Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-09-03

lady she is. and I've taken the greatest
care of her. She felt sure that the gem
was Miss Ms husband to be, and thai
there was money in his purse for gratuity
notwithstanding that, according to the
terms of the passage money, stewards ano
stewardess's fees were included fiction
gentlemen, pleasant fiction, which you
will find out when you 60 down to the ses
in ships.
"'Take this card to her, said the pale
and trembling gentleman. III wait hel
coming up In that far corner of this sa
loon,
CHANGING at the pasteboard the woman
disappeared and presently there assembled
step by step, from the regions below, first
neat straw hat, trimmed with bright rib
bons, beneath that hat face somewhat
worn with years and cares, but still fresh
and comedy enough; then slight, com.
pact figure, draped in plain, welI.fttine
garments, shawled and ready for the shore.
Miss Efie, in propria persona, stood be-
fore her hand seeker, blushing celestial
rosy red.
to greet her; but as he drew higher, in.
stead of the warm, affectionate welcome
he looked for, there was fixed stare, a
shudder, a hasty retreat, and loud scream
which resounded from stern to stem of the
big ship, and brought everyone from decks
and cabins into the saloon.
"' Miss Needum-Effie, my dear girl,
what on earth is the matter?' hurriedly
stammered out the astounded Sandy.
So SILVER my timbers, what ails the las,
sic 2 put in the Captain. Look out fol
squalls, if you've annoyed herr And all
the by-standers echoed the words in more
or less threatening terms. She was evi.
IDENTIFY favorite on board.
"'Oh, take him away, cried the lady
piteously-' take him away from me,
someone 1 don't know him I've been
misled, deceived | can't marry him-in'
deed, indeed / can't. He is not Mr.. Nc.
Pherson who wrote to me, to whom | came
out to be marble is so ugly On, such a
dreadful fright I'll work my way back
to my poor mother I'll do anything,
but l can't be his wife. I'd rather die
first
" Miss Medium, l don't indeed under.
stand this, said the taken. aback and com.
paratively fabbergasted 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
offer you? Did not send you my like.
ness?'
No, MOI
"'Surely I did 1t was taken by Colo.
dion, our best photographer and when he
gave it to me he said, Mr.. Mcpherson, sir,
there is no fattery ere; your worst hene.
mics would admit that why, 1 myself
put it inside the letter to your mother.
"' repeat, no-decidedly and emphat-
ically, no Look at this, and drawing
from her bosom little locket, she opened
it and displayed the head and face of a
younger, much handsomer, and in every
outward respect a more lovable man than
the scared one now before her. Itwas the
counterfeit presentment of Jack lie Geste,
and leave you to imagine what McPher-
son 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 LIE
Geste, when Sandy's letter came into his
possession, thought to sell him, and SO
had suTreptitiously removed his carte de
visite, substituting one of his own, and
Effie had worn it ever since.
"The poor dell of disappointed bride
groom pleaded hard, and tried every argu.
ment to induce the girl to let matters pro.
gress, but she was obstinate and determined.
"She would esteem and respect him al
ways, but nothing more. To let the cat
out of the bag, Miss Fife had fallen most
desperately in love with the picture of her
supposed Alexander, and in vulgar Ian.
guage had spooned over it awfully during
the tedious and lone hours of a long voyage.
OF course she imagined that it was her in
tended husband she was approving, or she
would not have done it-certainly not.
$50, quite chepfallen and in the maddest
of RACES, Mcpherson returned to his es.
tate.
ARRIVED there, he cut from one Of his
coffee bushes the thickest and knottiest OF
sticks, and proceeded with it in search of LIE
Geste but, fortunate for the jester, he had
made tracks and was gone.
"Then he reverted to his old customs and
habits, sold his not now necessary goods
and chattels. and thought as little as he
could of the false Effie.
"a fickleand capricious creature, woman.
Listen, gentlemen, to another exemplihca-
ton of old Virgil's dictum.
In the same ship in which shortly after
the breaking off of her intended es-
pousal, Miss Medium sailed for England,
there came on board, almost at the last
minute, a slim, haired, good-looking
man, going home, some said, for his health ;
Others, in fear and trembling 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
less than LIE Geste and to close my story,
when the vessel touched at ST. Helena for
water and provisions, he and Effie went on
shore and returned man and wife. y Lon
don Society