Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1911-08-16
Their Secret
By EDWARD TURNER
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911

i, being clergyman, was called |
upon last summer to marry q boat |
man about Atty years OF age to q wo- |
man Of thirty-fve. The man was q |
bachelor. the woman a widow with a
son about sixteen years old
Are you the second husbandT
asked the groom after the ceremony.
I'm the second or the third, I'm not
sure which," he replied, a panied ex-
preston passing over his face. ask
ed him to explain, but he seemed re-
luctant to do so. I was about to turn
away from him when he said:
you're a clergyman and a good
man to confess to. II you'll keep the
secret I'll tell you
do as you please about telling me.
If you intrust me with the secret
shall certainly keep it,
"When l was about as old as my
wife is now" he began, "she was a
thin slip Of girl, all arms and legs,
ike colt But she was purity, all the
same. and soon after that filled out
There was a mighty soft spot in my
heart for her. But l, bein' a man of
thirty and she a striplin' OF fifteen.
wouldn't "a said anything about 1t for
the biggest ship that floats. watch
ed her grow up, thinkin' that when
she got older l might muster up cour-
age to ask her to marry me- But to
young gal like that there's a heap
of love maxim before she's even TWEEN
ty.
Her father had a Teller picked out
for her. His name was Pillsbury-
Jack Pillsbury-a mighty good young
man. He was first mate Of a tramp,
and every time he came In from a
cruise he brought home a lot OF mon
ey to invest But there was another
Teller the little gal wanted, and he
wanted her. But Maggie-that's her
name-was mighty fond Of her father
and was bent on dom what he want
ed her to do. She shipped Jim Hol-
den. the Teller she loved, and married
Jack P1llsbury.
Jack he kept on goin' to sea. and
80 did Jim. Jim was awful cut up
at losin' Maggie and wouldn't marry
with Jack and always looked for him
TO come back from his cruises. But
after awhile he went on a cruise that
he didn't come back from. he was
due in a year. but three years passed
and he didn't show up.
| After awhile, when 1t looked as II
Jack must be dead-the ship he 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 worTyin
about not KNOWN whether she didn't
have two husbands. You see. she
didn't know positive whether Jack was
dead. and IL he wasn't she was Twins
with a man that she warn't married
to and the boy was nlegitmate-
All this time / was dom friendly
things for the woman. she not know
In anything about how l really fel
toward her. She give me her con
idence and told me what troubled
her. One day after d storm a lot o
wreckage come in with several deaC
bodies. was out In my boat and saw
Maggie beckonin' to me from tn
beach. / went In to where she wa
and saw that she was standin' by
body. She was the wretchedest look
ing woman l ever saw.
ITS Jack" she said.
True enough. there was Jack com
back dead
took In the situation at once
Maggie" l sid. there's just on
way to keep you from bein' know
as a woman who has lived with q ma
who wasn't her legal husband an
your boy from knowfn' he's illegit
mate. Don't you say a word abou
this. I'll take the body out in m
boat and give 1t a sea burial"
|, II think 1t was sparing her boy pal
and disgrace that decided her At an
rate. she consented. put the bod
,, into my boat. took 1t out into deep VI
ter. tied my anchor to the ankles an
hoisted II overheard No one saw nj
, and If any one had l don't reckon
, would have made any difference. for
. wasn't everybody about there thu
would have remembered Jack anyway
Maggie was a good deal cut up abov
p the matter. not knowing whether 81
: had done right In saying nothing to b.
! husband You see. 1t made a horrib
: secret between her and him that ",
4 always on her mind relieved her
: well as I could by reminding her this
though It might not hurt Jim special
d to know the secret. we couldn't I,
e exactly how he would feel about b
and my action In the matter. I didr