Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1905-07-01
WON HIM HIS WIFE.


that swooped upon Washington few
1 weeks ago had transacted their bust
ness lot of them were checking theil
baggage at the station upon the eve oil
their departure from the city when
the battered, dilapidated, age-worn ap-
/ pearance Of the trunk Of one of the
Illinois editors came in for the guy
ing Of most Of the outfit.
= 1t was small, old-fashioned trunk
of the steamer variety, and 1t had seen
30 much service that 1t required four
heavy trunk straps to hold it together
The guying members of the party were
ironically talking OF making up a sub
scription for the purpose of stalking
the owner of the old trunk to a new
one, when the Illinois editor, who took
the chatting all In good part, came
! back at them.
That's all right about the old box, >
he said to them. Its getting pretty
old and moth-chewed, but I'm not GO
ing to give it the shake till it falls
apart and then I'm going to put its
| old bones away carefully and keep
them decently busted. That old box
won me my wife"
OF course, they demanded the story
| of him then, and the owner of the bat.
tered trunk gave it to them.
When I first took hold of the little
weekly in my town. said the Illinois
editor, my personal effects didn't
much more than half fill that dinky
little trunk, and when | went away
for any little trip | had to resort to
all sorts of film expedients to pack
the trunk to the top so that the few
things owned wouldn't joggle around
in the vacant space and get broken Oh
knocked out of shape.
But, for all of the slenderness OF
my means and my wardrobe, the pref.
test girl in the town, and the daugh-
ter of the most well-to-do citizen In
the place, wasn't any too good for me
to pay attention to. l used to call
upon her two or three times a week,
but was only one of about half q
dozen chaps in the town who were also
calling upon her right regularly, and
all OF them were heap better of in
this worlds goods, or, at any rate, In
prospects, than | was at that time.
Il didn't know where | stood with
the girl on this account, but | wasn't
going to be frozen out till l got the
direct word from the girl herself that
that was the program in contempla.
ton. She was pretty cordial to me,
and when l happened to find other
fellows calling upon her when | WIS.,
tied her home she generally let it ap-
pear, through the crafty little ways
that women pick up as soon as they
quit wearing their hair in braids, that
she'd just as lief I'd outstay the other
fellow as not.
anyhow, the frequency of my WIS.,
its and the cordial welcome | got from
the girl aroused the jealousy of some
after I'd been a caller at the house
for about a year, they put up job
on me.
Il was seated on lawn bench In
front of the girls house with her-it
was during the summer-when the
wagon of the township grocer drove up
and the driver jumped from the seat,
went to the rear of the wagon, loaded
my trunk-the little battered box that
you've been guying-onto his shoulder
and walked into the yard with It, just
as my young lady's father came down
the front steps on his way to lodge
meeting. My rivals had kidnapped the
trunk from my room and sent it to
the home of the young lady, with the
idea of putting me in a foolish light
before her and her father.
"'What's this? inquired the old
| gentleman, as the driver of the wagon.
at my command, dropped the trunk
on the lawn.
81 asked the driver how he hap
pened to fetch the trunk to that place,
and he confirmed my suspicious by
telling me that he had been so in
structed to deliver it by my rivals.
"1t's not my fault, you see sir,
I said to him, for l felt pretty silly
even when | knew the girl and her
father were aware of the real situa-
ton. L hope you fully understand
| Ludl L WOuIuu TAKE manu- III any
thing so idiotically presumptious as
! this
That's all right, son; that's all
right said the old gentleman, cycling
me shTewdly, and then casting his
keen gaze in his daughters direction.
You and Mary had anything to say
to each other yet?'
"At that, of course, felt as incom-
petent as a hairless Mexican dog in
a blizzard, and Mary didn't appear to
be DESTROYS to exhibit any converse
tional powers, either.
Because, son. the old gentleman
went on, cycling me in kindly sort
of way whenever you and Mary get
ready to say something to each other
and / wouldn't be surprised but what
that's the way the wind blows, Ell,
young ones?'-and he winked in a
fatherly sort of way at newly, you
migdt just as well have your trunk at
4l,;s a1ca-laact-