
sieur LetebYre." exclaimed the huge
Englishman. "Do not be offended at my
receiving you in this manner, but my
cursed wooden leg won't allow me TO DO
anything. You have come, no doubt,
my friend, to see if in the long run you
were not right"
II am fugitive seeking an asylum
among YOU"
You shall stay with me, for You are
really a wise man. You Will console
me. Do you know, my dear Leiebvre,
that, had it not been Tor this abomhable
wooden leg rendering me useless, i
should by this time have been Admiral
Of the Blue. l spend my life in reading
the newspapers, and in curses that am
tied here when everybody else is up and
doing. Remain here; you shall comfort
me-"
"Your charming wife can doubtless
do tnat better than | can"
"Oh, as for that, no. Her wooden leg
prevents her from gadding about and
dancing; SO she has, as a resource, given
herself up to cards and scandal. There
is no possibility of living alone with her:
In other respects she is a good enough
woman"
"What! was right then?" exclaimed
the surgeon.