Morris tribune., 1883-01-25

easy, n"0ncnaienG auufeSS. THySlcaily
he was a sort of prize man, a specimen
of humanity who would have carried of
the gold medal at an exhibition of his
species. He had a broad forehead ard
a broad chest; his frame was muscular
and strongly knit, his hair was curled all
over his well-set head; and his eyes
beamed with vigor and vivacity. With
all this he had a ready tongue, a wonder
full faculty for talking rafting nonsense;
and he was a bachelor. He was a per-
son who as soon as seen provoked the
1attering commentary, "What a hand
some mani" His good looks were SO
strongly developed. and, as a whole, 80
complete and undeniable, that even
married ladies in the presence of their
husbands, could not restrain
their admiration: and husbands
could hear their remarks with compla-
cency, for it was a startling fact which no.
BODY could deny. 1t was natural to say
Mr.. Charles Bennington was handsome
as it would have been to say a man seven
feet high was tall. Like all the others,
Mr.. Bevington became attracted by the
Iuty of the widow, and very shortly
after his arrival in the village he came
to me raving about her.
81 wish you would marry her" L
said.
Mr.. Bennington was startled at my
coming down upon him plump at the
first word with such a wish as this.
'Whv-how-what do you mean?' he
stammered.
Il mean exactly what l say" l re-
piled. 81 wish you would marry Mrs.
Honiton, for thereby you would do the
! village a signal service"
81 should have thought quite the con-
trary," he replied, "for all the young
fellows are mad after her"
THAT'S the mischief" | said.
mischief! | really don't understand
you"
"Why, the fact is, Mrs. Honton mon
opolizes the attention of all the young
men, snd the other young ladies' have
no one to make love to them. Ii Mrs.
Honiton were married, five or six elig-
| ible parties would be let loose from her
train to 90 and court elsewhere. Our
uaasels are languishing for beauX, ali
all on account of this fascinating widow .
We'll" he said, II don't wonder /;
that"
No. said, ''but the young ladies
wonder at it, and what's more, they
don't like it; and if you will only go n
marry Mrs. Honiton out of the way, |
am sure they will subscribe for a testi-
monial to YOU"
care you really ~serious?" he said.
Perfectly So" l replied; Sin fact
would marry her myself out of pity 70,
the poor girls, only for the tritiing OBJ
stacle, of which you are aware, that /
am married already"
HAS she money" he asked.
Lots | replied.
Then" he said, "there is no need to
ask more questions, for | don't require
YOU nor any one else to tell me she is
eautiful as an angel. BY Jove! III
take vour advice and stick to her."
DO" [ said, land if you only win the
widows heart, you will at the same
time win the hearts of all the unmar-
ried ladies in the village. Maidens and
matrons will be ready to praise you"
I'm that case" he said, Il shall step
into a perfect mine Of affection. Well,
will go f it, at any rate"
eyes" | said, 'do; go in and win"
Mr.. ~Bevington did go in for it. He
laid siege to the widow immediately,
much to the disgust and indignation o.
her train of admirers, who looked upon
the encroachment of the tall, handsome
barristor as something unfair and en-
tirely disproportionate. When Mr..
Bevington dashed into the midst OF
them, and carried the widow off in tri-
umph his rivals fell off timidly, and
looked mp at him as much rs to say,
Why don't you compete with n Of
your own size?" The widow, however,
was by no means inclined to encourage
a monopoly of herself, and still contin-
ued to distribute her smiles with Impair
TALLY. The consequence was that her
many admirers held on for some time,
aed did theil best to dispute the ground
with the handsome barrister; but it was
very discOU aging work. The lawyer
times The widow would look at her
train and shrug her pretty shoulders,
as much as to say, st is really not my
fault. | try to give you all a chance,
aud if you let this dashing, bIack-whisk-
cred man cut you out, why, you have
only yourselves to blame"
Mrs. Honiton's followers began to
drop off one by One, and the female
villagers looked up. Mr.. Webber, the
cotton broker, was the first to relax his
hold, and sink into the waters of de-
spair; then Capt. Jarvis, then young Jer-
kins. the alderman's son, and two or
three more, until the prize was disputed
by only two-Mr. B%evington and Mr..
Joseph Perkins, Il mild little gentleman, |
whose sticking up to Mrs. Honiton had
always been regarded as like his inn
pudence. AS some half dozen of Mrs. |
Honiton's admirers had been de
tached for other service, the village was
in a humor to be amused at the preten-
sions of ~''little" Perkins, particularly as
little Perkins had only two thousand a
year Inc was short n by no means
what the l"3ies cali handsome. Little
Perkins hau another fault-or, at least
he exhibited certain traits of character
which are a positive disadvantage |
when placed in competition with physical
beauty and dash-Perkins was amiable, |
legent, and unobtrusive in his manners,
kind and generous of disposition, and,
on all occasions, highly c~onsiderate Of
the feeling of others. And because he
was ali this, and wasn't six feet high,
and hadn't black whiskers, and didn't
bounce and talk loud, the girls rallied
him a molly" 1t is the same IN the
matrimonial market as in the shop or
the bazaar. 1t is the snowy article that
dazzle and bright color; and rsley say at
once, 'I'll take this article please"
without stopping to inquire if he VIII
W u0hj IL IO Will "OoA oiu II Ah' Wills |
are fast. So the village laughed at the
p]retentions of little Mr.. Perkins, and of
course Mr.. Bennington was in every re-
spect above seriously regarding S % insig-
~nificant a person as a rival. In fact, he
was amused with the little man." and
to 'trot him out"
as he expressed it, before
the widow. And the widow SEEM
ed to enjoy the fun. and was forever
sending Perkins to fetch and carry for
her. If. when she was sitting beside the
dashing Mr.. Bennington. she happened
to drop her handkerchief, she would
call to Perkins TO pick it up for her, and
Bevington would quietly keep his seat
and allow Perkins / perform the office
pitied Perkins and wondered
that he could b g such a TOOL.
But Mr.. B%evington was suddenly
called away Upon business, and Mr..
Perkins sliced the opportunity to make
an offer to the widow. He fell uponhis,
knees, vowed he loved her to distraction
and swore he would never be happy
without her. Mrs. Honiton rejected him