The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1902-01-30

mo she has accepted tho count ana
| the bcggar Is going to iaVo 'hc i"''
| published tomOrrowV
"I}ut suppose you refuse your eeic
ton and order the old bcggar to gctY'
"Say, you don't know ellen. threat
| encd to do that, and sho declared she'd
elopc with him."
"And what If you told tho count he
should never touch dollar of your
| moncyW
"IIe'd smile and smirl1 and take 1t
| for bluff. BY the horn spoon, but
| III pay Il bravo ten thousand dollars
| In gold to break his old neck! You
know about these brnvos. Go out and
! find one for me and tell him to come
around with sandbag."
The man was really In wrctchcd spir-
| It's over the affair. 1t would not nave
taken some fathers two minutes to end
It, but ho was Ill and morbid, and his
strength Of character was gone FOR the
| time. We snt talking for an hour ana
then went up stairs and Joined the
| couple on the balcony. The daughter
received us in n chilly fashion, but the
count had been drinking and was good
naturcd and volubc. l had insultcd
him., but l was Il compatriot Of the
| charming Miss Saunders and her re-
spcctcd father and he would overlook
1t. We were little family party, and
we were by ourselves Oh little bal
cony, and he would take advantage OF
the occasion to say that In seeking the
hand Of the fair girl before him he was
melted by love alone. lie WAS forty
five years old and lonely. lie wanted
to love and he loved. Money to him
was rs to the cobblcstoncs In the
street He had estates in Sardinia, In
Lombardy md in Umbrla. lie had
castles in Tuscany, Naples and Sicily.
He had gold mines In tho Alps, silver
mines In the Cnrnics and lead mines
, in the ApcnnincS. And ns to his social
standing, who could desire more than
to be the conn(lant Of tho ruler Of the
land?
The old count was n sleek, slick liar,
, and 1t was entertaining to hear him
talk, but ut tho same time one could
not help but pity tho father and feel
, provoked at the daughter The aged
| lover was still exploiting when he sud
denly pitched forward out Of his chair.
, The girl screamed out and ran away to
her room, and was for bringing doc
tor ns quick as possible when Saun-
dcrS protested:
"IIold on bit. The old vagabond
has only tainted away. Let's see what
he Is made Of"
We went to work, and tho results
were strange enough. l brought soap
and water from my room, and the first
&l, Oar.
, | We got enough enamel Off his face to
, | reveal score of wrinkles, and 1t was
discovered that every tooth In his head
, was false. Under his wig was shiny
, pate, md his backbone was stlfcncd
with corset believe that 1t was tho
, tightncss Of the corset had caused
7 his faint. There was something still to
:, come. Ills right leg was supported ut
, the knee with brace, and nose
which had been broken was neatly
> trimmed with wax. When we had
! taken the old fellow MI to pieces, he
, | was queer sight to look at, and 1t waS
, hard to tell whether the heap Oh the
chair or the heap OH tho floor was
Count radova. lie had partly revived
before we got through. and he cacklcd
| away like an old hen.
"And this" groancd Saunders as he
p pointed to the heap on the chair-"thls
, | was to be my son-in-law! This was
, what my daughter was to marry in or
j., der to be called Il countess; want
. | her here"
lie was back with her In n moment.
, I lifted the count to n sitting position,
and he was chattcrlng OF love and cas-
ties rs the girl got sight OF him.
"Whnt have you dOncT' shriclcd the
daughter rs she turned from the grisly
spectacle to us.
"Wc'vc simply taken him npart!' re-
piled the father, "and the best part Of
him Is on the chair there"
When the would be countess had fed,
we sent for help to get Count PaGova
to his room. lie had to be handled
with care. Any sudden move might
/ have pulled n limb or his head OFF
There was considerable hilarlty among
the servants. and 1t was left to them
to glue the pieces together again and
make man. When morning came, he
had disappeared, and he had not even
left farewell note behind. y day
later Saunders said to me-
Lord, man, but feel like dancing 4
hornplpc! There IS to be no countess
In our family Ellen has written to n
young lawyer in Chicago and said yes
to his proposition, and we arc making
ready to ScoOt for home. Come out and
have three drinks and hurrah with
|