The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1880-11-20
THAT LETTER.

..s;r4v.fye Farrell cambridge had en-
NJ la himself to marry Grace Harrison.
rge ".s ten years younger than he, which
Ns ~ TO his theory was quite as 1t ought |
sto'"1 nr he had always had notion that he
w. ike 10 be the head OK his household,
xoui ss had observed among his friends that
NV yho had married ladies decidedly
w ,u,rors seemed to command DEER
Wen tom their mates which husbands
eps .o.hsd more equally in respect OF age ulu
h0sure without considerable effort, II at
NV In these leyeing days. when nus
". could no longer count on the prestige
p s'o, which stood his forefathers IN such
@%a .,sad. it behooyed him, according To
evs's.ll TO avail himself Of such assistance
....rd the maintenance OF marital authorltv
p .,hs principle of seniority, itself also some-
shst in decay, could lend.
would not convey the idea that any un-
.,msntic degree of common-scnsc had en-,
!...a into r'arrei's engagement. IL had
~. . rsal love. affair, AMI doubtless II the
49," loaly had turned out to be some years
y ,"r instead Of Younger than himself, he
o ""uIl have had no difficulty in discovering
v ..rs theory equally plausible for reconcile
s .s that fact with his ideal OF the marriage
vrom the lady's point OF view, on the 0th'
Ih..d there are disadvantages aS we'll a.
sa.a"tace, connected with marrying h!is-
mi deci,ledIy maturer than herself. A dis
s s,"" i. that he has probably sOwn more
1. isss wild oats: an advantage Is that ne
-. ~robably got done sowing them. Now
veal had never had bad name Tor fast
i;srv and had never deserved one, but there
a a' Sscu passages in his life which he would
Nave heen excessively panic.stricken to nave
Ssd come 20 the knowledge OF Grace. Nor
~" the panic have been merely an un'
worthv cowardice. lie had done with his
W., Ma WAS about to begin with her new
ifs' lie wanted to feel this new life separate
anil distinct from the other. 10 have nae
.nv painful mutual consciousness between
them re .arding the past would have taKe'
.way mich of the inspiration for new de
nature in living which her unslispectlns
confidence gave him.
The engagement had been short one. =
.crtaIn morning about a month previous 4
the time fixed for the wedding. Farreii 81
writing letter to his Decentralization
lived and did bis work in large CITY som
hundreds Of miles from the New Enslan
Village where she resided with her parents
AS he was finishing his letter 10 trace q
Grand boy brought him in note. ne toI
Il open, glanced IT over quickly, ana tne
frowningly read II again. as many us Ihit
times. Then. masterins between DIG leeli
ats the last time, any how,' ne WIo.e
iew words on u piece Of paper anu loldins
nm with the communication he had receive
"r M them together into an envelope. The
nnttnp his letter to Grace in an envelope
Il directed both and went out to the Pos
oaeeg The office was busy and crowd'
With coming and going people, for It W
near time for closing the noon mails. Fare
tool his two letters from his pocket al
droDped one of them through the narrow
ir,n tbe.,ettpr box. 1t was the one address,
10 Miss Grace Harrison.
He WAS about to drop the DINER AFTER
vhen il struck him that 1t was heavier th
10 had thought, and a. the same moment
,ecalled tha, I! letter to Grace rs he dfO
md il in had seemed rather light. ne Il
a Inc letter in his hand more carefully;
raised il against the light, then quickly &c
II onen. II contained his letter to Grat
The envelope directed to Grace when
had lust dropped into the box contained
other letter. Yes, by peerng into the
through which he had dropped 1t he cot
ace II living there. II had fallen face up.
could zee the direction. 1t was very plal
written lie always took particular pains
writing to Grace to write very plainly,
she hal scolded him for his ilegible M
twas very sure, confOundedly sure, to
straight to her. The stlpidcst clerk,
bliudest letter.carrier, could make no II
take about that.
AZ he stood stupidity Peering through
slit at the letter lying at the bottom Oi
box within, he wa, io,tlcd by man VII
letter 10 drop. When the man had
away Farrell looked through the slit ag
end saw that his letter was partly cove
with the other. As he observed this he
again josiled by boy with handful Of
tiers. The boy looked sharply at him.
occurred to Farrell that the boy snspe
him OF wanting to rob the mail. Well,
did, That was just what he wanted to
lie would have done il in moment
could have got his arm through that slit
He stood aside out Of the rush Of pc
ahdlcaned against the wall, trying to t
what he should do. He holds still N
hand the miSdisected envelope contai
~ letter to Grace. Let us glance ut the
dress: