The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-02-23
A Baltimore Brunette.
One of the Romances Which Come from
the City of Monuments.
From a Baltimore Special. ]

Five years ago among the "young bloods',
of Baltimore there was numbered young
gentleman who, by happy combination of
art and nature, was entitled to high seat
in the arena of life He was youthful, %
years of age, handsome in face and stately
and digni6ed in form. He was the happy
possessor of 100000, safely invested in reg
istered United States bonds, beque athed TO
him by an aged grandmother. The young
man had very aristocratic and wealthy
mother, and she was extremely particular in
reference to her sons choice of domestic
partner for life.
On bright, frosty morning in the month
of January, 1877, the young man entered
fashionable kid glove establishment on Lex
fngton street, this city, for the purpose of
purchasing No. lady's kid glove, which
was the size that snugly incased his small
and finely-fCrmed hand. There, to com
press an individual world into few words.
he met his destiny. The young saleslady
who waited on him was beautiful brunette
with most engaging mien. 1t was the old
and yet ever new story. When he announced
to his mother he was going tG marry this
young lady there was a total humiliation of
the domestic peace in that Madison avenue
mansion. AS may be imagined, the mar.
riage caused a serious disruption of family
ties; but as the young lady behaved so well
under the circumstances, and was so pretty
and bewitching and kind in manner to her
mother-in-law, that old lady at last relented.
Two years later the young couple we're
happily keeping house in luxurious man
ner, and the joyous prospective father was
well known as shrewd and energetic brok
er. At this period of the young husbands
existence he discovered that his wife was
using large amounts of money in very mys-
FERROUS manner. He began to expostuiate
with her. Dear" he kindly said, 81 am
wealthy, know, but | cannot stand these
mysterious and heavy drafts. What do you
do or want with all this money!" She re
turned confused and evasive replies. and
the young husband was much perplexed by
his wife's peculiar behavior.
About this time tue proprietors and pa
irons of the bucket shops" and low gamb-
ling rt sorts Of this city were greatly amazed
by the behavior and display # cal b which
an aged colored woman delighted them with.
She vas very light mulatto, about the ex-
act shade, as far as complexion went, of an
ordinary cream-puff, with couple of table
spoonfuls of ginger in its makeup. She was
a most inordinate gambler, seemed to be
completely carried away by the passion of
chance, and while a constant and heavy
loser, was never short for oyer couple OF
hours at time. She actually appeared to
own gold mine. Where she got her money
no one knew, and she never told, but she had
it, and that was all that was necessary for
the particular business she was engaged in.
one day the young broker found himself
tne proud father of red-haired, dimpled
boy. He then did not find SO much fault
with his wife for what he considered her
extrayagant and useless expenditure of
money, and supreme content and unalloyed
happiness held high carnival within his cas-
tie walls. One morning when his cooling
babe, now aged nearly two years, sat on his
maternal grandmother's knee, colored ssr-
want brought her letter, fresh from the
hand OF the wiry man in modest gray. She
opened 1t with smile Of peace, read with
gasp OF horrsr, and then, with ons wild