Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-08-05

IL WIN, SiuCc ~ compromises Suc SOt
names of two of our members, feel
Q a duty to afford an opportunity for
full explanation. The congregatio
!. are invited to meet at the parsonag
8 tomorrow evening at o'clock.
hope that every member of this cor
. gregation will be present"
After that it mattered little whethe
the sermon were marvel of brillianc
, or the ~dullest disquisition that eve
, bored long suffering audience. N
l one paid the slightest attention to il
except old Maj. Dorr, who was so dea
J that he only caught about one word il
ten, and had thus missed the story o
the love letter that the school teache
had written to Mrs. Downs. He alway
went regularly to church, however, an,
affected to receive great satisfaction
therefrom.
After the conclusion of the services
Mrs. Cowles, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Martin
and Mrs. Jeffrey stopped in the aisl'
for moments conference.
Il shall take Beatrice Cenci out O
the school, said Mrs. Jeffrey. "Nc
child of mine shall he under the in
struction of a teacher who writes love
letters to a married woman.
"And to think that Mr. Snow should
attempt to cover it up and excuse it, "
added Mrs. Cowles. Il don't know
but we shall be obliged to withdraw
from the church. My husband thinks
there is great deal of corruption
among ministers themselves, now.
adays."
Certainly no one was better able to
detect corruption anywhere than Mr..
COwles, if half the stories of his own
immoral escapadcs could be relied up.
on. But Mrs. Cowles's friends remair.
ed dscreetly silent on this point.
II shall not allow Cora to 90 to tn.
parsonage tomorrow evening" inter.
posed Mrs. Brown. Il think the dis
cussion of such subjects has most
demoralizing effect on young people.
1t is deplorable affair all round"
But when the evening came Cora did
60. More than that, to her mothers
great sorrow, she crossed the room and
sat down by Jack Downs and his wife,
who sat alone together on the long so.
ia, although great many were stand
ing up all around the large parlors.
This was not so much FROM sympathy
with Mrs. Downs rs profe ssional in
stinct such as that which mpels sur.
geon to investigate all sorts of patholo.
gical monstrosities. She wanted to OBJ.
serve for herself the ravages of re.
morse, humiliation and unhappy love,
the better to finish her poem.
But Mrs. Downs was as pretty, as
gay, and as nonchalant as ever. Once
or twice she whispered behind her fan
to her husband, and once she actually
laughed, which so outraged the sensi.
bilities of the more severely virtuous
matrons that they shuddered with hor-
ror at her audaclty.
Mr.. Cotton was a romantic looking
young man, with disheveled lair, and
a look of general shrewdness. He had
lately come to Pine Falls as teacher,
and now stood leaning against the
manteL His romantic appearance, so
attractive to the ladies, was due to his
hair, which he wore long on account
of his ears, they being enormously
large. and an interesting pallor which
was caused by dyspepsia and not I'M
happy love, as the young ladies sup
posed.
81 have here" said Mr. Snow, "a
letter which has been theme OF
much severe comment. The envelope
is addressed to Mrs. Downs, and il
was picked up in the street by Mrs.
Martins little son, who took it to his
fathers grocery. The contents are in
n different penmanship, with Mr.. Col.
tons name as signature. will ask
Mr.. Cotton to make an explanation,
which will no doubt be satisfactory"
Satisfactorily repeated Mr..
Cowles, with more spirit than po-
likeness. at seems to me that when
a man writes in that style to another
mans wife, calling her husband
base wretch"-here he cast an indig
nant glance at Jack Downs-"anG
urging her to run away with him,
satisfactory explanation is not an easy
matter
You are mistaken, Sir" answered
Mr. Cotton. "An explanation in this
case.is very easily made. am a mem
Der of an amateur theatrical club, and
| wrote out my part at Mr.. Downs one
evening, copying it out of book OF
his. Mrs Downs gave me an envelope
from one of her letters that lay on the
table to put the manuscript in, and
unfortunately lost it on my way home
l will now read the lines, if Mr.. Cowles
will look over the printed page and
see if | read them correctly"
Shamefaced, Mr.. Cowles looked or
while Mr.. Cotton read, with much dra.
matte effect:
Ny angel, fly with me!
Afar in other lands beyond the sea,
Wen build home sacred to love and thee
Scorn the base wretch who in your humble
home
Profanes the name Of love-ah, be my own
And heaven is not so high, nor earth SO vast,
But that its treasures at thy feet I'll cast
There is full page of it, with my
name signed at the bottom, but this
will suffice, think" and Mr.. Cotton
coolly sat down, while q look of con.
sternation went around the room.
Mrs. Downs went up to Helen Grant
and kissed her.
Thank you, dear, for your faith in
me. heard all about it, and I'll never
forget it as long as live."
She looked SO gentle and girlish in
her dainty white draperies with that
look of childish gratitude in her blue
eyes, that kind hearted Mrs. Jeffrey
| L..