The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-09-07
WINNING A WOMAN.
The Romantic Tale of a Veteran
Commercial Traveller.

a
Commercial Traveller
Wv hen l was d man of thirty" re-
marked Il gray-haired thrce-scors.-aud-
tenitarian after the drummer had tin
lshed a rather unbelievable card story
Il could shuttle the pasteboar,ls pretty
fairly myself and il was only the vet
Grams who cared to tackle me. and
they We're usually sorry for il after
wards l was not rich and nrouJ
then. he smiled softly. and made
most of my living selling groceries in
the south and west for a BaltiEuor.
house. did the large towns as a rule.
but had ii few good customers in out
of-the-way places, and / made il NV
business to cultivate them and ret
around To see them at least twice a
year Among them was a merchant in
MISSISSIPPI, and he had daughter who
was one of the sweetest, prcttiest girls
l ever saw. In fact she WAS So at
tractive that fell in love with herand
tried To marry her, but she was silly
like most women when they are
young and sometimes when they ar.
not so young. and instead of recipro-
eating INV affection. the affection Of a
m
she wasn't wasting her affection on A
handsome bon a rein-that's French
for good for nothing" he explained
and L hadn't the slightest chance
against him. although her father was
ON my side and did all he could to save.
her from Ihe man She would persist in
loving lie was undoubtedly hand
some fellow and one whose manners
We're fascinating, not only To women.
but to men. With all his natural abil-
ity, however, and attractivenc,,S. he
was utterly worthless; a hard drinlSrr.
brawler, a Vindictive wretch and a
notorious gambler These qualities of
the man were well known in that local.
ty and his reputation was not unknown
throughout the state. while up and
down the river he wa~ known on every
steamb boat for the big games he PLAYED
and his success He was the youu.r,.st
son of prominent and highly rc>p,..-
table family. and this to the girl
seemed to offset his numerous defects
of character.
Nv hateyer II 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 had died, leaving no property
whatever, nor any family. as tn, girl
was the only child and her mother had
been dead some years. The loss or alb
sence of any property which might Toe
of assistance Ia the daughter did not
affect her seriously, as her husband
had some estate and managed bV sue
cessful gambling to maintain her in
comfort the first year or two With
the death of the father and the mar
riage of the daughter very naturally
my interest in that locality waned and
| lost track of the neighborhood and
its doings for five years. Then | was
called there on business and when |
stopped at the only tavern in the little
village | was more than surprised to
find that it was kept by my former
rival, whom. by the way. l shall call
jackson He did not know me and l
don't suppose it would have made much
difference if he had. for with all his
faults he was not a jealous mar, Well.
l kept my identity pretty much
in the background and made up nv
mind to see how the marriage had
turned out l got an inkling of il the
very first night, when Jackson came in
just drunk enough To be ugly. lie had
changed much in the five years, and
from being the handsome fellow he
once was, he had become bloated, and
all the bad strealls in him seemed To
have settled in his face. His wife /
had not seen, up To the time of his APP
pearance in the evening. | was sitting
in what passed for an Office and he was
there cursing stable-boy. After he
had finished with the boy he called his
wife from the kitchen where she was
at work, and when she came in
frightened out of her wits, as l could
plainly see, l never would have known
her. She was thin and pale and bore
every evidence of having received the
most cruel treatment / was shocked
beyond expression, and IL was not
allayed by the way he talked to her
and ordered her around. once even
giving her a jerk by the arm that
brought a cry of pain from her and
came almost getting me into the
scrap. | kept still. however. and
waited, and that night he grew 50
ugly that she called in one of her
neighbors to serve as kind of protec-
tion.
The next day he was no better, but
he went off 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, but She broke down and had 4
nervous hit of crying for half an hour,
and l got away untn she recovered.
When | saw her again she was quite
calm. and for two hours she talked To
me of her terrible condition. lie had
been all things to her man should
not be. and the community only par
italy knew what she had 10 bear. lie
had beaten her and starved her and
made her work like a slave. and once
or twice when She had tried 10 escape,
he had brought her back and kept her
in a dark room on bread and water for
month. There was no place for her
to go in the neighborhood, and he
never gave her a cent of money, 50
that she might have gone To some dis
tant place. She was ashamed and
afraid To- appeal to the public for help
and she was slowly being tortured To
death. Fortunately she had never had
any children.
1--WE talked the matter over in all its
aspects and asked her, if | could Sc
cure her escape, would she go with me
to NV home in the north, for | had