Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-06-29
THE TWO MARTHHNs.

1 kDlt Auurcuthh ~ Aho~' WV ""e" ~
IL. but An.on M.rihcn. civil engineer
and railway builder. whose headquarters
we're in New York. suffered more or less
nearly every day Of hi, life for the reason
,ha, there va. another msn of exactly
the same name who also lived in New
York but had no business or profession
whatever. The men wefe unlike IN
almo,, every particular. txeep, that both
were bachelor, and foad of ladie'. An
son Muihen. the engineer. earned a
pleasing number Of dollars every year
and alws,. paid hi, bill. a. 'o'n /" they
were presented; his nominal double never
canned penny aud never paid a bill
when be could avoid IL. and t. this r..
ealiari,y bad become enough To be TALKED
about. /, occasionally .ahjse'ed the hon
e,, Marhen % sS.spsra'lns ind'snhie'
from persons who knew the nams but
no, the men Who bore IL. Tie di'hon'
est Mar,hen, on the contrary, 20; all
necessary credit At talon. shops. livery
s,abl,., aud even hotels where the exist
enes of tso Mauhens "a. noi knosn; he
bad merely to dsvi.e some excuse TO ,als
Of railroad. and engineering 10 be taken
for hi. entirely reputable doubls. HIS
bills, ia course Of time. rcaehsd the en-
sineer'. oili,e, Anl we're the cause of
much prof.ns language from the wroas
Mauhen and much fun among the two
or three clerks and drAushi'men whom
/ the busy railroad builder, employed.
Worse IT'LL. the homes, MAf,hsn wA'
,omstime. shilliusly received 10y person.
20 whom he "a. introduced and ~ho h'd
heard Of the other bsArer OF the same
name. wor, Of al. ladies 'omei'm's
seemed di.Appoin,ed shsn he W. pre-.
.en,ed 10 them, fof bis fsscally double
va. handsome enough to be talked about
while the engiaesr. although Of perfect
manner, unfortunately had rugged and
di.ptoporionAie features. When nm
ally, he was arrested one afternoon ol q
eh,rsc Of obtaining goods under fal'c
pre,enc... the eomplsinAn, being the
father of lady TO ~hom he had just
been presented. and the tiheefs catching
him a. he emerged from her house. The
lady herself beholding the affair from a
window, he vent 10 hi. wrath 10 q
lawyer and prepared petition TO the
legislature, that fof reason, already
stated in ,hi, story. be might DC per.
mi,ted TO assume hi. mothers family
name As a middle name.
Ba, even ,hi. relief he could not expect
for more than half year later. foi the az
rr., occurred in June aud the legislature
would no, NEE, again until January.
One thing. however. he could and would
DO: be would manage 20 see his trouble.
some double 20 ,hs, he nigh, sfierward
know him by Sigh, and defend himself
in close social OF business proximity TO
the rascal. To fnd the di'hone., Mat
then va. no easy task; It required q
fortnight. effort on the part Of two
diaeren, detectives. bat a, las, Maf,hen
va. Informed ,hA, the man Who lived
upon the engineer. reputation was At
Saratoga. % the indignan, man hastily
packed hi. trunk and hurried Oft 10 that
crowded village.
On the train he CHANGED TO fnd q
pls.s.n, aud entirely innocent travelling
scqusin,anee. A well dressed. not un.
eomsly lady who "a, 10 front him en-
de.yored 10 raise a window and Marihsn
fastened to As,i,, her, getting pleasant
smile and a word Of thanks In payment.
M.r,hen ,killiully invol'ed the lady IN
conyersAtlon. and finding. TO his great
delight. iha,..he va, amiable but not
smart. quite susoeptible.yei not inclined TO
tiir,. he became very devoted. Tie de-
tested smart women; several Of his friends
had married such bsing' and ne'er
ceased to regre, the step; smart women
had often tried 10 "ealeh Msrlhen
himself. for an income Of thousand a
month va. no, to be ds.pi'ed, and he
had no, always escaped with ease. Mar
then fully intended 10 marry some day.
bu, be had been determined that he
would be entirely satisfied with a plain.
rather stupid woman II only he could
fnd one who WAS amiable.
The trip TO Saratoga consumed six
hour. in the year when Mafihen first
made IL; and as oae..ix,h Of thi, time
ha. often been sufficient fpr the birth Of
yioleu, admirs,ions Of men for women.
|, /. not remarkable ,hA, whea the jour
ney ended Marhen va, 80 favorably
impressed by bis new Acquaintance that
he regretted. on leaving the train. that
he had not strained his habi,uAl courtesy
enough to learn her name aud ask the
honor Of being again allowed 10 meet
her, for she bad ls, drop the fac, ,hA, she
WAS q widow. 1, vas too late TO do that.
bu, no, too late to hope ; he Vas sure OF
fnding friends At Saratoga; he could
hardly help seeing her soms~hsre. some
how, II he remained. for she had in,i'
mated ,ha, she expected to spend month
with some relatives; his profession con-
sisted in the work Of overcoming obstacles,
80 be felt sure be would make his ~ay
again TO the eide Of this pleasing little
lady. and perhaps
His reysrie and resolution were inter-
rup,ed As he signed the hotel register,
for when the clerk read the signature ,hA,
Official winked a, rather rough looking
man with whom he bad been talking;
then the rough looking man read the
signature and exclaimed:
"You'ie just the man I'm looking Tor,
| Mr.. Msr,hsn; I've only jus, been able to
find out waere you were stopping; can't
YOU give ne a check for this carriage
bill, It's been running nearly month";
and the boys said you"
I'm no, the man you want, said Mar.
then, irt saying something tia, would
no, look we'll In print.
"Your name is
"Yes. yes, yes interrupted MAf'hen'
"bu, there IL another man OF the same
name, and hes a swindler. l came here
to run him down I've so, detectives
after him; come here this evening and
they will pu, you on his track.
For an hour or more Msfihsn ". In
| 49,, h.J ,.mney hut he grew calmer