Griggs courier., 1894-08-24

Trtumphs over all time. and all fate
Emma p. Seabury. In ChautauQuan.
WINNING A WOMAN.
The Romantic Tale CT a Veteran
Commercial Travele-.
"Waen was man of thirty" re-
marked gray-saaired three-score-and-
Eanitarien after the drummer had En-
fshed rather unbelievoble card story,
Il could shuttle &ho pasteboards pretty
fairly Myself, and it was only the YET
Grams who cared to tackle me, and
they were usually sorry for it after
wards. I wss not rich and proud
then." he smiled softly. land made
most Of my living selling groceries in
the south and west for Baltimore
house. did the large towns as a rule,
but I had a few good customers in out
'or-the-way pisces. and I made it nv
business to cultivate them and get
around to see them ut least twice a
year. Among them was a merchant in
Mississippi, and he had daughter who
was one of the sweetest, prettiest girls
1 ever saw. In fact sGe was so at
traotive that fell In love with her and
tried to marry her, but she was silly
ike most women when they are
young and sometimes when they arc
not 90 young, and instead of recipro-
eating my affection, the affection Of a
plain but honest man, I'll be shot If
sac wasn't waiting her affection ON
handsome bon q rein-that's French
for good for nothing" he explained
''and I hadn't the slightest chance
against him. although her father was
ON my side and did all he could t. save
her from the man she would persist in
loving. He was undoubtedly a hand.
some fellow and one whose manners
were fascinating, not only to women,
but to men. With, all his natural abil-
.ity, however, and attractiveness, he
was utterly worthless; hard drinlser,
hrawler, q vindictive wretch and q
notorious gambler. These qualities of
the man were we'll known in that locali-
ty and his reputation was not unknown
throughout the state, while up and
down the river he was known on every
steamboat for the big games he played
and his success. He was the youngest
son Of prominent and highly respec-
table family, and this to the girl
seemed to Offset his numerous defects
of character.
"Whatever it 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 q
year he had died, leaving no property
whatever, nor any family, as the girl
was the only child and her mother had
been dead some years. The loss or alb
sence of any property which might be
ofassistance to the daughter did not
affect her seriously. as 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 and the mar
riage of the daughter very naturally
my interest in that locality ,waned and
1 lost track of the neighborhood and
its doings for i've years. Then 1 was
called there on business and when I
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, I shall call
jackson. He did not know me and
don't suppose It would have made much
difference If he had, for with all his
faults he was not Jealous man. Well,
l kept my identity pretty much
in the background and made up my
mind to see how the marriage had
turned out. got an inkliug of it 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 hloated, and
all the bad streaks in him seemed to
have settled in his face. His wife l
had not seen, up to the time of his ap-
pcarance In the evening. 1 was sitting
in what passed for an Office and he was
there cursing stable-boy. After he
had flushed 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 could
plainly see, never would have known
her. She was thin and pale and bore
every evidence of having received the
mos: cruel treatment. was shocked
beyond expression, and it 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 cry of pain from her and
came almost getting me into the
scrap. 1 kept still, however, and
waited, and that night he grew so
ugly that she called in one Of her
'Geighbors to serve as kind of protec-
tion.
1.-THE next day he was no better. but
he went of and did not return until
late. During the day she had q chance
TO see me and at once recognized 1ae.
Whether she was glad or sorry 1 don't
know, but she broke down nnd had g
nervous At of crying for half an hour,
and l got away until shc recovered.
When sew her again che was quite
calm, and for two hours she talked to
me Of her terrible condition. He had
been all things to her a man should