Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-03-24

think 1t very hard lines to be married
to Mrs. Gobleby." ..f -.... s.
'You - young whipper-snapper.
you if you insult me, III pull your
nose y bawled the indignant General.
''You -- old hunk, you. If hear
any more of your impudence, I'll cut
off your ears and give them to my dog"
This is how Cashy closed the inter
view
He had got the best of that encoun-
ter. There was no dog to whom he
could have given the Generals ears,
but the threat sounded we'll, and the
warrior retired discounted. Other
cOnjunctures arose, in which Cashey-
Barter could not show off so much to
the ironical congratulations of male
friends, and to the perfdiously turned
compliments Of ladies. At his club
the walters eyed him demurely, and
sometimes when he went into a shop
he heard girls giggling behind his back.
Nay, once, in lady Curlew's own house,
a pretty housemaid, whom he met on
the stairs, laughed in his face.
All this was very grevious to Cashey,
and induced him to try and hurry
Oh the wedding day. "My dear An
drogyna," said he, one Sunday, sitting
beside the old lady on the sofa, and
! taking one Of her hands in his, cannot
we be married soOn?' | see no reason
for waiting longer"
"Ny dear boy, there are SO many
business arrangements to make-set-
Elements and all that" she answered,
gently stroking his lustrous hair, as she
loved to do. you see [ want to have
all your interests attended to-"
Never mind my interests, dearest;
what [ desire is to become your hus-
! band"
Are you really in earnest, my dear?
Will you never repent what you are
doing? Think! [ am old enough to be
your mother"
What is age?" replied Cashey in his
sweetest voice. eve all of us are no
older than we look and feel. X
There are times when I myself feel
woefully old.
But you, do you think you can be less
dear to ne because your kind face was
already admirable in its goodness and
soft attra ctiveness before [ VS. born?
AS well say that we should not ackdowl-
edge the suns loneliness because it has
shown upon others before usl"
II am afraid that you are great
flatterer, dear boy, but all you say is
very pleasant to hear, nevertheless"
Il am not tlattering, dearest; love
you with all my heart; cannot you be-
lieve it?"
yes, I do; and 1 feel [ shall be a
happy woman. But, oh, Dickie what
shall you think when you sometimes
reflect on the difference in our, ages?"
II shall only wish that [ had known
you ten years sooner that [ might have
been happy ten years more"
All this, you see, was quite nice, and
it is with such little crnmbs of sugar
that women have been caught in all
times. So Androgyna gave in, A few
days afterward the marriage was sol
emnized In a quiet country church,
and the we'll matched pair started for
the Continent to spend their honey
moon.
Twelve months elapsed, and at the
end of that time any one who had seen
AndrOgyna and her young husband
would have declared that they were a
better-assorted couple than ever For
matrimOny had a rejuvenating effect
upon Androgyna, who now looked bet
ter and dressed more smartly than
before; whereas it had operated in Just
the opposite direction on Cashey, alias
Birdie, who was becoming prematurely
aged through idleness, excess of good
living and general boredom. The poor
fellow took too much succulent food,
and was growing fat; he had no healthy
work to occupy his energies, so that he
spent his afternoons in yawning; there
was plenty of spare cash in his purse,
but he did not know what to do with it,
of his poverty, when at least he enjoyed
the excitement of longing for thing out
of his reach and striving to get them.
But why did not Cashey set up a
four-in-hand, racing stable, or a
theater, as he had purposed doing
All why didn't he? The truth is he
was not his own master He was like
a file in a treacle- pot-glued in on all
sides by his wifes gold. There never
had been tiff between him and An
drogyna, but in a quiet, natural way,
she had maintained over him the au-
thority of her ripper age and superior
social position. He could not form a
whim but she satisfied it at once, like
the fOndest mother humoring a spoiled
darling. He once took to collecting
china by way of employing his pocket
money, but one morning he found the
walls of his study adorned with rare
assortment Of plates, which threw his
own humber purchases quite in the
shade, so that he tired of that. Next
he took a fancy for dogs, when, To-!
Androgyna, without saying d word,
caused Il magnificent set of model
kennels to be erected in a corner
of the park, and the astonished
Cashey found there four-and-
twenty couples o. yelling dogs
of various breeds, all the choicest. 1t
would have been the same if Cashey
had expressed wish for fonr-in-
hand. He would have got, IL less than
a week, the finest trap to be had for
money, with a team purchased regard
less to expense, and grooms in livery to
match. If he had limited at theater,
his Androgyna would have recommend
ed him highly for his ambition to NOR
alize the stage, and would have bought
him a playhouse straight off; she
would also have volunteered-fo her
devotion stuck at nothing-to help him
IN selecting his actresses and superin-
tending the rehearsals. Whew! Birdie
had got into fine gilt cage; but under
the circumstances it was of no use to
form any wishes, for they were graft
! fed too soon and too amplv To oriva