Jefferson jimplecute. (Jefferson, Tex.) 1907-1926, 1911-12-29
Their Secret
g. EDWARD TUQU
Copyright ~ American pSeoo 49,.
eiasjoA. lS1l

Copyright ~ American rSsss 49,
eiatioA. I'LL
1. bslng q clergyman. was eanse
spon last summse 70 marry . boat
man about nfty ysars Of aes - . 10
man Of thirty-AvA Ths maA va .
bachelor. the woman q widow wa .
eon about sixtseo yeAxD ed
-Ars you The 10000 husoaAdr I
asked the groom aftsr The esrsmsoy.
I'm the second OF the third. I'm not
sure which," be replied. . panied *
preston passing over hls faee ask
I'd him to explain, but b seemed ~
luctant to do -. was abost 70 turn
away from him when he oai6:
You're . clergyman and q good
man to confess TO- II you1l keep the
secret I'll tell you"
do ~ you please about falling ma
II you intruse me With the oscfse l
shall certainly keep t."
when / was about a. old - my
wife u now" hs began. she was .
thin alp Of . gin. al anna and legs,
like . colt. But shs was party. IN tAs
same, and soon aftse that arsd oct
There was . mighty soft spot IN my
heart tos her. But !. bsdn' . man Of
thirty and she . striplin' Of Aftsen. ]
wouldn't a said anything about Il fos
the biggest ship that doata witch
Cd her grow up. thinkin' that whso
she got older I might muster mp couE@
age to ask her to marry me- But to
q young gal like that there's heap
Of love maxim before she's even TWEEN
u.
"Her father had q fsllee picked out
for her. His name was Ptllsbur3-
Jack Pillsbury-a mighty good young
man. He was nrst mate Of tramp.
and every time be came In from Z
cruise be brought homo . lot Of mon
~ to invest But there was anothag
Teller the little gal wanted. and be
wanted her. But Nagyie-that's hse
name-was mighty fond Of her fatAse
and was bent on dom what b want
ed her to do. She shipped Jim Hol'
den. the fellee she loved. and married
Jack Plllsbury.
Jack he kept on goin' 70 80. and
20 did Jim. Jim was awful cut up
at losin' Maggie and wouldn't marry
any other gal. She was we'll satisfied
with Jack and always looked for him
to como back from his cruises. But
after awhile he went ON 4 cruise that
he didn't come back from he wa
due In a year. but three years passed
and he didn't show up.
After awhile. when It looked - II
Jack must be dead-the ship be sailed
in was never heard from-Jim Holden
began to poster Maggie to marry him.
She held out for a long while. but Al
last give IN They were married. and
the boy you saw just now come along.
Jack and Maggie didn't have any chill.
dren- Maggie was happy with Jim,
except that she was always worryin'
about not KNOWN whether she didn't
have two husbands You 80. she
didn't know positive whether Jack wa
dead. and II be wasn't she was Twins
with a man that she warn't married
to and the boy was illeg1timatA
All this time ! was dom fr1en6y
things for the woman. she not know
In anything about how really felt
toward her. She give mo her CON
ndence and told me what troubled
her One day after 4 storm . lot q
wreckags come In with several dead
bodies. was out In my bost and saw
Maggie beckonin' to me- from thu
beach. went In to where she VA
and saw that she was standin' BY 4
body. She was the wrstchedsst look
ing woman ever saw.
Its Jack" she said
True enough. there was Jack come
back dead
l took in the situation at once.
Maggie" l said. "there's Just onl
way to keep you from bein' known
~ a woman who has lived with man
who wasn't her legal husband and
your boy from knowin' he's nlsgid.
mate. Don't you say word about
this. I'll take the body out In my
| boat and give II q sea burial"
II think It was sparing her boy pair
and disgraee that decided her. At any
rate. she consented put the BODY
into my boat. took It out into deep VA
ter, tied my anchor to the anklss and
hoiated It overheard No one saw me
and II any one had don't reckon 4
would have made any difference. for i
wasn't everybody about thsre tha'
would have remembered Jack anyway.
Maggie was 4 zoe4 deal cut up abou
the matter. not knowing whether sh'
had done tight In saying nothing to he,
husband You see. It made 4 horrible
secret between her and him that wa
always on her mind. I relieved her Al
we'll ~ could By reminding her that
though 1t might not hurt Jim special,
to know the secret, W couldn't tel
exactly bow be would fsel about he
and my action In thu matter. didn'
zee how 1t would help matters to tel
him
YIN died about ten years ago. AM
I've waited since then I'LL . fsv
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