The Van Buren press., 1894-08-25
WINNING A WOMAN.
The Romantic Tale Of q Veteran
CONNIE rcial Traveller.

when I was = man of thirty ~
marked . gray-haired three-score-and-
tenitarian after the drummer had fin
ished rather unbelievable card story.
II could shufile the pasteboards pretty
fairly myself. and it was only the vet
Grams who cared to tackle me, and
they were usually sorry for it after
wards was not rich and proud
them" he smiled softly. "and made
most Of my living selling groceries in
the south and west for q Baltimore
house. did the large towns as rule,
but had few good customers in out
of-the-way places, and | made it my
business to cultivate them and get
around to see them at least twice 4
year. Among them was merchant in
Mississippi, and he had daughter who
was one of the sweetest, prettiest girls
I ever saw. In fact she was so at
eractive that fell In love with her and
tried to marry her, but she was silly
like most women when they are
Young and sometimes when they are
not 50 young. and instead of recipro-
eating my affection, the affection of q
plain but honest man, I'll be shot II
she wasn't wasting her affection on a
handsome bon q rein-that's French
for good for nothing. he explained
''and | hadn't the slightest chance
against him. although her father was
on my side and did ali he could to 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 drinker.
. brawler. = vindictive wretch and q
notorious gambler. These qualities of
the man were well 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 abb
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
lost track of the neighborhood and
its doings for five years. Then l was
called there on business and when l
stopped at the only tavern in the little
village l was more than surprised 70
find that it was kept by my former
rival, whom, by the way, l 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 a jealous man. Well,
kept my identity pretty much
in the background and made up my
mind to see how the marriage had
turned out. got an inkling of it the
very first night, when jackson came in
just drunk enough to be ugly. He had
changed much in the five years, and
from being the handsome fellow he
once was, he had become bloated, and
all the bad streaks 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. Twas 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
ut 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
most cruel treatment was shocked
beyond expression. and it was not
sllayed by the way he talked to her
and ordered her around. once even
giving her jerk by the arm that
brought cry Of pain from her and
came almost getting me into the
scrap / kept still. however, and
waited, and that night he grew SO
ugly that she called in one of her
neighbors to serve as a kind of protec-
ton
The next day he was no better, but
he went of and did not return until
late During the day she had chance
TO see me and st once recognized me.
Whether she was glad or sorry don't
know. but she broke down and had e
nervous fit Of erying for half an hour,
and i got away until she recovered
When | saw her again she 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
not BE- and the community only PAR
TALLY knew what she had to bear He
had beaten her and starved her and
made her work like q slave. and once
or twice when she had tried to escape.
he had brought her back and kept her
in dark room on bread and water for
q month. There was no place for her
TO go in the neighborhood. and he
never gave her a cent of money, SO
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.
I'VE talked the matter over in all its
aspects, and | asked her. if could se-
cure her escape. would she go with me
70 rn,r hnrn1. In tha .o.4L L.. L IL