Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-04-18

weeks Of unalloyed happiness. Clouds
we're gathering, however, and they
were destined to realize that " the
of true love does not always
run smooth" A two weeks engage
ment with a musical society of that
place called the husband to st. Louis,
and he went to fulfill it, leaving the
wife behind. Returning at the ap-
pointed time, he found his once happy
home empty and deserted. His wife,
falling i'll during his absence, had been
visited and removed by her former
friends to Frankfort. Thither he
quickly followed. An interview was
sought, al explanation demanded, but
both were peremptorily denied.
Hoping by some means still to obtain
an audience with the object Of his
affections, he fingered in the city until
threats of personal violence forced
him to leave it. Grief stricken and
heart broken he goes forth again a
wanderer, indeed, "a stranger in a
strange land" He goes to St. Louis
and obtains a situation as night clerk
in a hotel. From this point he wrote
a number Of letters to his wife, but re-
ceiyed no replies. Finally came a
letter that a decree Of divorce had
been rendered, and hat henceforth his
wife was to be as a stranger to him.
Surprising this to be true, and now
thoroughly Indifferent to his fate, he
resigns his position, changes his name
and joins a circus.
Years of this exciting, nomadic life
fail to bring him the relief he so much
Graves and he quits it in disgust. He
cannot forget the past. The image of
the fondly- beloved still fingers in his
heart and hovers in his memory. He
makes other efforts to effect a com
%munication, but with the same una
yailing results. Still unable to give
her up and anxious to be near her, he
drifts, at last, into our quiet little
town of Carrollton. Here the last
four and a half comparatively I'M
eventful years of his life have been
passed. During this time, by steady,
industrious habits, a blameless, ire
prOachable life, he has won for him
self the respect and confidence of all
who know him. He has also been adj
mitted to the society Of some of our
best young ladies, but his attentions
here never meant anything not per-
fectly in keeping with the highest and
most punctiliOus sense of honor.
Now anxious to sever all connection
with the sad past, he, in turn, OBJ
tanned a decree of divorce in Cincin-
natl. The casual reading eff the daily
papers shows him the illegality of
such secret transactions, and proves
his document to be a worthless one.
The paper containing these facts
falls also under the eye of his still
constant, faithful, devoted wife. As
tonished and indignant, she demands
an explanation of her friends and the
facts as above related elected. Impa-
tent to repair the wrong, she seeks
the first opportunity Of doing so.
Hearing of his being in Louisville. a
few weeks ago, through a sister who
saw and recognized him there, she
sends a telegram asking him to come.
Swift as thought he obeys the sum-
mons and thus, after a silence and
separation of eight long years, these
il~l-starred lovers meet again. Mutual
explanations dispel all doubt and
misunderstanding, and a thorough
reconciliation and reunion is once
more established.
Through all these sad experiences O.
doubt, of fear and of sorrow, the noble
wife has remained faithful and true
Every day she had thought of hin
and every night she had prayed fol-
him. Obliged to assume her maiden
name, she has readily rejected the
attentions of all would-be suitors anC
admirers, remaining in voluntary
seclusion, and still clinging, like
Penelope of old, to the one object O
her hearts first and fondest affections
The reader has already recognized
in our hero the quiet, unassuming maj
known to us as Louis Sebastian
Having given these facts coneernine
his private life to the public, he de-.
sires to be called Louis Sebastian NJ
longer, but W. S. M~andiville.