Year: 1877

father carried ON a coal yard together;
but Will fell into bad company, and took
to drinking, and his father and mother
were so bitter toward him, it drove him
to desperation. You see, they were peo-
pie who had always been respected, and
they couldn't bear the disgrace; and
manys the night I've sat up watching for
Will, so that they shouldn't know when
he came in. taught myself German,
by way of amusement, on those lonely
evenings. Some one gave the books to
Will, and l had always been fond of study
at school.


"After awhile we left the old people,
and moved into two rooms of our own !;
and 1 worked hard at sewing and knit
ting and anything could get to support
us. Will did not improve, though he
was never unkind to me; and one morn
ing boy brought me a crumpled note
from my husband telling me that he had
gone to California, and that he would
never come back unless he came sober
man, and with money to support me and
our boy. His father had been harder
with him than ever, and he said he was
sick of it all; and as he was of no use to
us, he would not stay to be disgrace.
[ nave never heard from him since.


"Will's mother came to me and said
that she should look upon the boy as
hers now, and we must go home with
her at once. But L put her off, to gain a
little time; for l was young, you see, and
ignorant, and l was afraid that she had
the power to make us go; and when she
left me, just packed my clothes and
Willie's, and went off to the depot, and
came to l.. L had this friend living
near here-we used to go to school to-
gether-and she got me place in q
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 service.


"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 then they were old maids, and could
not expect to understand such matters.


Mary presently produced photo
graph, which was Just the opposite of
what we expected; for her Sweet William
was fine, manly-loobing young fellow,
and we felt drawn to him at once. But
then we felt drawn to the postman too
and it was absolutely essential to the
latter's happiness that number one
should have departed from this terres-
trial scene. Until there was sufficient
evidence Of this, however, there was rea-
son to fear an Enoch Arden denOuenoe2et,.
and we assured Mary that it was posi-
tivel ly wrong for her to give Mr.. Blu
menthal any encouragement


1t was probably owing to this disin-
terested advice that we were honored by
a regular call from our hitherto taciturn
friend. We were nearly as much sur
prised to hear him speak as though we
had known him to be dumb; and when
he propounded the somewhat startling
question "if | did not think the man
who had married Mary ought to be dead
by this one time" it did appear as
thought the person i'll question had a
due regard for the fitness Of things-he
would be; but the point at issue was
not so 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-o work, and becom-
ing Mrs. Blumenthal without delay. 1t
seemed impossible to convince him that
California was not out of the world, and
that travellers did occasionally return
from that bourne. His own views of the
region was evidently embodied in the be-
lief that people who went there because
they could not live here, ended by giving
up the attempt at living altogether He
was certainly very much in love; and il
would be an excellent match for Mary,
even if he had not the regulation amount
of limbs and belongings.


Brunhilda was quite carried away by
the postman's eloquence and good looks
81 believe he is right" said she, when he
had gone; cit is not at all probable that
Murphy is living, or he would certainly
have written to his wife," Adding, witt
her usual happy disregard of logic
"And why should two lives be spoiled
with this uncertainty about man who
after all, isn't worth it %


[ began to entertain q private opinion
that Herr Blumenthal kept back our let
ters from mail to mail for the pleasure o.
bringing them singly, and having a mo-
ment's confab with Mary several times
in the course of the day; for she had de
clined receiving visits from him unit
she could be assured that her husband
was really dead. Poor girl she wa,
certainly very much to be pitied; and i
seemed quite inexcusable in William
Murphy to give her SO little satisfaction
either in living or dying.


But one morning something happened
Mary received letter from her mother
in-law, that came through her frient
Ellen, in which she was sternly sum
moned to attend her husbands funeral
? He had died of fever in hospital, ant
the remains, by his own dying request
J had been sent on from San Francisco tx
be laid i'll the family burying ground
} The poor little widow was nearly be


side herself at this news; and it was al


much as we could do to get her and tn,
boy off properly. She promised faith
! fully to return to us-nothing. she de
, clared, would induce her to remain will
D old Mrs. Murphy; but it was with heav,
, hearts that we saw her depart.


l am sorry to say that our Teutoni


postman, instead of sharing his manor
5 ata's sorrow, was evidently in state O
confused bliss-not much to be wonder
ed at, perhaps, in the existing state o
things ; but somewhat inconvenient il
/ its results, as we were constantly favore,
t with letters never intended for us. Will
i; our rightful correspondence wandere,
t elsewhere. We took a genuine interest
t however, in this strange love affair, evel
r while selfshly congratulating ourselve
1 fhnt tho itno,ritn Ill, nntnc4ro,,ln