Daily Tombstone epitaph., 1886-01-01
HOW Il WON MY WIFE.


 fhad chosen, as if by instinct, shaded avenue for my stroll, and was enjoying the little breath of air that was playing idly with the dense sluggish foliage overhead, when l came unex- pectedly upon little cottage situated a little way from the road.
 The grounds were tastefully laid out, and there was dainty bit of velvety lawn in front and at one side of the house.
 Involuntarily paused to take in the pretty picture, and as 1 stood leaning against the lawn fence, I caught the sound of female voices. Then I dis covered that they proceeded from small grove at the side of the cottage.
 There were four persons in the chat tering group, seated almost out of sight from where I had first stopped. There was an elderly lady, and young girl of probably sixteen, and two young ladies of about eighteen and twenty-two re- spectively.
 The elder of the two was blonde, and though possessed of fair face and good figure, dismissed her from my scrutiny almost instantly as 1 caught sight of the other. This one was study upon which my mind as we'll as my gaze dwelt to the exclusion of the rest of the group.
 She was of medium height-she was the only one of the fair quartet standing perfect figure, rather inclined to slen- derness, and with a face that would always command more than a casual glance.
 It was the work of but few moments to take a mental picture of this charm ing girl, and also added to this crime the theft of bouquet of the Odorous hQneysuckle.
 Casing glance at the pretty cottage,
 9sWR small piece of paper tackled t9. sfApdah pillar, upon which l decH| stkssSa, witt, the aid of glass, thss fnale hand:
 ssssyf6 8t; enquire withAQ. .sls t ssCs cottage! Not that I ,nS U IN S1f III any earthly use for, ,it; b9 sane desire seized rl = yk of the nest .that he ' iss bird, under thstI1I md 0eiSaf req soning, q sson' that
 Iha$& upon t.N garden gate. whSk Ie3enly discoveresd, lying upon the VI lsxidah, q large NeWfound- land dog. Who raised his massiv& head and looked at me inquiringly, land fancied, a. little belligerently.
 V hrrror nf foorc xl is, other peoples dogs-and particularly loose dogs. So l hesitased, and aS l saw no way of attracting the atteQtiAp. of the group without shoutipGzt retreated like coWsr9 r, Cave em-Yritten e ssS ,thsESa ,se @ '. 5 ~ !s 2 IT sveSsl sncS take be fisk ', os ssss Nes6e ds 6l ! so4id get Jenny, YnS3 ter, S6 come with me.
 &I6H50k at cottage!" said Jenny in astonishment, when I asked her com pany for this purpose. What in the world do you meanP"
 'Oh, it's such a lovely little nest, I thought I'd secure it in case I should get married, or anything of that kind"
 Don't you think it would be more in the line of variety to secure the wife first?' she asked, knowing that l had none in view as yet.
 ''It is sort of Toodles idea," I ad- mitted; "but I'd like you to see il" So we went; we saw, and 1 was con- quered. We enquired within. Jenny was captivated with the cottage and grounds, and I-there was only one soli- tary object in the whole premises that I saw sufficiently we'll to be able to de- scribe it intelligently afterwards.
 Did you notice, Ned, how admirably the rooms connected, and how space was economized everywhereP"
 'I didn't notice particularly" I said rather abruptly, thinking only of the rooms as connected with the superb central figure.-Mary Anderson, as we learned her name was-and of the economy of space only in the light of the immense space that there was at present between us-Mary and me, I mean.
 And what beautiful tint of brown the cottage was paintedr she added.
 Beautiful, beautifully I said, looking dreamingly out of the window, and thinking of the exquisitely lustrous brown eyes.
 "Ned!' said Jenny suddenly, starting me out of dream in which l was pie turing myself and Mary as the occupants of the cottage, without knowing actually whether the house was painted brown or green, or painted at all, for that matter. "Ned, do you know don't believe you have the faintest notion of hiring the house; nor do l believe you know whether the cottage contains two rooms or ten, or whether there was front or back door or windows to it."
 Imet her concentrated gaze of inereAA