Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-09-02

Hettie, that do wish you would write
that down so she will not forget" sug-
gested Minnie, handing sheet of paper
to Mrs. Rrbuthnot and then withdra wing
it, adding, Suppose I write it and let
you sign it, as your eyes trouble you to-
day."
''Do so, my dear; my eyes are very bad
| to-day, but for them would postpone
my journey"
| So Minnie wrote:
81 intend to adhere strictly and literal
ly to the terms in which yesterday wrote
to Mr.. Mariscal and Frank Carroll; if
they are not suited with what I wrote, I
can't help it. will abide by that decis-
| ion.''
| And to this Mrs. Arbuthnot's appended
her name and the date.
Somewhat to Mrs. Arbuthnot's surprise,
none of the family saw anything of Mr..
Mariscal all that day; and she had to start
that night for New York, whence she was
| to sail for Paris, without seeing him
| again.
! Early the next morning there came to
! the house, not Mr.. Mariscal but Frank
| Carroll, who to Lila's intense amazement,
| greeted her as if he were her accepted
lover. AS soon as she could do so--that
is, as soon as she could make up her mind
| to do so-she withdrew from his Unfolding
arms and exclaimed:
| "Why Frank! How courageous you are
| to venture here in such an assured manner
after what Aunt Hettie wrote to you'll"
| Courageous he repeated. II don't
understand you; it is because I received
her card that am here now. [ must own
that [ was little surprised when [ read
| it, though"
"'What could she have said to you?'
asked Lilias in amazement still.
"Here it is-read it for yourself; I only
got it this morning, having been away on
business, or I'd have been here last even
ing" he answered, handing a postal card
to Lilias.
Mrs. Arbuthnot was one of those people
who used pistol card for any or all pur-
poses; she had perfect mania for them
and could not be pursuaded not to write
the most confidential things upon them;
so Lilias was not at all surprised that she
had written her communications to the
two young men on these cards, though
most people prefer to send such missives
in sealed envelope. She read:
$50 sorry that [ cannot see you to-
night. [ write in haste and confusion to
say that [ am more than willing that you
should marry Lilias, and [ trust that she
will appreciate the compliment you have
paid her-from her past treatment of you
[ am sure she will. At any rate, it is my
desire that she marry you and no one else,
on pain of my anger"
To this was appended her name and the
date of the preceding day.
Lilias was mystified, Frank jubilant,
Mr.. Arbuthnot mildly puzzled but acquies-
cent, and Minnie smiling but silent. When
Mr.. Arbnthnot told Frank that hiss wife
had said something about having Lilias
married within a month, even though she
went away, and when Lilias and Minnie
agreed with him, he was only too glad to
aid in carrying out her expressed wishes;
so the wedding dresses were made up in a
hurry, and in exactly month after the
date of her card to Frank, Mrs. Arbuth-
not's older ward was married to her true
love.
An hour or so after the wedding, Minnie
said carelessly to Lilias:
"Did you ever hear any more of Mr..
Mariscaps desire to marry your"
"Bless me, no! I had entirely forgot
ten the man! Why, sure enough, didn't
auntie says she had accepted his offer and
what are you laughing at, Minnie?" said
Lilias.
"Do you remember the night went
down to the library to get your watch, and
you wanted to know why I was gone SO
long? [ said I had paused to read the
deaths and marriages in the paper; well,
that was true, but there lay on the library
table two postal cards, in auntie's own
writing, addressed to your two lovers. [
picked them up and read them-now don't
frown, postals are not private! I found
that she had evidently made mistake in
addressing them, for the one bearing Mr..
Mariscal's name was very blunt request
for him to keep away from you the other
Frank has shown you. I was so afraid
that she would find out her mistake before
she went abroad that I just opened the
front door and ran out and mailed
Them
Such was indeed the case. What would
otherwise have been Mrs. Arbuthnot's
wrath at Minnie's haste to mail the mis-
directed cards no one knows, but as she
CHANGED, almost as soon as she arrived in
Paris, to learn that Mariscal was already
privately married, she never in any way
referred to the matter, and as Frank
made the best of a husbands, she soon for
got that she had ever been opposed to the
m tph-