Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-10-08
THE SPECTRE WEDDING.


Mr.. Martin Dupont was Justice o.
the Peace in the little town of Mari
burg. He had been elected to the of
fee at the close Of the war Of 1872
and had acted in his present capacity
for nearly nine years. Men OF Mr.
Dupont's type were very common in
those days, and even now one does
not have to search far to find one Of
these self-complacent, pompous gen
tlemen, who delight in winning ad.
miration from their associates, who
always have at their tongues end
great many stories in which they
played the leading part, but who are,
nevertheless, very superstitious. sc
much SO, indeed, that glimpse OF
the moon over the left shoulder, or a
bowling dog, has power to make them
melancholy for week.
Having failed to secure for himself
as large share of this worlds goods
as he had wished, Mr.. Dupont was
fully resolved that his two children,
Henry and Margaret, should not be
lacking in wealth. AS for his son, he
very wisely concluded that good ed
ucation, added to his natural abili-
ties, would secure for him a place in
the world; and already Henry was
showing the wisdom of the plan, and
by his rapid advancement in business
was more than fulfilling his fathers
expectations. 1t had always been
Mr.. Dupont's desire that his daughter
should marry some rich man. but
Margaret had fallen in love, very
foolishly, according to her fathers
idea, with the principal of the Marl-
burg High School.
Charles Foster had several times
pleaded his suit in vain before Mr..
Dupont. There was no fault in the
young man, Mr.. Dupont rather grudg-
ingly admitted, except that all he had
to depend upon was his salary, but
still no man should presume to be-
come his son-in-law who had not
money enough to support his daughter
in better style than that In which she
was then living. He liked the school
teacher very we'll as friend, but as a
son-in-law-that was quite another
matter.
Nevertheless Charles and Margaret
did not despair of their cause, al
though Mr.. Dupont was seemingly
immovable. The thought of an clope-
ment was banished by them both as
being dishonorable, and as no other
plan seemed practicable, they very
wisely resolved to wait until some
kind fate should come to their aid.
This, then, was the condition of af-
fairs when our story begins.
Mr.. Dupont's duties as Justice of
the Peace did not confine his law
practice to Marlburg, but very fire.
Quently he was called away to attend
various lawsuits in neighboring towns
and hamlets, and it so happened that
at this particular time he was en-
gagged in case OF some considerable
Importance in an adjoining town. On
account of the nearness of the place,
it was Mr.. Dupont's custom to drive
his own horse back and forth and to
CkOIIu Ills
;. One night, on account of an unusual
press Of business, he was obliged
to remain beyond his ordinary time of
leaving, and after the work was COM
pleted he yielded to the urgent invita-
tion of his client TO chat for few
moments. AS they pulled away at
the choice Havanas, they began to
te' each other OF curious exciting ad.
ventures and wonderful experiences.
Time slipped away so rapidly that it
was after 10 O'Clock before Mr.. Dupont
suddenly remembered that a seven
mile drive lay between him and his
home. Hastily bidding his friend
Eood-by, he started for the hotel stable
to get his horse.
The weather had changed while the
two gentlemen had been chatting, and
now the ominous stiffness and the
cloudy sky admonished Mr.. Dupont
that, if he wished to get home before
the lain began to fall, he must hasten.
Hastily throwing a quarter to the
sleepy hostler, he sprang into his
buggy and set out on his homeward
way.
The road home was a lonely one;
houses were few and far between, and
q few miles out of Marlburg some
lonely woods lined the road on either
side, and adjoining the woods was a
graveyard. AS MI. Dupont drove on
into the darkness he began to become
nervous, the weird stories that he
had just been hearing kept flashing
through his mind, a great many
wrong deeds of his life came before
him, magnifleG by the darkness and
solitude, and among other things he
began to wonder il he was doing just
right in refusing his consent 70 his
daughters marriage. In this frame
of mind he approached the woods: in
voluntarily he tried to quicken hi:
horses pace, but the darkness and the
low murmurings of thunder seemed
to have affected the horse too, and thu
sapacious brute tried constantly tx
slacken his pace. How lonely II
seemed there, no houses, no living
being-nothing but the dead in thu