Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-12-21

uOuBHli He pTOpoSeu tue nedlJn Oh lne
legal twins, who had so nobly borne the
brunt of the ARRAY sin~gle-handed, and dis
the At!orney-Genera and all his
learned host.
Thereon James rose to reply in terms OF
eloQuence, and would have
gone through the whole case again had
not Lady Holmhurst in despair pulled him
by the sleeve and told him that he must
propose her health, which he did with sim
lightly abiding TO the fact that she
was a widow by describing her as being in
a "discoyert condition, with all the rights
and responsibilities of a femme SOLE"
Everybody burst out laughing, not ex-
cepting poor Lady Holmhurst herself, and
sat down, not without indignation
that a giddy world should object TO an ex-
act and legal definition Of the status of the
individual as set out by the law.
III after that Augusta went and
changed her dress, and then came the hur-
ried good-byes; and, to escape observation,
they drove off in a hanson cab amid a
shower of old shoes.
And there in that hanson cab we will
leave them.
CHAPTER XxIu.-MEEsoN's oNCE AGAIN.
A month had passed-a month of long,
happy days and such dear delight as young
people who truly love each other can get
out OF a honeymoon spent under the most
favorable circumstances in the sweetest,
sunniest spots of the Channel Islands.
AND now the curtain draws up for the last
time in this history, where it drew up for
the first, in the inner office of Nelson's
huge establishment.
During the last fortnight certain COM
munications ha1 passed between Mr.. John
Short, being duly authorized thereto, and
the legal representatives of Messrs. Addi-
son and Roscoe, with the result that the
Interests of these gentlemen in the great
publishing house had been bought up, and
that Eustace Meeson was now the sole
of the vast concern, which he in
tended TO take under his personal super
vision.
Now, accompanied by John Short, whom
he had appointed to the post of solicitor
both of his business and private affairs,
and by Augusta, he was engaged in form
ally taking over the keys from the head
manager, who was known throughout the
establishment as No. /.
II wish to refer TO the authors agree
ments of the early part of last year." said
Eustace.
No. l produced them somewhat sulki-
ly. He did not like the appearance Of this
determined young owner upon the scene,
with his free and un-Meeson-like ways.
Eustace turned them over, and, while he
did so, his happy wife stood by him, mar
yelling at the Kaleidoscope changes in her
circumstances. When last she had stood
in that Office, not a year ago, it had been
as a pitiful suppliant begging for a few
pounds where with to try and save her sis
ter's life, and now
Suddenly Eustace stopped turning, and,
drawing a document from the bundle,
glanced at it. 1t was Augusta's agree
ment with Meeson g. Co. for Terminals
Vow," the agreement binding her TO them
for five years, which had been the cause
of all her troubles, and, as she firmly be-
lieved, of her little sisters death.
There, my DEAR" said Eustace to his
wife, there is a present for you. Take
itp'
Augusta took the document, and, hay
ing looked to see what it was, shivered as
she did so. 1t brought the whole thing
back so painfully to her mind.
What shall l do with it, she asked;
''tear it upS"
Eyes" he answered. mo, stop a Bit"
and, taking it from her, he wrote Can
celed" IN big letters across it, signed and
dated it.
There" he said, "now send il to be
framed and glazed; and it shall be hung
here in the Office, to show how they used
to do business at Nelson's"
No | snnrtad and lonkad nf Eu.taca
What would the young man be
after next?
'Are the gentlemen assembled in the
asked Eustace Of him when the
documents were put away
again.
No. l said that they were, and, accord
ing!y, to the hall they went, wherein were
gathered all the editors, sub-editors, man
ayers, sub-managers of the various depart
ments, clerks, and other employees, not
forgetting the tame authors, who. q pale
and mealy regiment, had been marched
up thither from the Hutches and the
tame artists with flying haf-and were
now being marshaled in lines by No. 1,
who had gone on before. When Eustace
and has wife and John Short got to the top
of the hall, where some chairs had been
set, the whole multitude bowed, wherein
he begged them 10 be seated-a permission
which the tame authors, who sat all day
in their little wooden hutches, and some
times n good part of the night also, did
seem to care to avail themselves of.
But the tame artists, who had, for the
most part, to work standing, sat down
readily.
Gentlemen, " said Eustace, first let me
introduce you to my wife, Mrs. Meeson,
who, in another capacity, has already been
greatly 10 her own proft-connected
with this establishment, having written
the best work of fiction that has ever gone
through printing-presses" (here some
OF the wilder spirits cheered, and Augusta
blushed and bowed), land who will, /
hope and trust, write many even better
books which we shall have the honor of
to the world" (Applause.) ALSO,
gentlemen, let me introduce you to Mr..
Short, my solicitor, who, together
with his twin brother, Mr.. James Short,
brought the great lawsuit in which / was
engaged to a successful issue.
"And now / nave to tell you why / have
You all to meet me here. First
of all. to say that / am now the sole wner
OF this business, having bought out Messrs.
and Roscoe" ('And a good job,
too" said a voice.; and that / hope that
we shall work well together; and, second
ly, to Inform You that l am going to total