Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-04-05
A Mothers Grief.

was, eVl0enCIy TO the maternal m1nO, q
serious one, for the mothers eyes were
red with weeping, and as she raised
her veil that she might more clearly
express herself lachrymal rivulets were
seen coursing down her cheeks. 1t
was with a voice broken with sobs that
the visitor related her woes.
"Where is your daughter, MADAME"
was the question put by the Sergeant
in charge.
"That is just what L desire the po-
lice to aid me in finding out. She has
left her home, and-and perhaps I'll
never see her again" Here the visitor
broke down completely, and it was
some minutes before she could resume
the thread of her narrative.
The Sergeant again. "She, ofcourse,
has run away from home, or you
would scarcely call upon us to take part
in the case. Have you any idea where
she isp"
"Not the slightest in the world. My
husband and myself have been upon the
90 for several hours, and while l am
here, he is off somewhere else, looking
for them"
"Them! Your daughter, perhaps,
naS DScu 6uCOutc LSOU W OoF hCA IA
by some n whom you think is now
with herp"
"Oh, undoubtedly. She has been an
obedient child, and would never have
occasioned me this pain without provo
cation Or inducements that could not be
WithstOOd."
elbow old is she?"
"Fifteen years of age, though rather
tall for one of her years."
"You spoke a moment since of
sthem.' By whom he's your daughter
been induced to leave her home? By a
man or womanP"
"By a man."
"It now appears to be somewhat Sc
rious, and, madam, though the ordeal
may prove q trying one, you will have
to state the entire case without reserve,
that we may know whether We a be
of any assistance to you"
With an occasional break, the lady
told the story of her woes. Mrs. S. was
the wife of an attache of one of the
German newspapers of the city, a per-
son of education and refinement. Both
husband and wife had previously been
married, the former bringing to the
new union a son about 26 years of age,
and the wife a daughter about Is years
old-the one whose disappearance was
occasioning all the trouble. The son
was rather a dashing young man, but,
according to the story of his step
mother, lacking in moral balance. He
was an engineer, and in the employ of
the Hudson Bay Company during the
summer, his engagements keeping him
from April to N~ovemberin the extreme
northern part of British America. He
spent his winters in st. Louis, and,
though earning a good salary during
the summer, was chronically impecu-
NOUS when with his parents, requiring
them to keep him in every thing need
full for his osiotonoo. But
he was his fathers only
child, and was therefore provided
for without stint, and the fact that he
was almost worthless was lost sight of
in d large degree by at least one men,
Der of the family. The girl, though
but Is years of age, was tall, more than
ordinarily good-looking, and had a ma
ture air about her that gave her the ap-
pearance of being older than she was.
Being continually thrown together dur
ing the past four months, it may not
appear altogether strange that the two
young people should have acquired a
deep-seated laundering for each other.
Though they were brother and sister
with the prefix of ''step'D, this did
not prevent them from falling ''desper-
ately" in love, and it would seem as if
early in their acquaintance they had
sworn eternal constancy to each other.
As the time approached for the young
man to pack his baggage for the North
Pole, he brought to notice his love fer
his step-sister, and asked permission of
her mother (and his mother) to make
her his wife. The mother, with APP
parently the best reasons in
the world, refused her consent.
In the first place, the girl was too
young; secondly, there would ensue,
in case of marriage, such a contradic-
ton of family titles as would bother a
Philadelphia lawyer to set things
straight. The husband and wife would
be brother and sister, and the father
and mother would be step-father and
step-mother and father-in-law and
mother-in-law. And, thirdly, the young
man had not shown himself competent
to take carr of a wife. Of course, as
matters stood, the father had to sup
port them all, any way, but when a man
took unto himself a wife he should be
able to properly provide for her and for
himself. The young man did his level
best to overcome the maternal scruple,
but to no purpose. Mrs. S. was firm
in her refusal, and intimated that as a
step-son he vas sufficiently near, with
out becoming son-in-law as well. It
would seem, however, as though the
would-be Benedict was not to be baulk-
ed. He renewed his entreaties on Sat-
urday morning, and when Mrs. S. de-
clined to enter into the subject again he
became enraged, and said that he would
leave the house and take Rose (the girl)
with him. His right to do so was Of
course denied, but he maintained the
contrary, saying, 81 will take her; she
is my wife, and I have the right"
This was the straw that broke the cam
I = l--l 49, H. NJ