The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-01-22
TIE MARRIAGE WITNESS.

punch.
1t was toward the close OF October,
and the weather had set in raw and
gusty with heavy showers. Garner was
an old acquaintance. For about twenty
live years he bad been one ofthe most
SUCCESSFUL detectives that Our country
has ever known, and many q long hour
has he wiled away with recitation OF
some of his exciting adventures.
We were sitting in my smoking-room,
talking over our punch, and the time
\ was somewhere near midnight. AS
| Garner spoke, there came q heavy splash
! of rain against the windows, and he
looked up in quick, startled way, and
gazed into my lace. u
"HoW strange some things affect u.s."
ihe remarked; "that sudden shower OF
rain against the window, glass takes me
back twenty years ago. l never hear
that sound but my mind reverts to, u,
circumstance that occurred when l had
been in service about five years. L
| thought / was Inc sharpest fellow alive
then, but didn't know how much had
| to learn, aud, in tact, unlearn, before l
could lay claim TO much ability in my
1 line. .. ....... l......-. --,-. ..-
| There had been a good deal Of heavy
lsmuggling in Maine, and Passamaquoddy
1lBay was pretty often crossed ny the
hardy fellows who 'th11Vea under the
Illicit trade carried on.
I was detailed by the Treasury De-
partIaent to proceed along the coast OF
| Maine, and gather such Information. as
Il could relative to the mode by which
smug- lers managed tGeir business. Oi.
course travelled incog., and used every
precautiUn TO conceaI my Identity; but
Those fellows We're sharp Ritted, and
Ito Lal thnV pnlliH lAtpntiVpS
miles away. l hau been tor weeks
llounging along the coast without gaiu-
ling any valuable information, when, at
1.-The close OF an october day, | found my
self in the little town OF LuOec.
| made my home with an old fisher
Imam, who had pas sed many years OF his
lite betw cen the island Of Grand Menan
| and the mainland. Sam Rudolph was
a quaint old fellow. His father and
grandfather had hshed OH the coast and
Iliyed in the same town where he re-
sided, and every man, woman and child,
! for miles around, were as well known to
him as if they had been reared under
his roof
spent almost the entire winter in and
about Lubec, and knew ln0sG OF the Ia.
haU,tants pretty well. Yet none, as lar
as l could judge, were aware oEIny busI-
mess there. But, as 1t turned out altrI :
ward, l was sadly mistaken-in this con-
lecture, All those interested knew
pretty wen who l was aud from whenee
| | came; but with their accust TONED
shrewdness, they never allowed me TO
| suspect they possessed the knowledge. :.
! RudOlph's family consisted Of d wife
and daughter, the latter about twenty
years OLD, and notify any means a come
| iy maiden. But she was a smart, quick
rirL, and possessed OF large snare OF
| common sense.
Every little village has its big people,
and Lubec WAS not an exception t. the
rule, About hail mile from the snore
lived person by the name OF Morgan.
| The mouse in which he lived was more
pretentious than any in the country,
| and he was called the rich man of the
place. His entire property, taken at "a
liberal valuation, might have brought
len thousand dol ars;- but this was con-
sidered a large amount OF money among
a people whose wants were simple aud
lew, and who were not accustomed to
the sight OF SO much wealth.
| MI. Morgan was O proud, yet weak,
Imam. His father had been in the dried
fish trade, and when he died he left The
business to his son, who pursued it as
long as there was any money in, IT,; but
when he found successful competitors
in the trade he prudentIy withdrew from
l the packing-h0use, and went 10 reside
with his family at Lubec.
/ I'nad made Mr. Morgan's acquaintance
soon after my arrival, but / never knew
much concerning hun. had dined sew
eral times at his house, and was always
treated with politeness, mixed with a
lstranye reserve. The. fact was he was
AN individual with whom one could not
\ form an intimacy. He spoke seldom and
mingled reluctantly IN society, and ii
was easy 10 see that he was iiliDeraI and
selt-9plnloned. .y-..
/ HIS family consisted of a wife, O
daughter named Mercy, and "a son (the
latter, man Of twenty -lye) named o..
Ver. .....
Mercy Morgan was strangely beauti.
iul, Her recollection has been Lo me
more as dream than a reality. 1 often
gazed upon her spell, bound. Remember,
That was the season of my hot youth
/. ana was always u WorshIper OF female
lioyelineSs; but L never exchanged a
dozen consecutive sentences with her.
She was exceedingly reticent, and ap.
peared to have scarcely any CONVERSE.
lional powers.
oliver Morgan was keen, quick-spo.
ken man, whose piercing gray eyes
seemed " look through you. He was
| SlYa9Gu1 III IhSSS III buS GOWn Oh IL,
a lew miles distant, and generally came
to his talhel's home twice "a week.
| There resided at LuDec at this time a
Custum-louse Official named Andy Nc
Claim. He was one OF the best, and, at
the same time, m 'st dangerous fellows
ii ever knew. Dangerous because he
would get upon sprees and involve his
friends; and good-hearted, for he was
ever ready Io assist one in trouble, and
would put himself to any amount Of in.
convenience TO oblige friend.
was sitting one night, just such an
evening as this, in my little room in Ru.
u dolph's house, when there came quick
rap at the door, and then Miss Rudolph
opened it ana SAID, "There is person
!. here who wishes 10 see you" .
"Ask him to enter, if you please" |
replied. McClain -stalked in, his clothes
dripping with rain. Casting his heavy
GOAT on a chair, from whence the water
poured IN a stream, he ,graspedr me COR
daily by the hand; his was as cold as
marble and his face was unusually pale.
",Tis a rough night out doJrs," he
4 said, as he sat down upon a chair and
i began to Kick his bo0t-heels into the
floor. ga rough night, Garner, but lot
too unpleasant tor one TO do friendly
| ont