The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-04-24
HOW GORE WAS AVOIDED.

HOW GORE WAS AVOIDED.
The Effort OF nm Die Man to Wee n Young
Bride, and How II was Providentiaiiy
sThwnrted, md Justice Appeased.
In Forty-ninth street dwells an Old
gentleman who will never again see
sixty, a 'widower with several children,
all Young men and women. In the same
street lives a widow lady with but u
daughter, only one, but the ~excellencles
of that daughter are enough for several;
Mary Mattinger was o sweet girl, Il
she is now, thank heaven, o sweet vile.
Mary has been for several years es-
p~ecially beloved by Samuel Titus, the
second son of the oldwidower mentioned.
They passed through the regular stages
of the gentle passion, and about a year
ago engaged themselves, and were to
have been married Immediately. But
alas There is nothing but trouble In
this wicked world. Samuel was inter
ested in q mining speculation in Cali
fornia, and the intelligence coming to
him Of the rascality of a partner, it
became necessary for him to go at once
to the Golden State and give some at
tention to his affairs there. With many
a tear and many a sigh, and with pro.
testations of everlasting fidelity and all
that sort Of thing, the lovers parted, ne
for the stern realities of life ID the
mines AMI she to weep and bewall his
absence. .
It so happened. that Samuel had not
been gone more than a week before the
old gentleman, his father, called to con-
dole with Mary. Condoling with a very
pretty girl of twenty, is rather a pleasant
business, and the elder Titus found it
out suddenly. He condoled successfully,
and called to condole again, and kept
calling with coincidence, till he found
that calling with coincidence became a
sort of necessity to him. In brief, he
found himself IS desperately in love
with the girl as his son Samuel was, and
he determined to possess her at all
hazards.
The mother favored thistu Of things.
The son was all we'll enough, but II the
father should marry the girl, she trusted
to her skill in the management OF men
(she had been married twice. to turn his
infatuation to account. She would de-
clare war against the whole Titus family,
and so warp and twist the old gentleman
as to secure to herself all his estate,
which was not inconsiderable. She
didn't care SO much about the estate,
but the delight of getting it in that way
was what excited in her the delight the
hunter feels when game is in sight. ,
And so the mother and the ancien
lover worried that poor girl into spasms
She was not permitted to write to Samuel
his letters were, carefully intercepted,
and the poor girl was made nearly crazy.
Six months OF this kind of thing so sub
dued her. that she finally consented to
wed the father of her rightful lover, and
the date Of the nuptials was fixed.
What had become, Of Samuel in the
meantime? He was up in the mines
STRENGTHENING out his affairs, and dream
ing day and night of the happy houl
when he should return and claim his
darling, and, with enough to live upon,
sit down quietly and enjoy life. But
one morning he got q letter from a
Younger brother who was very fond OF
him, revealing the situation The
brother wrote Samuel everything, even
stating the date of the wedding, and all
about it. Samuel did what any decent
man would have done. He dropped his
work. made a, hasty collection of such
things as he had to have, and started for
home. HI had just time if there
should be no delays, to reach New YORK
the evening Of the wedding at seven
o'clock. 1915 tL!a"l
He wa fortunate. The trains ran
with commendable speed, and there were
no yexatious breaks. He came by the
New York Central, and at Albany ne
teleeraphed his brother of his where
abouts. and added, 81 shall kill the old
man !" .l.
The brother got the dispatch at a
quarter to seven. The few guests were
all in the house (for reasons the old gen.
tleman desired it to be as private as pos
sible), the clergyman was ready, the
bride, pale and wan, was in readiness to
be sacrificed, and the father and mother
were as jnbilant as could be. The son
read the dispatch The falling Of q
bemb-sheII in the room could no nave
produced a more decided sensation: ,
saSam coming = Kill mel" shrieked
the old gentleman. ~,
eyes, and if hestops atthatlt WILL be a
mercy, "repliedthe son. "TLere are elder
lyfemales who have had q hand In this,
who may be sacrificed to his vengeance.
A revolver has six cartridges, and n is
o,,orob for opvhndv
Visions'of q tall, stalwart man, in a red
shirtSwith q belt full of revolvers, with
: eyes glaring with rage and a breast
swelling with vengeance rose n the
minds OF that wretched man and the still
more wretched mother. The rumbline
of q carriage was heard outside.
."What shall we do?" shrieked the
father. 80.
"What shall we do ?" shrieked the
mother.
The gentle Mary was equal to the
"There must be a Wedding tonight
for everything is arranged for a wedding
Mother, you must lake my place; YOU
are dressed as a very old bride should
be, and when Sam comes you will be
married, or on the. way to it, and we cal
say that Titus marrying me was all 8
mistake. Then Sam can marry me, and
all this horrible. bloodshed be saved. Ii
is all that can be done. 1t is that OF
death pa
The old gentleman looked at the CIR!
and.then at her mother. A look crossed
his face such as one makes when taking
medicine, and a refusal was on his lips
The carriage was at the door, and
heavy step was on the threshold. There
was no time to lose. With q sigh, fol.
lowed by the grinding of teeth, the old
gentleman took the mother, the daugh:
ter sat down quietly, and when Samuel
burst into the room, the clergyman was
just finishing the remark, "whom God
hath Joined together let no, man put
asunderW A
"What is this ?" CALCULATED Samuel
"Only this, Samuel" replied the de-
lighted Mary. "It's 80 nice. Your pa
has married my ma, and we will be mar
ricd, too, and then-"5A 500.
"Then father was not trying to marry
you'll"
"How fidiculous!" was Mary's an
swer..
They were married immediately. Sam.
uel got an idea of the true state of the
case, and vas disposed to visit condign
punishment upon his fathers head, but