Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-25

Thank Go6p he exclaimed. poor old
gentleman, he has done me q good turn at
the momentrI required it most. Nellie;
sweetheartJI am q rich a Tomorrow I
throw up this profession, which, il I cared
little about before, I loathe now. This day
three weeks, darling, we viii be married;
and then well 60 abroad for six months
does this suit your views4"
The answe Of the young person addressed
has not been recorded; it IS sufficient for Us
to know that two months later Nellie-Mrs.
Ralph Nutford-was installed in an exquisite
little appartement looking out upon the
Champs Elysees, and her husband, who had
| been down to the Riviera to look out for q
permanent habitation for himself and his
bride, was Fastening back to her in a first
class carriage on the Paris arseilles railway.
In the corner opposite to him sat an Amer
lean, who, with the affability Of that free
born race, had entered into conversation with
him, and the conversation had turned upon
the shipping at Marseilles.
"You seem to know a thing or two about
boats, stranger" observed the American.
"Well, I ought to, seeing that I was con-
/ hected with an American line for some
years."
"You were! then you must have come
across some funny yarns in connection with
those anne steamers. Lord bless you! There's
| a deal of romance connected with those lines!
I could tell you a story-but, there, it wouldn't
interest you, perhaps"
"On the contrary" replied Mr.. milford, II
should very much like to hear some Of your
e~xperiences-we have the end of q long jour-
ney before US"
"Oh, they're not my experiences; but a
friend of mine from Chicago told me a rum
story about the Cable line q few days ago.
Remember the Paragons Went down mys-
teriously, beginning of the year? Yes, you
know. I'll tell you a story about that, if you
like. Shall I? Very well-we've got half an
hour. It happened like this: but mind, you
must promise on your British honor never to
let this go any further. All right.
"Col. Jedediah z. Spinks got planted last
fall with a huge consignment of hides; got
'em as his share of a steal, or something Of
that kind, and all his pals laughed at him
because they said even he couldn't get a
profit out of 'em. So what dye think
he does? Ships 'em all aboard the Paragon
as cargo, declares them as Indian bullion en-
broideries, and insures them against all risks
at $4,000. He spotted the Paragon because
there was a young fool of a fifth officer on
board, named Mudford, or Retford, or some
thing like that, who was just the kind of soft
he wanted, and he had him sounded, to make
sure, one day ut Delmonico's, by a friend,
who went Inc sat with him and entered into
conversation-just as you and I have done;
and then the colonel got a girl, lovely and
without relations, with the check and the
pluck and the beauty of the devil, but down
! on her luck and hard up for cash and excite
ment, and sent her on board as his niece,
making the voyage to Seringapatam under the
care of tho captain!' She made tremendous
love to the young spark, playing the pompous
old ass of a captain off against him, and got
him to herself on deck one dark night, when
there was no one else on deck but two men
sent on as part of the extra crew by the
colonel himself, and instructed by him.
| While she flirted with him well out of sight
under the bridge, these two men let down
over the side a Remington dynamite machine,
and blew the blessed old boat to blazes, and
then cockered VI a yarn about a mysterious
vessel that had come upon them suddenly,
run them down and got clear away! Lord!
I knew you'd laugh. This young fool, in no
end of a funk about his certificate, supports
their yarn, and, Of course, never says a word
about the girl. They come over; the loss is
proven bona fide accidental, and Col. Jede-
diah 2. Spinks nets 100000 sterling clear
profit bang out of the insurance offices! But
wait a minute. The end's the tragic part of
it. That beautiful girl, with her marvellous
talents, that would make her an empress
if she wanted to be one, goes and falls in
love-the real thing-with the man,
and won't touch a penny Of her share of the
plumber. Waste Of genius I call it. But all
women are alike. And egad, sir, she's mar
ried him! What dye think Of that for a
yarn?"
"Most startling and amusing. But here is
Paris. Thank you so much for your delight
full company. Your story has indeed inter-
ested me greatly."-London Truth.