The Penn's Grove record., 1888-04-21

for several days.
81 had a letter Of introduction TO a
gentleman whom | will call by the
name of Maxwell; and, soon after pre-
senting it, l became on terms of so
much intimacy with him, that he re-
lated several things of Importance con-
nected with his family.
Among others he stated that,
though fairly well-to-do in this worlds
goods, he believed himself on the point
of becoming immensely wealthy.
IAN English ancestor of his, n
Conrad Maxwell, had died some fifty
years ago, leaving a large estate, worth
something like "a million of pounds
sterling; and as this estate had de-
scended directly to a son, who had re-
Gently died without issue, he was next
in succession.
"a celebrated English lawyer. who
had been employed to discOver the heirs
at-law, had traced the matter directly
to himself, and had come over here
with letters of recommendation from
some of the English nobility.
This professional gentleman, whose
name was Egbert Du Barry, had not
only made his acquaintance and In
formed him of his good fortune, but
had rendered himself s o fascinating to
his only daughter, that she had become
deeply attached to him; a mutual pas
sion had sprung up between them, and
the twain were soon to become one
I when the family would all start to-
gether on tile wedding tour of the
groom aud bride.
And this reminds me, by the way,
concluded Air. Maxwell, that l have a
wedding invitation for yourself, doc
tor. Excuse me fol not sending 1t In
the regular way: but my wife and self
thought l had better ask you person
ally if you could honor US with your
company?"
ideally, l answered, you are very
Kind and very tlattering, but l am
afraid l shall be debarred the pleasure
! OF being PRESENT, as l expect to leave
t5wn soon-withlu il week at the farth-
est
"'And it is only a week from this
day, said Mr.. Maxwell, pointing to the
card. PRAY, do remain over and be
present If you possibly can.'
81 considered the matter seriously
for a few moments, and then told him
l would do myself the honor of being
present.
.Strange things happen sometimes,
In which we have prepared ourselves to
be actors without any provision on u
part. There seems In many cases to
tie a fate that goes before and prepares
the way for a strange d~enouement.
81 found that this newly discovered
good fortune of the Maxwells, and
this wedding of the daughter to the
distinguished English lawyer, who had
come to apprise them of their vast
hereditary estate, had created no little
e excitement in the villarge Of Scarbor-
Ough, and was the talk Of the time
ev cry II having something to say on
tn matter, and a few pretending to
rel cice-while many were filed with
e ceilings of envy.
".As l said before. though the night
lx,o for the wedding would somewhat
delay my departure, 1 had resolved to
be present; and though l had intended
to be on time, yet a slight accident,
which had happened that day to hy
horse while riding out, had so delayed
M tina when l reached the crowded
mansion the ceremony had already
begun.
las / entered the room and pushed
my way forward, SO as to get a close
view Of the happy pair, who were al
ready stan ding up before the Episcopal
clergyman. who had been brought
from a neighboring city to read the
solemn service, the latter Was In the
act of saying:
Into th is holy estate these two per-
sons present come now to be joined. If
any man can slow just cause why they
may not lawfully be joined together,
let him now speak, or else hereafter
forever hold Lus peace.'
"The minister had Just reached this
point, and had come to a slight pause,
when, perhaps by some peculiar mag
netic force, thu bridegroom, whose
features from the first glance seemed
to be familiar to me, suddenly looked
up and fixed his 81 es upon mine.
81 Instantly started, and a strange
thrill went through me.
could it be possible that, in the per-
son now before me, known to all pres
ent az Egbert Du Barry, 1 beheld my
former patient, Henry Eckerlyp
1.-THE start which he gave on seeing
me, also confirmed me In the belief of
there being something wrong, and |
recalled all the incidents of his peculiar
insanity.
Eyes, it was undoubtedly the same
person, and Providence had, perhaps,
brought me here to a v d worthy
family, and "a beautiful young lady
from a wretched ENHANCEMENT.
while l stood thinking, hesitating,
and fairly trembling with the great
secret, the clergyman had already pro-
cseded with the following solemn words:
81 require and charge you both. as
you will answer at the dreadful Day of
Judgment, when the secret Of all
hearts shall be disclosed, that if either
of you know any impeachment why We
may not be lawfully Joined together in
matrimony We do now confess it.
'Holdp 1 now suddenly exclaimed.
Il forbid the ritel'
"The words came forth at that SOL
emn time, and in that solemn place,
with terrible effect.
Everybody started and grew sud-
denly pale, and every eye of the whole
assembly was turned sharply, inquir- |
insly, and almost wildly upon me.
"'This is a gross deceptionp l pro-
ceeded; this man is not named Egbert
Du Barry, but Henry Eckerly, the
well known lunatic, VINO, some years
ago, was a patient in an insane asylum, |
sent thither by an order of the court,
instead of to a common prison for
criminal acts, similar to what he has |
recently beel committing
'Imagine a thunderDolt from a |
cloudless sky-the bomb bursting in an
unprepared assembly, an earthquake
an unwarned village, and you
can have some idea OF the wild conster-
nation which my language produced.
"The bride shrieked and tainted, the
groom sprung from her side and Crap
pied at my throat. and there were loud
cries and confusion, as If Bedlam had
been let loose.
But the end was gained, the man
was pinioaed, the family was saved,
though feaIfully cr~est-fallen and morti-
field; for there was really no property
in the case, and the lunatic himself has
Just edited you with a long. and inter-