The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-12-12
land. But this time the heat had hear

AoAu' A1ut onAS tlHlo tH0 uehb " Deon
too much for poor Mr.. Pudster. His
wife noticed that he was looking UNI
we'll. Msggleby, with sorrow, per-
ceived the same. Pudster laughed,
Nevertheless, he took to his bed; and
after along and painful illness died.
The grief Of Mrs. Pudster and Mr..
Maggleby was terrible to witness. Mrs.
Pudater talked Of retiring from the
world; and Gideon Maggleby disconso-
lately declared that he had no longer
anything left to live for. No one,
therefore. will be much surprised to
hear that toward the end of March 1868.
Mr.. Gideon Maggleby led Mrs. Solo
mon Pudster to the altar.
Solomon will bless our union" Mr..
Maggleby had said when he proposed.
"Ah, dear sainted Solomon!" Mrs.
Pudster had exclaimed as she fell weep
ing on MIR. Maggleby's breast.
CHAPTER II.
Mr.. Gideon Maggleby had been mar
ried rather less than two-and-twenty
hours, when at about nine o'clock in
the morning of March %, 1868. he
walked into the room in which he had
SO often breakfasted and dined with his
late friend and partner, Solomon Pud-
ster. Mr.. Maggleby, who was pre-
e%minently a man of business, had not
seen tit to go to the Isle of Wight or to
Paris to spend his honeymoon; and
Mrs. Maggleby. who was nothing if not
q oma of sound sense, had Loyalty
accepted the decision of her third lord
and master. They had agreed to stay
in town, and not to allow their new
happiness to interfere with their mate
rial interests in Mincing Lane. Mr..
Maggleby had determined, however,
to make a holiday of the day after his
wedding; to stay at home in the morn
ing with his wife, to escort her to
MADAME Tussaud's in the afternoon,
and to take her to { play in the even
ing.
With thu comfortable programme in
his mind, eve, MI. Maggleby came
down to breakfast in his lowered dress
ing-gown. Mrs. Maggleby, he knew,
would not be many minutes behind him,
and he therefore rang the bell for the
coffee, and turned. lazily toward the
table, upon which lay two piles of let
ters. The smaller heap chiefly consis-
ted OF missives addressed to Mrs. Pud-
ster, for the marriage of the previous
day had not as yet been noised abroad
in the country, and Mrs. Maggleby had
several female correspondents whoc
municated with her much more often
than she communicated with them. The
large bundle was made up of letters
addressed either to Mr.. Maggleby or to
Messrs. Pudster & Maggleby, the let
tiers to the firm having been already
brought down from Mincing Lane by q
confidential clerk.
1t wa q chilly morning; and Mr..
Maggleby, with the letters in his hand,
sank into an easy chair by the Preside,
and then begun to polish his spectacles.
But ere he had time to complete that
operation, n envelope attracted the
attention of his not very dim-sighted
eyes. It bore the post-mark "Ply-
mouth. and was addressed in a famil-
lar handwriting. Without waiting to
put on his sp~ectacles, Mr.. Maggleby
seized this envelope and tore it open.
For an instant he stared at the letter
which it contained, then he turned white
and fell back with a groan. But Mr..
Maggleby was o man of considerable
self-command, and he soon partly re-
recovered himself.
Maria must not see mo in this agi-
tated state" he murmured, as he rose.
II shall go back to my dressing-room,
and decide upon some plan of action be-
fore l face her" And with unsteady
steps he quilted the dining-room, tax
ing with him the letter that was the
cause of his emotion.
Almost Immediately afterward O ser.
want entered with the coffee and some
covered dishes, which she set upon the
table; and no o had she withdrawn
than Mrs. Maggleby appeared. Mrs.
Maggleby looked blooming, and was
evidently in capital spirits. She
caught up her letters, sat down smiling
in the very easy-chair from which her
husband had risen afew minutes earlier,
and began to read. The first letters to
he opened were, of course, those which
were addressed to her in her new name.
They contained congratulations upon
her marriage. Then she attacked the
envelopes that were addressed to Mrs.
Pudster. One contained a bill; anoth-
er contained a request for Mrs. Pudster's
vote and interest on behalf of Miss
Tabitha Gabbles, a maiden lady who
was seeking admission into the Home
for the Daughters of Decayed Trinity
Pilots; and a third brought a litho-
graphed letter from the Marquis of
Palmyra, imploring the recipient to
make some small subscription to the
fundsof the Association for the En-
enlargement of Asparagus Culture in
the Sicily Islands. There were also
letters from Miss Martha Tigstake
and Mrs. Benjamin Bowery, dealing
with nothing in particular and with
every thing in general; and finally
there was q letter bearing the post
mark plymouth" Mrs. Maggleby
opened it carelessly but a single glance
at its contents caused her to start up,
grasp coiI;dlsively at the mantelpiece,
utter an exclamation, and tremble like
a leaf.
"Poor Gideon!" she said. "What a
fearful blow! He mustn't see me in this
agitated state. 1 shall go up stairs
again, and decide upon some plan of
action before I face him." And Mrs.
Maggleby. letter in hand and pale as
death, quilted the room, leaving the cof-
fee and eggs and bacon and the crunpets
to get cold.
Three-quarters of an hour later Mr..
Maggleby ventured down stairs again.
He was dressed as if to go to the city,
and in his hand he held letter which
bore the simply address, MARIA" This
letter he laid upon his wife's plate. 1t was
worded as follows:
My DEAREST WIFE: I am suddenly and ~
expectedly summoned TO Mincing Lane on bus
mess of the greatest Importance. 1 do not
know exactly when l shall return, but you must
not be anxious. Yours devotedly,
GIDEON.