The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-02-17
now WON MY WIFE.

"oH IVA WIZ ~.
twas towards the close of {; sultry
day in tho latter part of July that !
Sound myself sauntcring, rather aim
lcssly, out into the suburbs of my native
city.
& lhad chosen, as if by instinct, a
shaded avenue for my stroll, and was
enjoying tho little breath of air that was
playiaG idly with the 'ansc sluggish
foha&9 overhead, when . came uncx-
pectealy upon little cottage situated a
little way from the road
The grounds were taStufully laid out,
and there was dainty bit of vclvctv
lawn in front and Mt one side of the
house.
mvoluntarily | paused to take in the
pretty picture, and rs | stood leaning
against the lawn fence, | caught the
sound Of female voices. Then | dis
covered that they proceeded from "a
small grove at the side of the cottage.
Ehcre were four pcrsonSin The chat
itsdng group, seated almost ont Of sight
from where had first stopped There
was an elderly lady, and Il Young girl of
Wopablyy sixteen, and two yOGg ladies
OF about Eighteen and twenty-five re-
Spcctivcly.
e,
and though possessed Of fair face and
good figure dismissed her from nv
scrutiny almost instantly rs ! caught
sight of the other. This one was u
study upon which my mind as well as
my gaze dwclt, to the exclusion OF the
rest of the group.
She was Of medium hcight-sho was
the only one of the fair quartet standing
= perfect figure, rather inclined to slen-
dc rness, and with face that would
alw ays command more than Il casual
CLAN, a q
1t W as the work of but n few moments
to take o mental picture OF this charm
ing girl, and also added to this crime
the theft 4 as'bouquet of the odorous
honcysuckl,.
Casting n ylancc at the pretty cottage,
saw a small piece of paper tackled to
a verandah pil. Var. upon which | dcci-
phcred, with the ah of Il glass, the fol-
lowing legend, " ri!ien in small fo-
male hand
ITO let; enquire wifhin.'
Immediately | 'antcd to hire ti'at
cottage Not that needed ii, or ha, '
any earthly use for it; but sort of in
sane desire seized me o get possession
of tho nest that held the beautiful bird.
under the ridiculous and Illogical rca-
soning, or rather lack OF reason, that
the bird. of course, went With the mrst,
in n business way.
had put my hand upon the garden
gate, when suddenly discovered. lying
upon the vcrandHh, Il, large Ncwfound-
land dog, who rails sd liis massive head
and looked at me inquirin"ly and |
fancied, u little bcihgcrcntiy.
1 have n mortal horror OF dogs-thaC
10. other peoples dogs and particularly
loose dogs. 80 hcs.tatcd, and US 1
saw no way of attracting the attention
of the group without shouting 10 them,
retrcatcd like a coward. There was
Cave Canem written MI over the house
for Inc, and even for closer view of
the fair creature i'm the garden, would
not take the risk of the dog.
No; would stroll out that way again
the next day, and would get Jenny,
my married sister, to como with me.
+ E"To look at a cottage!n said Jenny in
astonishment, when / asked her com
pahy for this purpose. what in tho
world do you mean?"
"Oh, It's such lovely little most, I
thought I'd secure it in case ! should
get married, or anything of that Kind y
Don't you think 1t would bc more in
the line OF variety to secure the wife
firstp" she asked, knowing that had
poIie In view as yet.
at Is 4 sort Of Toodlcs idea" / adj
mitted; "but Id like you to SEQ it"
So we went; we saw, and l was con-
quered. We enqdired within, Jenny
was captivatcd with the cottage and
grounds, and There was only ono soli-
tary object in the whole premises that |
saw sufficiently well to be able to de-
scribe it ihtelligently afterwards.
"Dd you notice, Ned, how admirably
the rooms connected, and how space
was economical cvorywhefeP" =
II didn't notice particularly" said
rather abruptly, thinking only OF the
rooms as connected with the superb
. central figure Mary Anderson, as we
j learned her name was-and of the
F., economy of space only in the light of
tthe immense space that there lwas5 at
present between us--Mary and me, l
mean.
"And what beautiful tint of brown
4 the cottage Vas paintedr Eshe added.
: ssr,"Beautftfi,. bcatltifull" I said, looking
dreainingly out of the window, and
] thinking Sof /. the e&Iaisitelyi lustrous
brown eyes.
"Nodi' said Jenny suddenly, starting
mS ont of d dream in which I~was pic
turing myself and Mary as the occupants
of tho cottage, without knowing actually
whether tho house wis painted browne or
green, or painted ut all, for that matter.
!, ';Ned, do you know j don't believe You
have the iaintest notion OF hiring tho
house; nor do i believe you know
whether the cottage contains two, rooms
or ten, or whether there was o front or
hack dDos3r windows toiit9
Tihe her concentrate d gaze Of incre'N
0lity md her provoking smile with Q
look which was meant for on injured