Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-11-14
MATADoR villa, CHELsEA.l

MATADoR villa, CHRLsEA,l
Augusta, 1865.
70 o mess r.. Psdstcr & Maoglebu, IA Mincino
GENTLEMHN: Ihave decided TO accept the
x to dan Ha t offer which was laid before me
III ne VIII c,al, | shall have much pleasure in
arranging preliminaries with him. / remain.
sen'lcmen' very faithfully youas,
IL must fall in with their humor, I
SUPPOSE" she reelected. "And really.
Nr. fudster iss a very nice man, and
almost handsome; and I'm sure that l
snail do no harm by marrying him. Be-
sides, it is quite true that they must
want some n to look after them. If
they 60 on living by themselves. thew
VIII grow crustv and bearlsh." And
WIS; sumter sent her maid out to post
the letter.
Three weeks later the widow became
MRS. pudster; Mr.. Maggleby, o course,
oiiIc1atingg as best man at the wedding,
n being the first to salute the bride
IN the vestry after the
lhenceforward, for a whole year, the
three members OF the firm lived to-
geether IN complete harmony; and the
pleasant history OF their existence was
only interrupted by Mr.. Pudster's en-
forced departure for Lemerara IN Sep
TENDER, 1856. Mr.. Maggleby, it is
true, offered to 90 instead of him; but
Mr.. Pudster would not hear OF it; and
Magg!eby was obliged to confess that
business was business, and that it was
certainly Mr.. Pudster's turn to brave
the mosquitoes. And so, after confid-
ing his wife to the care of his friend.
MI. Pudster departed. During his alb
sence all went well; and in March,
1861, he returned to England. But
this time the heat had been too much
Tor poor Mr.. Pudstcr. His wife no.
tleed that he was looking unwell. Mag
gieby, with sorrow perceived the same.
tudster laughed. Nevertheless, he
soon took to his bed; aAd after q long
and painful illness died. .
The grief of Mrs. Pudster and Mr..
Magegleby was terrible to witness. Mrs.
Pudster talked Of retiring from the
world; and Gideon Maggleby d:scon-
solately 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 Magglcby led Mrs.
Solomon Pudster to tile altar.
Solomon will bless our union," Mr..
Magglcby had SAID when he proposed.
"Ah, dear, sainted Solomon!" Mrs.
Pudster had exclaimed as she fell weep
ing upon MIR. Maggleby's breast.
CHAPTER II.
MI. Gideon Mag ,leby had been mar
ried rather less than two and-twenty
hours, Wien at about nine o'clock in
the morning OF March 90, 1868, he
walked into the room IN which he had
so often breakIasted and dined with his
late friend and partner, Solomon Pud-
ster. Mi. Maggleby, vino was proem-
lnently a man OF business, had not seen
fit to go to the Isle of Wight or to
Paris to spend his honeymoon; and
Mrs. Maggleby, VINO was nothing il
not a woman OF sound sense, had 10y
ally accepted the decision of her third
lord and master. They had agreed to
stay II town. and not to allow their
new happiness to interfere with taeir
material interests in Mincing Lane.
Mr.. Maggleby had determined. how
ever, to make a holiday of the day at
ter his wedding; to stay at home in
Che morning with his wife. to escort
her to Madame Tussaud's in the after
noon, and to take her to the play in the
evening.
With this comfortable programme in
his minds eye. Mr.. Msggleby 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
tiers. The smaller heap chiefly con-
sisted OF M ssives addressed to Mrs.
Pudster, for the marriage Of the pre-
vious day had not as yet been noised
abroad in the country, and Mrs. Mag
gleby had several female correspond
ents who communicated 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 u
Maggleby, the letters to the firm hay
ing been already brought down from
Mincing Lane by a confidential clerk.
IL was % emily iuoiAliSi Aho NuA'
Maggleby. with the letters IN his hand,
sank into an easy-chair by the tlreside,
and then began tppolish his s%pectacles.
But ere he had time to complete that
operation, one envelope attracted the
attention of his not very dim-sighted
eyes. 1t bore the post-mark ''Ply-
mouth" and was addressed in a ia
miliar handwriting. Without waiting
to put on his spe tacles, MIR. Mag-leby
sci ed this envelope and tore it open.
For an instant he stared ut the letter
which it contained; then he turned
white and fell back with a groan. But
Mr.. Magg!eby was a mar OF consider
able self-command, and he o partly
recovered himself.
s.Maria must not come to sec me in
this agitatel state" he murmured, as
he rose. II shall go back to my dress
ing-room and decide upon some plan
of action before l face her." And with
unsteady steps he quilted the dining,
room. taking with him the letter that
was the cause OF his emotion.
Almost i'm nediateIy afterward q
servant entered with the coffee and
some covered dishes, which she set up
on the table; and no sooner had she
withdrawn than Mrs. Maggleby ap.
peared. Mrs. Maggleby looked bloom
inc, and was evidently in capital spir.
its. She caught up her letters, sat