Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1897-05-15

leaven-
TO answer to thy questions. "AIl 10 welT'T
Perchance In heaven.
Verses Grave and Gay.
A LTHOUGH he had. In addition
"a to local habitation, q name Of
4 \ his own-Peter Dunn to-wit--
he was always known rs 1.-THE man
that married Mary" BY profession he
was O plumber Of some repute-that Ii
to say, he knew by heart the meander-
ings and idiosyncrnsies OF every drain
In the village: and lie added to this ex.
pcricnce knowledge. for he had the
sense to carry about with him such
white lead as was necessary to the full.
allmcnt Of his calling, instead Of ex.
pscting the same to grow Wild In every
we'll ordered household--a false ex.
pectation which obtains among plumb.
err. For six days Of the week he
plumbed, but on the seventh Tor rather
the first) he dressed himself In Q lit.
tie brief authority and q sort Of black
nightgown, aud stood revealed to tho
eyes Of an admlrlng village as the
verger Of the parish church. II was
impressive to see him conduct to such
seats % he deemed meet for them the
strangers within his gates. and the
way wherein--during the anthem-he
distributed the almsbags among the
recipients for whom they were reserv.
"a was function 10 itself. On one
memorable occasion. when performing
this last mentioned rite. he stumbled
over . top hat, placed In the aisle by
some unwary stranger, sent It spin.
ming up the church. and staggered aft.
q Il In hot pursuit. For one awful
moment II seemed that the pillars of
Church and State were alike trem.
bling; then the worthy vergcr righted
himself, restored the stumbling. block
to it, owner. and concluded the func.
ton, to the unfeigned delight Of the
sons Of the rector. who lOngcd ever
afterward to present testimonial to
the unknown author Of the catastro-
phe. The Inhabitants Of Cherlton did
not wear top hnts. aud II they had
they would have known better than to
place such obstacles In the path Of the
Just: SO the rectOr's boys concluded
that some allen brow had been. 30 to
speak, the head and front Of the Of.
Tending, and they blessed that brow
accordingly, and never forgot the great
"kick-on ut Z O'clock" as they called
It.
But all these paltry honors and dig.
mites paled beside the fact that Peter
Dunn c'plumbing verger" or "verging
plumber" whichever one was pleased
to dub HIM. was above all things "tle
man that married Mary" Beside this
browning distinction nil meaner hon.
ors sank into insignIacance. Mary Ind
been the reignlng beauty Of Cheriton
for more years than she would have
cared to confess to. when she arrived
at the conclusion that "lcading apes"
was not SO satisfactory an occupation
- marrying plumbers. and 80 decided
to cspOuse her devoted adOrer, Peter
Dunn, who had regularly proposed to
her every Saturday afternoon for
well, at least $50 Saturdays, at the
lowest computation. With her Office
- reigning beauty Of Cheriton Mary
Mills had combined the duties Of vii.
lage sch0olmistress. She was a good
girl. and did her work well, but she
had no natural love Of teaching, aud
she was very thankful at last to lay
her occupation aside and become Mrs.
Peter Dunn instead. Mary felt (as In.
deed did all tho village, Peter includ.
ed) that she had conferred an unspeak.
able favor upon her husband In marry.
Ing him. and to the day Of her death
she treated him more as a king con.
sort than as q verger aud plumber In
nm own right, which he undoubtedly
was. for Mary WINS what the villagers
call "genteel," and founded her ideas
OF men and women upon the heroes
ana herolnes Of such silly and sensa.
t'onal novels as came In her way, and,
judged according to that standard. Pc.
ter certainly fell short Of ideal man.
nooo. AS long N she lived Mary meas.
ured Peter by these stupid measure.
ments and found him short and plaIn.
and commonplace and rough manner.
ed; afterward she probably learned to
measure him according to the measure
OF man--that Is. Of the angel-and
discovered that her plain little plumb.
er was more OF hero than all the
men Of straw she had delighted to
read about In tho foolish days Of her
desh, but Of this we have, Of course.
no record. Poor Mary. however, viii
not be the only one who will ind the
standards OF this world ull wrong In
the light Of the next one; and there Is
much comfort In this thought.
But, though she looked down upon
him on account OF his rOugher man. |
ners and inferior education, Mary
Dunn was sincerely attached to her
good little husband, and succeeded in |
making the few years she was spared |
to him years Of radiant bliss for Pc.
ter. As for him. he simply worship.
Cd the ground on which his wife walk |
eded. Mary had a younger sister of |
whom she was inOrdlnately proud,
VINO was g0verness In a gentleman's |
family. She was. according to Mary.
quite the lady" and would, 10 Mary
thought, consider It degradation TO
visit 80 humble home as the Dunns'
which showed that poor Mrs. Dunu's
standards Of good breeding were as
erroneous as her standards Of other
things. Therefore, though Mary some.
hines went to see the beloved Amy,
Amy never was allowed to come to
Cheriton or to be brought into contact
with that excellent man, her brother.
|n'law. Probably. had she come. Amy