The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1899-12-07

joke to a fellow to nave TO give vi
pleasures at my age"
IF you don't you will die sooner OF
later--that's ALL
His face fell considerably at this
statement.
.Die," he said. die! How brutally
you talk! And yet you just said that
there was nothing much the matter
with me; though | tell you, do feel
i'll, dreadfully i'll! Sometimes l am SO
bad, especially in the mornings, that |
could almost cry. What shall ! do to
cure myself?"
81 will tell you. Get married. drink
nothing but claret, and get to bed every
night at ten"
Get married. he gasped. "Oh! But
it's an awful thing to do, it ties a fell
low UP so! Besides, l don't know who
to marry"
At this moment our conversationywas
broken off by Fanny's entrance. She
was dressed in an evening gown, with
red flower in her dark, shining hair,
and looked what she was, most strik-
| ing and imposing woman. Her beauty
| is of the imperial order and lies more
in her presence, and If | may use the
word about woman, her atmosphere,
than her features, and l saw with a
smile that it quite overcame my little
patient, who stammered and suffered,
and held out his wrong hand when
introduced him. 1t turned out after
ward that he had been under the i'm
preston that Miss Denelly was an ell
derby housekeeper. At dinner, howev-
er, he recovered his equilibrium and
began to chatter away about all sorts
of things, with a sort of low cleverness
which was rather amusing, though l
confess that being oldfashioned, ]
could not keep pace with it. Fanny.
however, entered into his talk in a
manner which astonished me. l had
no idea that her mind was so versatile,
or that she knew anything about bill
lizards and horse-racing, or even French
novels.
AT ten o'clock | told Mr.. Joseph he
had better begin his cure by going to
bed, and this he did reluctantly enough.
When he had gone, asked Fanny what
she thought of him!
Think of him" she answered, look
ing up, for she was plunged in one Of
her reyeries. ''Oh! l think that he is
mixture between a fox and fool,
and the ugliest little man ever saw"
I laughed at this complimentary
summary, and we set to work.
After the first evening neither saw
nor heard much of Mr.. Joseph, except
at meals. Fanny looked after him, and
when she was at work he amused him
self by sitting In an armchair and
reading French novels in translation,
for preference. Once he asked permits
sion to come In and see us work, and
after about half an hour of it he went,
saying it waE1awfully clever. but "all
rot, you know, and that he had much
better devote our talents to making
books on the Derby.
idiot remarked Fanny, in a tone
Of whitening contempt, when the door
had closed on him; and that was the
only opinion l heard her express with
reference to him till the catastrophe
came.
One morning, when Joseph had been
with us about a fortnight, having been
at work very late on the previous night,
and feeling tired and not too well, I
did not come down to breakfast till ten
o'clock. Usually, We hreakfasted at
half-past eight To my surprise,
found that the tea was not made, and
that Fanny had apparently not yet had
her breakfast This was most unu-
sual occurrence, and while was still
came into the room with her bonnet
and cloak on.
Why, my dear Fanny" said,
where on earth have you been?"
"To church." she answered, coolly,
with dark little smile.
What have you been doing there?"
/ asked again.
Getting married." was the reply.
I gasped for breath, and the room
seemed to swim round me.
Surely, you are joking" said,
family.
ooh! not at all. Here is my we'd
ding ring" and she held up her hand;
II am Mrs. Hide-Thompsonw
What almost shrieked. DO you
mean to tell me that you have married
that little wretch? Why, he has only
been in the house ten days"
Sixteen days" she corrected, "and
have been engaged. to him for ten,
and weary work it has been, can tell
you, Godfrey
Then / suppose you are going
away" jerked out "And how about
our work, and-John?"
saw spasm of pain pass over her