The Newtown bee., 1891-11-06
A Strange Wedding.

in the county of Lincoln. 1t was not a
great piece of perferment, but beggars
cannot be choosers, and was poor man.
went down to the seat of my future la
bors-if labors they could be called-with
very mixed feelings. l was glad that my
future was secured from the chill blasts
of fortune; yet | could not forbear some
emotions of regret at the thought of pass
ing the remainder of my life in the I'M
broken repose of a secluded country viii
lage.
Penbury was, found, in all essential
particulars, exactly the sort of place
had pictured to myself. The church and
the parsonage were old and in some de-
gree interesting the village was mere
collection of cottages. The only large
house in the neighborhood was The
Grange, and it had been empty for sever
al years. 1t belonged,I was told, to Lord
Keystone, an old man, who, so far as |
could gather, had little save his rank and
his wealth to recommend him. He was
said to be hard liver-in other words, q
man given up to vice and self indulgence.
And yet he did not ruin himself by his
debaucheries, as many do. On the con-
trary, he was fortunate in his racing ven
lures and at all kinds of games his luck
was extraordinary. 1t was commonly
said that Lord Keystone lived upon his
winnings and laid by his rents; but this
may have been mere idle talk.
This much, at least, was certain that
his lordship had not come near Penbury
Grange for many years and the house and
grounds were sadly neglected. Nomin-
ally, he lived at another country seat he
had, somewhere within the Welsh bord
err; and there his daughter Gan only child)
also resided; but most of his time was
spent in London. AS / have already
limited, there was not much society at
Penbury. Besides the farmers, the cot
tagers and their families, there was only
the doctor, and he lived five miles off,
One other, indeed, there was, who was
neither farmer nor laborer. Old Dan was
pensioner, who lived in tiny cottage
on the border of wood not far from the
Grange. He was generally called 'the
Sergeant though / doubt whether he
ever really attained the rank of nom
commissioned officer. Often | used to
stop at old Merrywether's cottage and sit
half an hour with him, less for the pur-
pose of listening to his interminable and
sometimes q fear) apocryphal stories of
Peninsular campaigns, than for the sake
of linking myself, as it were, to former
generation, by holding converse with this
relic of another century. 1.-The Sergeant"
was extremely old and very infirm, but
always smart and clean, while the CLEAN
in his bright blue eye was as keen as it
had been sixty years before.
Soon, very soon, slipped into the un-
eventful round of easy duties and harm
less pleasures which usually occupy the
time of a country parson. We were as
secluded as if we had lived on the banks
of Norwegian ford or in the depths of
a Canadian forest.
Time passed and, after had been some
years at Penbury, news came to us that
Lord Keystone was no more and that the
estates, being strictly entailed, passed to
a cousin of the late viscount.
There were rumors that The Grange
was to be repaired and inhabited, but
these rumors never came to anything.
The crown had passed from one head to
Things went on in PEN
bury as they had always done.
1t was very late, 10 o'clock, one Satur-
day night, when a knock came at the
door Of the rectory. Wondering who
could be abroad at such an hour-for it
was mid Winter, a high wind was raging
outside and the snow was on the ground
/ took one of the candles from the study
table and went into the hall.
AS did SO, the knock was repeated, as
IL the visitor were either impatient or
afraid that his summons would not be
needed. quickly opened the door and
without any parley (for the wind seemed
rs If it would take the door off its hinges)
admitted q tall young fellow, who
shook the snow from his shaggy coat ex-
lctly after the fashion of Newfound-
and dog.
.Who are you and what do you want?"
demanded.
81 came to ask you to publish some
'anns of marriage" said the stranger, in
voice so gentle as to strongly contrast
With his impotence in knocking.
''You ought to have gone to the parish
Jerk about that said / rather impa-
iently.
~ beg thousand pardons," returned
he young man; ''but it is late and /
nighe have difficulty In finding the cot
age in this snow storm"
.sHave you the names and addresses of
he parties 7" asked.
For answer, he produced sheet of note
'aper.
.sYou can leave it on the hall table and
will tell the clerk about it in the morn
n.y. said. s.Are you one Of the parties
Who are to be married."
The young man turned pale and
ould see tnat he stifIed heavy sigh as
le shortly answered, "No.'
opened the door for him, closed it af-
er him, returned to my study and
bought no more about the matter.
Next morning, however, / forgot to
MENTION the incident till ! was just leav-
ng the yestry to begin the morning SER
ice and then, in hurried whisper, 1
rave my faithful attendant the necessa-
y instructions. It thus happened thatI
vas as much surprised as any one In the
hurch when read out the banns Of
Daniel Merrywether OF this parish,
,achelar. and Rose MurAel Denham Of