The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1897-06-10
OF LUMBAGO.

| ehV SihlhSbt l'is wv ibs uON
the evening paper, which he had jus
been perusing, and delivering himsel
in his most sententious manner. "Hov
many complete comedies, and tragedie
for the matter of that, may often b.
latent in two or three commoGplac,
lines of printw
And what, pray, most sapient phil
Osopher, has evoked from you that pro
found sentiment?" l inquired, laugh
ingly.
1.-The concluding sentence in this obit
nary notice of the bishop of ~" h,
said, taking UP the paper again ant
reading aloud the passage: 'He mar
ried, in 1866, Margaretta, third daugh
ter of the late Joshua Barker"
Indeed" l said. "And is it a com
edy, my philosopher, or tragedy thai
turks in that very simple historical an
nouncement"
"Umph! A comedy. At any rate the
comic element prevails"
You knew the bishop in his young
! days, l believe?"
Intimately, and his wife, too. In
fact, l myself was a spectator Of the
little comedy which resulted in their
marriage"
you were?'
Il was" said Thorley, with an i'm
pressive air. ! saw that he was burst
ing to tell good story. We were by
ourselves in Il corner of the club smok-
ing room. There are men from whom,
in like circumstances, should. have
fed incontinent, pleading an immediate
engagement. But Thorley was an ex-
cellent raconteur and l had nothing
particular to do for half an hour. l
therefore lay back in my chair and re-
garded him encouragingly.
II believe" he went ON, that you
would find the story rather diverting."
"Then, by all means, let me hear it"
suggested.
And nothing loath, he began:
ut all happened more than thirty
years ago." Thorley said. 81 need hard
ly say that the bishop had not, in those
days, attained to episcopal honors. He
was, in fact, merely, the vicar Of Penn
borough, where I. yOungster, was
carrying on my first practice, and
where Margaretta's father was brew
ing Indifferent beer. But even then his
reverence was a cleric marked out for
future preferment, no less by his aris-
vscraic connections than by his In
trinsic personal merits. Nor by that
do l mean to imply that these merits
were inconsiderable. He was decided
ly intellectual, an eloquent preacher, a
good organizer. And his bodily pres
ence contributed an appreciable quota
to the effect of those qualities. He was
tall, imposing dignitied. Calm author
itativeness sat upon his placid and am
Pile forehead. Solidity and weight
swelled in the undulations of his capa-
cious waistcoat. Severe moral recti-
tude helped to stiffen every line of his
upright and stately bearing. Even
apart, therefore, from his intrinsic self
he made a splendid figurehead for the
spiritual life of the parish. / suppose
his age must have been about 40,
though he looked older. And he was
confirmed bachelor. So much so, in
fact, that the single ladies in Pembor-
ough, of whom there We're many, hard
ly regarded the vicar as a matrimonial
ly possibility; albeit, with his high con-
nections and good prospects, he would
have been an excellent spec for the
best of them.
Not that he was a boor or a brutal
or anything of that kind.
Very much the reverse. He mixed free
ly in the social life of the place. He
enjoyed the company of ladies, and,
indeed, in his sanctified way, was quite
a proficient flirt. But to that deeper,
lasting sentiment which leads through
to wedlock he was entirely
strange, and l honestly believe that the |
bare idea Of matrimony had never |
crossed his mind.
"Now 1 will revert for a minute to |
The Barkers.
81 have said that Joshua Barker, the |
head of that family, was brewer of |
Indifferent beer. In spite of the quail |
ty of his malt liquors lie did a large |
business, having many tied houses, and |
was worth considerable sum of mon
". But then he was the father OF |
fourteen children, so that his fine in
come was somewhat discounted. l
shall not have much 10 say about any
# them, excepting his eldest daughter,
whom knew better than
my of the others and who was a great |
riend of my wife's. In fact, the young
ady spent great part of her time at
'ur house. And l was glad that she
lid so, for my wife, having only lately
,een married to me, and having come
rom house full Of brothers and sis.
ers, was in need of a congenial COM
,anion.
"Margaretta was a handsome and
girl; though even in
hose days she showed some slight ten.
lency toward that richness of form and
eature which she has since abundant
Y realized. You have never met the
bishops wife? Ah, well! She has
ong measured a good forty-five inches
ound the waist and is now the DOS
essOr of four chins. But in her girl
lood she was pretty and fascinating,
md slight, and not Il few local bloods
we're enamorcd of her These local
,loods, however, We're all of the plebs
'lebian. and Margaretta was girl
# aspirations. She wanted to escape
together from the sordid vulgarity of
'emborough society and to blossom
nto some more select and fashionable
phere. Thus, at least, she frequently
onfided to my wife. who, womanlkc,
ided and abetted her in this ambitious
oily.
"My wife was talking to me about
largaretta one day. She was deplor-
ng the fact that there was no well
'orn and bred young men in Pembor-
ugh to marry the poor girl, and re-
move her into that higher circle in
which she was so well qualified to
hine. And | said, larghingly:
a-I- -