Year: 1877

| from my husband telling me that he had
gone to California, and that he never
would come back unless he came a sober
man, and with money enough to support
me and our boy. His father had been
harder with him than ever, and as he was
OF no use to US he would not stay to be a
| disgrace. | have never heard from him
since.


"Nill's mother came to Inc and said
that she should look upon the boy as hers
now, and we must 90 home with her at
once. But put her off to gain little
time. for was young you see, and l9no-
| rant, and | was afraid that she had the
power to make us 90; and when she left
me | Just packed up my clothes and Viii
lies and went of to the depot and came
to l.. | had this friend living near
here-we used to go to school together
and she got me a place in Il store. But
| couldn't pay my board and Willie's and
clothe us both out of that, and finally |
concluded to leave the boy with Ellen
and get place at.seryice.


And now | don't know whether Will
is living or dead: but can't help think
ing that if he was living he would have
written to me and sent me some money,
for he always loved me-"


1t struck Mary's audience that he had
a Very strange way Of showing his love :
but they were old maids and could not
be expected to understand such matters.


Mary presently produced a photograph
which was Just the opposite of what we
expected, for her Sweet William was il
fine. manly looking Young fellow. and we
f,I+ Il, t,,
felt drawn to the postman too, and it was
absolutely essential to the latter's happi-
ness that number one should have de
parted from this terrestrial scene. Until
there was sufficient evidence of this how
ever, there was reason to fear an Enoch
Arden drn0UcN1eNt: and we assured Mary
that it was positively wrong for her to
give Mr. Blumenthal any encouragement.


1t was probably owing to his disinter-
ested advice that we were hOnOred by a
regular call from our hitherto taciturn
friend. We We're nearly us much surpris-
ed to hear him speak as though we had
known him to be dumb; and when he
propoundcd the somewhat startling ques-
tion 'if did not think the man who had
married Mary ought to be dead by this
time" it did appear as though if the per-
son in question had a due regard for the
fitness of things-he would be; but the
point at issue was not 50 much whether
he ought to be as whether he was.


Mr. Blumenthal. however, simply in
tended to express his firmly grounded
opinion that William Murphy was dead,
and that his widow would show her good
sense by abandoning her present position
of maid f-all-Work. and becoming Mrs.
Blumenthal without delay. 1t seemed
impossible to convince him that California
was not out of the world, and that tray
elers did occasionally return from that
bourne. His own views OF the region We're
evidently embodied in the belief that
not live here ended by giving up the at
tempt ut living together He WAS Ger
tainly very much in love. and it would be
an excellent match for Mary, even if he
had not the regular amount of limbs and
belongings,


Brunhildu was quite carried away by
the postman's eloquence and good looks.
IL believe he is right" said she, when he
had gone lit is not at all probable that
Murphy is living. or he would certainly
have written to his wife" Adding. With
her usual happy disregard of logic, ''And
why should two lives be spoiled with
this uncertainty about a man Who after
ALL isn't worth it -


! began to entertain private opinion
that Herr BlumenthaI kept back our let
ters from mail to mail, for the pleasure OF
bringing them sngy, and having a mo-
ments contab with Mary several times in
the course Of the day ; for She had decin-
ed receiving visits from him until she
could be assured that her husband was
really dead. Poor girl she was certain
ly very much to be pitied and it seemed
quite incXcusable in William Murphy to
give her SO little satisfaction either in
living or dying.


But one morning something happened.
Mary received Il letter from her mother
in-aW that came through her friend
Ellen, in which she was stemly summon
ed to attend her husbands funeral He
had died of fever in a hospital, and the
remains, by his own dying request, had
been sent on from san Francisco to be
laid in the family burying ground.


The poor little widow was nearly be
side herself with this news: and it was as
much as We could do to Get her and the
boy off properly. She promised faithfully
to return to us nothing, she declared,
would induce her to remain with old Mrs.
Murphy: but it was with heavy hearts
that We saw her depart


am sorly to say that our Teutonic
postman, instead OF sharing his lnamo-
rata's SORROW, was evidently in Il state of
confused bliss: not much to be wondered
at, perhaps, in the existing state OF things,
but somewhat inconvenient III its results,
as we were constantly favored with let
ters never intended for us, while oul
righttul correspondence wandered else
where. We took a genuine interest, how
ever, in this strange love affair, even
while seltishly congratulating ourselves
that the inevitable catastrophe of losing
Mary would not occur for some months
yet.


Alas it was nearer than we dreamed
On the third day, instead Of Mary, as we
had expected, there came letter; and
the astounding announcement that our G.
detaRt hand-maiden was SO happy that
she scarcely knew how to write to us
People have different ideas of happi-



ness: but it really seemed to us that a
Slight degree of unhappiness would have
been more becoming in Mrs. Murphy just
now.


We went on with the letter in u sort ol
blank amazGment, and read that, on the
writer's arrival at the Murphy mansion
the first person she met was the deceased
himself. AS may be conjectured , ht
had never been dead at all, although he
had been very i'll with fever in a hospital
and tancying himself dying he had
made the request to have his remains
sent on to his parents. The occupant OF
the next cot had died, and the two be
came somewhat mixed up in the minds o
the officials, hence the mistake, which,
although inconvenient, was cheertullN
borne with for the sake of seeing the lost
son walk in alive and well.


Clothed in his right mind, too; for he
had long ago deplored his evil ways, and
in his industry and self-denial had accum-
ulated nice little sum for the purpose O
a coZy home nest. Thther wife ano
| child were to be taken at once !; and Mary