The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-08
THE, QUEER END OF A0G|RLS ROMANCE,
She Married a spanlard and Became a spy--seeks Revenge Against
Her Native Land for the Death Of III Husband in Cuba.

~ dppedIOu dST06dUlG
to both, and the meeting was prob
ably on both sides a case of love at
first sight.
The two appeared suited to one an
other. n though the caravels re-
manned only two days at Montreal, |
the circumstances had been generally |
remarked.
the deluge of official welcomes at Chi
cago, Concas obtained a weeks leave
and came to Montreal, and so init
mate were the young couple that the
announcement of the engagement was
expected by every one Immediately |
after the return of the young officer
to his ship.
While the crews of the %caravels re-
manned in America the young people
found many opportunities to meet. FL
nally Concas returned to his duties at
Paris and the lovers found such con-
ISOLATION as they could in correspond
ence.
After leaving Montreal Concas had
some duty at Washington, and delay
keeping him there, Josephine seized the
opportunity to pay a Compromised
teenth street, Northwest. Before sep
arating to proceed respectively north
n SOUTH, the pair were married.
Efforts have been made to throw dis
credit upo the story that there was a
legal marriage, but the suspicion is
wholly uncalled for.
The ceremony was performed by a
priest of the Roman Catholic church..
An officer of the Spanish legation and
a Reconsideration physician practic-
ing in Baltimore were the witnesses.
1t is explained now that there were
good reasons on Concas' part for keep
ing the marriage secret. Progress in
fhn w. : 80 nx - ~ S-@3-
upon influential political backing. Con-
cas- was being advanced largely through
the influence of a man who was ambi-
tious to give his family something of
a flip in the social scale by an alliance
between his daughter and Concas. At
the moment of his marriage the young
officer could not jeopardize his chances
of advancement by a~ntagonizing his
influential patron, so the marriage had
to be kept secret.
He hoped it would not be for long,
as the successful accomplishment of his
mission to Cuba would place him be-
yond the need of assistance outside his
profession. 1t appears that the Span
ish government had found it almost
impossible to complete some important
batteries on the Cuban coast, on ac-
count of some difficulty in providing
a revetment suitable for the peculiar
sand and the climate. Concas had
kept his eyes open while in England,
and he offered to do the work if the
materials and workmen required were
placed at his command. He eventu-
ally got all he wanted.
Concas told his wife, on departure,
that after a months work in Cubs he
felt sure he would be in a position to
claim her openly without fear of the
consequences.
After Josephine returned to Canada
Cha roaoiHyo1 coyynro1 1afforc fropo how
husband in Cuba, all complaining bit
terly of the sympathy shown the Gu
ban rebels by the American people, and
explaining several times that but for
the assistance received from the United
States the revolt would easily be
stamped out. At last came a letter
from Concas warnig Josephine that she
could not hear from him for some time,
as he had left for a part of the island
cut off from communication with the
rest of the world.
Then came a period of agonizing sus-
pense for the unfortunate yOunk wife.
BY this time she realized that she was
about to become a mother, but she
shrank from telling her story to her
father, for he would feel hurt at her
failure to take him into her confidence
earlier and she hoped that every day
would bring news of oncas or per-
haps word from the husband himself.
Explanations would then be so much
more simple.
Weeks passed but no word of Con-
cas- came; months slipped by. Fearing
that her secret could be kept no longer,
Josephine made an excuSe to &C to
New York. Thither was summoned
some weeks later the old seigneur of the
Ottawa MANOR.
His daughter was in a very critical
state of health, and if he wanted to see
her alive hQ had hQtfar nr0cpQ6 nv tho
next train. There was no need to hurry
the old gentleman; he did not have
one wink of sleep betWeen the receipt
of the telegram and his arrival at the
private hospital where his daughter
was a patient.
A great improvement had taken place
in the condition of the young mother,
for she was a mother now, but for one
moment the venerable %seigneur devout-
ly wished that he had seen his child
dead before his face. There was an
angry scene, but the old man became
somewhat reconciled on hearing his
daughters story. A couple of months
later M. de Chappelle returned with
Josephine to the MANOR.
The little child died in New York
Immediately before the return of the
old %seigneur and his daughter to the
MANOR, and this accounts for the new
made little grave in the De Chappelle
lot in the country cemetery, which set
so many tongues a wagging in the Of
tawa valley at the time.
Still no word come from Concas. Jo-
sephine never doubted his fidelity, but
her father, perhaps naturally, was not
satisfied. If Concas were an honest
man why did he not claim his wife
and set her good name right before
the world? So the old gentleman ar
gued.
| - -. , ,