The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1885-04-04
The Tragic Maiden.


When the Major entered the room.
whittier he had been invited to Join a
social company and partake of stimu-
iatlng refreshments, every one saw that
something was weighing heavily on his
mind.
Major" said On undertaken, smiling
sadly, you seem to have forgotten your
good cheer tonight"
"Yes, am pretty well crushed"
TEL us of your troubles" exclaimed
half dozen voices. I'VE will listen
patiently"
Il don't know that the recital will in
terest you, but it will show You what
TOOL man may sometimes become in
matters OF love. Some time ago fell
In love with Polly Joler, and about the
same time became acquainted with
Nancy Lory. I soon discovered that
both girls were in love with me. / did
not love bat one Of them You under
stand, wiping bead Of whisky off his
mustache. Polly was so gentle, so
contiding, that my soCi went o:lt to her
and gathered her in al emotional en-
brace. Nancy was dark-eyed and
tragic. 1t soon became necessary for
me to make a decision, and / saw that
it l decided against Nancy she would
kill herself Polly. knew, would 10
nothing rash, even though she loved
me devotedly. l did not love Nancy,
yet could /, as gentleman and citizen
who usually voted twice on the same
day, allow a maiden to kill herself on
my account Should l not sacrifice
myself to save her? I loved Polly, and
the thought of giving her up panied me-
did not love Nancy, as l previously
minated. yet the idea of being the
cause of bloodshed gored me with the
horns of extreme discomfort. At last
must act. Polly, blue-eyed and as
beautiful as Pallas, gazed into my soul
and breathed an endearing hope. Nancy,
dark, and as handsome as Helen Of
Troy, flashed her eyes upon me and
threatened self-destruction. / drew q
sigh from the troubled depths of my
spiritual existence, and went into the
thick forest to ponder. l loved Polly,
and longed to press her lips. did
not love Nancy, bnt could I stand by
and see her blood How. Fer only hope of
heaven was centered on me. Polly
would manage to get there any
way. I went deeper into the forest
and ponderet. Leads, of cold sweat
stood on my brow like warts On q
toad. loved Polly. as Won by this
time understand, and / did not love
Nancy, as you by tlEs time lave learned
to suspect, bat what was | to do? See
Polly NOPE around covered with scarf
of despair, or witness Nancy's cold and
strikingiy handsome corpse deposited
in the damp and uncongenial grave? l
dislike bloodshed, l can stand it to see
any one NOPE around, bu: for girl to
cut and slash herself cripples me. Well,
I decided in Nancy's favor. Not that
loved her, oh, no, but to save her life.
We were married. Poly moped where
the young pear trees grow, and sat in
silence when tho katydid opened up his
racket. l had made decision of prin-
ciple l had sacrificed my own connu
bial bliss to prevent a tragedy. All,
how man ,alls into the pits of error
The other night when l intimated tC
my wife that she did not place the
proper estimate upon me, she founced
into passion, and said: You are q
fool. was in love with Dan Sawyer
and would have married him had not
been convinced that such an event
would have caused you to kill yourself
Dan is gentle, and would not think O.
doing anything rash. l saw you were
hot headed and contemplated suicide in
case l refused to marry YOU. haya
made a sacrifice of my happines
merely to save your life.' arose with
out replying. kicked the dog as wen
ont, and buried myself in the deep sol
itude of the forest. Wh3 morning
came sorrowfullv went back to tn
house to get something to eat Ny wifi
was gone. She had left note wher'
she knew I would find it-tied it taroun.
the neck of my whisky bottle. The not,
ran in this melancholy way: Sir
Having saved your life l have decide,
to secure my own happiness. l hav
secured divorce, granted by my uncle
who is justice Of the peace, and hav
gone away with Dan Sawyer. You hav
seen enough of married life to abstain
from suicide on my account. Sweet
hearts sometimes commit suicide on &C
count of love, but husbands rarely dc
Their self-destruction is usual
prompted by whisky I was shocked
and as I chewed the end Of ham bone
accidentally left in the cupboard
thought of Polly. wiped the greas
from my mouth and sought her. Sh
had married man who chops cord
wood for steamboat. Polly wa
making soap when 1 arrived. I e,
planned the object of my visit, and sue
cested that she should get a divorce
She did not reply for several minutes
She was lost in Thought. Finally sh