River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-08-23
WINNING A WOMAN.
The Romantic Tale of a Veteran
Commercial Traveller.

The Romantic Tale of a Veteran
Commercial Traveller.
when I was a man Of thirty re-
marked a gray-haired three-seOTe-and-
tenitarian after the drummer had fin
ished a rather unbelievable card story.
= could shuttle the pasteboards pretty
fairly myself. and IL was only the vet
Grams who cared 10 tackle me. and
they were usually sorry for il after
wards I was not rich and proud
then" he smiled softly. and made
most Of my living selling groceries in
the south and west for a baltimore
house. did the large tOwnsas a rule.
but had q, y good customers IN out
of-the-wav aces. and I made IL my
business To cultivate them and get
around To see them a. leaS. Nv ce a
year Among them was a merchant in
Mississipni. AMI he lad a daughter who
was one ~ tn. sweetest. pretIiest girls
] ever saw. In fact she was - at
tractive that fell in love with her aud
tried to marry her but she was silly
like most women when they are
young and sometimes when they are
=
eating my affection. the affection Of a
plain but honest man. I'll be shot If
she wasn't wasting her affection on a
handsome ron a rein-that's French
for good for nothing" he explained
land I hadn't the slightest chance
against him. although her father was
on my side and did all ne could To save
her from ,he man she would persist in
loving. lie was undoubtedly a hand
some fellow and one whose manners
We're fascinating. not only TO women,
but 10 men. With all his natural abil-
ity. however. and attractjveness. he
was utterly worthless; a hard drinker.
q brawler, a vindictivc wretch and a
notorious gambler These qualities of
the man were well known In that lOcali-
" and his reputation was not unknown
throughout the state. while mp and
down the river he wa known ON every
steamboat for the big ga mes lac played
and his success lie was the Youngest
son Of a promih N and highly respec-
table family. 4nI this to the girl
seemed Z offset his numerous defects
of character
Whatever IL was. there was no
question that the girl was completely
infatuated with him. and finally she
eloped with him. This act of hers
broke her fathers heart and within a
year he hal died. leaving no property
Whatever, nor any family. as thu girl
was the only child and her mother had
been dead some years The loss or alb
sence OF any property which might be
of assistance 10 the daughter did not
affect her seriously. a, her husband
had some estate and managed by sue
cessful gambling TO maintain her in
comfort the first year or two. With
the death of the father aud the mar
riage of the daughter very naturally
my interest in that locality waned and
] lost track of the ncighborhOod and
its dOings for five years. Then was
called there ON business aud when I
stopped at the only tavern in the Little
village ! was more thau surprised To
find that IL was kept by my former
rival, whom. by the way. ! shall call
Jackson. lie did not know me and
don't suppose il would have made much
difference IL he ha for with all his
faults lac was not jealous man. Well. /
j kept my identity pretty much /!
in the background and made mp nv
mind 10 see how thr marriage had
turned out rot an iulsling of il the
very first night, when Jackson came in
just drunk enough To bc ugly. lie had
changed much in the FIVE years. and
from being the handsome fellow he
once We DC sIad become bloatcd. and
al ;he bad StreaISs in him seemed to
have settled in his face His wife
had not seen. up to the time of his ap-
pearance IN the evening was ing
IN what passed for an office and as
there curSiug "A stable-buy. After he
had finished with the boy he called his
wife from the kitchen where she was
at work and when she came i'm /
frightened out Of her wits. "a / could :
plainly see. ] never would have known
her. She was thin and pale aud bore +
every evidence of having received the
most cruct treatment was shocked Z
beyond expression. and il was not
allayed by the way he talked 10 her
and ordered her around. once even
giving her a jerk by the arm that
brought cry Of pain from her and Z
came almost getting me into the I
scrap. kept still, however. and I
waited, and that night he grew 50 I
ugly that She called in one OF her
neighbors TO serve as kind of protec- !.
ton.
The next day he was no better. hut .
he went Oft and did not return until +
late During the day She had a chance /
To see me and at once recognized me. /
Whether She was glad or sorry don't /
know, hut she broke down and had a I
nervous tit Of crying for half AN hour.
and got away until She recovered. /
When ] saw her again she was quite {
calm. and for two hours she talked 10 7
me of her terrible condition lie had
been al things To her a man should .
not be. aud the community only par {
italy knew what she had 70 bear lie ,
had beaten her and starved her and +
made her wOrb like o slave. and once /
or twice when she had tried 10 escape.
he had brought her back aud kept her 4
IN a dark room on bread and water for .
a month. There was no phase FOR her
q 20 in She neighborhood. and he /
never gave her a cent 81 mnrev. 50 7
that She might have gone Ia some dis .
taut place. She was ashamed aud I
afraid u appeal Ia the public for help
aud Sire was slowly being -otSnr,d 10 J.
death Fortunately She hal never had
any children
We talked the mater over in all its
aspects. and I asked her. il could Sc
cure her escape. would she go with me {
10 my home Ia the north. for ! had .
married and settled down like sen
sible mar, and she agreed Ia IL II it .
could be done without making her con- /.
dition any worse. ;hcu began tie /
wishing ways aud means 90 Fc.'iu.r the :
poor woman out of this he'll On -sr:I 1
and by night bad my plans r~aiy :..r
trial Whom jackson c;-,.i- "a that 1
evening he was in better humor. AAv-
ing won some money ON hor>s. race.
ami he was not quite 80 ugly drunk a. (
h haf been. Ie was drunker. per
hapS. bat II was Not such mean drunk 4
a. before After supper engaged him .
IN talk. aud along about nine O'Clock {
proposed game of poker. u struck
him just right, and we adjourned 10 a I
room upstairs with q couple II law
yers and a judge who were stopping
there over night. and The game began. 4
AT nrst jackson won right along. ami 4
a ne won he drauS. calling evcl 7 now