, 1880-04-08
Why Uncle George Did mol
Marry.
BY HEMLoCK.

We were all at the sea.shore, passing
few weeks of the hot season. Mark,
the eldest was accompanied by his atii-
anced Henry, number two, was SINH
larly favored, or nearly so; the presence
of the particular one was not wanting (;
and, l, the least in years of us brothers,
was blessed with the acquaintance and
society of number of angelic creatures
for whom I had a sincere hankering all
at the same hotel, and al sufficiently
gifted with sentiment to enjoy, to the
full, that happiness which alone comes
from social intercourse between the
sexes. t.
Uncle George, the hero of my story,
II had almost forgotten him) was also
With us for night only business with
.he proprietor Of the hotel brought him
amongst us. We, that is, the male por
zion of our family, were comfortably
seated on the plaza attached to the "sea-
view" wing Of our abiding place; three
of us taking our after-supper smoke,
(Uncle George never smokes), and In
dulging in an animated talk about the
pleasures Of the day our female COM
panions and their loveliness being the
chief topic of conversation.
We had about exhausted the Queens
English, and our own small stock of
French, in praises of our fair sisters,
when Uncle George, who had been a
listener up to this time, abruptly re-
marked
'Boys, it seems to me that you are
women-mad can't you think Of some
thing more profitable to talk about Q
"Well, that remark sobered us lit
tie, and for moment silence's reign was
undisputed. Mark, little bolder than
the rest Of us, 1--WE had great respect for
Uncle George,) ventured, with half
tragic air, to ask
"Could you suggest any grander theme
than women--our mother, sisters and
sweetheartsP .oG nr . 1t
"Yes," quickly replied Uncle George !:
Realities versus Delusions."
At this juncture Henry was struck
with an idea, and observed
"Uncle George, we youngsters have
monopolized the conversation thus far,
and il is clearly your turn now. Won't
you enGghten us upon a certain subject
about which we are all in the darkp
"Whst might that be :"
s'Why you never married"
"Humph p said Uncle George. eff
it would give you as much pleasure as it
would OCCASION pain to me, you would he
highly entertained"
Ny curiosity being excited, I re-
marked -s '"
"Uncle, there are three of us and only
one Of you SO, the pleasure being to the
pain as three to one, it is certainly your
duty to suffer little martyrdom for our
benefit"
"Weli, you shall know, then, why |
never married. 1t may do you good.
When | was young man, | entered
the manufacturing house Of Ball Il Co.,
as a clerk. The position which | held,
that of chief salesman, gave me a knowl-
= edge of the wants OF customers, and nee
essarily brought me in daily contact
with the master-mechanic Of the con-
cern
"This gentleman was q man of con-
siderable ability, and much goodness of
heart. We became Enthusiastically,
and fast friends. He was married. His
wife was, to all appearances, an estima-
ble lady-loving aud unselfsh. l was a
frequent visitor at their house, their So
ciety being particularly pleasurable to
me /; and L had reason to believe my
presence was equally agreeable to them.
[ often thought thst, if | had wife to
grace my home like the one possessed by
John Rivers, should be contented and
happy.
"After awhile visitor arrived at the
Rivers mansion-a sister of the wife.
This sister was younger, fairer, and more
beautiful in every respect than the