Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-08-11
THE SPECTER WEDDING,
A Curious But An-Sufacient Cere-
mony.

A Curious But All-Sufhcient Cere-
mony.
Mr.. Martin Dupont was Justice of
the peace in the little town of Marl-
burg. He had been elected to office
at the close of the war of 1912, 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 gentlemen, who delight in
winning admiration from their asso-
ciates, who always have at their
tongues end a great many stories in
which they play the leading part, but
who are, nevertheless, very supersti-
tious, SO much SO, indeed, that glimpse
of the moon over the left shoulder, or
bowling dog, has power to make them
melancholy for week.
Having failed to secure for himself
as large a 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 a good education, added
to his natural abilities, would secure
for him place in the world; and al
ready Henry was showing the wisdom
of the plan, and by his rapid advance
ment in business was more than full
filling 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.. d. rather grudgingly
admitted, except that all he had to de-
pend upon was his salary, but still no
man should presume to become 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 h friend, but as a son-in-law-that
was quite another matter.
| Nevertheless Charles and Margaret
did not despair of their cause, although
Mr.. Dupont was seemingly immovable.
The thought of an elopement was ban
ished by them both as being dishonor-
able, 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 affairs when our story be.
gins.
Mr.. Dupont's duties as justice of the
peace did not confine his law practice
to Marlburg, but very frequently he
was called away to attend various law
suits in neighboring towns and ham
let's; and it SO happened that at this
particular time he was engaged in q
case of some considerable Importance
in an adjoining town. On account OF
the ncarness of the place it was Mr..
Dupont's custom to drive his own horse
back and forth and to spend his nights
at home.
One night, on account of an unusual
press of business, he was obliged to re
main beyond his ordinary time of leav
ing, and after the work was completed
he yielded to the urgent invitation Of
: his client to chat for a few moments. A:
f they pulled away at the choice Havanas
, they began to tell each other of various
| exciting adventures and wonderful ex
periences- Time slipped away so rapid
| ly that it was after ten o'clock before
= Mr.. Dupont suddenly remembered tina
l a seven-mile drive lay between him ant
Q his home. Hastily bidding his FRIEND
s good-by, he started for the hotel stabl,
s to get his horse.
Y The weather had changed while thu
e two gentlemen had been chatting, ant
4 now the ominous stiffness and thu
8 cloudy sky admonished Mr.. Dupon
4 that, if he wished to get home befor,
the rain began to fall, he must hasten
: Hastily throwing a quarter to tn
II sleepy hostler, he sprang into his bug
y gy and set out on his homeward way.
tp The road home was a lonely one
! houses were few and far betw cen, and
few miles out of Marlburg some lionel
woods lined the road on either side, an
adjoining the woods was graveyard
: AS Mr.. Dupont drove on into the dark
ness he began to become nervous, tn
weird stories that he had just bee
hearing kept flashing through his minc
great many wrong deeds of his lif
in came before hif3, magnified by tn
"A darkness and soil tnde, and among othe
a things he began to wonder if he wa
10 doing just right In refusing his consen
W to his daughters marriage. In thi
~ frame Of mind he approached tn
"A woods; involuntarily he tried to quicl
- en- his horses pace, but the dart
Up ness and the low murmurings
to thunder seemed to have affected t.
III horse, too, and the sagacious bru
i'd tried constantly to slac!len his pas
d. How lonely it seemed there, no hous'
no living being-nothing but the de
in the graveyard beyond Sudden