Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-09-25
Romantic Tale of Two People who
Foolisily Tied up their Tongues.

"a VI ~. 4]OhAS3 Civ lbA0 oohAihio
tration was in the highest de-
gree credltable to him. He was
prosperous in business, and ac-
cumuIated a deal Of wealth.
While in the prime of life he
married a widow-a lady Of re-
finement and excellent qualities
Of heart. Their life was a very
harmonious and happy one till
one sad day about sixteen years
ago, when the husband asked
the wife to aftix her signature to
a conveyance Of certain Of bis
property, of which he had made
an advantageous sale. She re-
fused to sign for some reason
which she fully stated. Just
what that reason was is known
only to themselves; but those
who have been intimate with the
family state that she regarded
her action as protecting the ina
tcrest of a much loved son. The
husband eoaXed and importuned,
but all to no purpose. He was
a man ofstubborn character, and
when pursuasiyt iheans failed his
temper got the better of his dis
cretion and his love. He solemn
ly swore that unless his wife
signed that deed within,a given
time he would never speak to her
again on earth. 1t was {, terri
bic oath for a MN who loved a
woman as he did her, but he
meant to keep it.
Unfortunately the wife was
possessed of a will and q deter
mination as strong as his own,
although her manner was always
as gentle and ladylike as ever
graced a woman. She declared
that she would not be forced in
to doing that which her iudg-
ment condemned, aud if her re-
fusaf was to be punished by such
consequences, SO be it. She
wollld lje bs leticent as he. He
waited till the limit he had SET
had passed, and them true to lis
vow,ihe7 sealed his lips against
bis fife companion. , They did
mot separate-they were too
proud. too just and too regard
lul Of Tier children fois that. but
they guarded their tongues with
u vigilance which may be guess
| cd by any onewho viii for a mo-
nent contemplate the difficulties
involved in such a situation. as
they had made for themselves.
They roomed apart, but sat at
the same table, and was never
guilty of any tlisfespect toward
each other save that of silence.
When circumstances made
communication between them
absolutely necessary they res
pectiyely addressed their daugh-
ter, even though at the table, and
she spoke fer both. The ques-
tiOns, so put, were always franz
ed in the third person, and the
situation would frequently have
been Imaginable were it not for
the fact that two lives were
wrecked by the stubbornnpss of
which it was the outgroW tn.
And so Il cloud settled upon that
home-rich in everything but
the peace which passeth all mn
Outstanding. The daughter, a
girl of sweet disposition, devoted
All her power to Il reconciliation,
but though the love of both CEN
tered in her, and grew stronger
as they realized how necessary
she was to their existence, She
could not induce them to forget
the rash vow by which the hap
pincsS Of their lives had been
sacrificed for the paltry consid-
Grafton Of atown lots
The boy in whose behalf the
signature had been refused soon
tired of the gloom which pcrva-
dcd his home, and disappeared.
Whittier he Welt was never
known, but tits not improbable
that he found a soldiers grave
during the civil war. While
her parelIts grew wrinkled and
gray, with the maintenance of
their stern resolution and the
swift passage of years, the girl
grew into a noble wofnanhood.
her amiablc qualities finding ali
the stronger development from
the exercise OF them, which was
incident to her manner Of iiFe.
She won the love Of a man who
was worthy Of her-a WE'LL
known iawyer-and could he
have Induced her to forsake her
home they Would have been
years ago. But she
regarded The duty us standing
as a-mediator between her ia
thcrand mother as a sacred one.
to which even her love must be
sacrificed, and she would not
leave home. Her lover remains.
ed faithful 10 his affection, and
and finally, rather than abandon
It, he agreed to live in the fam
ly mansion, and they were mar
ricd. 1t was Il love matcn of |