The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-03-29

y
is aliveP or why do you not know it, il
he is dead? Just tell me the whole
story, Mary, from beginning to end
AT this point Brunhilda, who always
scents romance from afar, appeared
upon the scene, and gracefully estab.
lished herself upon the kitchen dresser.
"Seven years ago. said Mary,
"when married William Murphy, ]
thought there was no one like him in
the world; and l should think SO yet il
he hadn't nearly worried the life out Of
me. But l shall always believe that
his mother was to blame for it all. She
was that jealous of Will that it some
times seemed as if she would like to
scratch my eyes out. We lived with
the old people for q year or two; but
after little Willie was born had no
peace at all for his grandmother, who
insisted on having her way with him,
and naturally thought that l had a
right to mine.
1.-THE old people had money, and
lived very comfortably, and viii and
his father carried on coal-yard to-
gether; but Will fell into bad company,
and took to drinking, and his father
and mother were so bitter towards him,
it drove him to desperation. You see,
they were people who had always been
respected, and they couldn't bear the
disagree; and many's the night I've sat
up watching for Will, so that they
shouldn't know when he came in. l
taught myself German, by way of
amusement, on those lonely evenings.
Some one gave the books to Will, and l
had always been fond of study at
school. -
"After a while we left the old peo-
pie, and moved into two rooms of our
own; and worked hard at sewing and
knitting and any thing L could get to
support us. Will did not improve,
though he was never unkind to me-
and one morning boy brought me a
crUmpled note from my husband tell
ing me that he had gone to California,
and that he would never come back un-
less he came sober man, and with
money to support me and our boy. His
father had been harder with him than
ever, and he said that he was sick of it
all and as he was of no use to US, he
would not stay to be disgrace. have
never heard from him since.
"Will's mother came to me and said
that she should look upon the boy as
hers now, and we must go home with
her at once But put her off, to gain
little time; for was young, you see,
and ignorant, and was afraid she had
the power to make me go; and when
she left me, 1 just packed my clothes
and Willie's, and went off to the depot,
and came to L. l had this friend
living near here-we used to 60 to
school together-and she got me place
in store. But couldn't pay my board
and Willie's and clothe US both out of
that; and finally L. concluded to leave
the boy with Ellen, and get place at
service.
and now l don't know whether
Will is living or dead; but can't help
thinking that if he was living he would
have written to me and sent me some
money, for he always loved me-"
1t struck Mary's audience that he had
very strange way of showing his
love; but then they were old maids,
and could not expect to understand such
matters.
Mary presently produced a photo
graph, which was just the opposite of
what we expected; for her Sweet Will
liam was fine, manly looking young
fellow, and we felt drawn to him at
once. But then we felt drawn to the
postman, too; and it was absolutely es-
sential to the latter's happiness that
number one should have departed from
this terrestrial scene. Until there was
sufficient evidence of this, however,
there was reason to fear an Enoch Ar
den denouenlent; and we assured Mary
that it was positively wrong for her to
give Mr.. Blumenthal any encourage
ment.
1t was probably owing to this disin-
terested advice that we were honored
by regular call from our hitherto
taciturn friend. We were nearly as
much surprised to hear him speak as
though we had known him to be dumb !;
and when he propounded the somewhat
startling question, "If l did not think
the man what had married Mary ought
to be dead by this one time" it did
appear as thought the person in
question had due regard for the fit
ness of things-he would be; but the
point at issue was not so much whether
he ought to be as whether he was.
Mr.. Blumenthal, however, simply in
tended to express his firmly grounded
opinion that William Murphy SOas dead,
and that his widow would show her
good sense by abandoning her present
position of maid-of-all-work, and be-
coming Mrs. Blumenthal without delay.
1t seemed impossible to convince him
that California was not out of the world,
and that travellers did occasionally re-
turn from that bourne. His own views
of the region were evidently embodied
in the belief that people who went there
because they could not live here, ended
by giving up the attempt at living alto
gether. He was certainly very much in
love; and it would be an excellent match
for Mary, even if he had not the regula-
ton amount of limbs and belongings
Brunhilda was quite carried away by
postman' s eloquence and good looks.
az believe he is right,'' said she, when
he had gone; sit is not at all probable
that Murphy is living, or he would GER
tainly have written to his wife," Add