The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-05-31
THE FATAL EGG.

some OF us, that we nau heaIu tic s"h,o '''0Di
stated in general terms somewhere Deioie, Du
ne il had no connection whatever with the ten
or of the preceding conversation, all were IN
terested IN knowing just what it was going u
lead TO. So, by way of encouragement aLo
endorsement the professor remarked: II cs
At one time pebble might have changed IN.
course of the Mississippi but now you couidn
dam 1t, not with "a"
And while he paused to think of smile
strong enough, the solemnest man prcseh,
filled in the pause by suggesting IA cart i'a''
OF EN- c-,o
1t sounded rather feeble, but before any one
could file protest. the bishop resumed
"You would hardly think now, that Austin
Cubbletou's marriage was brought about by
an egg ~, oJ
We wouldn't and we didn't. We expressed
our surprise for young Crubbleton didntlook
like a man who could be married by an egg,
but nevertheless the bishop declared that II was
fact
"What kind of an egg was it?'' asked the
professor
liens egg" replied the bishop; common
hens egg, white AS your collar, anu ii'lic
bigger than the other. Wasn't much OF an
egg, but it married him, sir, close as rate
ought to know, because performed 'hc 'o''
mony myself"
sentlv IN his vest pocket, as though reaching
for a fee that was as absent as his manner.
But" said the scribe, "hc didn't marry the
egg, did hep
mo" said the bishop, 1.-The egg married
him. You see, the way OF 1t was TINS CruD
bleton, you know, Is and was welltodo
Young fellow, rather good-looking, wonderful
" fond of ladies' society, but very bashiul
Half dozen times he tried to get married, but
as he never even dared to ask Tor an introduc-
ton to the young ladies he successfully want
ed to marry, the negotiations naturally came
10 nothing. think he fell in love with every
pretty girl he met, but that was the end OF II.
Most Of them he dared not to speak to at all;
with the others his conversation rarely wand
cred beyond the topic of the weather, or at
most the ordinary range of society gossip ne
felt dreadfully lonesome. He grew to hate his
comfortable bachelor apartment, which con
sisted of room Immediately over his grocery,
where he could lie at night, and dream OF his
latest affinity and listen for burglars in the
store, and smell rope and tar and Kerosene,
He determined to marry the next girl that
enslaved his too willing heart And whllc ne
was IN this very susceptible frame OF mind,
who should wander into his store one after
noon the very next day but one after he had
laid this VOW upon himself, but old Squire
Bailey's daughter. Austin had long worship
ned her from atar and now when she told
him they wanted a case of eggs packed for
winter use he felt that he had met his fate. His
heart vent out to her, and when she asked HIM
if he could pack the eggs for them he said, in
tones just a trlte rcmulous
"'Aye for life
Miss Florence looked little surprised, but
asked him what the eggs would be worth
"'They are priceless he SAID, in husky
whisper, the dross of gold would tarnish them
if their pure and
Her state Of utter amazement recalled him !
to his senses and he stammcred:
"'Ha-yes, yes 20 be sure; was thinking
of something else, BY the case they will cost
you eight cents
"'And when, she asked can you have them
for us?
Now he said, Immediately at your feet
| will lay them
But he looked as though she tho't he was
crazy or drunk, and he again amended his dec
laraton by saying he was thinking of some
thing else, and that the eggs would be sent up
some time inside Of two or three weeks or so.
Then she asked him to send the bill up with
them, and she would pay him for them when
they were delivered; and he was just on the
point Of bursting out with the imprisoned
declaration that only with the heart that was
all the world to him could she pay him for
the life Of devotion he wanted to deliver with
those eggs when woman from West Hill Il
came in and asked for some grated hOrseradsh
and two punches of onions, and when she had
been waited upon, his fair enslavcr had van.
ished.
well during the two weeks Crubbeton was
packing those eggs he Matched more day
dreams out OF them than ever came out of eggs
betOre,-ha.chcd Il pleasant home out OF them,
Ill.
Squire Baiey's daughter in the foreground,
and all sorts of comfortable accessories in the
background, and no end Of domestic sunshine
TO fill in the high light and soften the middle
tint and mellow the distance Everything
would lool, bright enough to dazzle midday
itself, until he would begin to think that he
was to inform Miss Bailey about all this, when
everything would suddenly be thrust into the
deepest gloom, and his heart would turn so
cold it made his feet ache.
"Well, tie hit on a plan at last He knew
that the 'SquireS daughter kept house for the
old man In all human probability her own
faIr hands would take out all those eggs. He
selected IN egg and wrote upon it in n fair,
round hand:
'Tenderly break the fair young she'll
Closed in its fragile frame;
Throbbcth the heart that loves thee well,
And ChCrishcth thy name.
Sec, on this egg my love | lay,
Oh. hear my plant, and set the day"
"Crubblcton thought tins was very nice. He
signed his full name 10 il, headed it with the
name of his charmer laid it in the case so
that the inscription would be visible when the
egg was exposed to view, and then he finished
packing the case and sent the bill along with
1t, not that he cared for the money in this in
stance but business is business
How anEiOuslV he waited through the slow |
tedious weeks that followed How he noted
the expression Of Miss Baileys face whenever
he met her Sometimes he was confident that
she had read the egg and was going to accept
him, and he would walk around in heaven for
the next day or two.
Then the next time lie met her, he would /
feel positive that she had found that egg, and
in a cOuvulsiOn Of wrath had hurled it out of .
the kitchen door and mashed it against the /
barn And 50 he would 90 mopng around
with a bottle Of poison in one pocket and an |
accident insurance nolicv i'm the other