, 1881-08-26

cushioned, Tagged and bedecked for the |
occasion. Sandy Mcpherson, |
Esduire, of Ailsa Craig, planter, rowed
alongside ''same like the Governor the !
native spectators observed.
Scrambling mp the side, he took a
hasty glance at the many passengers as
sembled on the poop; and, lnstlnctlVely
guessing that Miss Ef1ie was not among
them, he dived below and confronted
the stewardess.
- Miss Medium on board and wcll?"
asked he.
:. Yes, SIR replied the matron; and a
very good, nice, kind, pleasant young
lady she is, and I've taken the greatest
care of her..
':She felt sure that the gent was Miss
n. 5 husband to be,and there was money
in his purse for gratuity, notwith-
standing that, according to the terms OF
the passage money, stewards and stew
ardess' fees were included; fiction,
gentlemen, a pleasant fiction, which you
will find out when you so down to the
sea In ships.
g Take this card to her. said the pale
and trembling gentleman. III wait
her coming up in that far corner OF this
saloon
woman disappeared; and presently there
assembled, step by step, from the regions
below, first II neat straw hat, trimmed
with bright ribbons, beneath that hat
face somewhat worn with years and
cares, but still fresh and comely enough;
then u slight compact figure draped in
plain, well-fitting garments, shawled and
ready for the shore. Miss Etfie, in pro-
plia personn,' stood before her hand
seeker, blushing celestial rosy red
HE advanced from his coign of van
tage 20 greet her; hut as he drew
higher, instead of n warm, atfectiOnate
welcome he looked for, there was fixed
stare, q shudder, a hasty retreat, and
loud scream, which resounded from
stern to stem of the big ship, and
brought every one from decks and cabins
into the saloon.
- Miss Needum-Effie, my dear girl,
what ON earth is the matters? hurriedly
stammered out the astonished Sandy.
'Shiver my timbers, what ails the
lassie?' put IN the Captain. Look out
for squalls, if you've annoyed her! And
all the bystapders echoed the words in
more or less threatening terms. She was
evidently a fayorite on board.
"'Oh, take him awayr cried the lady,
piteously-'take him away from me,
some one! don't know him! I've been
misled, deceived! l can't marry him
indeed, indeed 1 can't. He is not Mr..
Mcpherson who wrote to me, to whom /
came out to be marble is so uglyl Oh,
such a dreadful fright! I'll return him
his moneyi I'll work my way back to
my poor mother. I'll do anything, but
/ can't be his wife! I'd rather die tirstr
Miss Medium i don't indeed under
stand this said the taken aback and
completely habergasted one. What does
it all mean? Are we not'engaged? Have
you not come out of your own free will
to accept the home and the love L offer
you? Did not send you my ikeness?'
"'No, nop,,
Surely did. 1t was taken by Colo
dion, our best photographer; and when
he gave it to me he said, Mr.. McPher-
son, sir, there is no fiattery, ere; your
worst henemies would hadn't that Why
myself put it inside the letter to your
mother
81 repeat, no-decidedly and en-
phatically, mol Look at this, and draw
ing from her bosom q little locket, she
opened it, and displayed the head and
face of a younger, much handsomer, and
in every outward respect a more lovea-
BILE man than the scared one now before
her. 1t was the counterfeit presentment
of Jack lie Geste, and 1 leave you to i'm
agine what Mcpherson thought when
he saw it there.
How could it get into the locket, you
ask? Why, in the simplest way in the
world. That good-for-nothing fellow le
Geste, when Sandy's letter came into his
possession, thought to sell him, and so
had surreptitiously removed his carte de
viste,' substituted one of his own, and
Ellie had worn it ever since.
1.-The poor devil of a disappointed
bridegroom pleaded hard, and tried
every argument to induce the girl to let
matters progress, but she was obstinate
and determined.
''She would esteem and respect him
always, but nothing more. To let the cat
out of the bag, Miss Effie had fallen
desperately in love with the picture of
her supposed Alexander, and in vulgar
language had spooned over it awfully dur
ing the tedious and long hours of the
voyage. OF course, she imagined that it
was her intended husband she was ap-
proving, or she would not have done it
certainly not.
80, quite chopfallen, and in the
maddest of rage, Mcpherson returned to
his estate.
Arriving there he cut from one of his
coffee bushes the thickest and knottiest
of sticks, and proceeded in quest OF le
Geste; but fortunately for the Jester he
had made tracks and was gone.
Then he reverted to his old habits
and customs, sold his not now necessary
goods and chattels, and thought as little
rs he could of the false Efiie
"a tickle and capricious creature, wo-
man. Listen, gentlemen, to another ex-
emplitication Of old Virgils dictum
I'm the same ship in which, shortly
after the breaking off of her intended
espousal,- Miss Medium sailed for Eng
land, there came on board, almost at the
last minute, q slim, dark-haired, good
looking man, going home, some said, for
health; others, in fear and trembling of
of an irate Gael with huge stick in
his hands. Be this as it may the health
seeker or the fugitive-take which you
please, was no other than lie Geste; and,
to close my story, when the vessel
touched ut st. Helena for water and pro.
visions, he and Effie went on shore and
returned man anu wife. - London So
ciety.