Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-11-11
THAT LETTER.

IS AT tn1rty+nVe II arrell BalnDFlaSe nau cn-
> gagged himself to marry Grace Harrison.
She was ten years younger than he, which
according to mis- theory was quite as 1t ought
to be, for he had always had a notion thathe
would like to be the head of his household,
n and he had observed among his friends that
{, those who had married ladies decidedly
their juniors seemed to command defer
;. ence from their mates which husbands
: matched more. equally in respect OF age dld
not secure without considerable effort, if at
: all. In these leveling days, when a hus-
9 band couldino longer count on the prestige
u of sex which stood his fOrefathers in such
q good stead, it behooyed him, according to
Farrell Il, to avail himself Of such assistance
: toward the maintenance of marital authority
rs the principle of seniority, itself also some
what in decay, could lend. artfiis.<{
I would not convey the idea that any un-
romantic degree Of common-sense had en-.
been real love affair, and doubtless If the
young lady had turned out to be some years
older instead of younger than himself, he
would have had no difficulty In discovering
ing that fact with his ideal Of the marriage
- relation. lam ,4.+~4x + .t.y.ta- ; !
From the lady's point of view, on the 9TH
er hand, there are disadvantages as well as
advantages connected with marrying a hus-
band decidedly maturer than herself. A dis
advantage is that he has probably soWn more
or less wild oats; an advantage is that he
has probably got done sowing them. Now
E'afTeff naQ never Nau u pau uaUle lOF 1aSC
living and had never deserved one, but there
had been passages in his life which he would
haze been excessively panic-stricken to have
had come to the knowledge of Grace. Nor
ewouli the panic have been merely an aun !
worthy cOwardice. , He had done with his
past. He was about to begin with her new
life. He wanted to feel this new life separate
and distinct from the other. To have had
any painful mutual consciousness between
them regarding the past would have taken
away much of the inspiration for a new de-;
.partlire in living which her unsuspecting
confidence gayo him. 81. tr tfH ~ -
The engagement had been short one. A
fcertain morning about month previous to
the time fixed for the wedding. Farrell sat
writing q letter to his betrothed-fOr he
lived and did his work in large city some
hundreds of miles from the New England
Village where she resided with her parents.
n AS he was finishing his letter to Grace an
ferrand bay brought him in note. He tore
1T OPEN glanced it over quickly, and then
tfrowningly read it again, as many as three
times. Then, muttering between his teeth,
"It's the last time, any how,'' he wrote a
few word i on piece of paper and folding it
up with the communication he had received
put them together into an envelope. Then,
putting his letter to Grace in an envelope,
he directed both and went out to the Post
office. = The office was busy and crowded
with coming and going people, for it was
near time for closing the noon mails. Farrell
took his two letters from his pocket. and
into the letter BOX. 1t was the one addressed
to Miss Grace Harrison. -. -
=" He was about to drop the other after it
when it struck him that it was heavier than
he had thought, and at the same moment he
recalled that tie letter to Grace as he drop
ped it In had seemed rather light. He felt
of the letter in his hand more carefully; he
raised it ag ainst the light. then quickly tore
it open. It contained his letter to Grace.
The envelope directed to Grace which he
had just dropped into the box contained the
other letter; Yes, BY Peering into It the slit
see it lying there. 1t had fallen face up. He
could see the direction. 1t was very plainly
written. He always took particular pains in
writing to Grace to write very plainly, for
1t was very sure, confoundedly sure, to go
straight to her. The stupidest clerk, the
blindest letter carrier, could make no mis-
take about that.
As he stood stupidity peering through the
slit at the letter lying at the bottom of the
letter to drop. When the man had gone
away Farrell looked through the slit again,
and saw that his letter was partly covered
with the other. ASH he observed this he was
again jostled by a boy with handful of let
tiers. The boy looked sharply at him. 1t
him of wanting to rob the mail. Well, he
did. That was just what he wanted to do.
He wsuld have done it in moment if he
could have got his arm through that slit.
He stood aside out of the rush of people
and leaned against the wall, trying to think
hand the misdisected envelope containing
his letter to Grace. Let us glance at the adj
dress:
go Mr.. ROBERT FREEMAN, zf g. .--,.r.
~. i.iss gr.s Stescord ---- Cgub, itis1 Is
zsaH az uottps So tsdt --- St. 70 sp7f -