Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-11-29

my faIlln 5 TO be backward IN reSpOndln',
but this here were so sudden and alto
gether so rum that Is'poses l were bit
backward, and arter a bit she kind of
hung off, seeing which / says to her,
q" I'm extremely obliged, marin, I'm
sure, to you and to this other lady, and
[ wishes with all my heart as / were
the man you takes me for, but truth is
truth, and I amt, and that's fact"
Oh, Willie, DEAR she says, laughin'
and cryin' at the same time, don't
joi-e with your own true wife that's so
glad to have you home agin arter
mOurnin' you as dead and gone
Well, it went to my heart, Tom, to
have to undeceive her, but, never did
and never will sail under false colors,
and SO settin' her down away from me
[ says, "This here are all a mistake,
marin; [ amt Bill at all, but / am jist
plain Jack Rodgers at your sarvice, as
! is at present afore the mast into the
ship Washington, as can be proved by
all hands on board of her, officers and
all, and I'm sorry to say it, marin, but
truth IS truth, and [ tell you true,
never seen either of you afore in all
my born days"
cob, Mr.. Williams, Mr.. Williamsw
says this other woman; to think of
your denyin' who you are when we all
know you so well; you ought to be
ashamed of yourself to try this poor
dear So" and then she goes off a-cryin'
along with the other one.
"' Tom, if ever / were III quare
day, were in q quare day at that
present time, and whatever to do or
say Pm bowed if I knowd. At
last in very desperation, | says to her:
q Savin' your presence, marin, as
afore strangers, did your husband what
I'm took for have any partic Ter
mark onto him by which you'd know
him ?"
"'You know you have" she says,
you unnatural man; you've got NOR
frodite brig upon your breast at this
identical minnit."
"' When she said this, Tom, you
might have knocked me down with a
feather. You remembers prickin' that
identical craft onto me when we was fore
the mast in the Adirondack, and of
course there was no denyin' it, and | says:
You're right marin as to the brig,
though how you knowd it is more than
I [ can tell; but for all that, [ Civ you
sailors honest word that from the day
Of my birth till this present writin' I've
been plain Jack Rodgers and nobody
else Wife or child [ never did have,
leastway to my knowledge"
q" Then" she says, "do you mean
for to deny that we wasn't married i'll
the little church in Egmont street, by
Mr.. Churchill"
al does deny it, says I, "and he'll
deny it, too, if he tells the truth"
viii you go there with me?" says
she. He knows you WE'LL
81 will" says |, with great pleas
ure, for / feel sorry to have you deceiv-
ed" and away we went, all three of us,
leavin' the little gal to mind the shop.
OF course [ thought that bein' man
and not bein' SO interested like, he would
at once see that weren't the man they
| took me for, but Just as soon as ever he
claps eyes onto me he reaches out his
fist, and says he: "Why, Williams, Pm
| delighted to see you turned up again
all right. We thought you was at the
bottom Of the sea-"
Says l. I'm sorry, sir, but this
here is all Il mistake; l never saw you
afore, and | never seen them wimmen
afore."
Then her what claimed me went
| on at Il great rate to the parsOn, and he
said as how | needn't no longer deny
my identity, for he knew me well, and
there was plenty more that would swear
to me anywhere.
Whatever were | to do, Tom? /
begin to be staggered mysel-begin to
think I'd got changed somehow, they
was all so sartin. I'd read about SIGH
| things. you know, of folks bein' turned
/ by witchcraft into other folks, and
wer'nt sure but that sOmethin' of the
kind had happened to me; that there
morfrOdite brig were the most staggerin
thing of all. However, l says to the
parson. You say you're sure you
spliced me to this wOmanY
am as sure as | can be of any
thin in this world" says he.
"' And you're sure" says | to her,
3" that you was spliced to me by this
gentleman
You know | was" she sobs.
I'm blow'd if l do" says /, land
so for forms sake, if this here gent will
just go through with it again, why then
I'll know it as we'll as you two"
Well, he wouldn't for a while,
sayin' that the marriage ceremony
were too sacred thing for to trife
with; but after a while, seem as | were
so set onto it, he done it.
There, marm," says |, givin' her
a rousin' smack, everythin' is all right
now, and whether I'm Bill Williams or
Jack Rodgers don't make ha'porth
of difference. intends to be husband
to you to the best of my material
ability"
This here were about three year
/ ago, and | must say as I've never had
the least occasions for to regret it. She
insisted as | shouldn't go to sea no more,
not on no account. Fust off [ thought
I'd bring some of the chaps from the
/ Washington up there for to convince
her that she'd made mistake, but then
| thought, what's the use of unsettlin'
/ her mind and SO [ didn't, and we've
lived very happy. OF course we has
our titfs time and agin, benz as some
times | git pinin' for Il sea life and hyst
a bit too much. At SIGH times she puts
it to me for tryin' to deceive her, and
we have it over this old question of
whether I'm Bill Williams or Jack Rodg-
! ers, which I'm sometimes in doubt about
myself And now, if you're sartin as l
am and always have been Jack, / want
you fer to come up and see the old
woman and convince her that Pm right
and that she's wrong"
Saws /, Jack, SDeakin' as q friend